Mark part 37…Nov.4
th
2015
Chapter 8:27-30
As I read the Bible I believe there are many teaching but two teachings in particular that are clear when it comes to life…
The first is…before there can a resurrections there must be a crucifixion.
There are times when something has to die out of our lives for God to raise new things up in our lives.
Another way to say that is sometimes God has to take us down to raise us up.
The second is… crowns are made out of crosses.
To wear the crown you must first bear the cross.
Another way to say that is suffering precedes glory.
We will see those two things and why they are important as we continue to study Mark.
At this point in Mark the disciples have been with Jesus two and a half years 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
For two and half years they have had divine revelation .
For two and a half years they have heard profound teaching .
For two and a half years they have seen hundreds of miracles .
And for two and a half years they have witnessed first -hand the requirements of ministry.
After a teacher teaches there comes an exam to what the student has learned.
In these verses tonight Jesus gives them that exam.
Before we get to that exam let’s examine some other things.
First we need to look at where Jesus is taking the disciples.
Verse 27…Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi.
In this verse we see once again Jesus is in transition with the disciples.
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Taking them from place to place and in each place Jesus took them He used it as a classroom.
When Jesus takes them to Caesarea Philippi He is doing three things.
First Jesus is changing the classroom setting.
Second Jesus is setting the stage for the examination.
Third Jesus going to reveal future events to them.
The choice site of this again was Caesarea Philippi.
There is a reason as I said for this particular place.
Some history will help better understand why Jesus choose this place.
Caesarea Philippi was originally known as Paneas.
It had been named by the pagans who once lived there and who had dominated the city for the god Pan.
Pan was said to be half- man and half goat that played a flute.
Pan was said to have been born in a cave there so the city was called Paneas.
But the cities name was changed by Herod the Great when Caesar Augustus gave the territory to him.
When Herod died he split it into four parts and gave it to his four sons.
The part we read about tonight went into the hands of Philip.
The political thing to do in order to keep Caesar on your good side was to name a city after
Caesar.
So Philip changed the name from Paneas to Caesarea a form of Caesar.
Philip wanted to include his name as well so he called it Caesarea Philippi.
Caesarea Philippi was a place filled with idols and idolatry.
The temple in the city was to worship Caesar Augustus as they saw him as a mortal deity.
The citizens of Caesarea would say Caesar is Lord.
The city also gained its fame as the center of Baal worship.
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That also gave the city another name for awhile…as it was once also called…
Balinas.
The city was a very idolatrous place that was very hostile to Scripture.
As Jesus and the disciples walked along the road they would see in the rocks many idols that had been carved out by the people.
It was in this setting where people dueled over their gods that Jesus gave the first question of the exam.
Jesus asked His disciples who do men say that I am?
What do the people say about Me?
What’s the human insight on Me?
Verse 28 … So they answered John the Baptist; but some say Elijah and others one of the prophets.
Jesus asked the disciples because they knew the answer, the reason they knew the answer is because they have heard the people talk about Jesus.
They have heard the positive and negative they have witnessed as well as heard people speak about Jesus.
So they said well some say John the Baptist.
Now that is very perplexing because John the Baptist had been murdered by this time.
And when John the Baptist was alive they were seen together.
And besides that Jesus’ and John the Baptist’s personality and ministry was quite different.
John the Baptist had a ministry of judgment where Jesus came in a spirit of meekness and service.
John performed no miracles and Jesus was a miracle worker.
So that seems weird that people would say that.
But maybe John the Baptist was resurrected and looked like Jesus.
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And he was the forerunner of Jesus.
Then they said that some of the people said Jesus was Elijah.
The reason they picked Elijah was according to Malachi 3 and chapter 4 He was to come to earth prior to the Messiah’s arrival…
And besides that Elijah didn’t die he was just swept up and taken to heaven.
Then according to Matthew some said Jeremiah .
Some thought Jesus was Jeremiah because a tradition among the Jews.
And because Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet and Jesus was a man of sorrows.
Both Jeremiah and Jesus condemned false religions and both were misunderstood by the people.
So there were many possibilities but they were all wrong.
What they all had in common they knew Jesus had to be a Prophet and they knew He had to be from God.
But everyone was convinced Jesus was not the Messiah.
Why couldn’t He be the Messiah?
He couldn’t be the Messiah for the simple reason He didn’t match their Messianic concept.
When it came to the Messiah everyone had a concept of what He should be.
The Messiah was thought to be a political ruler, one with military power, one that would overthrow Rome and destroy all of Israel’s enemies.
One who would bring blessings to the land, prosperity to the people and bring peace permanently to Israel.
Jesus didn’t fit the concept.
He wasn’t a military leader He only had the 12 steady followers.
Jesus didn’t look like a king or act like a king and He wasn’t a conqueror in their eyes.
So the people saw Jesus as only another prophet.
One of the prophets reflects a very low view of Jesus.
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The reason there were so many different thoughts as to who Jesus is was due to the people having opinions instead of convictions.
When Jesus asked them the question, who do men say that I am…
It was not to get information but it was an opening to His second question which more important.
Verse 29
…
He said to them, but who do you say I am?
Jesus asked them the most important question that could ever be asked to a human being.
Who do you say that I am?
Every human being that has ever lived on this earth is accountable to God for the answer to that question.
The Muslims, the atheists, the religionists and the liberals and the legalists will all have to answer that question one day.
The right answer means heaven the wrong answer means hell.
Peter the spokesman for the group answered Jesus and said…
You are the Christ.
This is the second time the word Christ is used in the book of Mark.
Christ is not a name it is the Hebrew equivalent for anointed.
So the word Christ means The Anointed One or the promised Messiah.
Jesus is His name
…
Christ defines His role and work…
The name Lord is His ultimate title.
Matthew 16 says Peter answered and said You are the Christ the Son of the Living God.
Luke says Peter answered and said You are the Christ of God.
So in reality Peter is answering in several ways at the same time.
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But the answer when put all together is…
You are the Messiah.
When he answers Matthew 16:17 tells us Jesus said to him…
Blessed are you Simon son of Jonas for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but My
Father who is in heaven.
What Jesus is saying to Peter is very important.
He is saying people, reasoning, and experience is not sufficient to show us who Jesus really is.
So the question is how do we really come to the place of knowing who Jesus is?
The answer to how we know who Jesus really is revealed to us by the Father in heaven.
In other words a person comes to really understand who Jesus is and the importance of
Jesus by divine intervention.
1rst Cor. 12:3 says… No man can confess Jesus as Lord but by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said in John 6 no one can come to Him unless the Father draws him.
This means the only way to know who Jesus is by the Holy Spirit revealing Him to a person.
Here is beautiful picture of the Trinity.
A person cannot know God unless Jesus reveals God to them…
And a person cannot know Jesus unless the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to them.
Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah because the work of God and the work of the Holy
Spirit had been done in their hearts.
Verse 30
…
Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.
Why did Jesus say keep quiet about it?
One reason was because the disciples still had a lot to learn about Jesus and what it meant to follow Him.
The second reason was if they announced Him as the Messiah it could result in political uprising that would do harm.
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As I close tonight let men ask you the same question…who do you say that Jesus is?
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