Who Do You Say That I Am? - Mark 8:27-38

Mark 8            Who Do You Say I Am?

I always count it a great privilege to present the word of God, but this morning is something special. We’ve just celebrated the birth of Jesus, but this morning we are examining the identity of that child born in such humble circumstances about two thousand years ago.

Our reading this morning comes from the Gospel of Mark chapter 8 and we’re starting at verse 27 and reading to the end of the chapter.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

27 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” [1]

If I were to ask who do people say that I am, I would get a range of responses, and the answers I got may depend on who I ask. People, who know me from my work, would tell me what I do for a living. Some people know me by the car I drive. What you know about me could be what has been revealed to you. Someone may have told you something about me. You may be able to come to some of your own conclusions about me by examining some clues. If you look at my car that may give you some idea of the type of person I am.

We all come to conclusions about each other by personal experience or hearsay or deduction.

Now if I were to ask that question “Who do people say that I am?” It would be because I want to find out what people think of me, but why did Jesus ask that question? He already knew the answer. The Gospel accounts make it plain that He knows the thoughts of man.

Who do people say that I am?

Why did Jesus ask this question? It wasn’t so he could find out what people think of him. He knows what is in people’s hearts. He knew who people thought he was.

Whenever you see Jesus asking a question, he’s teaching. He was teaching the disciples. He’s teaching us.

Who do people say that I am?

Jesus had certainly made an impact. He was performing miracles. He taught in the synagogues and in the countryside. He spoke with authority, confounding the religious leaders with an insurmountable wisdom. People were amazed. This would naturally lead people to speculate as to whom he was, and despite his identity being clearly revealed to us in scripture, the speculation continues to this day.

Who is Jesus? - That’s one of the most important questions that will ever be asked.

There has always been confusion about this.

Before Jesus even came the first time, there was speculation about the identity of the Messiah. Much about Jesus was clearly revealed by the prophets; written scripture; our old testament, but what was so clear was then obscured by man’s sinful nature. People had their own idea of what type of man the Messiah should be, so this influenced their interpretation of the prophecies. This being the case, when the Messiah came, The people who should have known best (the religious leaders) didn’t recognize him.

But even today, after Jesus has been here and clearly demonstrated who he is by word and deed, people are still confused.

The religious leaders who had studied the prophets, had allowed their own ideas to warp the prophecies about the Messiah so that they were expecting someone very different.

So when Jesus said-

John 10:30 I and the Father are one.”

31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” [2]

For as long as they had existed, the nation of Israel had waited for the messiah. When he came, they rejected him, because they didn’t recognize him. They ignored scripture and were anticipating a savior of their own design. They had their own idea of who the Messiah would be and it certainly wasn’t some carpenter from Nazareth.  But they were without excuse. They should have known from their prophets the nature of the savior. They should have expected that the Christ would be deity. They would have known the words of Isaiah which we often recite at Christmas-

Isaiah 9:6     For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

    and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called

    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. [3]

He was born of a virgin, He turned water into wine, He walked on water, he calmed the storm, He fed thousands with a few small morsels.

He healed the sick, cast out demons, made the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the blind to see.

He raised people from the dead.

He predicted the nature and timing of his death and resurrection, and after he died, he raised himself up just as he said he would.

He rose from the dead and people are still confused as to who he is!

We’ve heard who most people thought Jesus to be; 28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”

Many thought he was great. Putting him at the level of John the Baptist or Elijah or the prophets shows us that they thought quite highly of him. There was no denying the power and authority that was on display in him, but they didn’t entertain the idea of him being the Messiah, because they were expecting someone different to the messiah of the prophecies.

So it was against this background of mistaken ideas about the Messiah that we find Jesus teaching his disciples on this crucial topic, and his teaching continues in the form of this next question.

But who do you say that I am?

Peter’s answer is astonishing.  “You are the Christ”

Ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God; for four thousand years humanity had waited for the promised salvation. The Israelites were the custodians of that promise. They had the prophets. They had the Holy Scriptures; the prophecies that told of the one who was to come. Now Peter is saying “It’s you. You’re the one we’ve been waiting for”.

