Q&A With Jesus (part 2) - [Mark 8]

typically in a in a passage like this we would take a small section and dig rather deep into it but I think

Mark 8 has a has a panoramic view of how Jesus ministers that I think it is it is helpful for us to kinda step back a little bit and look at each of these seven events not as deeply as we would otherwise have done but still get to the heart of what

Jesus is doing and the title for today's message is Q &A with Jesus.

You're familiar with elder Q &A so you write questions you put them in and then you pose the questions and the elders give the answers and that's always the nice order when it happens you know if the elders are posing the questions and you have to give the answer things get a little trickier and today when we look at Q &A with Jesus it's not the disciples asking

Jesus the questions in fact if you look at Acts 1 some of the disciples would say Lord when are you going to when is this the time when the kingdom is going to be established and then the answer from Jesus was it's not for you to know the times or seasons but you be faithful and Peter gets that in Acts 3 he would actually say you know the times of restorations are coming but you need to repent and believe in the gospel but in Mark 8 it is

Jesus asking questions of those around him. There are disciples, there are

Pharisees, there are unbelievers getting saved and there are all kinds of questions that Jesus has in Mark 8 and I have seven of them that are listed out that I want us to just quickly walk through.

As you see that these questions are intended to probe into the dullness of heart of the disciples or the hardness of heart of the

Pharisees and these questions are intended to wake up the people from their slumber so that they can worship

God, repent and follow after Christ and when you look at Mark 8 from the first question to the last it's like climbing up a mountain it starts rather easy and then as you get to the very end these are weighty, heavy questions, good questions for us today to ponder.

So in one sense I'm glad that I was not with Jesus physically because if I can just imagine

Jesus asking me these questions it would have been terrifying but you know thankfully we have the others who have faced the brunt of the questions but they still have the same power and efficacy as we ponder what this question means to us because through the scriptures

Jesus is still questioning you and me with the same questions that we see here.

Now as I said this is part 2 we already looked at three questions a while back I'm just going to quickly review them and then we'll get into the new material in a few minutes.

So the seven questions you just had Mark 8 read to you, the first question is found in verse 5 and was a simple question

Jesus asking his disciples how many loaves do you have? As you know this is the event of the feeding of the 4 ,000 before it happened the question comes so the disciples all they had to do was look around do a little math and give them the answer and they gave the answer they said it was seven.

Now this question posed before the miracle reminds the disciples of what exactly their provision was and Jesus actually talks to them about what must be done to these people who are ready to faint and pass out and then when

Jesus demonstrates his power, his compassion for these people and then he has a strong calling as well to the disciples in terms of how they must live in response of what

Jesus does so the question although it seems like a very simple math question reminds the disciples of the power of Jesus here was a crowd a multitude of 4 ,000 plus and all they had was seven bread loaves of bread and then when it was all finished they had seven large baskets full left over and no question in their mind when that question was answered and the event was processed that Jesus was all -powerful he was a compassionate

Savior that cared for the people. Now the second question you see in verse 12 a very very different kind of question where Jesus says why does this generation seek a sign it comes as he sighs deeply in his spirit this is a rhetorical question this is a question posed to the

Pharisees that come right after Jesus does the miracle in the

Decapolis region and then now he comes over to Dalmanutha the Jewish side and all these people gang up around him and ask him for a miraculous sign right after he has just done this huge miracle and his fame is spreading all over by this time

Jesus has actually filled the land with signs and wonders there was no one was questioning the ability of Jesus to perform miracles they were just were asking on what basis

Jesus was doing this miracles was this from God or was this from Satan and here right after a miracle the

Pharisees have the audacity to come and say give us a sign from heaven and then

Jesus basically says you know I'm not here to do miracles on demand and this is actually a sign of judgment when

Jesus passes this question and poses this question he says why does this generation seek a sign and he leaves he departs from these people and leaves them in their hard -heartedness strong strong question that just shows

God's judgment coming upon them the third question is in Mark 8 17 to 21 we're going to come back to this with the next question but I want to just make sure you understand this context because it's helpful for our text today in verse 17 through 21 you have a let me read the question why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread and then you have a series of blistering questions as Jesus just asked them one after the other after the other and finally says having eyes do you not see having ears do you not understand he basically says you know you just miss everything that is going on over here and what really happens here if you remember the reading that was just done you have the

Pharisees who have come and challenged Jesus in terms of his authority and now

Jesus is leaving Dalmanutta he's going over to the other side to Bethsaida and while they're on the boat the disciples don't have they just have one loaf of bread not enough for all the disciples and so when

