Sermon Cloud

 

We have turned a very important corner in Mark’s gospel

·        …last week, we crossed the Continental Divide so to speak

 

 

 

And from this point on, we will notice some changes in Mark’s gospel;

·        The frequency of miracles will sharply decline

·        The drive of the final 8 chapters will be to get to Jerusalem….the goal is Jerusalem

·        The focus will be much less on the crowds and much more on the disciples

 

 

 

Jesus will from this point on….appear much more intentional in His efforts at Disciple building

 

 

Indeed, this has been Jesus’ goal from the beginning

·        …but it is as if Jesus needed to first demonstrate His power to these disciples

·        ….and only then….can He begin building their faith in Him…

·        ….building the character of these men….

·        ….these men who will so soon change the entire known world for Him

 

And so….this is what our passage is all about, today

·        Disciple building

 

 

 

We will see 4 aspects of disciple building that Mark will present in this text today

 

 

If you consider yourself a disciple of Christ today

·        …then Jesus will give four absolutely necessary characteristics for your walk with Him….

 

 

 

…listen to our passage for today…

 

 

Mark 8.27-33

 

 

 

 

 

So last week, we saw in the same passage how Jesus was teaching the disciples about understanding His teachings, His revelations

 

 

 

They are in the boat, and Jesus gives them a teaching about sin and the Pharisees

·        …and they don’t get it whatsoever

 

 

And Jesus shows them, through the two step healing of the blind man

·        …and then through Peter’s partial confession that Jesus is the Christ

·        …Jesus shows them that our understanding of Christ comes to us in stages, in steps

 

 

Just as the blind man sees slowly, and Jesus touches him again….

 

 

 

So also…..As we abide in Him will our understanding of the Person of Christ also become clearer

 

 

 

And so last week, we said that Peter (and by connection, the other disciples as well)

·        …they confess Jesus to be the Christ

·        …but now…..they just have to learn what the Christ really is

 

 

 

They are still thinking of the Christ in terms of a political redeemer….a victorious figure who will free the Israelites from political oppression

·        …and re-establish Israel once again as the dominant world power

 

 

…now, they understand that Jesus is the Christ

·        …now they must begin to understand what it means to be the Christ

 

[…]

 

So these disciples are travelling with Jesus

·        …they leave the area of Bethsaida, where Jesus heals the blind man

·        …and they are travelling toward Caesarea Philippi in the north

 

 

…about a day’s journey…

 

 

 

 

And we read of this very direct question that Jesus asks of His disciples;

 

v 27

And on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?"

 

 

 

 

Now….as opposed to the accounts of this same episode in Matthew’s gospel and Luke gospel

·        …Mark makes it very clear that this question comes to the disciples…as they were travelling on their way

 

 

 

So they are on this journey of 25 miles…and as they are walking….Jesus poses this all-important question to them….

 

 

Who do people say that I am?

 

 

Our first point about Jesus’ disciple building….

 

I. Disciple-Building Must Occur on the Journey, Not at the Destination

 

 

 

You know….sometimes we can become so destination focused that we miss what God is trying to teach us along the way….

 

 

 

 

…and it is those things that God is teaching us on our way through life that will have an eternal impact on our soul

 

 

 

Do you ever get just get so busy in your hectic schedules…and your busy lives…

·        …that the lessons that God desires to teach you

·        ….just get ‘swept under the rug until a more “convenient time?”

 

 

 

 

This is so appropriate for all of us;

·        …our lives are busier than they’ve ever been

·        ….technology and transportation have allowed us to cram more into our lives than ever before

 

 

…and the result of that is often….that we are missing God’s blessing of spiritual growth

 

 

….have you ever notice in the gospels

·        …just how often it is that Jesus teaches a valuable lesson as He is on the way to somewhere else?

 

 

 

John 4; Jesus and His disciples are on the way to Galilee

·        …and all they do is to make a pit stop for some water and food

 

 

 

…and in the midst of that hurried trip

·        …Jesus meets this Samaritan woman at the well

·        …and teaches some of the most profound teachings in all of the gospels

 

 

 

Luke 19; Jesus as His disciples are on their way to Jerusalem

·        ….when he sees a man in a tree…of course, Zachaus

 

 

 

 

 

…and Jesus stops not just to talk with him

·        …but to go home with him….and eat a meal with Him

 

 

Even in Mark’s gospel; how often have we seen this?

