Mark 08a SU - Jesus - God's Son

Jesus – God’s Son

Ÿ  Realisation

ð  What was it like for you when you suddenly found that you understood something, or could do something for the first time? It might have been when you understood a maths problem at school or learnt a new piece of music for example. It was the moment, when, as we say, the penny dropped - the moment of realisation.

ð  That is what we see in our passage this morning. Jesus is deliberately trying to lead His followers into a deeper understanding of who He is. He probes their knowledge of what people around them think, tacitly encouraging them to go deeper themselves with the pointed question – “But you, who do you say I am?”

ð  And Peter gets there! Suddenly the penny drops. He realises what had been staring them all in the face all the time – through all the healing, the teaching, the feeding of the ten thousand, the walking on the water – that Jesus was special – He was God’s Messiah, He was God’s Son.

ð  That realisation was crucial to Peter and to the rest of the disciples; and that was precisely why Jesus pushed them towards it.

ð  It is still crucial today for all Jesus’ followers – that moment when the penny drops – and you realise deep in your heart - for the first time – for yourself who Jesus is.

ð  It is a vital moment …

Ÿ  Dedication

ð  Peter realised that Jesus was not just their teacher and friend; he was actually the Christ - the one whom God had promised to send. Now that they knew who Jesus really was, they had to think about what it might mean for them to follow him. Jesus had told his disciples that following him would be difficult sometimes; people might laugh at them or even hate them because they were his followers.

ð  In Mark 8:34 Jesus is deliberately trying to provoke and shock. He is describing following Him in the very same kinds of terms that he used to describe what was going to happen to Him just a few verses earlier.

ð  Rejected by the religious rulers ó denying yourself

ð  Killed ó taking up your cross

ð  By mentioning the cross, his hearers would have known that he was referring to the barbaric Roman form of execution. They would have seen criminals carrying a cross to their own execution.

ð  Jesus talked about following him being like carrying a cross. The Roman soldiers made criminals carry their crosses when they put them to death. A cross was made of wood. It was big, awkward to carry, and very.

ð  Get the picture? Jesus wants to point out to his hearers that following him is not an easy option. It is not respectable, comfortable or middle class. Jesus is challenging our priorities and the way we order our lives. The 'me first' philosophy simply will not work with him. Following Jesus is costly. We need to count that cost - to consider the demands of Jesus in all the mundane details of life and discover how we can keep following him in our day-to-day circumstances.

ð  Following Jesus is bound to be difficult sometimes. But God gives us what we need. Are you ready to follow him, and if you are, have you told him and asked for his help?

·         Consummation

ð  Rejected by the religious rulers ó denying yourself

ð  Killed ó taking up your cross

ð  But it doesn’t stop there.

ð  Rising on the third day ó following Jesus

ð  There is more than just this world for the follower of Jesus.

The road for Jesus’ followers is long, it is rocky, it can be very dark – it will even lead to death - but it leads to glory. That is the promise that Jesus makes to His followers.

ð  No matter the cost of following Jesus, the final outcome is glorious. As He says, “Whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

ð   It is the ultimate cost but what is the alternative: "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?"

ð  What is your soul worth? A great deal. The whole world itself is not enough to compare in value. It was when that penny dropped for me that I came to faith …

ð  What is your soul worth?