Mark 8:22-9:50

And open it to Mark chapter 9 Mark chapter 9 We are continuing our series through the gospel of Mark and this morning we come to it this passage that follows on the heels of Mark really wanting to point his readers point us to Jesus and to the nature of Jesus as the Messiah right as the one who was promised by the Jewish prophets years before the one who from the rest of the new test we know was for known from before the foundation of the world. This was God's plan. This was God's intent to send the promised one. The promised one who would conquer send the promised one who would be what the rest of humanity what we could not who would be sinless but then who rather than kind of meeting the expectations of the people and establishing an Earthly Kingdom establishing a political Nation establishing this country that would would take over the rest of the world. So to speak instead of that. Jesus is marching to the cross. their Messiah Is the Messiah condemned to die? The Messiah whose blood would be shed to inaugurate his kingdom rather than the blood of his enemies. And so we see even here at the beginning. We haven't even got to the Cross yet, but already marks been turning our attention and saying this Jesus Is a much different Messiah than expected for one thing. He seems to have power that only God has which is to command the wind and the waves in the command unclean Spirit to heal and to liberate. too quiet storms to provide bread and we've seen all that in the preceding chapters and his teaching is so much different than anything that we were used to if you contrast Jesus's teaching that we've looked at in Mark these Parables that he shared if you contrast that with say The Book of Leviticus The difference couldn't be more Stark. Here's the list of rules.

Here's a bunch of stories that Our little bit confusing Jesus is not meeting anyone's expectations. He's not doing what the Messiah supposed to do. The Messiah supposed to be a Conquering Hero coming to set up Israel The Chosen Nation above its oppressors Rome Greece Egypt these countries who had exerted authority over Israel. The Messiah was supposed to come in and flip that script who's supposed to turn the tables on God's enemies. Instead he's healing and teaching. And the only thing he has to show for his efforts is a committed group of people who are following him that we would call the disciples and of those disciples. There's 12 who he is particularly focused on training.

And even they don't get it, but that's the situation that we see when we come here to Mark chapter 8 in verse 22, we come here and we see a Jesus and and his kingdom who everybody is misunderstanding his countrymen misunderstand it his disciples misunderstand it and I'm afraid. Good even today. We may misunderstand the nature of Christ the nature of his kingdom. So we're going to walk through this text and I do mean walk because it's a long text. We're going to be going from here in the middle part of chapter 8 all the way through the end of nine. But what I see Mark doing here is he's presenting a picture for us. He's giving us this image of Christ and his kingdom and his contrasting the hazy way that those in his day at this point the hazy way. They saw it with the clear way that we should see it. So pick up with me here in chapter 8 verse 22 And they came to put stator and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. So we took the blind man by the hand and let 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 anyting he looked up and said I see men but they look like trees walking. Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again, and he opened his eyes. His sight was restored and he saw everything clearly and he sent him to his home saying Do not even enter the village now that this miracle takes place and it it ought to for those of us who've been here or for those of you who've read Market out to call to mind the miracle that you just did a little bit earlier where you took the man who is mute and deaf and he healed him in much the same way. Right, but the point of Mark is not to say that Jesus has incredible spit just so we're clear on that. Instead he's showing us he's showing us something about the Messiah showing us something about the kingdom that goes beyond the physical elements of this feeling. He first heals the man Ence lays hands on him and he says you season a c but it's not real clear. I hears this blind man, and he says I see men but they look like trees will how does he know what trees look like? He doesn't right but now he's just got some vertical lines that are moving & Sons that are and he says, well these vertical blinds blinds must be trees these ones that are moving must be men, but they sure look a lot like the trees he can't literally distinguish the crowd from the tree he can't see clearly and My read on this and I don't know that this is exactly marks intense. But Marcus getting ready to walk. Yes into a series of events where the people see what Jesus is doing where the disciples see what Jesus is doing, but they don't see it clearly and it's almost like this blind guy whose take things in stages becomes a picture for you and me for the disciples for the crowds who saw what Jesus was doing, but maybe didn't see it. Clearly maybe didn't grasp it all at once how many of you are math people numbers people I'm so thankful for you great Souls because without you I would have no hope I don't do numbers at and you can even you know this if you've been around Red Hills for a while if you hang out with me for long, you know, I don't do numbers like preachers are supposed to know stuff and so it's somebody else will be like, where's that? I don't know. I can't memorize all these numbers Mark 1835. I don't know what the number is. I know the words are right though. You got the words, right? So good job. It's somewhere in the Bible somewhere between Genesis and Revelation. I can go go with you that far. I don't do numbers.

