|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
CHALLENGE: Figure Out What You Really Believe
Mark 8:27-30 – 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.” 29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” 30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Background. They are traveling around Caesarea Philippi and here we have one of the most amazing statements ever made about Jesus Christ. I mean, a core, foundational statement made by Peter in this very location.
Matthew 16:16-18 – Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hadeswill not overcome it.
I want to focus on the name of this town and what went on there. This city, before Herod the Great’s son, Philip, modernized it was called, Paneas, named after the Greek god, Pan. Pan was the deity of rustic places, shepherds and flocks, music, and fertility. He represented the untamed forces of nature. Think half goat and half man with horns – that’s Pan. And we’ve most likely seen images of that.
Mankind encountered much and they tried to explain things so they made up a god with interests like them – music – the outdoors – intimacy. And they worshipped this false god in these rocky cliffs and in those cliffs was a cave and they believed that this cave led to the underworld of Hades.
And it’s near there that Jesus says the gates of hell will not prevail against his church. Here, even in a pagan world, I will build my church. What a hopeful statement. You’re never going to stop the work of God even in unfriendly territory.
And what is church? We are a community of believers who follow Christ. It’s people. Keep that in mind – you’re the church and hell will not prevail! And that means your family is part of the church and the gates of hell will not prevail against your family. Need not prevail against your marriage. Will not claim victory over the Christian!
As fascinating as this is, Philip, in his own man centered wisdom, changed the name of the city from Paneas to Caesarea Philippi. Hey, there’s a god who is supposedly worshipped in this city but I’m going to name it after myself and Caesar. What are you thinking?! Philip might think, “Why worship a god, when you have me, Philip”. This is a complete elevation of mankind! I’m more important. Obviously, Philip does not believe in Pan because he’d be an idiot to change the name of the city to honor him and Caesar if he did. They thought they were more powerful. Perhaps Philip didn’t think much of anything outside of humanity.
He changed the name of the city from celebrating a god and made it so it celebrated man. And that thinking is at the heart of many problems! Is man the center of life in the universe? The master of his own fate? Does everything start and stop with us? With you? Is there nothing else? Philip was setting himself in a position where he wanted honor and he was not going to share that with Pan. They actually had a temple to Augustus there as well so the Roman emperor was worshipped. This my friends, is ultra-dangerous thinking.
I wonder if God noted how even false gods were getting thrown beneath the feet of mankind? God was not the only one they did this nonsense to. The honor of man above divinity is unwise.
Let me share a couple of verses with you that I just read in my Bible reading this week.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 – This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, 24 but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.
God is important. Not our wisdom, our strength, our wealth. If you want to focus on something, let it be that we know the LORD. He brings kindness into your life and that’s through many blessings. I need that blessing like crops need rain.
Jeremiah 10:23 – Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps. // Obviously we’re not sovereign over our own lives.
I heard Andrew Klavan recently say that man is so arrogant that we think we don’t need God. Some ignore him because they think that they can do better. We can govern ourselves and make better rules and by our own means, we can bring heaven to earth. Yet all we succeed in doing is bringing hell to earth. Every time we try to ignore God, this is what we do.
Jesus gives a better solution. I am the son of the living God and I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not prevail. Perhaps hell is always trying to unleash its destructive powers on earth and one of the things that is stopping it, is the church. It’s interesting for sure. Hell wants to bust up marriages. Hell wants people addicted. Hell loves hatred. Hell loves division, lying, violence, and immorality and a host of other things. But then you have the church built on faith! A church keeping hell at bay.
So here we are in a place that worships false gods. In a place that worships the emperor. Here it’s stated that Jesus is the Messiah. There’s something that’s true, that’s real, that’s central to the best life possible. So, we can anchor our lives to that truth.
In order to get the ball rolling, Jesus asks two questions. “Who do people say that I am”? Then he asks, “Who do you say that I am”? And through the questions a powerful faith statement is distilled – Jesus is the Messiah. Let’s note that questions can precede a concrete faith.
The disciples asked at times, Who is this who can still the waves? The soldiers wondered about how he taught with such authority. The religious leaders asked how he got such a great knowledge as a boy. These are good questions and should direct us to the truth.
(trans) Let’s take our cue from Jesus
- BELIEF THROUGH QUESTIONS `
The fact that Jesus asks the questions shows how powerful he is. Most of us would never ask this question. Who do people say that I am?
Just the fact that Jesus asks the question shows how widely known he has become. And it shows that answering the question correctly is super important. Jesus matters.
Jesus asked them, who do others say that I am? The question is not so they lose faith. The questions is designed to elicit faith. The answer to that question will determine faith and faith determines life, hope, love, peace, kindness, etc. Questions can lead to a deeper faith.
Illustrations
Either way, asking questions is wise. Does God exist? Who am I? What is the purpose of life? How can we get to the truth without exploring these things. God is not afraid of questions!
I think back to Abraham asking questions about how the promise of God would be fulfilled. It’s not wrong. Sometimes you have questions as faith deepens more and more. I’ve often encouraged people to wrestle through hard things and perhaps even their own anger at how life as gone. You hit harsh realities and you’ll be digging in more deeply.
The question indicates that Jesus had done enough that people were talking about Jesus trying to answer that question, “Who is Jesus”.
So, faith may start more with questions than propositions. Hopefully seeing the change in the lives of other people and asking questions about it, helps. How did they change? Why are they so happy?
