Who is Jesus?

Mark 8:27-38

One of the two most important questions one can ask is: “Who is Jesus?” If you were to go around and ask people today, you would get many answers. Some would be like the answers the Pharisees and Sadducees gave: “He was a crackpot.” “He was a narrow-minded bigot, just like Christians today.” He was a religious fanatic who had apocalyptic delusions. Some would profess ignorance or be indifferent to the question. Others would be a little kinder and say: “He was a good teacher.” He was a prophet.” He was a social justice warrior.” He was the father of liberation theology.” “He was a pacifist.” And others would point to some of his teachings on the Sermon on the Mount. Yet, there are many who would answer as Peter did: “He is the Christ.”

To answer this question, one needs to consult the Scriptures about what is said of Jesus as well as what Jesus said of Himself. So if you have your Bibles, open up to Mark 8:27-38 and let us read this morning’s text.

The text tells us that Jesus and His disciples were on the way to Caesarea Philippi, which was a city in Gentile territory north of the Sea of Galilee. One of the sources of the Jordan River was there which flowed out of a cave known as “The Gates of Hades.” (Hell) Above it was a large rockface into which a Pagan temple was carved into and was dedicated to the god Pan. The word “Pan” in Greek means “everything.” He was worshiped by goat dancers and gross sensuality much like the worship of Baal who was worshiped at this place before Pan. Caesarea Philippi was named after Caesar as well as Philip the Tetrarch, the one who had beheaded John the Baptist. So this was not the place where a good Jew was likely to be found. It must have seemed unusual for Jesus to have gone to this place. After all, there were no lost sheep of the House of Israel to rescue.

Jesus asks His disciples as they approach: “Whom do men say that I am?” This was an indirect way of getting to the question He really wanted them to answer, which was “But whom do you say that I Am?” They answered with several possibilities, The first was John the Baptist. That was Herod’s choice as we know. The disciples knew that was not the correct answer as some of them had been the Baptist’s disciples before coming to Jesus. The second answer was hat some considered Him to be Elijah. The prophet Malachi had prophesied that Elijah would return at the end of time to restore all things. This was not the right answer either, as Jesus told the disciples that John the Baptist had filled the role of Elijah. The third answer was “One of the Prophets.” This was partially correct as Jesus was a prophet. But Jesus was simply not just a prophet. He was the greatest of Israel’s prophets and so much more.

Now Jesus asks the disciples for their opinion. Peter answers for them and says “Thou art the Christ.” Matthew records more of the answer of Peter than Mark does. Mark also omits the blessing of Peter and the statement “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades (Hell) shall not be able to prevail against it. Why has Mark truncated the answer? Perhaps it was because tradition says that Mark got the material for his gospel from Peter himself. Out of humility, he may have truncated it. This is, of course, speculation on my part. But the shorter answer tends to put extra emphasis upon Jesus and His person without sharing the stage with Peter,

“Thou are the Christ.” This is the correct answer. This is true about Jesus. But what exactly does “Christ” mean? If one were to do a word search of Greek, the translation is “The Anointed One.” This word also translates the Hebrew “Messiah” which translates the same into English. One will notice that many modern English translations replace “Christ” with “Messiah.” The NIV uses “Messiah” John 20:31 where it says: “That you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah rather than Christ.” But should we be doing this. One of the biggest misconceptions about Jesus is that He was the Messiah that the Jews had imagined. The Messiah was going to come and overthrow the Romans and set up the new world capital at Jerusalem. This was Peters understanding of Messiah. One can see it in His rebuke of Jesus when He said that He was going to go to Jerusalem, not to take the sceptre of power to rule over the world in a physical way, but to be rejected and die. “Messiah” then becomes a tainted term because it was wrongly thought to be particular to the Jews ruling in an earthly kingdom rather than Jesus being the Christ of all nations.

