"THE GOSPEL OF MARK"
Who Do You Say That Jesus Is? (8:27-30)
INTRODUCTION
- On the road from Bethsaida to Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked His
disciples two questions...
- "Who do men say that I am?" - Mk 8:27-28
- "But who do you say that I am?" - Mk 8:29-30
- The responses to such questions concerning Jesus' identity...
- Have been many and varied
- Both in Jesus' day and today
[It is the most important question people could ask themselves, for
their response determines their destiny both in this life and the life
to come. Let's take a look at...]
- WHAT PEOPLE SAID THEN
- JOHN THE BAPTIST...
- King Herod thought this when he heard about Jesus - Mk 6:14
- Perhaps motivated by guilt for having beheaded John - Mk 6:16
- ELIJAH...
- Likely based on their misunderstanding of Malachi's prophecy
- Mal 4:5
- Which Jesus explained referred to John the Baptist - Mt
17:10-13
- JEREMIAH...
- As mentioned in Matthew's account of this conversation - Mt
16:14
- Who some Jews expected to be resurrected as a precursor to the
Messiah
- ONE OF THE PROPHETS...
- One of the old prophets risen again
- As mentioned in Luke's account of this conversation - Lk 9:19
- BEELZEBUB...
- Some had identified Jesus with Beelzebub, that is, Satan - Mt
10:25
- So thought some of the scribes and Pharisees - Mk 3:22; Mt
12:24
- MENTALLY DERANGED...
- So thought some of His family - Mk 3:21; cf. Jn 7:5
- As did many others - Jn 10:30
- CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD...
- As per Mark's gospel, Peter said "You are the Christ" - Mk 8:27
- Christ (Greek) = Messiah (Hebrew)
- Meaning, "the Anointed One"
- As per Matthew, Peter added "The Son of the living God" - Mt
16:16
- God's Son in an unique sense, not true of any mortal
- As confessed by others (Nathanael, Martha, John) - Jn 1:49;
11:27; 20:31
[Opinions of Jesus' identity were quite diverse during His ministry.
Today, it is not much different...]
- WHAT PEOPLE SAY TODAY
- FABRICATION...
- Some skeptics deny He ever existed
- Yet the Encyclopedia Britannica uses 20,000 words to tell about
Jesus and never hints that He did not exist
- GOOD MAN...
- Many say He was simply a good man, a good teacher, akin to
Mahatma Gandhi
- Yet the Biblical claims do not leave us this option: "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 up with any patronizing nonsense about His
being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.
He did not intend to." - C. S. Lewis
- PROPHET...
- Many believe He was a prophet of God, but not the Son of God
- So teaches the religion of Islam
- CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD...
- As professed by Christians today, and to them He is so much
more!
- As indicated by this list:
* 100 Biblical Names And Titles Of Jesus *
CONCLUSION
- We have seen what people said about Jesus...
- Then - during His earthly ministry
- Now - by atheist, agnostic, skeptic, and believer
- But the key question today is this: "Who do YOU say that Jesus
is...?"
- Your answer will determine your eternity - cf. Mt 10:32-38; Ac
17:30-31
- Your answer will determine how you live today - cf. Mt 28:18-20
My prayer is that you would join with Peter and countless others and
confess to Jesus:
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Why not confess Jesus now, as you obey the gospel of Christ (e.g.,
Ac
8:35-38). For you will either confess Him now, or confess Him later
when it is too late...! - cf.
Php 2:9-11