Jesus says watch out for the leaven the quote -unquote leaven of the Pharisees the disciples misunderstood

Jesus and they just thought oh he's talking about bread we didn't bring bread and so Jesus is catching us and then

Jesus turns that around and then he says with these questions he gives them the answer he says how many loaves did you have when we fed the 4 ,000 the 5 ,000 and he reminds them food is not the issue physical food

God can provide and here is the leaven which is the yeast that can corrupt and the false teaching of these

Pharisees that is going to be so pervasive and coming into your thinking that you need to watch out for that and so Jesus warns them and and reminds them and then actually exposes their dullness of heart you have eyes but you do not see so these were the first three questions and we did that in 10 minutes maybe we'll get through the other four in time today so I'll just read the four questions and then after that we'll get down one in detail with each of them so the fourth question if you will first for today is in verse 23 where Jesus asks blind man he heals do you see anything and now you can start to see the intensity ramp up in question 5 in verse 27 who do people say

I am and then question 6 in verse 29 but who do you say that I am and then the last question question 7 in verses 36 and 37 for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul for what can a man give in return for his soul my goal this evening is that we will listen to Jesus as he asked this question and then we would wake up that we would follow after him and that we would live out the gospel let us pray before we get into this text a loving and gracious father

Lord this Lord's Day evening we pray that you would strengthen us in our body mind and soul

Lord open our eyes open our hearts that we would hear your word that we would listen to you and that you

Lord would do a work in us this evening transform us O Lord by the washing of your word in Christ's name we pray all right question 4 on verse 23 do you see anything

I'm just going to read that whole section from verse 22 to 26 as we understand the context of this question that Jesus asks so we left question 3 on in Dalmanutha they were on the boat and they were crossing over to Bethsaida and so in verse 22 they came to Bethsaida Bethsaida is a place where Jesus has done a lot of miracles before this is the hometown of Peter and Andrew the brothers and also of Philip and so they come to a familiar place and what happens some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him the ability of Jesus to heal was well known and there were some people who both trusted in Jesus and loved this person who was blind that they knew that they wanted

Jesus to minister to this person and they entreated they they asked they begged Jesus to touch him and to heal him and when you think of that term touch you're going to see in this in this section

Jesus is very tactile he's going to be handling this person while he ministers to him he's not a hands -off kind of God verse 23 and he that is

Jesus took the blind man by the hand touching and led him out of the village and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him he asked him do you see anything that's the question and then the man responds he looked up and said

I see men but they look like trees walking let's just stop here for a moment this question is simple right just like almost the first question how many lows do you have just count and look do you see anything all he had to do was this man couldn't see he just had to open his eyes look around and answer but what would you do if you were that blind man

Jesus for all this time has done healings in plenty never has there been a time when someone didn't get a full recovery of sight here was this guy he could see something this probably gives us some idea that he was probably not born blind probably someone lost his sight because he could recognize what trees where he could recognize what men where and as far as this vision was concerned the only distinction between them were some trees were moving and some were not and that's how he could see that some women and some were trees so his eyes were not clear to one to see what exactly was going on but he could see something there was some vision but it was not fully there and if I was that man

I'd be like something must be terribly wrong with me you know Jesus heals every time and it's just in my case

I can't see but he gives an honest answer he says this is what happened to me Lord and come what may and part of a challenge will be to understand what

Jesus is doing in this miracle but Jesus asked the simple question he gets a response and then in verse 25 then

Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again and he opened his eyes and his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly and let me just re -conclude with verse 26 he sent him to his home saying do not even enter the village now firstly as I talk about as we look at this miracle of healing you just want you just should you see the various ways in which

Jesus heals in John 9 he makes a mud cake puts it on his eyes in other cases he doesn't even see the person he just says the word and from a distance someone is healed

Jesus does not have a formula for healing you know do these A, B and C and then you will get your sight or X, Y and Z and you'll get your legs taken care of in Acts you have the sons of Sheba who say you know we want in the name of Jesus that Paul proclaims you know we want to cast out this demon there is no such formula no magic in which healing happens

Jesus ministers to each one in this particular case takes him by hand leads him out of the village and ministers to him personally the healing that God has for him just a note on the side but now let's look at this question there are two things

I want us to examine from here and to begin with I want to ask you a question what did

Jesus want the people to learn through this question and more broadly this healing that happens here what was

Jesus intending for the people to learn and then if you narrow that down and look at the question the question

