Mark 8.27-9.1 Jesus, you must be joking
I read recently that they reckon by the time a child is 16 they will have asked over 500,000 questions and the majority will have started with the word Why. Sometimes we ask a question to gain information for ourselves. Sometimes it is a test to see what someone else knows. Sometimes it is to convey information. We often find Jesus answering questions in the gospel and on a few occasions He asks questions. . Look, with me, if you would at verses 27-30. These verses set the context in which the words are spoken by Jesus. Jesus has asked the disciples Who do the people say I am? The disciples have answered with all the popular answers of the day - John the Baptist, Elijah or some other prophet. He then asks them who they say He is? Simon Peter gives this wonderful answer You are the Christ. In Matthews gospel Jesus praises Simon for this confession. Here in Mark Jesus immediately goes on to teach the disciples exactly what Simons confession means. This passage is the turning point in the gospel of Mark. From here on Jesus face is turned to Jerusalem and the Cross. Read verse 31.
Verses 31-33 Shock One - The Messiah must die.
Mark tells us that Jesus began to teach the twelve that the Son of Man, that is Jesus, must suffer, be rejected by the social and religious leaders, crucified and then rise again. Now why was it important for Jesus to teach them this at this stage? Well you see, the disciples, like all Jews, had a false understanding of the Messiah and what He would do when He came. Simon has confessed that they believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed One, the One promised by God. However the common idea was that the Messiah would free Israel from all her enemies by military might. He would be a great liberator from the Romans. Jesus now teaches them as Mark says in verse 32 - plainly about this. So let us look at what He said to them about the Messiah, about Himself.
The Messiah must suffer, be rejected, die and rise again. This was the way it was going to be. This was to be the way of the Messiah. The disciples were shocked at this and they failed to understand. You see they did not understand that Jesus must
Suffer If you have ever seen Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ I think you understand something of the physical suffering of Christ as he was crucified. Yet the physical pain was nothing compared to the spiritual pain of taking our sin and bearing the wrath of God the Father towards sin. The agony of separation from the Father and the Holy Spirit that mystery of the cross as the Father turns His back on His Son expressed in that cry My God, my God, Why have you forsaken me?
All that suffering was to reconcile man to God.
Rejected - the religious leaders would fail to see He was the Son of God and they therefore would reject Him and the way of the Cross. He would be rejected by the very people who longed for the coming of the Messiah. He would be rejected by family and friends. When they come to arrest Him in the garden of Gethsemane His closest friends will run away in terror. Judas will reject Him and betray Him with a kiss.
Die - the Word of God tells us that without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sins. Under the old covenant the blood shed was that of bulls and goats. Once a year the High Priest would enter into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies within the Temple and present the sacrifice of atonement for the people of Israel. Daily other sacrifices would be offered to atone for sin and to make reparation for sin. But the thing was it had to be repeated endlessly, day after day. Month after month. Year after year. Jesus reveals that His death will atone for sin once and for all. The perfect sacrifice which would meet all the requirements of the Law and of the Holiness of God to atone for sin. He, the Messiah, would take the place of the sacrificial Lamb. He would stand in the place of condemnation and take upon Himself the punishment due for sin.
Rise again Yet death is not the end. In the old covenant the animal died and it atoned for sin but it could not bring life to the person in whose place it stood. When Christ died on the Cross He atoned for sin but rising from the dead He defeated death and offered victory over the grave. The disciples fail to understand these things -.9.10 says they failed to understand about the resurrection.
Their failure to understand is clearly demonstrated in what happens next. I love Simon Peter in the Bible. Failure after failure and yet God uses him greatly. Good old Simon - one minute confessing Jesus as the Messiah the next telling Him no not that way. Simon is shocked by what Jesus has just told them. He is offended with the idea of Jesus suffering, being rejected and dying. Please note will you Simon is full of good intentions. It is out of genuine love for Jesus that he does not want Him to die. It is also however, ignorance of the will of God that he rebukes Jesus. Simon says what the rest are thinking. Jesus replies in some of the hardest hitting words of all Scripture - READ verse 33. What a rebuke. Note He looks at the twelve, He knows they are thinking the same as Simon. I would say Simon went red with embarrassment and from what we know of his temper he probably had trouble controlling it. Why would Jesus say such a thing to a loving friend like Simon? Especially after Simon has just confessed Him to be the Messiah and when He knows that Simon spoke only in His best interests. Well the answer is quite simple:
The temptation to go another way than the way and will of God the Father - the way of the Cross. Jesus is here once again facing temptation to go the way of man and not the way of God. The Fathers way was of humility, obedience, suffering and death on the Cross - Paul says in Philippians 2 Jesus humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even death on the cross. It is the wilderness temptations all over again, only this time the words come from the lips of a friend, a disciple. Listen, learn from that. When we set our foot and heart to follow the way of God - good friends may well come and with good intentions and try to divert us another way. The temptation is to go along the way of the common expectations. Peter had no idea what he was doing. Peter, the one Jesus said would be the rock, whose confession of the gospel would be the foundation upon which Christ would build His church has now become a stumbling block to the way of the Cross. Jesus had to reject Peters assertion. He had to in order to obey the Father and to win salvation for mankind.
