The Greatest Question Ever Asked

As we continue through the gospel of Mark, we are coming to a time of intense discipleship for the men who are following Jesus. They have seen miracles, they have heard teaching, and now, their eyes will be progressively opened to the truth of Jesus. He has alluded to this in his recent healings. And in our passage today, it will begin.

Mark 8:27–33 ESV

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. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, 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.”

Questions can be a good thing. Although for parents, they may seem endless, the product of the question is knowledge. And our desire for anyone should be to grow in knowledge. To see someone grow up, asking questions, and learning. For the church, one of our greatest ministries is our children. I am thankful for the development of this ministry here at our church and look forward to what the future holds for this area of our church.

But, even as adults, we have good questions too. Like, when my wife comes to me with an idea, the best question I can ask is “how much is this gonna cost”? Which no answer to that question other than nothing is what I want to hear. But when you ask questions, you gain knowledge.

With Jesus, it is different though. See, Jesus did not need to grow in knowledge, because he was God. And because he is God, he knows the heart of every man. And because he knows the heart of every man, he knew the answer to the question before he even asks it.

Often we are worried about what other people think is in our heart while we should be focusing on Jesus knowing what is in our heart. Jesus knew the answer that Peter would give him. Just like he knows the answer that you have given to the same question that he asks his disciples, “who do you say that I am”?

So that is the question that we will be tackling in our sermon today, who do you say that Jesus is?

Is he just a good man? Was he a morally good person? Is he a fictional character that history has made up?

Or, is he that God-man that scripture tells us he is, the messiah that came as a baby in a manger, who grew up to be the one who is gathering disciples, and will go to the cross, die, and raise from the grave 3 days later. Who will one day return again to gather his people?

Because that is the only answer that is correct.

Let’s dive into what God’s word says. There are three parts to this text that we will be looking at today.

The Question

Up to this point, these men had been with Jesus for quite some time. He is in his 3rd year of ministry and these men had been with him since nearly the beginning. They were witnesses to the great works that Jesus had done. But there were times when Jesus found it important to give them private instruction. This is what we see here. Before this, he was speaking to either crowds or engaging with people who were not his disciples. Now he changes his focus.

Mark 8:27 ESV

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?”

The region is quite interesting here. Think about what is about to take place. Jesus is about to be declared by his disciples to be the Christ, the messiah. Yet, Caesarea Philippi is a place of paganism and is hostile to the Hebrew faith. You would think that this would need to happen in the place where God’s people are. But this is to show that God’s people have rejected Jesus and that he came not only for the Jews but for all people. This means us, he came for us.

And then Jesus asked his disciples a question. And on the surface it may seem like just a simple question. But it is much more. Who do people say that I am?

Simple questions can have profound impacts. The answer can change how you view something or someone. It could even change the way that you think and make decisions. Maybe you think this is a little excessive that one simple question could change everything. But I will give you a prime example. There was a question that I once asked that the answer determined much of my future here on earth. That simple question was “will you marry me”?

There were only 2 possible answers but the outcome of those answers were very different. Jesus asks a simple question here to be able to set up an even greater question. The disciples give him answers to this question.

Mark 8:28 ESV

28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”

Everyone had so many theories about who Jesus was. Back in chapter 6 when John the Baptist had been killed and beheaded by Herod, Herod had heard about what Jesus was doing and he thought that Jesus was John the Baptist raised from the dead. Apparently, he was not the only one who thought that Jesus might be John the Baptist.

But think about the answers that were given here. The average person views Jesus in a positive manner. These are good people to be compared to. I would not bat an eye to being compared to John the Baptist or Elijah.

There are some people who do not think of Jesus in this light. He had formerly been accused of being Beelzebub. His own family accused him of being out of his mind. Yet for the average person on the street, they though pretty highly of Jesus. The problem comes though because the answer is still wrong.

John the Baptist, Elijah, and the prophets were are really good, God fearing people. Jesus is God. They were good teachers, Jesus was THE teacher. They were only forerunners for Jesus. They paved the way for Jesus to come. And now, when people are asked about Jesus, he is compared to these good men. But he is the perfect man.

