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Mark 8:27-32a

Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Mark 8. We were in Mark’s Gospel last week and we’ll continue there again today. Mark chapter 8. You can also read the parallel versions of this story in Matthew 16 and Luke chapter 9; it’s covered variously between the three sections, but all affirming the same truth. This morning, I will be reading from verse 27 through verse 32a – essentially the first sentence of verse 32.

This section of Mark’s gospel includes his account of what is called the “great confession,” the Caesarea Philippi confession given by Peter. The larger version of this account is found in Matthew’s Gospel.

Just as a side note, it’s striking to me that Mark’s version is so short, considering that he most likely received it from Peter. You would kind of figured that Mark’s version would be longer and more involved, since he was a traveling companion of Peter, but not so. After all, you might recall that Peter was very clear in his own writing that he wasn’t dealing in the realm of invention, but rather with real events and real stories and real details. “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” (2 Peter 1:16). But despite that, Matthew’s account (not Mark’s) is the longer one.

Now, if you want to read the Gospel of Mark – you can probably do it in less than two hours – and you will be blessed for it. And when you do, it will become very apparent that when people came in contact with Jesus of Nazareth, their reaction to Him was seldom, if ever, the kind of reaction that is customary today, which seems to be polite neutrality. In fact, when you read the Gospels, you find that Jesus inspired devotion in people; people were prepared to die for the things that Jesus said. He inspired fear in people; they were awestruck by His words and by His deeds, and they recoiled from Him. And in certain instances, and increasingly towards the end of His life, He inspired hatred in people. So, they loved Him, they feared Him, and they hated Him, but it’s hard to find anybody saying, “I’m fairly neutral about the guy.” When they considered His words and deeds, they were full of wonder. Let’s consider, now, Mark 8:27ff:

27 And Jesus went on with His disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told Him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered Him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And He strictly charged them to tell no one about Him.

31 And He began to teach them 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. 32 And He said this plainly.

“Again, O Lord, we look to You as the Author of this sacred text, and as the One who, by Thy Spirit, gives illumination, so that we may understand it fully. Grant, O God, that we will have eyes that behold these things, not dimly or vaguely, that when we look at Christ, we may perceive Him in all His glory. For we ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

The book of Mark is divided into two parts. The first half devotes itself to the account of Jesus’ Galilean ministry in and around the Sea of Galilee. And the second half (starting here) moves to Caesarea Philippi, which is even further north than the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee. Don’t confuse Caesarea Philippi with Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast. Caesarea Philippi is 25-30 miles north of the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It’s at the base of Mount Hermon. It was a smaller Caesarea that Philip the Tetrarch established to honor Caesar Augustus, so Caesar’s name and Philip’s name are attached to it: Caesarea Philippi.

At this point in time the disciples have been with Jesus for about 2 ½ years. Two-and-a-half years of divine revelation. Two-and-a-half years of miracles. Two-and-a-half years of school. Two-and-a-half years of the most profound teaching imaginable and unimaginable. Two-and-a-half years for them to see everything they needed to see and learn everything they needed to learn. And now comes the exam – Jesus changes the pattern of rabbi and student, where normally the students are constantly asking questions of the rabbi, here the rabbi interrogates His students. He says to them in this pop quiz: “What’s the scuttlebutt? What are people saying? Who do men say that I am? Who do they think that I am?” And, as usual, we’re going to break this down into three part: 1.) what do they say [that is, the people, the crowds], 2.) what do you say, 3.) and what does Jesus say.

What Do They Say?

“What’s the word on the street, boys?” See, the disciples moved amongst the crowd, they mingled in the marketplace, they would be the kind of individuals who would be picking up the sort of things that were being said. And so, they report to Jesus: “Well, we have our ear to the ground. We hear the gossip. We hear the back-fence communications. Some people think you’re John the Baptist.”

How could it be John the Baptist? He was dead. He had his head chopped off. Don’t you remember back in Matthew 14:1-4 and Luke 9:7-9, that Herod, who chopped off his head, when he heard about Jesus going everywhere, doing all these miracles said, “John the Baptist has come back from the dead?” Back from the dead. That seems to be the popular notion because you couldn’t deny that Jesus was a prophet. You couldn’t deny that He was a miracle worker. So, maybe He was a resurrected John the Baptist. So, the disciples said: “A lot of them think you’re John the Baptist because you are a prophet like he was.”

“Others think you’re Elijah.” Now, why would some think that Jesus is Elijah? Well, at the very end of the Old Testament, in the book of Malachi, God makes the promise that Elijah must return before the Day of the Lord and before the Messiah comes. And you remember that Elijah is the one (in the Old Testament) who didn’t die but was instead taken up in the chariot of fire into heaven. Jesus is getting so much attention that the people are buzzing, whispering, “Maybe this is Elijah who was to come, or one of the prophets.”

Here, in Mark’s account, it’s just prophets [generic]. In Matthew’s account of this story the prophet Jeremiah is also mentioned. Why would they pull Jeremiah out? Well, there was this bizarre tradition among the Jews at this time that Jeremiah, in anticipation of the Babylonian captivity, realizing what was coming, went to the temple and took the altar of incense and the Ark of the Covenant – took them away and put them somewhere at Mount Nebo. And according to the tradition, before Messiah returned, Jeremiah would return, and he would go get the altar of incense, and he would go get the Ark, and when he recovered the ark, then Messiah would come in His glory.