I I ask you is was Jesus learning something by asking that question or was

Jesus teaching something by asking that question now you see if the scripture had another verse which just said

Jesus asked do you see anything and then it and you have

Mark commenting on it saying because Jesus did not know if the man saw then I would say yes Jesus was learning something from that question you know

I would submit to it even if I can't process it but the text does not say the intent of the question and our responsibility is from the context to try to understand what the intent of that question was now you have maybe a couple of places where Jesus asked questions like this if you go back to Mark chapter 5 you have the woman who was bleeding and who touches

Jesus and Jesus asked who touched me and once again you ask the same question what was the purpose of that question was

Jesus learning or was Jesus teaching something and then if you look at the rest of the

Gospels you have a preponderance of evidence talking about Jesus while he was on earth and he was ministering that he knew exactly what was going on in the lives of the people around him and in the hearts of the people around him you look at John 2 as it ends after Jesus does a lot of mighty works in Jerusalem Jesus does not commit himself to any man because he knew what was in the hearts of men he knew what was going on he wasn't that he wasn't like one of us in that sense he had a knowledge that was divine in Mark chapter 2 once again

Jesus knows what was going on in the hearts of the people right after he has actually forgiven a man of his sin and healed him of his paralysis

Jesus I contend is not here learning by this question but he is actually teaching or instructing the people around something that they needed to learn now who is it that he is trying to teach and what is actually going on here now that is just one half of the question and the second half of the question is and I think this should be kind of obvious did

Jesus kind of have little less power that day you know when he actually put his hands on this man that he didn't get the full healing is that why this two -stage miracles happened

I think that would be even almost blasphemous for me to say this from here you know that this is a very unique miracle because there's no other miracle like this that happens in two stages and I would once again just as we talk about his omniscience also talking about his omnipotence here is the

God of the universe in his divine nature upholding the entire universe as Colossians once would say and also here ministering to this person and I would say it is not a limitation of God's power but it is the sovereignty of God according to his will and his purpose that this was done in two stages alright so now that we've kind of covered what it is not

I know you're all very eager to find out what it is what did Jesus want to do through this text my role as an expository preacher is to study the text and tell you what it means and I have to confess that I don't have a straight answer for you so you ask me why do you preach this text we'll find out in a moment there are commentators who disagree on what this could be happening so I'm gonna just give you a little bit of a background of what this could be and I think we can learn a lot even though we may not be able to narrow down and say this is exactly what it is some commentators think

I think it's Hendrickson who says this could be for the blind man here you have the friends of the blind man who are leading him up to Jesus and maybe this is one of those guys that you know just heard a lot about Jesus really doesn't have faith in this in this

Aitner and rabbi but his friends are also excited so he goes along for the ride and then he gets this healing and then it's going to be one of those healings which like maybe like John 5 doesn't really have a salvific effect so Jesus really stops, asks him, handles him, deals with him in the stages so that he actually considers the weight of what is happening to him while Jesus is ministering to him is that a possibility?

Possible. And then there are other commentators and I tend to agree with them that this is actually a message for the disciples who are watching what

Jesus is doing to this blind man. You see when Jesus does miracles yes he had compassion for the people he was ministering to them in their need to help them from their suffering but that was not the only purpose you will always see the miracles of Jesus tied very closely with the teaching of Jesus.

Jesus teaches something and does something and there is who Jesus is whether it is a salvific message or or something that Jesus is proclaiming in the words and and the miracles that go hand in hand and so if you broaden the scope a little bit to say when

Jesus asks do you see anything is there a context in which this question could fit this miracle could fit what

Jesus had just taught recently and I say if you go back to question 3 which was in verses 17 through 21 there is something similar that has just happened that seems to tie in with what has happened here in question 4.

So if you look at verse 17 do you not yet perceive or understand and verse 18 having eyes do you not see and ears do you not hear.

So here Jesus had just taught the disciples something and there was a there was something that was going on in the life of the disciples which

I think brings to a focus with this miracle happening right after what Jesus has asked them.

You see when Jesus asked the question having eyes do you not see it's very obvious that the disciples had eyes not just the physical eyes but the spiritual eyes.

When they were in Dalmanutha you have the Pharisees who questioned Jesus they were blind they had no eyes and they were asking all these ridiculous questions of Jesus but these disciples knew who

Jesus was they had just seen the miracle they trusted in him and they had come in the boat with him they were in the boat together they were committed to this

Messiah Jesus and they were following him and yet when it came to understanding who

God was what the spiritual truths were that they needed to follow after especially in that particular context 11 they just didn't fully get it yet.