·        …the disciples are in the boat travelling…Jesus teaches them about leaven and the Pharisees and understanding the Word of God

 

 

 

They are in a storm; and Jesus teaches them about His power and sovereignty

 

 

 

Over and over again…Jesus teaches us that it is as we are doing life….that His most profound learning moments occur

 

 

 

 

In the 12^th century….St Francis of Assisi said one day to several of his followers;

·        ….let’s go to the next village over and preach about Christ

·        …so they went…

 

 

 

Along the way….Francis met a peasant who was carrying a heavy burden

·        ...and he stopped to listen to his cares and troubles

 

 

 

When they arrived at the village

·        Francis talked with the shopkeepers, spent time with the farmers at their fruit and vegetable stands

·        ….played with the children in the street

 

 

Then, they had to return back to their monastery

 

 

 

On the way out of the village….they met another farmer struggling with a heavy load of hay

·        …and Francis stopped to help him

 

 

 

When they arrived back at their monastery…those who set out with Francis were greatly disappointed that they did not preach Christ that day

·        …and they said so to Francis

 

 

 

…and Francis replied; but we have been preaching all the way

 

 

 

God is preaching to you all the way

 

 

Spiritual growth never occurs at the destination…..

·        …spiritual growth only occurs on the journey

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

 

So Jesus poses this question;

·        Verse 27; Who are people saying that I am?

 

 

 

Jesus gets this answer that reminds us of the same opinion of Jesus back in chapter 6

·        …recall with me….King Herod hears of Jesus’ ministry

·        …and he’s concerned about this Man Jesus

 

 

 

…and we read in 6.14-15; some were saying that He was John the Baptist come back to life

·        …or others were saying He is Elijah….and others…one of the prophets

 

 

Basically…..nobody’s really sure who he is

·        …but the consensus is that He is a good Man….

 

 

 

(no doubt, that sounds familiar to the opinion of Jesus today)

·        ….the more things change, the more they stay the same…

 

 

But Jesus is getting to a point here….this was just a lead-in question

 

 

v 29

And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?"

 

Now….the original manuscripts of our Bible contain no punctuation marks

 

 

 

…there are no quotation marks, no periods, no commas, no question marks….or anything

·        …in fact….the early manuscript copies don’t even have spaces between the words…

·        ….imagine trying to read that….

 

 

 

 

And so, often when we are writing something…if we want to emphasize a word or a point

·        …we have many ways that we can do that….

 

 

 

We can use an exclamation point at the end of the sentence

 

 

 

We can italicize the word….we can underline the word…..there are many ways that we can emphasize a word….

 

 

 

Well, the writers of Scripture had no punctuation marks that they could use….

·        …but often….they still wanted to place a special emphasis on a certain word or a point

 

And they would do that by taking the word that they wanted to emphasize

·        …and they would place it at the beginning of the sentence

 

 

IOW; Greek sentence, like our sentences, follow a specific word order within the sentence

·        …and when a writer of Scripture wanted to emphasize something

·        …he would change the word order…..and put the emphasized word at the beginning

 

 

 

And this is precisely what Mark does with Jesus’ second question

·        ….can you guess which word Jesus emphasized?

 

 

You……extra emphasis is given to the word you

·        …as if Mark was underlining that word, or something

 

 

Who do you say that I am?

 

 

I don’t really care what everybody else says;

·        ….who do you say that I am?

 

 

Jesus gets these opinions from the word on the street of who He is

·        …and He says….I’m not concerned about everybody else

·        …..I’m concerned about what you think

 

II.  Disciple-Building Never Follows the Crowd

 

[…]

 

 

 

In faith…(just like in life)…when we follow the crowd

·        …we will most often find that the crowd was going to the garbage dump

 

 

 

And so….if you want a faith that takes you to the garbage dump….

·        …then the crowd is who you are to follow

 

 

 

But if you desire life eternal….then it only matters what you think of the Christ….

 

[…]

 

 

 

….Faith in Jesus Christ requires us to form our own judgments about who Christ is

·        …those judgments that are based in the revelations about Christ given in the Word of God…

·        ….but those judgments must be your own

 

 

They cannot be your wife’s judgments

·        …they cannot be your husband’s judgments

·        …they cannot be your best friend’s judgments

 

 

They cannot be my judgments…..you must search the Scriptures for yourself

·        …you must reach whatever conclusion you will about the Person of Christ

·        …but it must be yours…..you must own it

 

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

There is a story about a certain fly

·        …who was always too smart to be caught in any of the spider webs

 

 

 

 

He would see these spiders apparently suspended in mid-air…because he couldn’t see the web itself

·        …and in his little fly mind he knew that spiders didn’t have wings like he had

 

 

…and so he avoided the spider hanging in mid-air…..and he could never be caught in a spider’s web

 

 

But then one day….he looked down and saw a square, brown paper

·        …and on it was a whole group of flies

·        ….and they were all dancing….

 

(it was fly paper)

 

…and so the fly was about to go and land on it and dance with the other flies

·        …and a bumble bee came along and warned him….

·        …do not go there, you’ll be trapped….

 

 

 

…and the fly said…nonsense….