How many years is it supposed to take you to get to algebra?

1 I just say I was slightly behind the times took me about three years to make it through high school algebra based on the fact that they only had one math requirements not joking. The reason I met my beautiful bride who's not here this morning cuz we have kids and one of them sick. The reason I met her was because this college only had one math requirements and even that they they offered like consumer math, you know, like how to balance your checkbook come hike sign me up for this, right? I don't do math. Here's the crazy thing though. You go back. After sometime you get some distance. You kind of bring down some of those mental blocks. It becomes a little bit easier and it amazed me the other day. I needed to figure something out and it was it wasn't an algebra problem. I was probably still going to be sunk. There was a geometry problem. Like what? How do you figure out? Okay, I'll give you I'll let you in on this week. I was making a Beyblade stadium for my son. Do you guys know what beyblades are did the teachers know what Beyblade stadium and I have to figure out how to make an octagon that matches the diameter that fits perfectly with this round Arena that I had so I've got it. I've got to figure this out. I like I don't even know how to do this. How do I figure out how long each piece needs to be blah blah blah blah blah and then I'm like, okay if I could just get the formula and sure enough man. I'm not joking. I got the formula and I was able to calculate exactly how long each piece needed to be what angle needed to be on the ends and I did it. You know how I did it.

Now there's this great website that has like all these geometry formulas. You just put in one number and it'll fill the rest out for you. I don't do math clearly as we move through this text. The people didn't do Jesus. They didn't understand what was happening. It was not clear to them and if it would have been so good if they would have had Google then and could have just Googled like what's the Messiah supposed to be when he comes but they didn't have advantage of that. They didn't have the advantage I did with geometry to be able to just plug in a number and let it do the rest of the work and so they have to learn as we have to learn as we go. All we got is Google We got to walk through the word with him and as we do it is my hope that like the blind man our eyes to get progressively open to more and more of who Christ is and what were confused on today. Maybe next week. We won't be quite as confused on and what's not clear to us yet. Maybe God will make clear as we walk through the soap like the blind man. Let's not throw in the towel. If it doesn't make sense the first let's keep pushing on so they do and that's what Mark goes on and he's like, okay, here's this Jesus whose you've been healing he's been teaching has been doing all of these things.

And it's amazing. He's got this group of guys that are following him. And now he's going to give them a little test. You say, where do you guys stand still verse 27 we picked this up. 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 who do people say that I am and they told him John the Baptist night. We saw that last week was Herod Herod thought Jesus was John the Baptist raise from the dead other say that you're Elijah and other say that you're one of the other prophets right people say a lot of things about you Jesus. They say you kind of remind them of John you kind of remind them of a lied to you kind of remind them of the other Old Testament Prophet to every single Jewish person was schooled in from their from their youngest days on up you look like one of the prophets But Jesus didn't want to stop there. He didn't just say who the people say that I am. His next question is important. He asked them but who do you say that? I am? And that's an important question. That's an important question. Just for the disciple. That's an important question for you and I Wright who do you say the Christ is all he's just a good teacher. Yeah, he was he was a good man. He had said he had some good things to say he gave a good example of how to love others.

Who do you say that? Jesus is God incarnate? She's the one the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He's the only hope I have before a righteous God. He's the only one who can save me. Who do you say that Jesus is that question must be answered and we answered with the benefit of having four gospels multiple letters the entire Old Testament New Testament put together. We can answer that question.