In fact it will be a while it'll be after the resurrection that they will actually understand everything that Jesus has done and their eyes would clearly open and then in acts with the power of the

Holy Spirit they would go out and do things but here they have the spiritual eyes that God has given them but they don't still quite see here.

There seems to be a progression in the understanding of the disciples and it is quite possible that while Jesus does this miracle whether it is for the blind men or for the disciples

Jesus is actually instructing the disciples on what they needed to see and understand from this message now

I want to just say two more things before we move from here firstly when I see this miracle

I hope you don't have this reaction oh you know I saw the miracle of the healing of the centurion's son centurion's servant from a distance powerful but I read this miracle and then

I say I wish it wasn't there you know it would have been cooler if Jesus had just done it in one step the man had his eyes fully restored he could see completely clearly a man who couldn't see sees now there was no surgery done there except a surgery by the

Lord of the universe the the problem the Pharisees was exactly that the

Pharisees used to see all these miracles and they got numb to it Jesus does one more miracle what's the big deal

I want something bigger and mightier and greater and that was the hard heartedness that was characterizing the

Pharisees whereas we must be a people that just look eagerly and expectantly to God whatever

God does yesterday we had this home group we were talking about what God does in our lives and we need to be thankful and looking and and praising

God for what God does rather than saying oh it doesn't meet my standard and therefore it is not a miracle worthy of my praise and secondly we need to be remembering just like the disciples were had committed to the

Lord but they needed to have their eyes clearly open that they need to grow in their knowledge of the Lord that they needed to understand more clearly having begun their walk we too must remember that our walk with the

Lord if Jesus would ask you do you see anything you need to remember that our walk is a progressing walk we need to keep in the faith and I I was thinking of text like Hebrews 10 23 which talks about how we need to be in the faith and and stirring one another up to love and to good works and encouraging one another it is not like I've attained

I've seen my sight and I'm now good to go that's not the hot attitude of a believer but it is a it is one that when

I'm committed to the Lord I will follow after him and I will continue to learn from the word and will and trust in him as when

I first joined him rather than just saying I've reached it and no more alright so that's the hard part of the text for the rest of the text is very clear but it is difficult when we apply so we let's move from the first question to the second one in verse 27 and here the question is who do people say that I am and we see this in verses 27 and 28 and Jesus let me just step back

I missed the last part of the verse that's in verse 26 he says do not even enter the village and what happens here is if you remember he's taken the blind man out of the village he has healed him and he sends him away says don't go back and although this is the home town of three of the disciples there these people had seen many signs and had not yet responded to their

Messiah in fact this morning you had Matthew 11 21 read Woe to you Chorazin! Woe to you

Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes in fact chapter 8 is a pivotal point in the

Gospel of Mark until chapter 8 you see the mighty miracles being done to the public but after chapter 8

Jesus is going to focus his eyes on the cross and his ministry will shrink towards his inner core his disciples as he prepares them for what lies ahead and here again is another judgment that happens on Bethsaida even as this one man is healed in its midst so moving on to verse 27

Jesus from here now went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi Bethsaida on the northern shore of the

Sea of Galilee moving further up north into the regions where you now have Gentiles probably idols and on the way

Jesus asked his disciples the question who do people say that I am and they said

John the Baptist and others say Elijah and others one of the prophets the question itself once again is pretty straightforward how well do the disciples know the people around what are they talking about Jesus the disciples had come alongside

Jesus they knew him to be who he claimed to be but how well did they know their neighbors do they understand their relationship to Jesus the

Christ but the response in verse 28 is very instructive because as I said earlier the nation had seen who

Jesus is by the works that he had done and the teaching with which he had filled the land and the nation at this point is buzzing with a mighty works of Jesus Christ everybody knows that Jesus is somebody and based on the testimony of verse 28 at the very least he is a prophet now what kind of a prophet some say

John the Baptist others say Elijah so either he is one who was resurrected because John the

Baptist is dead by now so supernaturally raised back from the dead or Elijah who had gone up into heaven and now come back from heaven so he is someone sent by God and that's the mindset that they have and they think of a prophet or one of the prophets that God has sent and it's it and once again even look back at Dalmanutha these crowds knew better than the

Pharisees and the spiritual leaders who were blind and could not recognize their Savior now as great as this verse 28 is when when the disciples say this is what the people are saying this as you know still fall short of what it ought to be and we're going to see that in the next question but I want to just take a couple of minutes here to talk about this question itself who do people say that I am

I think for the disciples it was probably not a hard question because they the nation was buzzing with Jesus and probably then their family may be unbelievers like Jesus family was or the people that they were walking through probably where saying all these things that they could hear them well now let me just turn that question around just for a moment and say if Jesus were to ask you today who do people say that I am or if Jesus if I were to ask you who do people say that Jesus is would you actually be able to respond to that just like the disciples did you see this question is vital for the destiny of the people how they would answer that question and as far as you are concerned how well you know your neighbors and your friends, you know, maybe you don't know what we are neighbors and your friends think about Jesus.