 

 

 

 

How can that be dangerous?   Look at those flies, and how they’re dancing

·        …all those flies cannot possible be wrong….

 

 

 

….and so, of course, the fly became trapped on the fly paper….

 

 

Jesus says….

 

Matthew 7:13

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.

 

 

 

 

…there’s one thing about narrow gates

·        …crowds cannot go through them…

 

 

 

You ever gone to a football game

·        …and had to go through those turnstiles, that only one person can go through at a time?

 

 

 

…they’re a bottle-neck, aren’t they….

 

 

 

 

Disciple-building is never crowd following….

 

[…]

 

 

 

..and so, after this piercing question

·        …Jesus gets this answer that shows growth in these disciples;

 

v 29

Peter answered him, "You are the Christ."

 

 

 

 

…..the disciples recognize that Jesus is the Christ

·        …but, as of yet, they have no idea what it means to be the Christ

 

 

…..they will not have that understanding until after His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension into heaven….

·        …and not until after the filling of the Holy Spirit, who will lead them into true understanding of the Christ

 

 

 

…so they have this understanding….but it is incomplete

 

 

…and so, therefore, Jesus charges them, in verse 30

 

 

v 30

And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

 

 

 

…now, why in the world would you ever want someone to not speak about Christ

 

 

Why would Jesus tell them to tell no one about Him?

 

 

For the reason we just said;

·        ….their understanding of Christ is not complete….

·        ….and so Jesus does not want a false gospel to be spread

·        …He doesn’t want these disciples teaching people that He is some sort of political Messiah

 

 

….so, He commands that they be silent about Him

 

Obviously, once their understanding of Him is accurate…..they will be commanded to not be silent about Him

·        But…..

 

 

Acts 1:8

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

 

 

 

 

…and notice….this will take place after the power that is the Holy Spirit has come upon them….

 

 

 

…now….Jesus immediately begins to teach them how to properly understand this Messiah that He is;

 

 

v 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.

And he said this plainly.

 

So Jesus teaches that He must suffer these things

·        He will be rejected, and killed, and rise again

 

 

…but don’t miss something here

·        …something that we read so often in Scripture that our minds can sometimes just block it out

 

 

 

Jesus says; the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected…by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes….

 

 

 

 

This is a tremendous irony

·        …and that irony is that the suffering and death of the Messiah…as we would expect…at the hands of wicked and godless men

 

 

The suffering of the Son of Man comes, rather, at the hands of the elders, the priests, the teachers of the law….

·        …the religious elite….

 

 

 

It is not humanity at its worst that will crucify God

·        ....it is humanity at its absolute best

 

 

 

 

The death of Jesus will not be the result of a momentary lapse of reason from hardened criminals who have no respect for life

 

 

…but rather….it will be the result of careful deliberations from respected religious leaders who will justify their actions…

·        ….by the highest standard of law and morality….

 

 

 

…even believing their actions to be pleasing to God

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

Jesus says to His disciples….the same will happen to them…

 

John 16:2

…Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

….The path that the Christ must follow is directly contradictory to the path of the religious elite

·        …those who live by their own piety

·        …those whose religion exists to serve them….not serve God…

 

 

Mark Twain

Having spent a considerable amount of time with religious people, I can understand why Jesus liked to be with tax-collectors and sinners.

 

III.  Disciple-Building Must Often Occur at the Expense of Religion Building

 

 

Jesus says very plainly;

 

Matthew 6:24

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other…

 

 

And in Jesus’ day….the religious elite had very little to do with God

 

 

They served a master….but that master wasn’t God

 

 

 

Oh, they talked about God a lot

·        …they prayed…they read and studied the Scriptures…..they supposedly devoted their lives to God

·        …but really, their lies were devoted to themselves

 

 

 

Their religion was just a mask….a façade they put on

·        ….as Isaiah would say…..and Jesus would later quote him….

 

Isaiah 29:13

…this people draw(s) near with their mouth and honor(s) me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me…

 

 

…that was true for Jesus’ day

·        …and don’t you find that to be true for us today as well?....

 

 

 

There are so many religious people….and pastors….and churches

·        …that are all about building their kingdom….not the kingdom of God

 

 

 

 

But Jesus teaches us that if Disciple-building is to occur…..it must occur at the expense of our religion building….

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

Now….it is at this point that Peter’s famous rebuke of Christ comes….

 

(By the way….what’s missing in this text?)

·        Between verses 30 and 31?

 

 

 

Jesus’ praise of Peter

·        …the famous; you are the Rock…and on this Rock I will build My church…etc.

 

 

Why do you think that is missing?

 

(we can say the same about the story of Jesus walking on the water)

·        …its missing the part about Peter getting out of the boat

 

...why do you think those are missing?