Who Jesus is, is the most important thing in our lives. I said earlier that a yes or a no to a question could change our entire life. The answer to the question of who Jesus is will change not only our life, but our eternity. And it has a right and a wrong answer. And that brings us to…

The Answer

We live in a world where an opinion is often viewed as truth. Truth is often downplayed to nonexistent. But there are right and wrong answers to questions. 2 plus 2 does not equal chicken. There is a correct answer, and especially to this question. Jesus somewhat changes the question after priming the pump for the disciples. He first asks them who other people say that he is. Then he turns it on the men who have been following and ask them who they say that he is.

This question does not come out of the blue. He has been setting this up for some time for them and now has taken the opportunity for them to answer. This question is one that has been on their mind as well. When Jesus was on the boat with them sleeping at the end of Chapter 4 and all of the men thought they were going to die. Jesus woke up and calmed the sea. And they asked themselves who was this man that even the wind and the seas obey him. It is not that they did not know the man named Jesus. What they did not know was this man is God.

Mark 8:29 ESV

29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”

Peter declares Jesus to be the Christ. The title Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah. This is quite the confession. The disciples had been with Jesus. They had seen miracles and heard him teach. But yet, he is 2 years into his ministry and they are just now saying that they believe he is the Messiah. When you think of this, it should make you ask some questions. 1. What took so long? 2. Do they truly understand what is means that Jesus is the Messiah.

To answer the first question of what took so long, we need to understand the culture. The Jewish people had been waiting hundreds of years for the Messiah to come. They had this hope that he would come in the form of a political leader who would step up and overthrow the powers that were in control. They knew that he would come from the line of King David so that wanted him to occupy an earthly throne. But this is not the reality. So, when he came as a lowly man who was a carpenter, who was not from a powerful family or wealth, then to declare that Jesus is the Messiah that they had been waiting for would be to go against everything you had been taught about the coming Messiah.

But the second question. Do they truly know what it means that Jesus is the Messiah. I think to answer this, we need to look at the next verse.

Mark 8:30 ESV

30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

This English word that is used here, charged could be translated a little better. The greek word that is used here is the same greek word that is translated earlier as rebuked. So here, Jesus rebukes his disciples to tell no one. This has been a common theme around Jesus. He does this because when people tell others about him, he wants them to speak the truth. And so far, no one has known the whole truth about Jesus.

Even in this moment of declaration that Peter does of Jesus being the Christ, he still does not fully understand. He is as close as he has ever been, yet he is still far from the whole truth of who Jesus is. There is a reason that Jesus tells him not to tell anyone about him. It is because whatever Peter or the other disciples will go and say, will not be the full truth that needs to be spoken.

Today, we see a lot of people want to be Jesus adjacent, meaning that they want to be close to the truth of Jesus, but not all the way. This would be like someone saying that they believe that Jesus came as a baby, even as a miracle of God, but denying the resurrection. We must protect ourselves against this sort of thinking. The bible is fully true. If it were not, why would we trust anything in it. So when it speaks of the life of Jesus, what he did or who he is, we must believe it.

There are too many people that just want a little bit of Jesus. You especially see this in pop culture. There are things about Jesus that are popular. But we don’t want to surrender ourselves to the things that are unpopular. Someone who claims to be Christian may jump at the chance to feed the hungry but would oppose someone going to prayer walk at the abortion clinic. They may be kind to a stranger but cuss out their boss at work. They may even volunteer at church but then be in a sexual relationship outside of marriage. They are Jesus adjacent.

Peter and the disciples are getting even closer to the truth of who Jesus is, but they still have a little ways to go. They know truth, but only partially. Think of it like a math test at school, you got the right answer, but you got there the wrong way. The answer is right that he gives. And this is the same answer that we all must give. But the disciples still have just a little way to go to get there.

You may think, well Peter gave the declaration that Jesus is the Christ. Why is that not good enough? As we continue, we see that Peter still doesn’t get it all just yet.

The Hard Truth

We are sometimes told things that we do not really want to hear. Maybe it is bad news like the death of someone you love dearly. But, imagine that person telling you months ahead of time that they were going to die. And they do it with surety. This would bring some really difficult emotions out in us. We may even say things that we shouldn’t. Now imagine Jesus doing this and our reaction causes us to say something so impulsively that it shows that we truly do not understand who Jesus really is. This is what happens with Jesus and his disciples.

