Who are people saying that I am? It continues in verse 28. So they answered, John the Baptist, but some say Elijah, and others one of the prophets. Guessing about Jesus Christ has never gone out of style.
It is here to this day. And we are supposed to be part of the processes of God and making sure people don't have to guess about Him. That we inform them who He is according to the Scriptures. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Mark. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio.
Specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, here's Pastor Rick in Mark chapter 8 as he begins his message, What Say You? We are in the Gospel according to Mark chapter 8 and take verses 27 through 38.
Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road He asked His disciples saying to them, Who do men say that I am? So they answered, John the Baptist, but some say Elijah, and others one of the prophets. He said to them, But who do you say that I am? And Peter answered and said to Him, You are the Christ. Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him. And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly and then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. When He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter saying, Get behind Me, Satan, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.
When He had called the people to Himself with His disciples also, He said to them, Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospels will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me, in My words, in this adulterous and sinful generation of him, the Son of Man, also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. What say you? That's the title of this message and we go right to verse 27.
There being a lot of material here. Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi and on the road He asked His disciples saying to them, Who do men say that I am? This Caesarea Philippi to the north in Israel's territory. In fact, this is the northernmost limit of our Lord's travels recorded in the scriptures. About 20-25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee and we are about eight days or so away from the Transfiguration. We'll get that in the next chapter and if you don't know what the Transfiguration is, what's meant by that, then we'll see you here next week.
It says here, on the road, but that's not while they were walking and talking. Luke tells us, and it happened as He was alone praying that His disciples joined Him and He asked them saying, Who do the crowds say that I am? And so on the way up towards Caesarea Philippi, these events are taking place and there was the Lord praying. And I would imagine the disciples, sort of like little children, getting a little restless.
How long is He going to take? And so they just sort of interrupt Him. It says here in verse 27, He asked His disciples saying to them, Who do men say that I am? That is the third time I've read that phrase and it is, of course, one of the most, if not the most significant question ever asked a human being. The Father tells us what His view is, which is the one that counts.
This is my beloved Son. So that's what the Father knows about Jesus the Christ. But this most important question of all, Mark is careful to deal with it, the first verse of the Gospel according to Mark. And there we read in Mark 1, verse 1, the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Well, if He is the Son of God, He is God the Son. He is divine.
You cannot say it in this context like this about anybody else that has ever been. It is exclusive to Jesus Christ. We're disliked for this. They'll just have to dislike us because the truth stands for what it is and we accept it and this is what makes a distinction between the true believer and the false one or an unbeliever. The Lord wanted to hear His disciples voice their opinion on this matter.
Who are people saying that I am? He continues in verse 28, So they answered, John the Baptist, but some say Elijah, and others one of the prophets. Guessing about Jesus Christ has never gone out of style. It is here to this day and we are supposed to be part of the processes of God and making sure people don't have to guess about Him, that we inform them who He is according to the Scriptures. Well, many felt that John the Baptist was Elijah and John the Baptist, of course, declined that.
He did not, or should I say, disclaimed it. He said, I'm not John the Baptist. Some transferred their identification from John the Baptist and said, well, Jesus must now be John the Baptist. This kind of thinking crept into the Jewish thinking because there were those that were writing these mythological things about Jewish religion and many people were picking it up.
Well, we have that today. We have people writing books that are kooky, and many people picking them up and reading them and then treating it as though this is the gospel, as though it is truth. And so when you step away from the Scriptures, well, when you're in the Scriptures, you have to be careful.
You step away and read other materials, you have to be careful also. You have to make sure those authors, their doctrine is consistent with what the doctrine of the Bible is. It says here in verse 28, and others, one of the prophets. Some of the other people, some saying, well, you're Elijah, some say you are John the Baptist, some say you're Jeremiah, some say you're somebody else, any of the other prophets. Well, Elijah particularly falls into this group because Elijah is the prophet that never died, the Jewish prophet that never died. And according to Malachi's prophecy in chapter 4, Elijah will return in the last days. And so you could see where they would make that connection, but you cannot see how they could stand by it. The writings that were coming up at this time at one point had even said that Jeremiah and Isaiah would come and help Ezra.
This was back in the days of Ezra. Again, these are mythological writings of the Jews, but they sort of gained some momentum amongst the people and crept into their thinking. And this is what caused the rumor mill about Jesus Christ to produce these wrong ideas. The prophets were prominent in Scripture, and they're prominent to us.
They have never been preeminent. They would never accept that they were. They were very quick to exalt Yahweh. And so here, as these disciples are telling Christ what everybody is saying about Him, they are bringing up these prominent people, but the people are failing to understand that He, Jesus, is preeminent, self-existent. The Messiah is self-existent because He's the Son of God.
He is God the Son, without parallel amongst all created beings, angels, spiritual beings, human beings, you know, franklin beans, all of them. To equate Buddha or Confucius or Muhammad with Jesus Christ is a mark of utter spiritual blindness. And if you claim to be a Christian, don't you ever back down from that, no matter what. They were just men, and they were sinners at that. They were born sinners, and they died sinners. They were born in need of a Savior, and they died in need of a Savior. And we Christians, we never apologize for these facts.