Hopefully our lives produce enough light that people are actually asking questions about what we believe. Why have peace and hope and joy. Perhaps the church will do enough to start the questions rolling. Questions should lead to interactions and propositional faith.
- BELIEF THROUGH INTERACTIONS
He’s asking the disciples who other people said Jesus was. It’s good to have a finger on the pulse of what’s going on around you.
1 Chronicles 12:32 – from Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do—200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command;
One group is commended for have an understanding of their times. It’s wise to listen to people who have a good feel for the nation and why we’re where we are. The disciples were aware of what other people thought.
- Not Every Thought is the Truth
Jesus asks a question he knows the answer too. And his identity is not dependent upon what other people say and neither is yours. People have lots of opinions. I believe Jesus is driving toward what those closest to him thought.
One group surmised that Jesus is John the Baptist. This would not be a shocking assertion since that’s what King Herod thought as well. They believed that Jesus was a reincarnation of John the Baptist. They both baptized. They both called people to repentance. However, John the Baptist was the human billboard pointing people to Christ. Could Jesus really have been John? How would Jesus age so much if he started after John the Baptist died? They obviously had not thought that through which means that they were probably not thinking very deeply about it.
What did John the Baptist say? He said that I am not he, meaning the Messiah. He said, I’m not worthy of Jesus. He said, he must increase and I must decrease. He said that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He said I baptize with water but Jesus would baptize by the Holy Spirit. Clearly John understood there was someone powerful who was coming onto the scene.
John the Baptist would point people to the Messiah. There is some good in seeing Jesus as a messenger that came from God but that was far short of Christ’s real identity. He’s the one the world awaited.
Some say Elijah the Prophet. Elijah was a prophet who never died. He went up into heaven in the chariots of fire so there was a belief that because he never died, he would come back.
Malachi predicted a return of Elijah. Malachi 4:5-6 – “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”
Again, Jesus is coming and he’s far greater than those people. The only reason for them to be there is to point to someone who is greater than they are. And that includes the other prophets.
All the quesses were less than who Jesus actually is. However, they had been talking to people that that had strengthened them.
- Connecting with a Question
Jesus interacts with his disciples. We can follow suit with people. What do you believe? What church do you go to? As a general principle, you’ll connect with people by asking them their thoughts. We have a chance to be more of a testimony if we’re asking
What about the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch. Philip heard him reading the Bible and asked him if he understood what he was reading? Who do you say Jesus is?
I’ll say this, interacting with the thoughts of others and experiences of others has certainly strengthened my faith. The disciples certainly became clear.
- BELIEF THROUGH SPIRITUAL DISTILLATION
Then Jesus asks them who they think that he is and that’s when you get this brilliant truth statement.
Ultimately, you’re responsible for what you think and it doesn’t matter what other people think. There is that time of personal responsibility your faith. Do you know what you believe about Jesus?
It says in Ephesians 4 that we need to be grounded and as we grow in Christ we’re not tossed about with every wind. We need to be grounded in what we believe.
- Distilled Faith is Solid
The questions that have been asked throughout the journey are leading to this distilled faith. You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Messiah means anointed one. The awaited a child to be born who would change the world. To be anointed was to be chosen. The word Messiah was clearly associated with the idea of a “king”.
Zechariah 9:9-10 – Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
This is what the people were awaiting. The king who would bring peace from sea to sea. The Messiah in their mind was a king and that king would rule.
Daniel 9:25-26 – “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
The Anointed one, or Messiah, would rule. But the anointed one would be put to death. He would be a suffering servant. God would lay on him the iniquity of us all. This divine figure would become the dump for sins! Jesus is the one they have awaited. He’s the ancient of days but he’s the Savior of the world and sins had to be dealt with first.
- Distilled Faith is Based on Facts, not Feelings
They had seen many miracles and they followed Jesus loyally because of who He was and what He did. They had many facts upon which to base their faith. Faith is fact based.
I don’t want to hear, “The disciples felt like Jesus came back from the dead”. He either did or He didn’t. I like to believe based on what the facts are and this is something we have to constantly drive toward.
Sometimes people like to turn their feelings into the engine that drives life. That’s very hit and miss. I would rather our feelings be based on facts. If you look at it like a train. The locomotive is facts. Then comes faith in facts and feeling trailing behind.
This would be true in our relationships as well. Sometimes our feelings are not based in facts. Or else, they are not based in all of the facts. We paint a skewed picture.
For instance, the religious leaders don’t want to believe in Jesus Christ because Jesus healed people or picked grain on the Sabbath day. So they had bad feelings based on that. So you ignore all the great things that he has done? They’re unwilling to deal with the facts in the case which creates a true blindness.
Why doesn’t Jesus just tell them who he is? That would make sense. Why ask? Their concept of a Messiah was that a king was going to whoop other nations and set up his reign then. This is not the purpose for which Christ came so to get the ball rolling on being a king right now is not why Christ came onto the scene. He came to lay down his life for the sins of us all.
So here in a place that worshipped pan – Jesus is the Messiah. In a place where they had a temple built to the emperor. Jesus is Messiah. He’s the one who is truly worth worshipping.
They saw Jesus heading for a crown and he did. But it was a crown of thorns as he hung on a cross.
John 14:6 – Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
That’s what it comes down to. This is about uniting our souls with God through His son who died on the cross.
1 Peter 3:18 – For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. As you wrestle through life and the hard things, may God bring you to that point of distilling all things into this statement. Jesus is the Messiah.