It's a very simple question to ask. What is what is it that they think about Jesus? You see there is a little bit of a difference between the disciples answering this question and us because of the time of Jesus Jesus was this up -and -coming

Rabbi, you know, he was from this Galilean region a town that is so small not a big deal, you know, he's really not from Jerusalem.

So can he can any good come from Nazareth? That's the kind of questions that they had about Jesus, but Jesus has now come he start he's done all these things and he is like could this now be the

Messiah is this the one based on all that they have seen so he's a up and rising star and they haven't yet come to the conclusion that he is the

Messiah their Savior, but in our culture today is post -christian, you know,

Jesus we've heard it all we don't need to hear anything more. We have a culture that is just like, okay, you know, let's talk about the next new and brightest thing.

Jesus doesn't interest me now. That's the culture in which we have we stay when we ask this question.

Who do you think that Jesus is? Jesus just seems so outdated, you know, is he even relevant anymore for our time and our needs there are many sadly who just think of Jesus as a great teacher you read some of these marvelous words of Jesus recorded for us and they're like, okay, he must be someone smart, but maybe that's all he is just a human being who was very smart.

That's the humanistic error that is just prevalent in the world around us and then you have the more spiritual kind who would just say well, maybe he was a he was a master, but he's like many other

Masters spiritual leaders that we have maybe he was he was X or Y, but they cannot acknowledge him as the unique Savior the one and only who to whom they need to bow their knee.

Now, the question is when you ask your the people around you this question when you understand where they where they stay it becomes a lot easier for you to give them the truth about the

Jesus Christ who who he is and what they need to know in order to be saved even as you heard this morning to repent and to believe and in light of that just three short exhortations.

How do you do that evangelism? You know, this is just a indispensable responsibility for a disciple of Christ today you and I can't just say back stay back and say

I have received much from the Lord and I'll be content with what I have God says in the Great Commission Matthew 28 18 to 20 go therefore make disciples of all

Nations baptizing them and then teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you you have a responsibility to open your mouth and proclaim who

Jesus Christ is the words the scriptures are just filled with those words speak about Christ shouted out preach proclaim.

We have that responsibility to make Christ known to the people who are around us. Secondly, you have your life in Matthew 5 18 14.

You are the light of the world a city set on a hill cannot be hidden nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house in the same way.

Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven and again as your life demonstrates a salt and light there needs to be a risk.

There will be a response whether they will glorify God by following him or killing you one of those two things will happen and just just a short note here, especially in light of what you've been hearing when it says you are the light of the world.

You are not the source of light when you think of who the true light as it goes back to John 1 he is the light we like John the

Baptist are just reflectors of that light as God has done that work in us. It is inevitable that people see your work and glorify

God. In fact, just a reminder. There are some who put this above and say, you know, just live your life and that's good enough as a testimony.

I think Francis of Assisi said preach the gospel always and if necessary use words, that's completely anti -biblical.

You need to use your words and let your life also demonstrated, but there's one more way of evangelism and I think this is crucial for each of you.

You hardcore believers who are here in the night and that's found in John 17 17 to 20

Jesus is praying his high priestly prayer. He says sanctify them by the truth.

Your word is truth and then he goes down in verse 20. He prays for those who will believe he says in me through their word that they may all be one justice.

You father are in me and I in you that they also may be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

He's not only talking about the immediate disciples, but the disciples coming from them, which is you and I that the unity that we share in the body is an active demonstration of God sending

Jesus Christ. And so even although it's a tangential application,

I think it's important for us to remember that we need to be intentional in our witness to the

Lord. So let's now bring it back to focus in question number 6 on verse 29.

But who do you say that I am? And Peter answers you are the

Christ and he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

Who do you say that I am? This is the one question upon which your destiny.

