Teaching given at Liverpool, NSW Australia, on 26-May-2012
As Jesus enter the villages of Caesarea Philippi, he asked the disciples which I believe the most important question of their lives,' who do people say I am?', every one of us want to know what others think about us, we want our partners to know who we really are, we want our work mates to know who we are and we want our family to know who we are. As important as this question might be to many of us, let's examine the reason why Jesus asked this question.
Today if I go around asking who do people think Jesus is, I am sure I would get variety of answers, some may say he was a good man, a prophet, revolutionary figure, a political leader, a good teacher, while others may say he was a miracle worker. This is what the people in Caesarea Philippi thought about Jesus. Some thought he was the reincarnation of John the Baptist who had been beheaded by King Herod (Mark 6:14-29), while others thought he was prophet Elijah who died some 850 years before Jesus was born. Nothing too surprising, after all the miracles and power testimonies of who he was and where he came from, people still had their doubts about who Jesus really was. Today after more than 2000 years of Christendom, many may be struggling with this question.
As he walks along, Jesus zooms in on the disciples with another intriguing question, 'but who do you say I am?' (Mark 8:29), if Jesus where to ask you this very question today, what would your answer be, will you admit just like with Peter,'you are the Messiah' or will you remain silent as the other 11 disciples? Yes, Peter's confession was appropriate, Jesus Christ cannot be anyone less than our Savior, He is the God who came in human flesh to rescue us from sin and death. If he was anyone other than God, he is either a liar and a lunatic or God manifesting in human form as he claims in the Bible.
So why ask such a question? was Jesus trying to build his profile amongst his disciples? I think if we explore more in this section of the bible (Mark 8:27-31), we can unearth some valuable insights.
After Peter confessed Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone about him (v.30), these are most likely reasons why Jesus wanted his disciples to refrain from telling anyone about his role as the Messiah.
1. Revealing about who Jesus is to the world must be on God's timing and not man's schedule. Today over a billion people know and confess Jesus as their Messiah but that is just 1/7th of the population. The rest will surely know and admit who Jesus is in God's timing. We are called to simply take up our cross and follow Him (v.34)
2. There is no point in arguing with people who have false idea or opinion about Jesus. Some believe Jesus was a mere prophet based on what they were taught yet others believe he was an incarnation of one of their gods. Whatever the case may be, the role of Messiah can only be understood if His believers become the Light in this dark world and Salt in people's lives. Jesus was more or less telling his disciples, 'let them know that you are Christians by your love' (Song composed by Jars of Clay).
3. Israelites thought Jesus would become their political figure, someone who will abolish the Roman rule and give them freedom to live in their promised land. The role of Messiah was not about setting up an earthly kingdom. Messiah is someone 'who will suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the religious law. he would be killed and three days later he would rise from the dead' (v.31)
4. He does not want people to follow Jesus and accept Him just because Peter confessed who Jesus was. Jesus does not expect you to believe in Him just because someone told you, or your church told you or some belief system has told you. He does not want you to take the cues from the others, He probably wants you to make up your own mind about who He really is. Following the teaching of men can only lead to men and to their teaching but not to God.
5. People were not ready to accept that Jesus was the promise of Gen 3:15, they did not yet see him as the deliverer promised to Abraham and David's descendants, they had not grasped the fact that He was the one about whom the prophets had prophesied
6. People had not yet accepted that Jesus was the I AM of the old testament (Exodus 3:6-14), Jesus said I AM the bread of life, the truth, way, the good shepherd, the beginning and the end and on it goes...
For those of us who believe and accept Jesus as our Messiah, He is our Great Prophet for He knows his future, he knew his purpose in life and He knows the will of God. He is the Great High Priest who is the only one who is eligible to offer the atoning sacrifice for our sins and He is our Great King who will come to reign once again from above.