The disciples had a little bit of time walking around with Jesus. They have these people around them saying what's Elijah is John. The Baptist is one of the other prophets just has to do you say that I am in Peter. Says this you are the Christ that word Christ. That's not Jesus's last name, just so we're all clear on this, right? Jesus was not Jesus Son of Joseph Priced Right. Christ is a title this it this is his title and it's it's the Greek term. for the Old Testament idea of the Messiah the promised one who would come so when Peter says this He saying something huge he sang Jesus. You're the one that your people have been waiting for all this time. You're the one that God promised to us from Genesis 315 on you're the one we've been waiting for you are the Messiah the anointed one the promised one. That's the one who comes to redeem God's people that's who you are. That's a big statement for Peter. That's huge that he can recognize this. That's awesome. But it's just a little bit of a hazy confession. because even as Peter says this We're reading on in Mark. So Peter says you are the Messiah you are the Christ and Jesus strictly charge them to tell no one about him. Why. Because Jesus knows what we know from the rest of the story, which we'll get to in just a second. Jesus knows that their understanding of who he is is a little bit hazy. They've been they've been raised to see the Messiah as this political Conquering Hero. They've been raised to see this Messiah as a national hero, but he's not the kingdom that he seeks to establish as much greater than the bounds of the promised land is much greater than the bounds of Israel the kingdom that Jesus is going to rain over is one that is going to Encompass all of reality.

Literally more than just this globe, right? Literally more than just the surface of this planet, but literally the ends of the universe are going to be ruled over by this Messiah Peter doesn't see it that way. The Jesus don't don't go don't go tell anybody that cuz you don't understand yet. You don't understand about my kingdom and far from being a kingdom of good news just for the Jews just for the people who would receive God's revelation who are waiting them for the Messiah. Jesus's kingdom is going to be one for all the nations. Jesus is kingdom is going to be one that's going to Encompass every tribe every tongue Every Nation. So she says wait Peter. Weights other disciples you can't go talking about this yet? Because you don't yet understand what it means for me to be Messiah and he begins to teach them about what it means for him to be Messiah. He begins to correct even though Peter has said the right word. You're the Messiah. He's got the wrong conception behind it to Jesus then spend the next little bit here and Mark revealing through the Holy Spirit to us because his show us what the king and the kingdom actually are like here's the problem. We bring our preconceptions of what the kingdom is with us everywhere we go. We we we have certain Notions that have somehow got into our heads about who Christ is and what his kingdom is and this morning. I think Mark would challenge s and say to that lineup Does that line up with what Jesus says his kingdom is? Like Peter says you're the Messiah. Let me tell you about that. 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 in the scribes and be killed and after 3 days rise again, and he said this plainly that statement right? There should call into mind where Mark earlier it said he was teaching in parables. He wasn't saying it clearly here. He just says it comes out and says it very clearly. He said it play me. Everybody's going to reject me. I'm going to die and I'm going to rise again and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Why does Peter? Take it upon himself to rebuke. The one that he just said, you're the Messiah. You're the one we've been waiting for your the one to whom all of Israel owes Allegiance. Why would Peter stand up and say what will the slow down there Jesus?

Because he's got the wrong idea what the Messiah supposed to be in Peter's mine the messiah's this glorious figure. The messiah's it's raining conquering king and you start talking about death and rejection and dying and feed her Sisters Jesus. Sorry, bro. You don't understand what the Kingdom's about Jesus probably had a better idea than Peter. He said to Peter get he rebuked Peter and said get behind me Satan. You're not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of Man 3 called The Crowd to him with his disciples instead of them. If anyone would come after me. Let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me for whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it 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. For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him. Will the son of man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his father with the Holy Angels and he said to them truly I say to you there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it is come with power.

He says Peter you don't understand. The kingdom you don't understand what the prophets were actually saying about the Messiah and he wants to make sure that everybody here's the explanation. So he doesn't just rebuke Peter and tell him let me just clarify something he calls the rest of this site was over and he calls the crowds with them and he says let me tell you about what it means to be in the Kingdom of the Messiah. All of that power all of the riches all of the comfort that you thought was entailed by that Kingdom now, that's not what the kingdom is about. The kingdom is not about yourself advancement. We'll talk about that in just a second. The kingdom is about humility and poverty and suffering.

The kingdom is not about the stuff you get it's not about the position you achieve. It's about humbling yourself dying to yourself Dietrich Bonhoeffer a German Theologian who died under Hitler. For opposing the Nazis. He wrote famously that when Christ calls a man. He bids him come and die. Far from being this Avenue into personal from fulfillment far from being a promise of riches. An invitation to the kingdom is an invitation to suffer. When he says if anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross. He's pointing us to the exact nature of discipleship. Just like Christ for a cross to Calvary and died upon it so we're called to do the same.