Hinges upon Pastor Mike asks this question this morning and I ask you again if there's one person here who does not know not just in your mind, but in your heart and in your commitment to you to the

Lord in faith. This is a question. You need to wrestle with now when Peter answered you are the

Christ. He didn't say that because he was the smartest student in the bunch in Matthew 6

Matthew 16 verse 17. Jesus says blessed. Are you bar Simon bar

Jonah for flesh and blood does not reveal this to you, but my father who is in heaven.

This was a divine revelation to Peter and Peter as a spokesperson blurts out the right answer as it were but what exactly does this mean that you are the

Christ? In fact in in a mark in the Gospel of Mark. This is the first human confession of Jesus as the

Messiah you have right from early on the demons recognizing that Jesus is the son of God.

But here you have the great high profession by Peter because of divine revelation.

But what does this mean? You are the Christ. In fact, I asked a dear friend this week.

Well, who do you say Jesus is and on the basis of this context he said, you know, he is the Christ. But what does that mean?

What does it mean that Jesus is the Christ Christ? As you know is the term for the anointed one here is someone who was anointed by God and sent to accomplish

God's mission. And as you know, the term for anointing is Messiah in the

Old Testament. So when the people were looking for the Messiah who is going to be a descendant of David, this was one who was going to be anointed and sent forth by God.

So what is this term anointed really mean? You as you know for us looking back

Jesus is that prophet. That was going to be sent by God when

Moses talks about that will come a prophet like me and in Acts 3 we Peter reminds the

Jewish people. This is the prophet that Moses was talking about and Jesus is the great high priest like unto

Melchizedek. So he is the one who comes to initiate a new priestly service to bring us back to God.

He is anointed by God to do that and just as the Kings would be anointed as David was so also you now have a new

King the King the King that David himself was looking forward to who is now come here sent by God.

Not only is he prophet not only is your priest not only is your King. He is also your

Savior like no other because he is God himself who has come to rescue you.

So that's what this profession means. You are the Christ the one sent by God to rescue us.

Before we apply that just a short note on verse 30 where Jesus says he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

Can you imagine that Peter? You know, he blurts a lot of things gets half of them right half of them wrong.

He gets the greatest answer Jesus actually commends him in Matthew and then Jesus says clamp down don't talk anymore.

I can imagine how hard it would have been for Peter. Thankfully you and I don't have that restriction. So you can just go and proclaim the gospel no restrictions upon you.

But why do you think Jesus? Charged them not just charge them commanded them but strictly charge them don't do this.

Don't tell anybody else about me being the Messiah. As you know, there was a

Messiah frenzy in the land as people were thinking of the Messiah coming to redeem rescue them from Rome.

That was basically what the people wanted to do every time they recognize that this was a person sent by God when you look at John chapter 6 with the feeding of the 5000 they want to make him

King because rescue us from this political problems and Jesus has his time and his place for the

Revelation, but there is a little bit more that the disciples themselves needed to know before they could proclaim

Jesus as the Christ and we're going to see that in the next question because Peter got it that Jesus was the

Messiah, but he still didn't know what that really meant on the ground. They had not yet understood the life of the

Messiah the purpose of the Messiah and the oncoming death and the resurrection that was the part of the

Messiah's ministry until they understood it with Jesus going to teach them until that actually happened and Jesus is raised up.

They will not be fully equipped to proclaim who the Christ really is because they would be then sit proclaiming the same thing the people were thinking of a political

Savior. This is who Jesus is and that's not what Jesus was. Yes, Jesus was going to come back again and he will to rule but this was not the main focus of his first coming and they will need to learn that lesson before they go and speak and so he strictly charges them not to say.

So let's turn this question again. Who do you say that I am? So if I were to ask you if God were to ask you who do you say

I am Jesus asking you what would you respond? Do you are the

Christ is a good answer when you understand theologically what that means but it it is broader in the sense that you understand who

Jesus truly is that you understand what he has claimed for himself and what he has charged you to do if you recognize him as the

Christ and I think just one text for us to just mull on as we consider the question.

Who is Jesus Christ? How must I look up to him would be in John 14 verse 6 where Jesus said

I am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me.