Prayer
Father God, how awesome it is to wait upon you, how fulfilling it is to live in your presence and how honored we are to make that personal commitment to follow you. You are the great I AM of our lives. You are all we need God, strengthen us as we carry our cross daily to follow Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen
As Jesus enter the villages of Caesarea Philippi, he asked the disciples which I believe the most important question of their lives,' who do people say I am?', every one of us want to know what others think about us, we want our partners to know who we really are, we want our work mates to know who we are and we want our family to know who we are. As important as this question might be to many of us, let's examine the reason why Jesus asked this question.
Today if I go around asking who do people think Jesus is, I am sure I would get variety of answers, some may say he was a good man, a prophet, revolutionary figure, a political leader, a good teacher, while others may say he was a miracle worker. This is what the people in Caesarea Philippi thought about Jesus. Some thought he was the reincarnation of John the Baptist who had been beheaded by King Herod (Mark 6:14-29), while others thought he was prophet Elijah who died some 850 years before Jesus was born. Nothing too surprising, after all the miracles and power testimonies of who he was and where he came from, people still had their doubts about who Jesus really was. Today after more than 2000 years of Christendom, many may be struggling with this question.
As he walks along, Jesus zooms in on the disciples with another intriguing question, 'but who do you say I am?' (Mark 8:29), if Jesus where to ask you this very question today, what would your answer be, will you admit just like with Peter,'you are the Messiah' or will you remain silent as the other 11 disciples? Yes, Peter's confession was appropriate, Jesus Christ cannot be anyone less than our Savior, He is the God who came in human flesh to rescue us from sin and death. If he was anyone other than God, he is either a liar and a lunatic or God manifesting in human form as he claims in the Bible.
So why ask such a question? was Jesus trying to build his profile amongst his disciples? I think if we explore more in this section of the bible (Mark 8:27-31), we can unearth some valuable insights.
After Peter confessed Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone about him (v.30), these are most likely reasons why Jesus wanted his disciples to refrain from telling anyone about his role as the Messiah.
1. Revealing about who Jesus is to the world must be on God's timing and not man's schedule. Today over a billion people know and confess Jesus as their Messiah but that is just 1/7th of the population. The rest will surely know and admit who Jesus is in God's timing. We are called to simply take up our cross and follow Him (v.34)
2. There is no point in arguing with people who have false idea or opinion about Jesus. Some believe Jesus was a mere prophet based on what they were taught yet others believe he was an incarnation of one of their gods. Whatever the case may be, the role of Messiah can only be understood if His believers become the Light in this dark world and Salt in people's lives. Jesus was more or less telling his disciples, 'let them know that you are Christians by your love' (Song composed by Jars of Clay).
3. Israelites thought Jesus would become their political figure, someone who will abolish the Roman rule and give them freedom to live in their promised land. The role of Messiah was not about setting up an earthly kingdom. Messiah is someone 'who will suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the religious law. he would be killed and three days later he would rise from the dead' (v.31)
4. He does not want people to follow Jesus and accept Him just because Peter confessed who Jesus was. Jesus does not expect you to believe in Him just because someone told you, or your church told you or some belief system has told you. He does not want you to take the cues from the others, He probably wants you to make up your own mind about who He really is. Following the teaching of men can only lead to men and to their teaching but not to God.
5. People were not ready to accept that Jesus was the promise of Gen 3:15, they did not yet see him as the deliverer promised to Abraham and David's descendants, they had not grasped the fact that He was the one about whom the prophets had prophesied
6. People had not yet accepted that Jesus was the I AM of the old testament (Exodus 3:6-14), Jesus said I AM the bread of life, the truth, way, the good shepherd, the beginning and the end and on it goes...
For those of us who believe and accept Jesus as our Messiah, He is our Great Prophet for He knows his future, he knew his purpose in life and He knows the will of God. He is the Great High Priest who is the only one who is eligible to offer the atoning sacrifice for our sins and He is our Great King who will come to reign once again from above.
Prayer
Father God, how awesome it is to wait upon you, how fulfilling it is to live in your presence and how honored we are to make that personal commitment to follow you. You are the great I AM of our lives. You are all we need God, strengthen us as we carry our cross daily to follow Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen
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