Peter's mind has to be just exploding right now. Hey, you just got called Satan by Jesus but be the Messiah supposed to drive the Romans out. And yet Jesus says unless you're willing to take up a Roman instrument of torture and death unless you're willing to submit to this evil governments. Unless you're willing to let them put you to death you cannot follow me.

Church Just because Rome doesn't exist anymore doesn't mean that this call loses its applicability to us. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die when Christ calls us. He bids us to come and take up our cross. This isn't about self-fulfillment. This isn't about personal gain. This isn't about Goosebumps when the worship team hits the hits the progression just right and it feels good. This is about dying to ourselves and following Christ in this way of self sacrifice.

That's the kingdom. The Jesus was coming to inaugurate. But that's not all of it. The kingdom is that's why I chapter 9 verse 1 is so important some of you standing here won't taste death until they see the kingdom of God when it has come with power and immediately thereafter. He jumps into inverse to Mark relates the disciples experience of that after six days Jesus Took with him Peter and James and John three of his closest followers. They LED them up a high mountain by themselves and he was transfigured before him and his clothes became radiant intensely. Why is no one on earth could bleach them and there appeared to them Elijah with Moses and they were talking with Jesus and Peter said to Jesus Rabbi, it's good that we're here. Let us make 3/10 one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah because he didn't know what to say for they were terrified now. I just want to interrupt the reading and say I identify with Peter so many times. I don't know what to say so he can say something else do that or is that just me? I don't know what to say. So I'm just going to probably put my foot in my mouth and Peter may have done that here a cloud overshadowed them a voice came out of the cloud. This is my beloved Son. Listen to them listen to him and suddenly looking around they no longer saw anyone with them, but Jesus only They get a glimpse of what the Kingdom's going to be. Jesus says if you want to follow me sacrifice yourself, if you want to follow me humble yourself, if you want to follow me be willing to die for me, but he says you're going to get to see what the kingdom will look like one day just because right now it's all humility and sacrifice and suffering doesn't mean that one day. It's not going to be set right? What do you know about Moses and Elijah?

They were dead. They had died at this point. They no longer walk the earth and when they show up on this Mountaintop, the disciples are getting a glimpse of what the kingdom means. It means that this world is not the end. It means that this life is not all there is it means that the kingdom brings with it the promise of eternal life. It brings with it the promise of Resurrection that those who've gone before are quite literally just as alive in Christ today as we are walking and breathing here on this Earth. The Kingdom's coming is going to be one in which the Saints through all the ages are united with their God United with their Messiah. In Eternal Joy. This is what the kingdom will be. And this is the tension of the gospels. The fact that Jesus says the kingdom is already here. It's in your midst and it looks like sacrifice and it looks like suffering and it looks like dying. Put the Kingdom's not yet come with power but one day it will. And those who are in the Messiah will enjoy eternal life forever one day the kingdom will come and power and this is a glimpse of it. So it's already here but it's not yet all the way here and they get just a foretaste of it and Peters like good enough for me. Let's just camp out here. But he doesn't have that opportunity does he it says that they were coming down the mountain had to walk down off the mountain. Imagine. What if you were Peter James or John? Don't be Peter. He gets a bad rap. Maybe maybe imagine yourself to be James or John.

Coming down that mountain having seen the kingdom for what it truly is but walking back into the life that Jesus said this is going to be suffering. This is going to be death. He's teaching them about the nature of the Kingdom. He's showing us about the kingdom the already but it's not yet. And we're living in the already. One of the things that he shows us about. The already is that we are living in a time not just a passive waiting. They walk back down the mountain and they're immediately confronted and I'll let you read this for yourself in verses 14 through 29. There immediately confronted with a huge need a boy is possessed by an unclean spirits and the disciples while Jesus and Peter and James and Jonathan up on the mountain. They were trying to help this boy and they couldn't and Jesus shows up at just the right time. And he does with the disciples couldn't many teaches them about why they failed. And then teaching them about that. He's showing us something that our time here in the place of suffering and death and self-sacrifice is not just passively waiting. We're not in the Kingdom already just to sit on our duffs and be happy. Just to enjoy the presence of God With Us now and the world can. Trying to think of a word that doesn't offend us as Baptist. And the world can go to hell.

