Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”
(Mark 8:27-30)
Have you ever watched Jay Leno do one of his “Jay Walking” sessions? He takes to the streets of Los Angeles and asks people a set of questions related to a specific topic? (These are my examples: 1. To what time period does this phrase point; “These are the times that try men’s souls.”) 2. Who was the first president of the United States? 3. Name the war fought for American freedom.) Jay Walking is at its best when people miss what should be a simple, obvious answer and give wrong or ridiculous responses. It is funny because of the stupidity.
I would love to take this question, Jesus asked the disciples, to the street and do a “Carmen Walking,” which admittedly does not sound near as clever as Jay Walking, but I would love to hear how people would respond. Especially here in Japan, where the culture is immersed in Shinto Buddhism, with their never-ending cycle in the struggle for perfection, which seems to offer no hope of ever reaching their goal—a state of non-existence or nothingness. Frankly my dear, Wakarimasen-I don’t understand.
At this point in the story in Mark 8, Jesus has already done amazing miracles. He has calmed the storm, healed the sick, including a paralytic, a man with a withered hand, a blind man, a deaf man, the daughter of a gentile woman, the daughter of Jairus—a ruler of the synagogue, who was healed just by Jesus’ word while another woman was touching the hem of His garment to receiving healing in the midst of a thronging crowd. Jesus has also demonstrated His power and authority over the spiritual realm by the ultimate demon encounter with a man of the tombs, who was possessed by a legion of demons. He has fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fish. He has fed the four thousand with seven loaves and a few fish. He has even walked on water. The disciples have witnessed it all. They have also experienced God’s power in their own lives, as Jesus sent them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. (Mark 3:14, 5:12-13)
Jesus has also been challenged by the Pharisees, rejected by His home crowd in Nazareth, accused of insanity by His family and tested by the Scribes and Pharisees about His breaking of the Sabbath, and His understanding of the traditions of Judaism. The disciples have witnessed all of this as well. Their minds had to be whirling with the dichotomy of it all. Here was Jesus with amazing power, wisdom and authority, unlike any ever seen in Israel, but here were the respected leaders challenging everything Jesus said and did—refusing to recognize the greater authority of God working in and through Jesus.
On this particular day, in Mark 8:27-30, Jesus is walking with the disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. They are conversing as they walk along. I can just picture it…an easy-going walk on a sunny day perhaps; chillin with Jesus, chattin about life or people or the scenery. Then Jesus brings up a sore subject. It is sore because of the conflict they seem to always encounter when they are with Jesus. Perhaps it is a sore subject because the disciples have left everything, their families, their fishing business, their jobs—tax collector—or whatever. Jesus has come into their lives and caused havoc. They are not living their normal, everyday, comfortable and predictable lives.
“And Jesus went on with the disciples…and on the way He asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’” (Mark 8:27)
The disciples responded with what they had heard. Some people said Jesus was John the Baptist come back to life, others said He was Elijah, and still others said Jesus was one of the prophets. The masses were as confused as anyone about who Jesus really was. These answers are interesting in that they reflect a feeling that Jesus was more than just a mere man—He was either a beheaded man reincarnated (Mark 6:14-29), Elijah returned to earth (2 Kings 2:1-14), or another prophet reborn—possibly Jeremiah (Matthew 16:13-16). Either way, those answers indicate to me people thought there was maybe something supernatural about Jesus but they couldn’t quite put their finger on it.
When Jesus continued the conversation with His disciples and asked them the question; “Who do you say that I am?” It seems the class fell silent.
I have been attending Japanese language classes and more often than not, the teacher will ask a question, which suddenly leads to a moment of silence when the wheels inside each of our student heads are turning, trying to find the answer—the right word or phrase to form the Japanese sentence correctly.
The students of Jesus did not all jump-in to answer His profound question. They might have been thinking, searching for just the right phrase to sum-up what they believed about Jesus. It was not until Peter spoke up to perfectly capture the truth of who Jesus was to them. “You are the Christ.” (SEE ALSO: Matthew 16:16, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Luke 9:20, “The Christ of God.”) Peter got it right with a true confession of who Jesus was.
Today, what is my true confession about Jesus? Is He the Christ—Messiah, the Son of the Living God? Or is He a good man who shared a good message with the world? Back in the 1970’s we used to say that there were only three choices for qualifying Jesus. He was either liar, lunatic or Lord. What do you think?
(Continued Next Post)
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