Jesus alone is the express image of God. That's what these men were getting. Will they ever really figure it out?
Yes, they will. Hebrews chapter 1, the writer says, God, who at various times and in various ways spoken times, passed to the fathers by the prophets. So the writer to Hebrews is saying, we have in our scripture God speaking to the prophets. And the prophets, of course, speaking to the people. But he says, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world.
That's pretty intense. He's saying Jesus Christ made the world. He is saying that when we open our Bibles to the first verse and we read, In the beginning God created from nothing the universe, the heavens and the earth.
It's Jesus Christ doing it. Yahweh of the Old Testament is Jesus Christ in the New Testament. The writer to Hebrews continues, he says, Who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged out sin, sat down at the right hand of majesty on high. See, Jehovah's Witness will have no excuse standing before God, because this verse takes away their corrupted thinkings, as well as the Mormons and anybody else who denies that Jesus is God the Son. In Jesus we come to know God, not anybody else. We come to know about God, we come to know about Christ through the Christians, yes. But we do not look at a Christian and know God.
Not like you do with Jesus Christ. The mind of Jesus is the mind of God, his Father, and no one else has come close. The character of Jesus is the character of God.
It is sinless, it is perfect in every way. These other men who started those other schools of thought and religions, they were again, they were sinners and they were fallen. So to look at Jesus Christ is to look at God. John's Gospel chapter 1, we're not going to see God at any time, the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has revealed him. We look at Christ, we see God.
I take so much relief from that, because never was there ever someone as pure and as merciful and loving at the same time. There were other opinions, though, than these voiced by the apostles. There were the scribes and the Pharisees who said that Christ was a deceiver.
Matthew's Gospel chapter 27, this is after the crucifixion, they speaking to Pilate, sir, we remember while he was still alive how that deceiver said, after three days I will rise. Well, everyone is entitled to our opinion of Christ, they're just not entitled to be right unless it matches the revelation given to us in Scripture. This is basic Christianity.
But I think we all need a dose of basic Christianity sometime, and this is it. Without this, you are not a Christian. Without understanding that Jesus Christ is perfect, is the savior of the world, is God come in the flesh, how do you belong to Christ? Because anything short of that is to refuse the revelation of Jesus Christ, it's to disagree with the Bible. Verse 29, he said to them, But who do you say that I am? And Peter answered and said to him, You are the Christ. So Christ here dismisses all those wrong opinions. Alright, I hear it.
Yeah, Jeremiah, Elijah, okay. Who do you say? He still does this.
He still asks. Anyone that comes in contact with the gospel of Jesus Christ must face this question, who do you say that he is? We're not allowed to speculate about his identity because it is revealed.
That's why. It'd be different if he had no record, no revelation, no statement, but we have it. And so to continue to speculate as to who he is is to reject in his face his own revelation. So we don't reject it. We receive it. He alone is the promised one, the Messiah Christ, the anointed, the chosen of God, the Messiah to Israel, the Savior of the world.
Not that all in the world are saved, but they can be. So we listen again. He said to them, But who do you say that I am?
What say you? What say you about the Christ with your life? How do you claim what you believe with your life? Or is it just talk? Is it just a philosophy with you? In our workplaces and classrooms, who do we say that Christ is by the way we carry ourselves? In our friendships, who do we say that Christ is? Are we unforgiving towards our friends? Are we selfish? Is it just about me and not really the other person?
Or is it a mutual experience? What about in a marriage? How's that going in Christ? Who do you say that I am in your marriage? What say you? Is he indeed Lord of the home? Are you attempting to walk together?
Because two can't unless they are agreed. Are you savage with your spouse? Unforgiving, unloving, bitter?
A lot of them are. You will then create a condition by which even God can't help you. Peter tells us, If you're pulling these stunts in your marriage, your prayers are blocked. God's not listening because you're playing him as we would say.
You're mocking him. How about in the church? Who do you say that I am? When you go to church, are you one that is trying to live out the gospel? Or are you trying to cover your flesh and pretend that you are?
How about in the pit of hardship and suffering? When nothing is going your way, who do you say Christ is then? Is he still Lord of all? Or is he a failure to you? How about in the good times?
Life's going very nicely. Who do you say that Christ is then? I think these are very important questions.
I would hope every Christian would stand up and say, Amen! These questions must be asked. And the answers must be carried out in action as best we can. Will we fail sometimes at these? Of course. The true Christian though is determined, determined to fix it, to repair it in some way, at some point.
What say you? That Christ is with your life. Are we able to treat someone like trash and then go kneel before the throne of God and thank him for all of his blessings in our lives after we've been accursed to somebody else? Are we too soggy with the self-willed defiant spirit to hate our own flesh and sin? We Christians, we don't love our sin. We're bitter towards it. But there are those that have heard these kind of messages for so long, so often, they're no longer moved by it and they will get up and they will go home and they will make no effort to answer the question, Who do you say that I am with your life?