“You are THE Christ”

There is no other. No other name...

John 14:6 Jesus said … “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.[4]

The gospel is exclusive. Certainly the expectation was only ever for one Savior, and here he is, and Peter knows it. Here is the promised Messiah.

When Adam sinned, death and suffering entered the world. For all of history, people had waited and prayed for relief from the consequences of sin, and here he was, standing here before the disciples.

We find a parallel account of this passage in Matthew 16 with a bit more detail.

Matthew 16:15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ,

Now Peter could have stopped there. That alone is a profound statement, but he continues

the Son of the living God.”[5]

We have become accustomed to the term “the Son of God”. As believers we have all become children of God by adoption, but to the Jews, this was blasphemy of the highest order. To claim to be a son of God was to liken yourself to God.

Jesus is not an adopted son like we are. We are only God’s children because He has graciously welcomed believers into his family, but Jesus is God’s only begotten Son. As John said in his Gospel-

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.[6]

Being the Son of God, Jesus is by his very nature…God.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.[7]

Of course the religious leaders didn’t recognize Jesus’ divinity

John 5:16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. [8]

“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”

Now how did Peter come to this conclusion? Was it because he was extraordinarily clever? Well, no, he was just a fisherman. Did someone reveal it to him? Actually, yes

Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. [9]

Jesus’ real identity was hidden from the people, and to understand the Gospel, you must understand who Jesus is.

We can know something of God by deduction in what we observe around us-

Romans 1:19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.[10]

But as human beings, we love our sin and our sinful nature blinds us to the nature of God.

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.[11]

1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.[12]

By observing the natural world you may come to a realization that there is a creator god, but without scripture, without God revealing himself to you, without the Holy Spirit dwelling within you, you are left to fill in the blanks in your own mind, but the heart of man is desperately wicked. People have been filling in the blanks for as long as there have been people, and out of the corrupt hearts of men, demonic doctrines are given birth and false beliefs abound. Outside of Christ there is only corrupt, damning religion.

This statement “you are the Christ, the son of the living God” is a concise title which carries with it all the weight of scripture and the bible says so much about Jesus that no one could plumb the depths of all there is to know about him in God’s word. There are brilliant men with a zealous love for God who have spent most of their lives devoted to meticulous study of the scriptures. And after more than half a century of scholarship these men will tell you that every day there is more to learn about Jesus. And the bible doesn’t tell us everything there is to know. When we finally see him face to face and look upon his awesome majesty, a whole new universe of wonder will open up for us.

After Peter so precisely declared the identity of Jesus-

Jesus 30 … strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

The religious leaders hated Jesus, because he exposed their false religion. They saw him as a threat to their positions of authority. They were looking for an excuse to have him killed. Jesus still had work to do. Now was not the time for him to be handed over to them, so his true identity would remain, for a while, a secret.

But Jesus revealed more than his identity to his disciples-

Jesus’ divinity had already been established by his miracles and authoritative teaching. Peter’s proclamation of him as the Messiah and Son of God reinforced that, so you would think that whatever he said after that would have been taken as absolute immutable truth.

31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly.

There is no confusion here. This is not a parable. He isn’t speaking in some lofty spiritual plain that is beyond their comprehension, but Peter, after only moments ago speaking the deepest truth revealed to him by God himself, reverts to the flesh and rebels against what the Son of God is saying so plainly.

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

Perhaps Peter has done here what I have done from time to time when listening to someone – When someone makes a point which has an impact on me, my mind will often wander off on its own accord pondering deeply the essence of what has just been said and I’m completely oblivious to the following five minutes of discussion.  Peter heard all too well the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, but then the fact that Jesus said  and after three days rise again. Seems to have escaped his notice

33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Peter loved Jesus. He didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. We’re not told exactly what Peter said. If it was me I might have said something like “The world had waited four thousand years for you, and now you’re telling us you’re going to die?”

We may not understand God’s will for us. We are often left to wonder what God’s purpose is. There is a way that may seem right to us. but it’s God’s way we must follow, not our own.

