The “Who” and the “Why” of the Gospel - Mark 8:27-32a

The “Who” and the “Why” of the Gospel

Mark 8:27-32a

Introduction: There may be no “bad questions,” but there are some really good questions and there are other questions that are… not so good. A friend once asked Isidor Isaac Rabi, a Nobel prize winner in physics, how he became a scientist.

Rabi replied that every day after school his mother would talk to him about his school day. She wasn't so much interested in what he had learned that day, but she always inquired, "Did you ask a good question today?" "Asking good questions," Rabi said, "made me become a scientist."

On the other hand, one prominent pastor reflected on his experience as a student in the class of Dr. Charles Feinberg at DTS. He said the first day of class a student asked a question. Dr. Feinberg looked at him sternly and said, “Young man, if you don’t have a more intelligent question to ask please remain quiet and don’t waste the class’s time!” He said after that no one dared ask another question all semester! (At least at WTS, questions were welcome!). In this section of Mark, Jesus, once again, uses questions to teach His disciples. They will also bring into focus for us the message Mark has been presenting in His Gospel: the person and the work of Jesus – who He is, and why He came, and also, as we’ll see next week, what it means to follow Him.

Context (27a): “He went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi…” teaching them on the way. His ministry was now primarily private, preparing the disciples for what was coming in Jerusalem, and for their ministry to follow.

The Maine* Idea: Jesus is God, the Son. He came as God had promised, to give His life to save those who will believe. Have you put your trust in Him? Is He your Lord?

I. A Follower of Jesus must recognize who He is (27b-29).

… He went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?"  ²⁸ And they told him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  ²⁹ And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ."

       As He typically did, Jesus led into a time of teaching His disciples by asking a couple of questions. First, He asks, “Who do people say that I am?” He is asking them about public opinion, the word on the street so to speak, “popular theology.”  There were many popular ideas about who Jesus was (27b-28). The first theory was that Jesus was John the Baptist (raised from the dead). Remember back in Mark 6, after Jesus had sent out the twelve to preach the message of the kingdom, we read that

¹⁴ King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become known. Some said, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him."  ¹⁵ But others said, "He is Elijah." And others said, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old."  ¹⁶ But when Herod heard of it, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised…" (Mark 6:14-16).

John was a unique character, himself viewed by many as a prophet akin to the prophets of the Old Testament. Some, apparently like Herod, thought Jesus was John, raised from the dead. Others understood that Elijah was coming, heralding the dawn of the messianic age. Could this preacher and miracle worker be none other than Elijah? Others imagined that if He wasn’t Elijah, He surely must be a prophet, maybe even the Prophet like Moses (Deut 18:15).

       There were a lot of ideas about who Jesus was during the time of His earthly ministry. Some of course, especially among the leaders, branded Him a messianic pretender, a blasphemer worthy of death (cf. Luke 22:67-71).  Today as well there are many ideas about Jesus. Most commonly, people will acknowledge Jesus as a great moral teacher, by deny any ideas that He is the Son of God. I like the famous response of C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity to that suggestion…

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to... Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.

I think his argument is sound. If Jesus was not speaking the truth in the claims that He made about His deity, He cannot be considered a great moral teacher! Either He was a liar, a lunatic, or Lord! He claimed to be the Son of God—He said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” Either his claims are true or they are not. I would add that the works that He did, and in particular His resurrection from the dead, leave no doubt: Jesus is much more than a great teacher, He is the Son of God!

       Each person must personally respond the question (29)! There were (and are!) a lot of ideas about Jesus, the question from Jesus is, “But who do you say that I am?” Do you believe that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God?  The first verse of the Gospel of Mark was a kind of thesis statement regarding the identity of the protagonist in the Story: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” To believe in Jesus is to recognize the full intent of those words. This book is a “gospel,” that is, “good news,” because it tells the story of God sending the Son into the world to provide redemption and reconciliation. He came to be our substitute, our sin-bearer, to make it possible for fallen humans to be reconciled to our Holy God. He is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One predicted in the Scriptures. Prophets, priests, and kings were all anointed in the Old Testament, and only Jesus fulfilled all three of those offices. Jesus is the Son of God, He came, just as God promised, to give His life to save those who will believe. Have you put your trust in Him? Is He your Lord?

II. A Follower of Jesus must trust in what He did for us (30-32a).

³⁰ And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.  ³¹ And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.  ³² And he said this plainly.

       For the moment, the disciples were to be silent, they were to tell no one. God’s plan must unfold in God’s way and at God’s time!  They were told to be silent… and quite the contrary, we are told, “Go and tell!” What was the difference? The next verse explains it. The story that Jesus came to carry out was reaching the climax. He presented himself to the people through His public ministry, and though many were attracted and fascinated by the miracles He did, in the end most found His teaching too hard to accept. The rulers had long since made up their minds – we will not have this man to be our king!  They were looking for a reason to accuse him, and an opportunity to do away with Him. For now, the disciples were to dedicate themselves to trying to understand more fully who He is, and to trying to grasp, somehow, what it was that He came to do.