This is just one of many things. Jesus said and I think that would be a good way for if you are not a believer today to consider this and even if you are a believer just to recognize what it means to be committed to the

Savior that you have called your Lord is Jesus your truth. Are you thinking of life on your terms the way you understand life or are you saying

Jesus claim to be the truth and it is on the basis of Jesus that I am now going to look at life the purpose of my life what

I am called to do what this world is about. Are you going to look to Christ as your truth? Jesus said

I am the way do you see Jesus as your great high priest the one who makes you right with God or do you think that you have ways that you can do that will satisfy

God on your own Jesus said he is the life now when you think of life is it what you have been given by God your autonomous ability to worship and accomplish things on your own just a physical life that you're content with or the spiritual religious activities that you do or do you see everything as a source of coming from God and it is because of Jesus that you have life on your own is he your

Savior is he has he actually rescued you from your sins and have you trusted in him as your

Savior and has that extended to Lordship. Do you live your life just as your own you said, okay,

Jesus has come he he lived a good and perfect life, but I'm going to still continue to be the

Lord of my life. Is that the is that the way you look at Jesus Christ? So when

Jesus asks you who do you say I am you want to think through theologically is he my

Savior is he my Lord is he my truth is he my way is he the Christ my

Lord and my God that brings us to the last question and I think this is the weightiest question of all we see this in verses 36 and 37 and especially for believers here today.

I think it is a good reminder of what our life is for what God has given us breath in this life in this world for I'm going to begin with verse 31 and we'll just walk through this and we'll take time as we get to the question.

Now verse 30 or verse 29 had this peak. In fact, you can divide mark a mark the book of Mark with that verse before and after and then right after Jesus Peter's Confession.

We didn't verse 31 Jesus began to teach them as I said, there's going to be this instruction to the disciples about who the

Messiah is that the son of man, which is the designation from Daniel talking about the Messiah to come 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.

This is just the first time that the disciples are hearing this but you will see this in the rest of Mark and the other Gospels as Jesus is going to give very specific instructions to them about what is going to happen to him here.

You have four things that are listed. He must suffer be rejected by these specific people killed and then after the third day rise again and in verse 32, we read that this was done plainly, you know, sometimes

Jesus talks to his disciples in parables and it either goes completely over them and then they have to come in private and say

Jesus. Can you can you just tell us what you just told the crowd and then Jesus would like to kind of bring it down.

Don't you understand this and then he would explain but this is one of those things that he just said it in such clear and plain terms that nobody could misunderstand what

Jesus was instructing them and teaching them upon and then in verse 32

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. So here you have Peter the number one student in the class was made the great high profession.

And now that you know, he's feeling a little good about himself. He says well, you are the Messiah and I have said it now.

I know what the Messiah must do. So let me teach you Jesus. What is the right thing to do?

So don't don't have all this, you know, the paranoia about death you you we know what the

Messiah should do. He should rule and he rebukes Jesus thinking that he now knows better than his master himself.

And then verse 33 but turning and seeing his disciples Jesus he rebuked

Peter and said get behind me Satan for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man, you see

Peter got the idea of Lord Jesus is the Christ. He needs to rule. He needs to have the glory.

But what he missed was the means to the glory that God had ordained for Jesus Christ.

And so when Jesus calls him Satan, he is essentially saying that you are thinking like the world that is under satanic thinking you are thinking like men here rather than understanding

God and his purposes and the way that he thinks you need to think God's thoughts after him.

You see the suffering as we see in the life of Christ and in our own lives is inextricably linked with a glory that God provides.

In fact, when I think about the verse 31 you have suffer rejected killed and then you have what?

Rice again in my mind. I'm thinking when Peter is listening to this suffer rejected killed.

He probably stops listening at that point. It's like what are you talking about Jesus and he just misses the greatest of all of the miracles, which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ that will procure our salvation because he was just so caught up in the suffering that was just so abhorrent and it is to us as humans.

We we don't naturally tend to them and Peter here thinks that's not the way to glory and Jesus now has to rebuke him correct him and then instruct him about what the true means to glory is for him as the

Messiah and then we will see for you and I as well. So here are having a rebuke

Peter in verse 33 Jesus now instructs you and I about what our calling is on this side of Eternity calling the crowd to him with his disciples.

He said to them if anyone would come after me. Let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me for whoever would save his life would lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the

Gospels will save it. I said a little bit earlier about Jesus saying I am the life you and I are more used to the physical life that we have given we've been given by God through our parents.

We are more used to living our lives as our own as autonomous creatures. And when we come to Christ and we say he is the life he is my

Lord we we were thankful for the sin that was taken up and the righteousness that was given but we also have to recognize that we now live for him and not for ourselves and that is the crux of this whole

Lordship Salvation Salvation is Salvation is free.

You don't do anything to get it, but it was not cheap. It cost the son of God his life and today when we think about what it is that we have committed to it is our whole life and being and I think that is succinctly captured in verse 34.