This is why God has given the church preaching, because where else can you hear this? Maybe there's a person in your life that you just will not forgive. Well, you can't hear anything from them. Maybe there's someone else you don't respect. Maybe you don't like them because they don't agree with you on things that you want them to agree with you, so you can't hear from them, but then you come to a church.
You're almost forced to sometimes because of public opinion. What will your children say? What will your parents say? What will others say if you don't go to church? So you go to church, and the Holy Spirit comes to say to you, You say, you say to me that I am the Christ, but you're so unloving towards those I need you to love.
You're so hateful to those who have not hurt you. What am I supposed to do with you? Well, having already asked what others thought, he now asks his disciples the question, and he forces us to think.
The question narrows everything down to me. He doesn't say, What does the person next to you think? What does your child think?
What do you think? I'm talking straight to you, says the Holy Spirit. He's interested in what we think about him because he wants us in heaven, not hell. Very simple.
Not complex at all. That's the story of the Bible from cover to cover. God's saying to man, I want you with me in heaven. I do not want to see you in hell.
But you will have it your own way if you insist. So are there any here who care more about being liked by people than being liked by Christ? We talk about God loving us, but does he like you? Are you doing things as, you know, I love you, you're a sinner, and I understand. But the way you carry yourself, wounding everybody you come in touch with, makes it very difficult to like you.
You younger, well, I don't know about that, but let's just start with the younger ones. You may be so preoccupied with what everybody else thinks, everybody your age, that is. What about what Christ thinks? What about saying, look, I care what others think to a point.
The point is, when they want me to depart with Christ, I don't care what they think. It takes guts to do that. It takes a backbone. We sell them here.
They're for free. You come up and you tell the pastors at the end of service, I have this need. I am not standing up for Christ. I have no backbone. And they will pray with you, and God will give it to you.
Or you can continue to do what you've been doing and not have it and continue to not have it. But when the question comes to you, who do you say that I am? Be honest. Peter answered, he tells us here in verse 29, and said to him, Peter answered and said to him, You are the Christ. And all that is implied by that title, the anointed, the one and no other. There are lesser anointed ones. King David was anointed. King Saul was anointed, as men go.
This one is the anointed of God that all the prophets spoke of. And what Peter, what he said right here, is here to be read to the end of time by anybody that will come and read it. And then they have to react to it, either receive it or reject it.
There's really no middle ground. Sometimes it's a process, sometimes it's instant. But the passion with which he is, you're the Christ. You cannot read Peter's words and not miss his enthusiasm. You cannot miss that this man is excited because he's come in touch with truth, a truth that is undefiled. It is barred by opinion. It is just straight-out truth, a reality. Of course, they had seen Christ do things that flashed before them to say, He's not like any of us. Who can this be? He stops the weather.
There's no one like Him. But now, now it's beginning to crystallize. Now it's beginning to be tied into what God the Father has said through the prophets. Now they're clear.
They're straight on this. There's no declaration that He is different than anybody else. Matthew 16, 17, Jesus said, This is why, Peter, you're getting this question right, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. God the Father has given you the ability to see this, and that was true of Peter and the disciples with him, and that's true to this very day and has been true down through the ages.
It is God taking away the blindness, but only to a heart that's willing to receive it. Matthew adds that this confession, this realization that Christ is indeed all that the prophets were speaking of and more, is foundational to salvation. And so, of course, Matthew tells this story.
He says, Peter, these are the keys. This is the foundation. This is the rock of our faith. This recognition of who I am. Without it, there's no foundation. There's no structure.
You must have it. And we train our children from the very beginning to understand there's nobody like Christ. There is nobody like Christ. And when we get to heaven, oh man, that first sight of the one who is unlike anything we've ever seen. Peter died, and Paul, and they got to heaven. They saw Christ like they never saw him before, but they were ready. They were prepped by the Spirit of God, and so will we.
We see him now, but wait till we see him then. Verse 30, then he strictly warned them that they should tell no one about him. It seems counter to logic. Well, you're here to show us you're the Christ, but you don't want us to tell anybody. It's a strict command.
It says he strictly warned them. Don't upset the rhythm of coming events, which are the processes of God, because people are that complicated. I cannot just go on a straight walk to the temple and declare that I am the Messiah. There's a reality that the curse in this world caused everyone to have to address even God himself. So, of course, the Lord subjects himself to this. He doesn't have to, but he does, but there will be plenty of time for them to tell of this experience with Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit when the Spirit comes at Pentecost. The gates swing open. They'll be able to tell everybody, but it will be war, full-out war.
It will not be easy. When you subscribe, you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross-Reference Radio. You can search for Cross-Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app. That's all we have time for today, but we hope you'll join us next time as Pastor Rick continues to teach through the Book of Mark, just like here on Cross-Reference Radio.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-11-09 09:02:31 / 2023-11-09 09:12:10 / 10