       “He began to teach them…”  plainly about his coming rejection, His passion, the Cross, and the resurrection. He taught them from the Scriptures and He taught them by His own authority.  Clearly, based on the next scene (Peter tries to rebuke Jesus!) they didn’t yet grasp what Jesus was saying. They saw the Mighty One, like a Great Oak Tree, moving, yet they couldn’t see clearly who He really was, nor could they understand what He had come to do. So, in preparation for what was coming, in giving them a foundation to fall back on as the events unfolded, He began to teach them. It seems likely, during this last leg of ministry as the time in Galilee comes to a conclusion and they turn south toward Judea and Jerusalem, Jesus’ teaching probably focused on what is outlined here in Mark 8:31 (see 9:30-32; 10:23-34). Still, they couldn’t see! Before we are too hard on the disciples, think about how shocking this must have been—a suffering, rejected, dead messiah? After Jesus said that, did they even hear what He said about the resurrection on the third day? Jesus was here with them, teaching them, doing works of power. Surely, He would soon usher in the kingdom… wouldn’t He? If we jump ahead for a moment to Luke 24:13-27, after the resurrection, we get a sense of how confusing all of this was for those who were hearing it…

¹³ That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,  ¹⁴ and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.  ¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.  ¹⁶ But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.  ¹⁷ And he said to them, "What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?" And they stood still, looking sad.  ¹⁸ Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?"  ¹⁹ And he said to them, "What things?" And they said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,  ²⁰ and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.  ²¹ But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.  ²² Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning,  ²³ and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.  ²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."  ²⁵ And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  ²⁶ Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?"  ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

       Was it not necessary?—Here He said, “…it is necessary…” Divine necessity – God’s plan must be fulfilled. It was necessary because God planned it in eternity past, and revealed it through the ages in the Scriptures. It had to happen because this was the only way for Holy God to pardon sinful humans. As someone said, “He came to pay a debt He didn't owe because we owed a debt we couldn't pay.” R.C. Sproul, in his commentary on Mark, said,

Why did Jesus use this language of necessity? …because, from the foundation of the world, the Father had determined that the Son would suffer, be rejected, and ultimately be killed to redeem His people from God’s righteous wrath against their sin. The punishment for sin before almighty God was death, and if Jesus was to save His people, it would be necessary for Him to make full payment for their sin.

       “…the Son of Man…” This was Jesus’ favorite title to use to describe himself, and always, as here, in the third person. I believe the title is only used once as a messianic, eschatological title in the Old Testament Scriptures, in Daniel 7:13-14,

¹³ I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.  ¹⁴ And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

This One of whom Daniel spoke comes in the clouds, is presented before the Father’s throne, and would have an eternal reign over the nations. This is the sense in which Jesus appropriates the title. He is coming Messiah, the Promised One, the Rescuer and King for which the world was waiting. But in using this title, and speaking in the third person, Jesus maintained some ambiguity. It was not a common, often used title of the Promised Messiah. There was room for interpretation. We see that in this exchange with the leaders of the Jews in Luke 22:67-71,

⁶⁷ "If you are the Christ, tell us." But he said to them, "If I tell you, you will not believe,  ⁶⁸ and if I ask you, you will not answer.  ⁶⁹ But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God."  ⁷⁰ So they all said, "Are you the Son of God, then?" And he said to them, "You say that I am."  ⁷¹ Then they said, "What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips."

Notice He used the title “Son of Man” in v.70 in response to the leaders’ question as to whether He was the Messiah. But His answer was sufficiently ambiguous, uncertain as to what He was claiming, they ask a follow-up: “Are you the Son of God then?” His answer to that question was all they needed—they had enough to condemn Him! Ironically, in their rejection and condemnation of Jesus, they were fulfilling their own Scriptures and confirming His messianic identity!

       The exaltation and glory of the Son of Man pictured by the prophet Daniel must be preceded by His suffering as the Servant predicted by Isaiah:

³He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  ⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  ⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. (Isa 53:3-5).

The gospel writers, including Mark, all address the questions, “How could it be that Jesus is the Messiah if he was rejected by his own people?” And, “Why would God allow His anointed one to suffer and die?” These questions were a stumbling block to the Jews, and also a challenge to gentiles looking in and considering the claims of Christ. The answer: The cross wasn’t a defeat or a failure, it was the plan of God, His appointed means to justify those who believe. As I noted earlier, “He came to pay a debt He didn't owe because we owed a debt we couldn't pay.” 

      “…He said this plainly…” (32). There were no parables or figurative language in this teaching!  Jesus told them plainly what was going to happen, but they did not yet have eyes to see and ears to hear. They would certainly ponder these things in their hearts, but only after Jesus appeared to them after the resurrection and opened their minds, could they understand. If you have any doubt that the disciples could not grasp what Jesus was saying, look ahead to the following verses. Peter’s first reaction was to take Jesus aside and rebuke Him!  Imagine that, Peter, the disciple, was rebuking the Son of God, the living Word, about the correct interpretation of the Scriptures and the details of God’s unfolding plan in the world! Jesus would sternly rebuke Peter, but graciously, after the Cross and the Resurrection, He would give the disciples “20/20 hindsight,” opening their minds to understand the Scriptures (Lk 24:44-46). He told them,

"These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."  ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,  ⁴⁶ and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead…”    

The events of the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ were at the heart of the plan of God, and after Pentecost, they were at the heart of the message the apostles preached. On that day Peter said in Acts 2:22-24 (cf. Paul’s teaching in I Cor 15:3-4),

²² “…Jesus… a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know- ²³ this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.  ²⁴ God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it…”

That was God’s plan… and it unfolded exactly as it was written. He did that for us.

What is God saying to me in this passage? Jesus is God, the Son. He came, just as was promised, to give His life to save those who will believe. Have you put your trust in Him? Is He your Lord? Have you made it your mission to tell others about Him?

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? If you have not yet recognized your need, that you are a sinner, and that your sin separates you from God, I would invite you to look to the One who showed His love by taking the punishment that you and I deserved, making it possible for us to be reconciled to God. It is not a plan that I would have come up with! The disciples heard it from the Master himself, and they lived it, as the story unfolded according to God’s plan, and they didn’t get it at first either! At least not yet did they understand, not at this point in the gospel. They couldn’t yet grasp that God’s love and God’s justice intersected at the Cross. For God so loved the world—He so loved you and me—that He gave His only Son—He sent Him into this fallen world to bear our sins in His body on the cross—so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life! Amen.