Mark 8:31 ESV

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.

Jesus tells them what is going to happen to him on his way to the cross on Calvary.

Everyone loves to hear about little baby Jesus coming in the manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. About the shepherds and the wise men and the animals and the gifts and the angels. But, we need to fully understand the purpose of Jesus coming. This is what the gospel is about. The fact that we cannot save ourselves and we need a savior. That we have inherited the sin of Adam and how this sin has put a wedge in between us and God. And how we need someone to pay for our sins. And this sacrifice must be a perfect sacrifice. And there is only one who has ever walked on earth that is able to pay it for us, and that man is Jesus.

Mark 8:32 ESV

32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

What he said was clear. There was no confusion as to what he was saying. The problem was that Peter did not like what he said. Jesus told them the truth but it was not welcome. This is how we know that they were not quite where they needed to be yet.

Have you ever been told something that was true but you just didn’t like it. Just because you don’t like it, doesn’t make it any less true. Perfect example. The blades on my head shaver had gotten too dull so I had to order new ones. By the time they arrived, I had went too long and now I need to go to the barber shop to have them buzz my hair down. As you can see, I have yet to do this. Now, someone could come up to me and tell me that I am losing my hair. And yes it is true. But that truth would not be welcome.

I might have to do what Peter did to Jesus and rebuke you. Truth is not always welcome. As believers, we should know this to be very true in the world that we live in. People are enemies of the truth and the truth is not welcome. But that does not make it any less true. Truth is not dictated by the feelings of people. Truth will not change because we don’t like it. Truth is truth. And Jesus was telling them truth.

Peter, as one of the leaders of the group, felt the desire to take Jesus aside and tell him that this is not true. That this is not something that needed to happen. But Jesus turns it back around on him.

Mark 8:33 ESV

33 But turning and seeing his disciples, 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.”

Peter was cool with Jesus being the Messiah, but he was not okay with Jesus going to the cross to die. And just like Jesus had rebuked demons before, he now rebukes Peter. We may think that this seems very harsh or even unnecessary, but it is. He tells Peter that his priorities are wrong. That he is thinking of the things of man and not the things of God. And this way of thinking is making him act like Satan.

Think to the temptation of Satan to Jesus. Satan, again and again, was offering Jesus the crown without the cross. The power without the payment. Peter has done the same thing. He wants Jesus to rule but not suffer. But Jesus is trying to get them to see that you cannot have it that way. Jesus must suffer and go to the cross. Peter wanted to sacrifice eternal joy for immediate happiness.

How much are we like Peter in the moment here? Setting our mind on the things of man instead of the things of God. This is a hard truth to hear. But it is still true. We are willing to sacrifice the long term for the short term. We think to small, too immediate. And it cost us more than we could ever imagine.

Conclusion

This is where I want this message to begin to rest today. Let us slow down here and try to open our ears a little more to God. Maybe you need to close your eyes and bow your head down to try to take away some distractions in the moment. We need to really dwell on who Jesus is in our life. Is he the messiah that scripture has shown us he is, or are we creating a simplified Jesus to meet our own opinions. Are we trying to mold Jesus around our expectations instead of letting Jesus mold us around him. This is what Peter was doing in the moment here.

Later on in scripture, Jesus commissions Peter as one of the leaders of the church. Don’t let this moment define who you are forever either. Jesus calls us to repent. Maybe today, you need to repent of trying to make Jesus into who you want him to be instead of acknowledging him as God.

We all love hearing about little baby Jesus in the manger. But are you acknowledging him to be King Jesus as well. The one who came and lived a perfect life, died a terrible death on the cross, and rose from the grave 3 days later. Are you acknowledging him to be the one who you bow your life down before, the one who you will change how you live and how you think and how you speak for.

Because until then, you are not worshiping the Jesus of the bible, you are worshiping a personal Jesus that you have created. The call today is to repent and surrender. Acknowledge that Jesus is Lord and live your life in that manner.