It is interesting to note that “Messiah” occurs only two times in the entire New Testament, both times in John’s gospel. The first time occurs in John 1:41 when Andrew tells his brother Simon Peter: “We have found the Messiah. John goes on to say that the Greek translation is “Christos.” This would have allowed John to have used “Messiah: for the rest of the gospel. But instead, he uses “Christ” consistently with the exception of the Samaritan woman in 4:25: “I know that Messiah is coming.” John provides the translation “Christ” here also. Here, there was a difference of opinion between the Samaritans who believed in the coming of “Taheeb” (teacher) who Moses had spoken and the Jewish concept of Messiah. What was Jesus’ answer? He told the woman that the one who would worship God must do so in Spirit and in truth. God was not restricted to one place or a particular people group. “Christ” is a universal term free from parochial baggage. It was the common language of the entire Roman Empire. Therefore, I think it unwise to translate the Greek “Christ” back to the Hebrew “Messiah” unless it is evident that the Messiah of common Jewish expectation is meant.

For since it seems obvious from the context that Peter’s understanding of Christ here is that of “Messiah.” But even here, I am reluctant to do so. This is because these words are addressed to us. We must be careful to avoid putting the Jewish nation of Israel on a special pedestal. Paul clearly tells us of the equality of Jew and Gentile. We must not Judaize the church or think that God has two chosen peoples. Paul tells us clearly that Gentiles do not have to undergo circumcision and keep the Law. If the Jewish Christian is considered doubly blessed, why not convert to Judaism also? The saving of the Gentiles is not to make them spiritual Gibeonites. Gentiles are not to be the drawers of water and the hewers of wood in a Jewish Messianic kingdom. The Jews are neither to be advantaged or disadvantaged in the Kingdom. A Jew does not have to become a Gentile or a Gentile a Jew. But one has to become a Christian who as God the Son is Yahweh in the Old Testament. One becomes a child of God by faith. Rahab was a Canaanite who was to be destroyed with all the inhabitants of Jericho. But by faith she hid the spies and asked to be spared in return. Anyone who believed the message that anyone who was in Rahab’s house when Jericho fell would be saved was delivered from death. Rahab believed and her posterity was rewarded as she was the ancestor of Jesus Christ.

Another thing we can glean from Matthew’s account is that Simon’s name was changed to Peter. Changes of name are always special. Peter is a Greek, not a Hebrew or Aramaic one. In Aramaic, Peter is “Cephas” which means “a pebble.” Jesus in the Gospel of John had already given Simon the name “Cephas.” So calling Him “Peter” must have had some significance over the Aramaic name “Cephas.” Remember that this was dome at the Gentile and quite Pagan city of Caesarea Philippi. Peter was given two keys. The first of these was used on Pentecost where the Spirit fell upon Jews and proselytes only. The Gospel did indeed come to the Jew first. But the second key was used at the house of Cornelius the Centurion to open up the gospel and the Kingdom to Greeks as well. It was always Gods plan to include the Gentiles (all the nations except Israel) alongside the Jews. Jesus is LORD and Christ of all.

The Bible tells us that Jesus, alongside the Father and the Spirit is the Creator of all things. It tells us that He sustains the entire Universe. It tells us that God, the Son, became incarnate through the Virgin Mary. The Scripture tells us He went about preaching repentance. If one is to be saved, they have to come to Him in faith. The Scripture tells us He was rejected by the Jews first and then by Pilate representing the Gentiles. He was crucified for our sins and buried. He rose from the dead on the third day. After forty days of making several appearances to those whom he had chosen as witnesses to the Resurrection, He ascended back to the Father. The Scripture tells us that He sits at the right hand of the Father. He is making intercession. He will return one day to judge the living and the dead. Some will arise to everlasting bliss. The rest will suffer eternal torment. This is who Jesus Christ is.

Seeing this is who Jesus is, this brings up the second great question: “What are you going to do about it?” If Jesus was a lunatic, then he can be safely ignored. If Jesus was merely a good teacher, one can take or leave him. There are many :good” teachers to listen to. There are lots of reformers and social justice warriors. There are a lot of people who are against war and believe in non-violent resistance. But since we now see the testimony of Scripture about who Jesus, do we dare reject Him? The world rejects Jesus more and more every day as it spirals further out of control. There is still time to repent. If you think things are scary now, just imagine an eternity of sorrow apart from Jesus Christ. “Repent and believe the good news” is not a suggestion but a command. Disregard at your own loss.