Verses 34-37 Shock 2 - The Messiahs Followers must die.
Jesus now calls the crowd to Himself. What He is about to say is for all believers, for all who would follow Him, not just for the select few, not just for the disciples or the leaders of the Church - but for all who claim allegiance to Christ. He now tells them plainly and in stark terms what it means to follow Him. READ Verses 34-37. Following me, He says, is not about power but about humility, obedience, suffering and death which will lead to resurrection to new life. To follow me means to follow my path, to suffer as I suffer and if needs be to die for me and the gospel. The gospel is about a crucified saviour - gospel people must therefore be a crucified people. Let us look at this a little more closely:
Deny himself - now this not denying that nice cream bun, or that second helping of chocolate cake. It is about dying to my self-centredness. Dying to my ambitions, my hopes, my possessions and living to Christ. Paul said I die daily. That is what Jesus calls for here. This is actually a harder saying than the rebuke to Simon in verse 33. I must move from being self-centred to be Christ-centred. I must give up all that would stand against me following His way. It is me giving my whole life over to Jesus because this leads to total freedom. As verse 35 says I have all to gain and nothing to lose. You see if I try to save my physical life by holding on to it and denying Christ I actually end up losing the greater prize eternal life. Which is of more value? As someone once said he is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep for what he cannot lose.
Verse 36 - Richard Branson when he was offered a bribe by GTech said I need only a suit , and three meals a day thank you. Howard Hughes had an immense fortune but ended up a lonely, broken, recluse. He had the wealth but at what cost. What about you? You see life to God is not cheap. Weigh it up - profit side = the world, loss side=soul - no contest really because they are nowhere near the same value. One is temporary, fleeting, the other is eternal. You can lose your soul in many ways:
Murder it - by loving sin and cleaving to the world
Poison it - by choosing lies and believing man-made religion and superstition
Starve it - by neglecting all means of grace and refusing the gift of Jesus - salvation.
The most foolish deal - to gain wealth and fame at the expense of your eternal salvation. To sell your soul for earthly gain is to sell it cheap, like Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of stew. Remember these words when you are tempted by the treasures and pleasures the world offers. Remember them when you are tempted to deny Jesus.
Verses 38-9.1 The Glory to Come
Jesus tells the crowd and His disciples there will come a day of reckoning. A day when I will judge the world. A day when men will be called to account for their souls. He has told them His way and His gospel will never be popular, it may lead them to suffering, even to death but that in the face of them they are not to deny Him. Many Christians know firsthand the truth of those words of Christ. Ask Lindy Reid about the persecuted church and you will be shocked at the facts. We may not face physical death here for the sake of Jesus and the Gospel but we will face ridicule, the death of our name and reputation, maybe the loss of promotion or even our job - but Jesus promises us a greater reward for standing up for Him. Our motivation for denial of Jesus is self, self-preservation - but Jesus has already challenged us that we must be Christ-centred and not self-centred if we would truly follow Him. The consequences of denying Him does not bear thinking about - READ Verse 38. How awful it will be on that day when Jesus denies men before His father because they have denied Him before men. It is hard to imagine that we would be ashamed of Christ. Yet Jesus says that is exactly what some people will be. They will be ashamed of Him, ashamed to be known as one of His people. Friends you cannot be a closet Christian. You cannot walk around denying Him and believe that one day He will present you before the Father with joy. Maybe this Christmas is actually the opportunity for you stand up and be counted for Christ. From this day forward purpose in your heart to follow Him and to no longer deny Him. We have much to gain and little to lose in following Jesus. As the old chorus goes the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of Him.
So today Jesus challenges each of us:
My way is the way of the Cross. It is the way of humility, obedience, suffering, death to self but it leads to resurrection and eternal life. What way are you going to go?
Amen.
