Who He is

Good Morning and welcome to another week of the bridge. I am so glad that you have joined us here together for worship. One of the most interesting things that has happened in recent years with the advent of the internet is the way that we talk to each other. How many of you are familiar with the term...

Keyboard Warrior

If you aren’t familiar with this term it is basically a person who is able to share an opinion about someone or something through a text based communication without fear of any real confrontation. These are things that most people would never say in person to others because they know that it would probably result in some form of altercation.

It is an unfortunate phenomenon that has happened recently and it has created strife between people that i know as they share their opinions.

That is the tough thing about sharing opinions about others is that it does create the chance to be hurtful and very personal.

As much as being a keyboard warrior has become a problem the other truth is that we are willing to talk about others and cast our judgement. We love to share our opinions about others. WE do it on the news, social media, around a cup of coffee or the water cooler, and even at the church Potluck.

I was struggling to think of a time that people would sit and gossip about others at church and i kept thinking about the pot luck talking about people who might be sitting across the room.

At the end of the day we talk about people and this is a truth that we have to acknowledge. Of course it is always easier to talk about other people when they aren’t present or to even share the what other people’s opinions are of someone if you have to tell someone what people think.

That is where we pick up with Jesus and his disciples in the book of Mark.

Mark 8:27–28 NIV

27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” 28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

Who do you say I am?

Such simple question yet it is very powerful.

This is a moment where we have to recognize that Jesus was very aware of how to work with people. There is a part of me that thinks that Jesus knew that if he wanted to get the disciples to have a real conversation about their thoughts and beliefs that he needed to lead them in with an easier question. He wanted to open the door to get them to go deeper.

It is a truth that we are willing to share someone else’s opinion because it doesn’t put us on the hook for it.

If we look though at the responses they are very interesting.

John the Baptist, Elijah, and one of the prophets.

All three are an interesting response to the question because they create interesting points of view that people are holding.

John the Baptist is interesting because of the fact that this is a connection more to Herod and his killing of John the Baptist. Also because of the fact that Jesus and John the Baptist had been seen together and also were related. Now of course not everyone would be aware of that but it does make for an interesting dynamic.

Elijah is interesting because the common thought was that he could be Elijah because Elijah had never died and had been taken up to heaven and that Jesus could be him returning.

The last one “one of the Prophets” is not saying he was a new prophet but the return of a prophet from the OT.

All of these help us see that people knew Jesus was special but they didn’t necessarily have a real idea of who he was.

He transitions though to a new question that is the more challenging question that he was leading into.

Mark 8:29 (NIV)

29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Who do you say I am?

What a loaded question.

Really think about this. This is a very personal question to be asking his disciples. Not only is he opening himself up for an unexpected answer or realizing his disciples may not have a full idea of who he is. He is asking his disciples to show their real thoughts about him and to be honest with him. That is hard for many people to do.

I mean imagine sitting across from Jesus and having him ask you this question. What do you think your response would be?

When we ask ourselves this question today we realize now that this shows so much about what we think about Jesus. It reveals a lot about our faith. Before we get into that though lets look at the response of the disciples.

Mark 8:29 NIV

29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

You are the Messiah

Peter as usual is his bold self and shares exactly what is on his mind. It is amazing to think that Peter was quick to respond without hesitation and to share his thoughts. The reality is that he speaks the truth and is not ashamed of it and it is important that he does this.

One other interesting thing about this is also that up to this point no one other than demons and God have acknowledge who Jesus was. Not one human had openly declared that Jesus was something more. They had seen and heard things that would lead them to that conclusion yet none of them was willing to ask him about it or openly say it to him or others.

This idea that Jesus was something more is powerful because it reveals that at least peter was aware of who Jesus is. This recognition is powerful.

The Confession of who Jesus is

We may not always think about this but the truth is that this confession of Peters reveals so much about Jesus. Not only does it reveal a lot about Peter and Jesus but when we look to us today here right now the confession of who Jesus is, is important for revealing some truth about our faith.

The truth is that this confession is a statement about the authority of Jesus.

We can not see Jesus as anything less than the same confession as Peter. To view Jesus as anything less than the Messiah is to remove all the authority he has because of the way the he is presented within the Gospels. Jesus makes multiple claims about who he is and is relationship to God as Father that makes it impossible for us to see him as anything less than the Messiah.

I think about the disciples response to the first question and we still here those thoughts about Jesus today. Some people will say that Jesus was a great teacher, or even a prophet. Yet, if we study and engage in the Gospel we know that this can’t be true. Jesus was more than these things. In fact associating him as only those things is to remove the divine nature of Jesus and to remove the power of the cross.

it is in these moments that we realize that we like the disciples have to come to a point that we stop and recognize that Jesus who Jesus is. At some point we have to look deep within ourselves and make the choice to follow after him and confess to the face that Jesus is the Messiah. It is in this moment of connecting to the fact that he is the Messiah that we have to be transformed and commit to the mission of Jesus or we are going to go our own way.

It is in this truth that we find the power of what Peter was saying. it is in this truth that we realize that we all will have to make this same confession. We all will have to make the choice to either follow after him or choose not to. We can’t sit on the fence about this issue. We have to in many ways be bold like Peter and confess who Jesus is. It is in this confession that we profess our faith and we show the world who we are. Not only do we show the world but it is in this confession that we realize that we are fundamentally changed at our core. We now realize that we have commited to our belief in who jesus it is in this commitment that we must follow after him and be willing to walk a life that is in pursuit of him.

Conclusion

More and more today i think that it is important that we make this distinction. We need to be clear that following after Jesus is a serious statement of faith. That we can’t just see Jesus as simply a prophet or a good moral teacher. No, we have to be ready to wrestle with and commit to the fact that he is the Son of God who came to this earth to die on the cross for our sins. That this confession is essential and is non negotiable in our faith. This is the truth and we must be ready to stand for it.