One of those verses that you just have to have it written up remind yourself daily because our flesh would rebel against this

Jesus has let him deny himself. Obviously, this is not talking about asceticism in the sense that I just deny my physical pleasures.

Maybe my food or my relationships or I go out into the desert like some of the early

Christians did and that will not constitute denying yourself completely.

Why because yourself is with you wherever you go. No matter what else you have divested yourself of what

Jesus is talking about is denying yourself the Lordship over your

Heart and the throne of your heart because each of us likes to rule our heart according to our own will our own pleasure our own desires and the question is are you willing to deny that quote -unquote right that you think you have over yourself and say no my my the throne of my heart belongs to someone else.

It belongs to the Lord my Savior. So I ask you the question who is the one who rules you as you examine your life in light of the scriptures

Jesus goes on. He says take up your cross. And as you know again in the context of that time, the cross was not jewelry.

This was a means of execution here. Jesus was saying the the the the path of suffering that God has ordained for you.

You pick that up and you walk joyfully you live out God's call in your life, you know today you and I when we are in the midst of suffering it just seems like you know, this is this is one of those things that I need to flee from but rather what

God says is you need to pick up that very cross that God has ordained in your life and then live out that life under God rather than like Jonah.

We've been listening to running away on your own because this cross is too heavy to bear and Jesus would pick his cross and die on our behalf and the last one here is follow me.

We have one leader your leader holds your full and complete allegiance and where he leads you follow for you and I it began with conversion when we our eyes were open when we see who the

Messiah is we are in the boat with Jesus Christ and then it happens day by day by day.

There are some days when you willfully reject the Lord as the master you're going to follow but then this needs to be the character of your life that you would be following him daily in the path that he leads you and this is demonstrated in the choices.

You will make in your life whether it is with your family in your own walk with the Lord with your co -workers the choices you make show who you follow.

Are you following still the king of your heart as yourself or are you following Jesus Christ?

And verse 35 has that paradox because if you think that you can live your life better than God has ordained it you will lose it but if you lose your life the right to rule the throne of your heart in order that he might rule you gain it for eternity and then we have the questions in verse 36 and 37 for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul or what can a man give in return for his soul is the price of heaven too costly.

You know when you think of the term a man gaining the whole world you can think of the most powerful men in the in the planet right up until now no man has actually gained the whole world might have gained a lot of the world but not really the whole world take a scale on this balance put everything that you can think of including the whole world and then on the other side you put your soul what is worth more temporarily it might look like this would be a good deal and if you got the whole world there but for eternity you have no price that you can pay once you are dead and facing

God at the judgment. What do you value more? Do you know that you have a soul and at the end of the day what price tag will it have?

As we conclude I think I'm reminded of the parable of Jesus in Luke 12 and I'll just read that for you.

Jesus said the land of rich man produced plentifully and he thought to himself what shall

I do for I have nowhere to store my crops and he said I will do this.

I will tear down my barns and bring build larger ones and there I will store all my grain and my goods and I will say to my soul so you have ample goods laid up for many years relax eat drink be merry.

But God said to him fool this night your soul is required of you and the things you have prepared whose will they be so is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

I pray that we would be a people that are rightly seeing

Jesus as our Lord that we value the things that are eternal rather than the things that are temporal in these four questions today.

We've seen the question given to the blind man. We see the power and the compassion of Christ and the need for us to trust in God and to grow in him in the question who do people say

I am we have seen our need to be evangelistic at the words with our actions with a unity in the body when we say who do you say

I am do you recognize what your profession means when you say Jesus is your Savior your

Lord and your God and does that profession? Work itself out into your life.

And finally when we think about the soul and the question that Jesus asked remember that our salvation is free, but we have

Jesus as our Lord and it is a good thing. Even when your flesh rebels against it glory in the cross deny take up your cross and follow him.

You see when you and I are questioned, it's it's never pleasant. But when

Jesus questions us from the word it is good for us because we need to be woken up.

We need to see Christ with fresh eyes and we need to submit to him that we no longer be dull and hard of heart, but rather we would confess our sin that we would repent and we would obey and follow

Jesus with a joyful heart. Let us pray a loving and gracious father.

We thank you for your son our Lord and Savior. We thank you for the life that he lived the work that he did and ultimately the price that he prayed.

What we pray that we would never take the finished work of Jesus Christ too lightly that we would by your

Holy Spirit's enabling live our lives as submissive to your son and submissive to your word changes.