Sermon – Mark 8:27-38 – Who Is Jesus?

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Sermon – Mark 8:27-38 – Who Is Jesus?

24th Sunday of Ordinary Time

September 16, 2012

Today we are going to talk about what it means to know someone. There are many ways we can know another person. We can know his or her name but little else. On the other end of the spectrum we can know someone after being in a relationship for years. When we know someone we have expectations of how that person will act in different situations. By knowing someone we sometimes have the ability to get them to do what we want. Knowing others is an important part of being in community. In today's scripture Jesus is wondering about who people say he is. Jesus wants to know how people know him. Since we desire to be in a relationship with Jesus it is important for us to know who he is too. We will get to this important question, but first let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

In the scripture you heard earlier, Jesus and his disciples are traveling and Jesus asks the question: "Who do people say I am?" From the disciples perspective this question is pretty easy. They had watched Jesus perform miracles, healing the blind, deaf and mute and feeding thousands with limited resources. These miracles indicated the Jesus was clearly a prophet of God. Maybe Jesus was John the Baptist or Elijah back from the dead. They knew Jesus only as a prophet, and all they expected was to see a miracle now and then.

Many people today see Jesus as a prophet. We go to Jesus whenever we need a miracle. So when a loved one is sick, or you lose your job, or you can't pay your utility bill you turn to Jesus for help. This is not a bad thing to do. It is good to turn to Jesus when you need divine help with an earthly problem. But if we only see Jesus as a miracle worker when we need one then we have a very narrow view of him. We don't know Jesus very well. So we have to spend more time with him in prayer and study of scripture to get to know him better.

Jesus hoped that his disciples would know him better than that. They had been with him for a while. They had heard his teaching and witnessed his behavior. Surely they would have a more complete understanding of who Jesus is. So Jesus asked them: "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" And Peter relied: “You are the Christ.” And Jesus response to this was not to deny it, but to warn Peter and the others about making this public.

One aspect of knowing someone is that you have some control over that person. For example after years of marriage spouses know each other so well that you know what to say and how to say it to get your spouse to do what you want. The same thing is true about Jesus. Once we know Jesus, in a certain way, we can control him to an extent. This is what Jesus was concerned about. If he was known as the Messiah or Christ then he would be expected to be a political and military leader. And people would want the Christ to overthrow the Roman occupation. So if people knew that Jesus was the Christ they might try to use him for their own political purposes.

The way we know Jesus determines how we relate to Jesus. Some of us know Jesus as a character in a book we study on Sundays. If this is how you know Jesus your only expectation will be to be entertained with Jesus stories each week. And a Jesus who is just a character in story would have no claim on you lives. Others of us try to have a relationship with Jesus. We want Jesus to make us feel good like a friend. We want Jesus to help us when we need help. We want to be able to talk with Jesus in prayer whenever we want. But if we only see Jesus as a friend he make no demands on us.

If we truly want to follow Jesus we have to know fully who he is. We do this with regular worship, prayer and Bible study. And when we do this we find that Jesus is far more that just a character in a story. Jesus is far more than a super hero who does miracles when we need it. Jesus is far more than a political and military leader we can use for our own purposes. Jesus is greater than all of these, and tells us who he is in Mark chapter 8.

Mark 8:31-38 ³¹ He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. ³² He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." ³⁴ Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. ³⁶ What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? ³⁷ Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸ If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

So who is Jesus? He is the Son of Man. This is a reference to the Book of Daniel and the vision of a human descending from the clouds into heaven and before the throne of God. According to Jesus, this Son of Man would be rejected by the religious authorities of the day and would suffer and die. This is not at all what Peter expected. He knew Jesus as the Christ who would lead them to glorious victory over the Romans. Peter was determined to control Jesus and get him to do what he was expected to do as the Christ. But Jesus would not be controlled by Peter.

And Jesus won't be controlled by us. Jesus will not be just a character in a story. Jesus will not be just our friend when we need one. Jesus will not be just a super hero with a miracle now and then. Jesus will not be controlled by us. Instead, Jesus is determined to suffer and die.

What Peter and the other disciples have to come to grips with is that Jesus cannot be controlled. Rather they are followers of someone heading to suffering and death and therefore they are heading to the same fate. And the decision they have to make is whether or not their faith is so important that they are willing to follow Jesus right up to the cross. How would we make this decision? Are we willing to suffer and die for our faith? Peter and the other disciples could not follow Jesus all the way to the cross. They stayed with him until Jesus was arrested and then fled. Like them we will stay with Jesus until it gets really tough and then we are gone. Like the disciples suffering and death are too much for us unless we get to know Jesus a little more.

The disciples who fled that night of Jesus' arrest did not know fully who Jesus was and so they were afraid. Three days later they saw an empty tomb and again ran away in terror. They were afraid until they saw and heard the resurrected Jesus. And then they knew fully who Jesus was. Jesus was the Son of God. Suffering and death had no power over him. And so if we follow this Jesus suffering and death will have no power over us either. This is really good news. As followers of Jesus Christ we need no longer fear suffering and death.

Possibly the best example of someone who knew Jesus so well he was not afraid of suffering and death was Ignatius was the Bishop of Antioch. Ignatius live in the middle of the first century around the time of the writing of the Gospel of Mark. He was arrested for his faith and while on his way to Rome to suffer and die he wrote the following in a letter to the Church of Rome:

“4:1 I write to all the churches, and I bid all men know, that of my own free will I die for God, unless

ye should hinder me. I exhort you, be ye not an unseasonable kindness to me. Let me be given to the

wild beasts, for through them I can attain unto God. I am God's wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may be found pure bread [of Christ]. 4:2 Rather entice the wild beasts, that they may

become my sepulchre and may leave no part of my body behind, so that I may not, when I am fallen asleep, be burdensome to any one. Then shall I be truly a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world shall not so much as see my body. Supplicate the Lord for me, that through these instruments I may be found a sacrifice to God.” http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/ignatius-romans-lightfoot.html

I urge you to continue to get to know Jesus. Read about him as a character in stories you find in the Bible. Develop a relationship with him as a friend you can talk to him in prayer whenever you want. See him as a super hero who responds to your prayers. And eventually come to know him as your savior who takes away your fear of suffering and death and replaces it with the hope of resurrection.

Lord Jesus, help us to know you better. Wherever we are now take us deeper into knowledge of who you really are. Remove from us all fear of suffering and death. And give us the hope of eternal life. Amen.