 

 

 

We have said time and again….that this is really Peter’s gospel

·        …Mark was not a disciple…..Peter is giving this gospel to Mark

·        ….and Mark is writing it down

 

 

 

…and when Peter tells the stories…..missing are the stories that are most favorable to him

·        …..the very stories that show Peter in the best light….

 

 

 

What does that say?

 

….you know, there’ something particularly odious about someone in ministry who uses their position to proclaim all the things they’ve done

 

 

 

 

Don’t you find that distasteful…there’s just something that smells foul about pride in those who claim to be Christ followers….

 

 

Peter could have said;

·        …don’t forget the part where I walked on the water…

·        ….don’t forget the part where Jesus called Me a Rock…

 

 

 

 

…but no….Peter is leading like His Lord taught him to lead…

·        …with humility……

 

 

 

…and there’s much to learn from that….

 

 

 

….But here comes this famous rebuke of Jesus by Peter

 

 

v 32

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

 

 

 

 

…imagine….Peter rebuking the Creator of the Universe…

·        …the thought is almost unimaginable….

 

 

….think of just how painful it must have been for Peter to tell this story to Mark…

 

 

…but then, Jesus answers Peter’s rebuke;

 

v 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."

 

 

 

…..Now there is much to learn from this exchange….

 

 

 

…but I think the most helpful thing to learn comes when we consider;

·        ….why it was that Peter rebuked Jesus…when Jesus began to teach them of what was in store for Him

 

 

 

I think that often we think that Peter’s rebuke of Jesus comes from a human love for Jesus

·        …they have followed Him…they love Him…..they don’t want to see the things happen to Him that He’s teaching them will happen…

 

 

 

 

…and I think there’s probably some truth to that….

 

 

 

But I don’t think that was the main reason for Peter’s rebuke of Jesus…

 

[…]

 

 

…don’t forget…Peter has invested everything in this Man, Jesus…

 

 

 

He has left a lucrative fishing business

·        …he has left his family….he has given everything to follow this Man Jesus

 

 

 

…now we see, I think, Peter’s reasoning here

·        …Peter was looking for a political Messiah

 

 

 

The disciples were looking for a political Messiah

·        …and if this suffering, rejection, and death occur as Jesus says….

·        ….then what of this dream that these disciples have invested themselves in?

 

 

(they sort-of missed the resurrection part, didn’t they?)

 

 

But they have committed everything to follow Him

·        …and if this is what is to happen to the One they follow

·        ….then that also has some very serious implications for these disciples, doesn’t it?

 

IOW; when Jesus speaks of the way He will be treated….as a follower of Jesus, these disciples will also be opening themselves up to something similar

·        ….that goes without saying….

 

 

 

…Peter doesn’t like the drastic increase in the cost of following Jesus that Jesus has just told him about….

 

 

IV.  Disciple-Building Is Never Cheap

 

 

 

 

In Luke 14

·        …Jesus tells a parable

 

 

 

 

He says;

·        …If anyone wishes to come after Me…He must bear his cross

 

 

 

Now….a cross to us today has taken on a whole different meaning;

·        …we think of a cross today as a burden, a weight, a trouble

 

 

…we think of bearing our cross to mean;

·        ….we must live with a husband that is unkind….or we must work on a job that we dislike

·        …that to us is bearing our cross

 

 

 

But I assure you….Jesus’ hearer would have had no such understanding of a cross…

 

 

 

….To them…..a cross was one thing only…a cruel, merciless Roman instrument of execution

 

 

 

Jesus says; if you desire to follow Me….then you must follow Me with your cross on your back

·        …you must follow Me having given Me your entire life

 

 

 

…and then Jesus goes on to tell this story;

·        …who sets out to build a tower and doesn’t first count the cost?

·        …what king goes out to do battle with another army without first assessing the chance of winning?

 

 

And before you follow Me, Jesus says….I want you to understand….it will cost you your very life….

 

Jesus says;

·        …whoever puts their hand to the plow and looks back is not worthy of His kingdom

·        ….and whoever follows Him with half their heart

-with half their life

-with half their devotion

Whoever follows Christ with anything less than all of your energy…resources…talents…time…..love….devotion…..

·        …whoever follows Christ half-heartedly….is not following Christ

 

 

 

 

And Christ says to you……Get behind Me, Satan….

 

[…]

 

 

 

Disciple-building is not cheap…..it will cost you everything

 

 

 

 

 

Jesus will go on to do just as He says;

·        …He will be rejected and killed and raised on the third day

 

 

And then, after His resurrection, He will serve breakfast to these same disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee

 

 

And He will tell this same Peter….the cost of following Him

 

 

For Peter….the cost will be literally his life

 

 

 

….but it is another apostle….one not even on the scene yet

·        …the apostle Paul, who will give to us the best perspective of following Christ

 

 

Philippians 3:7-10

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

…[and]that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…