When we have a passive Faith just waiting for Jesus to show up. We're missing the point Peter and James and John walk down off the mountain with Jesus into faithful and prayerful actions used as a reason you couldn't do it is cuz you weren't praying the reason you couldn't do the work of healing this boy was cuz you were not asking God to do the work for you. Don't just sit there passively waiting for Jesus to come back get to work now. That's the kind of Kingdom. That's the already nature of it. I just waiting for heaven. We're not just waiting for that one day we get to heaven, you know, the goal is not to get to heaven. the prayer that weird afraid Jesus's disciples come to these two teachers to pray Lord says pray this Your kingdom come your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven the goal for the Christian is to see the will of God being done here and that starts with us doesn't mean we legislate our way to the kingdom. It doesn't mean that we don't do that. It doesn't mean that we don't engage the world around us, but it does mean that we are active as citizens of the Kingdom now, we're not waiting. We are meant to be Faithfully prayerfully acting for the good of others now.

Jesus goes on and he says it again. Gonna be said that again. He starts saying The Thundermans going to be delivered into the hands of men. They'll kill him when he's killed after three days. He will rise, but they did not understand what he was saying and they were afraid to ask him. Legitimately cuz last time somebody tried to talk to Jesus after he talked about that. They got called Satan, right? So they're afraid to ask him but they're starting to understand then we begin to see that this already aspect of the kingdom is already seen here. They came to confirm. This is verse 33 and when he was in the house you ask them. What were you discussing on the way, but they kept silent for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down and he called the 12 if anyone would be first must be last of all and servant of all and he took a child and put them in the midst of them and taking him in his arms. He said then whoever received one such child in my name receiveth me. Whoever receives me received not just me, but him who sent me the disciples want to start figuring out the cabinet positions. That's what they're doing. Okay sign. Okay. Jesus is going to come and Audrey at the Kingdom. All right, we got to go to the kingdom and Moses and Elijah are probably going to be there to maybe we should give them some sort of position in the new government, but I think that I ought to be in charge of blah blah blah blah blah. That's the discussion. They're having on the way who's the greatest they want to establish a hierarchy. realm of power They want to decide who gets to do what Jesus says. Yeah, you missed it. The kingdom is not about power and hierarchy the kingdom is not about self-advancement. The kingdom is about humility. The kingdom is about service. It's about giving worth rather than taking worse. It's about recognizing the value in the people around you rather than looking for the value in yourself. It's about forgetting yourself.

The Kingdom looks so much different. When you turn that around instead of saying I want to serve so that I get recognized. I want to serve so that I get some praise here. I want to establish myself as better than The moment you start thinking that you've missed Jesus Kingdom. It's not a competition.

It's not we treat church sometimes like it's a religious competition. And I know that we're not guilty of this. I know that none of us came in this morning and looked around until I got at least I'm dressed up at least I got my hair done. You know what this morning I really wanted to do. I wanted to show up with a haircut. I know it's getting a little shaggy. I apologize.

But I feel bad about walking in here with the shaggy mane. Why I'm not trying to impress any of you. Is it going to show this isn't a game that we're playing here? This isn't something called Church where we all try to outdo one another. And looking good and doing good. This is this is the kingdom and were marked by a need to come in here and to look for the hurting and the broken among us into say let me bring Christ to you. Let me let me D price to you.

I don't want to move on from this point.

This is not a game. There are people sitting around you. Who are dealing with stuff?

I guarantee that with with with this room. There's somebody in here that's dealing with addiction. There's somebody in here who struggling with depression. There's somebody in here who is sick and tired of being sick and tired. Some of you feel hopeless. All of you recognize Brokenness in your life or in the lives of people around you. And this is where that's not supposed to be hidden away behind fake Sunday smiles over the kingdoms about which one of us is the greatest which one of us can sing the loudest which one of us can smile the brightest. Is about humbly coming and saying Lord, can you use me? Lord can you use somebody else in my life this morning? And I'm going to ask you guys to do something that I think is going to take some courage on your part.