So, there were all these possibilities, but they were all wrong. But here’s what they all had in common; they knew Jesus had to be a prophet; they knew He had to be from God. But they were also convinced that He couldn’t be the Messiah. Not possible. Absolutely not possible. Why could He not be the Messiah? Because they had a very highly developed, messianic concept. In their minds, the Messiah was a political ruler; had military power; going to overthrow Rome; destroy all Israel’s enemies; bring blessedness to Israel, prosperity to Israel, permanent peace to Israel; elevate Israel to be the greatest nation on the face of the Earth; all other nations are under the shadow of Israel; righteousness flows.

They took all the messianic prophesies of the Old Testament – the desert blossoms like a rose; Isaiah’s prophecies about the character of the kingdom, all of that; the promises to David all fulfilled; the promises to Abraham all fulfilled; the promise of the new covenant to Jeremiah; the salvation of Israel fulfilled – all of this was their understanding of Messiah. And so, they couldn’t get to the point where they saw Jesus as the Messiah because He didn’t fit that. He wasn’t a military leader. He wasn’t a conqueror. He wasn’t a destroyer of armies. He didn’t look like a king. He didn’t act like a king. And so, they come up short.

Perhaps your thoughts and opinions about Jesus mirror the crowd? “Hey, man, I don’t know. I think He’s whoever you want Him to be.” That seems to be the temperature of today’s society, right? Jesus is whoever you want Him to be. There’s no right or wrong answer. Whoever you want Him to be is just fine. Or maybe you’re like Vaughan Roberts who describes his own impressions before becoming a Christian in his book Turning Points: Is There Meaning To Life? He writes, “I had a vague idea of a rather weak figure . . . who went around being nice to everyone. He had long permed hair, [wore Birkenstocks] and a permanent smile – fine for those who like that kind of thing, but not really my cup of tea.”

Wrong answers thrived then, and they thrive today too. That’s question number one on the test. It’s as if Jesus just completely dismisses them and says, “Okay, okay, that’s fine; but now the big question.” It’s also the big question for you.

What Do You Say?

So, Jesus says, “Thank you for letting me know what the people on the street are saying, but let me ask you,” and He looks His disciples in the eye, and He says to them, “What about you? Who do you say I am?” A very personal question, isn’t it? If you pause and try to imagine the scenario, it’s almost as if there’s not another single person around. It’s like that argument in school between you and another student. The teacher or the principal or the guidance counselor pulls you into the room and says, “Ok, what about you?” No friends around for you to look to for help. No parents around to hold your hand. Just you and the teacher. Right? (You never got called into the principal’s office? You mean, I’m the only one that had that kind of rebellious streak?) It’s just each disciple and Jesus.

And by the way, that’s the most important question that you’ll ever answer. That’s the most important question that any human being will ever answer: Who is Jesus Christ? Everybody on this planet is accountable to God eternally for the answer to that question. Wrong answer means hell. Right answer means heaven. Common people have answers; philosophers have answers; pseudo scholars have answers; liberal theologians have answers; Muslims have answers; Jews have answers; secularists, atheists, humanists. You name it and people have answers, but they’re wrong unless they answer like Peter. And what does Peter say?

“You are the Christ.” The fuller version reads this way: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Peter said, “Thou art Christos; You are Messiah; You are the promised Anointed One of God who came by way of prophecy from the very beginning in the third chapter of Genesis, all the way through the Old Testament where God reiterated His promise to His people that His anointed Son would come to save His people from their sins.” Peter confesses exactly what the gospels are demonstrating.

Some of you know this, but why were the Gospels written? For what purpose did Matthew, Mark, Luke and John sit down and write these first-hand accounts of Jesus life, death, and resurrection? John 20:31 says, “…these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”  John essentially reiterates Peter’s confession when he tells us why the Gospels were written.

You would think that, with that confession, Jesus would have turned to them and said, “Finally, after all this time, your hearts have melted, your ears have been opened, you’re hearing my Word, and now you get it.” Beloved, what follows in Mark’s record and what followed in Matthew’s record is that, even though this majestic confession of faith had come forth from the lips of Simon Peter, the disciples still didn’t understand it clearly – not perfectly, why else would Peter then go on to tell Jesus that He wasn’t going to suffer? The confession was true, and it was an act of real faith when they made this confession. Matthew expands on it by recounting that Jesus pronounced His benediction on Peter, “Blessed are you” (Matthew 16:17). Let me pause there.

Do you believe that Jesus is the Messiah? When you stand up publicly and join the church, whether it’s this church or any other church, and make your public profession of faith, are you declaring to your friends and neighbors: “I believe that Jesus is the Messiah. I believe He is the Christ. I believe that He is the Son of the living God?” If you believe that, then the same benediction that Jesus pronounced upon Simon Peter is your benediction. For He would say, “Blessed are you,” because this is not something you learned in kindergarten, this is not something you learned from the newspaper, this isn’t something you learned from the secular media or social media. Human reason doesn’t get you there. Empiricism doesn’t get you there. Experience doesn’t get you there – at least not all the way. It requires divine intervention to make this confession.