Isaiah 55:7    let the wicked forsake his way,

and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

    let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8   For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

9   For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts. [13]

The religious leaders couldn’t tolerate the idea that the Messiah could be the Son of God, even though the prophets said it clearly.

Peter recoiled at the notion that the Son of God must suffer, even though Isaiah said-

Isaiah 53:5    But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

    upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed. [14]

Perhaps we could excuse Peter here, because he was after all just a fisherman, he wouldn’t have had as deep a knowledge of scripture as the religious leaders, but no, the word was standing right before him, speaking the word of God directly to him.

Jesus continues his teaching by telling them what to expect-

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.

We’re not promised a life that panders to the desires of the flesh.

The Apostles had it pretty hard. All but one were killed because they proclaimed the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Thousands of believers were killed under the Romans because they refused to deny that that same Jesus rose from the dead. And it didn’t stop there. Persecution and martyrdom has been the norm for Christians right up to the present day. We in the western world have enjoyed a brief reprieve for the last couple of hundred years, but our brothers and sisters in many countries continue to suffer.

One of the hallmarks of false religion is an appeal to the flesh. If a church is promising health, wealth and prosperity in this world, they are using the same tactic as Satan.

If a church has brilliant musicians and fantastic lighting and air conditioning and the best coffee shop, but that same church doesn’t preach against sin and proclaim Jesus Christ and him crucified, then that church is only engaging man’s reprobate nature and leading people through the wide gate.

 Matthew 7:13 “... For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. [15]

Our treasure is not to be found in anything that this world can seduce us with.

36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul?

What if you did gain the whole world? What if you had ultimate control over every nation? What if you could click your fingers and have anything you want? Big mansion on the coast? No problem. Another one in Spain? How about one in every country and a fleet of cars and aircraft for each one?

2 Peter 3:7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. [16]

All of the delights of this world will end. All things are subject to decay and in the end everything will be consumed by fire.

“Who do you say that I am?” The implications of that question were enormous for Peter and the other disciples, and the weight of that question has carried on down through the centuries. It’s a question that is just as important today as it ever was. It’s a question that you must answer. The question is not ‘who is Jesus to you’ It’s not about fitting Jesus into your world view or bending him to fit your theology or forcing him to submit to your ideas. This question asks us to submit to the objective reality of our creator. There is only one Messiah Jesus. A Jesus who fits human design is a false god. A Jesus who panders to our depravity is a demonic deception that leads to destruction.

The objective reality is that there is only one hope. He is the Messiah, the Christ, our savior. The only begotten son of the only living God. He is God who came to earth, born of a virgin, lived his whole life without sin, demonstrated his deity and laid his life down in the humiliation of crucifixion on the cross and in three days raised himself up again. The objective reality is that we have all sinned and sin puts us under condemnation, but Jesus took our sins to the cross so that we could have his righteousness.

 Jesus is asking you “Who do you say that I am?” You must get this right. If you aren’t sure, then pray to God that he would have mercy on you and reveal himself to you through the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Romans 10:13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” [17]

James 4:6 “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.[18]

Matthew 10:32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. [19]

38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” [20]

If someone asked you ‘who is Jesus?’ what would your answer be? The religious leaders sentenced Jesus to death because of who he claimed to be. Thousands of believers have suffered and died because they refused to deny the resurrected Jesus.

Jesus is asking you “Who do you say that I am?”

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mk 8:27–38). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jn 10:30–33). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Is 9:6). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jn 14:5–6). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 16:15–16). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jn 1:14). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jn 1:1–2). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[8] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jn 5:16–18). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[9] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 16:17). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[10] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ro 1:19–20). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[11] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ro 1:18). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[12] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Co 2:14). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[13] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Is 55:7–9). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[14] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Is 53:5). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[15] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 7:13–14). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[16] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (2 Pe 3:7). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[17] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ro 10:13). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[18] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jas 4:6–7). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[19] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 10:32–33). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[20] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mk 8:27–38). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.