That’s why 1 Corinthians 12:3 says, “No man can confess Jesus as Lord but by the Holy Spirit.” It’s a divine work. Flesh and blood don’t reveal this kind of information. If you believe in your heart that He is the Christ, you are blessed among people because God has allowed you to see His Son. Don’t ever forget that. If you’re ever downcast, if you’re ever jealous of somebody else’s status or possessions, if you ever cry unto God, “Why me?” in the midst of affliction, hear these words: “Blessed are you,” for you have been able to see the most priceless treasure there is in this world. You have been able to recognize the Pearl of great price, and if God never ever gives you another blessing for the rest of your days on this planet, you would have no reason to do anything else but crawl over glass to proclaim His glory and His mercy to the whole world. The greatest blessing a human being can ever receive is that blessing to know Him.

That’s question number two. Question one: what does the world say, what are others saying, what do they say? Question two: what about YOU? Think about this long and hard. All of us are headed for the grave. Nobody denies that death is a reality in this life. So, the question then becomes, is there life after death, and if so, how do I spend it in heaven rather than hell. Here’s the question you need to answer: Who do you say that Jesus is? Let’s conclude by looking at what Jesus says.

What Does Jesus Say?

It’s the strangest thing. It’s an odd ending to such a monumental moment. You’d expect Jesus to send them forth proclaiming this good news, but instead we get a warning, “And He strictly charged them to tell no one about Him” (Mark 8:30). What? How strange is that? You have a Messiah who is declared, and as soon as the declaration of His messiahship is made known, He says, “Don’t let the message out. Don’t let anyone know. Don’t tell anyone who I am.” How can you start a movement if you’re not going to let the word out? What are you doing? This makes no sense.

The reason He says, “Don’t tell anyone about this,” is because He’s instructing the disciples that this is not the full message. He didn’t want miracles to spread because that wasn’t the full message. He wasn’t ONLY a miracle worker. To say He’s the Messiah is not the full message. You can pronounce Jesus as the Messiah, but that’s not the full message because it’s missing the gospel, and that’s evidenced in the next verse. Don’t tell anyone. Why? Because you’ve got more to learn. Look at verse 31, “And He began to teach them 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.” The best news ever pronounced, followed by the worst news. What a blow. The last thing they would expect on the heels of such a grand moment of revelation and clarity was a death announcement. How could the Messiah of God, the Redeemer of Israel, the Conqueror of all God’s enemies suffer?

How could they ever process this? I guess they didn’t think of Isaiah 53, “He would be wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace would fall on Him, and by His stripes we would be healed.” Isaiah 53 lays it out: the suffering servant, the servant will suffer and die. And so, the bad news comes on the heels of the good news. And it’s the worst news imaginable. It’s incomprehensible. They can’t even process it. I don’t think they even heard the last part, “And after three days rise again.” He had said that before, early in His ministry, before these guys even were a part of His life, when He said, “Destroy this body, in three days I’ll raise it up” (John 2:19). Here, He says it again.

Did they know Psalm 16, that the Holy One will not see corruption, but the Lord will show them the path of life, a prophecy of the resurrection? Peter preached on that resurrection passage – didn’t he? – on the Day of Pentecost. When Peter preached the resurrection on the first day the church was born, and the Spirit came, he chose Psalm 16, which proves the resurrection. Did they not know Isaiah 53 ends with verses 10-12, that the Messiah will be glorified and exalted and lifted up after His substitutionary sacrificial death in which He dies as a substitute for transgressors? The resurrection is certain. It’s as certain as the crucifixion.

So, the bad news is really good news because He’s going to be killed, but He’s going to be killed for you. He’s going to die in your place. He’s going to be punished for your sins. Paul writes, in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake He [God] made Him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” And in Galatians 3:13, Paul says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” Finally, Matthew 16:21 says, “From that time on, Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem; suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, scribes; be killed; be raised up the third day.” I think this was daily conversation from here on out. No questions anymore about the person, but they struggled with the plan. They really struggled with the plan. The struggle was not because Jesus wasn’t clear. Please notice verse 32, “And He said this plainly.” I’d like that to be my life verse, “He was stating the matter clearly.” Clear is good. You don’t have to be a scholar to figure out what Jesus said. It’s not esoteric, mystical language. He was stating it clearly.

The good news? Jesus is Messiah, the Son of God. The bad news? He’s going to die. The good news? He’s going to rise. That’s called the gospel, that Jesus died and rose again for the salvation of all who believe in Him. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:16-18). So, I ask you again, “Who do you say that Jesus is?” There’s only ONE right answer.

“Father, when we lift our eyes, we pray that You will give us that clarity of vision – even from a distance – that we might recognize You are the Christ without confusion, without blur or doubt. We pray that You would give us eyes to see so clearly that we would be willing to let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also, that we may live based on that confession until we enter the gates of heaven. Amen.”