20 - Who Do You Say I Am?: Mark 8:27-9:1 - Mike Olynyk, Meadows Church

You're invited!  Come on a journey as we see the sights, smell the smells & experience Jesus' story told by Mark in an immersive way.  Engage in the story as one of the crowd, the disciples or even as a religious leader.  For an even more immersive experience, click the link below to follow along with the PDF media with maps, pictures of historical sites and more.

Meadows Church is a church in the community, for the community, located in Langley, BC.  We want you to know that you're welcome here!

Meadows Church is a church in the community, for the community, located in Langley, BC.  We want you to know that you're welcome here!

Transcript

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You're listening to audio from Meadows Church in Langley, BC. For more information about Meadows Church, go to Meadowschurch.ca. Well, when we last left our fearless hero, he had left a captivated Gentile crowd in what's called the Decapolis. And there they were mowing down on both the spiritual food that he was giving them, and they were captivated by it, but then he also had this miraculous physical feeding where just before he got in the boat, he fed the crowd. Well, he then traveled by boat to a location called Dalmanutha, where Pharisees had their gloves on and they were ready to go. As soon as he got off the boat, they were just trying to fight with him. He got back in the boat and he headed off to Beth Seda, where he was greeted by an eager crowd, and he healed the blind man. And I don't know about you, but I have loved our journey as we journey through our Encounter Jesus series. This is our last Encountering Jesus series of this semester. We are now halfway through. Halfway through the book of Mark. And I love that we're not rushing. That we're diving in, that we are encountering him by experiencing Scripture to do it. And if you have missed a week or you want to re-listen, or if you want to share it with friends, I'd love for you to go and pick up our Encountering Jesus podcast wherever you find them and you can connect with them that way. Well, today, as I said, we are at the halfway part in the book of Mark. And Mark, the Gospel of Mark is actually divided into two main sections. And has anybody do Strava? Like running, hiking, competitive, Netflix watching. Strava has an app and it tracks how you're going. I bike, and so I have it, I do it with my son, and then I do it on my own too, and it kind of gives you this is what you did today. And if you had one of those athletic Strava trackers, this would be Jesus' journey. The first half of Mark would look like a ball of yarn in and around the Sea of Galilee. Let's just say that Jesus got his steps in, okay? Healing, and he's teaching, and he is proclaiming the kingdom, and that is the first eight chapters of Mark. And then something else happens, and we are on the cusp. We're gonna move in from where they're going. It's a little higher than Betheda. It's a city called Caesarea Philippi. From there, he will travel for the next eight chapters to complete his mission. He will go in one direction towards Jerusalem, and he will die a painful death on the cross. And on the third day he will rise again from the dead, and he will defeat Satan and sin and death once and for all. It's amazing. It's a passionate story of God's love for us. That is the second half of Mark. And so now that we know the lay of the land and that we're on this cusp of him going south, why don't we just go north, right? Mark 8, verse 27. Let's dive in. Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. And on the way, he asked them, Who do people say I am? They replied, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others one of the prophets. Those three weren't off the top of their heads. This was actually the musing of high-ranking officials, of religious leaders, and of the crowd. And we know this because in Mark 6, verse 14 and 15, it shows us that King Herod himself was weighing who Jesus could be. And he said these exact three things. So let's look at them real quick. Because the first is that Jesus is John the Baptist. And if you've been tracking in our series, you'll know that King Herod, in a series of misfortunate events, ended up beheading John. And he thought that Jesus was the risen John the Baptist come to haunt him. That was Herod. If we move on, there were other Jews that were just adamant that based on Malachi 4, verse 5, that Jesus was Elijah. You see, the Jews believed that there would be a prophet that would come before the Messiah named that that would be the Elijah come to earth again. And they, some believed that this was Jesus. The only problem with that is they missed it by one person because that person was actually John the Baptist who would herald Jesus' coming. Well, there's one last designation, and some people actually think that they're kind of pushing Jesus aside by this. But you need to know, based on first century Palestine culture, that calling somebody a prophet was a very significant thing. It was a high honor, and among Jewish scholars and leaders like this guy, Judah Maccabe, by the way, if you remember this, we talked about him in one of our Encountering Jesus series. Judah Maccabees had freed Israel from Syrian Greek captivity, and fun fact, also initiated the group of the Pharisees. That is the dude that did it. And he set up Israel again, and he didn't claim a leader at first. He's like, a prophet is going to come by God and he will lead us. And so he was just yearning for that. And when it never happened, dude named Simon took the place, who wasn't a prophet. But understand that there was a yearning that a prophet would come that would be able to lead the Jewish people. And so when they said Jesus was a prophet, they thought very highly of him. Just not highly enough. But Peter, Peter nails it. Let's keep reading. Verse 29, but what about you? Jesus asked. Who do you say that I am? Peter answered, You are the Messiah. Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. We're going to get back to Peter in a couple minutes. But I love the subtle nuance when we can dig into Scripture and really smell the smiles and see the sights. And we have another one today. You see, as we experience the passage in our Countering Jesus series, today the where that Jesus asked this question is actually really profound. You see, he was in Beth Seda and he was about to journey all the way down to Jerusalem. He could have saved a two-day journey, 40 kilometers, going to Caesarea Philippi, if he didn't think it was necessary to be there. But it was. It was a very important place to ask the question, who do you say that I am? This is Caesarea Philippi, an artist rendering of it in first century Palestine. It's located on the base of the Mount Hermon mountain range, as you can see there. What was more significant about it, and is really interesting, is that it is the location of the main spring that provides water for the river Jordan. It came out of the limestone carn that you can see in the background that was devoted to a Greek god named Pan. You see, water and agriculture was incredibly important in first century Palestine all the way through. And so the worship of gods, a lot of that stuff was the water god, the drought, you know, all this stuff. We're gonna worship that because we need food and we need everything to go well. And so the fact there was this gusher of water that was coming out, this was a holy place to Greek minds. And so it became a place of pagan worship. And this dude, who was Pan, the Greek god Pan, half man, half goat, was worshipped in this location. And he wasn't the only. You see, as Augustus found out how amazing the city was with the water, he built it up into a Roman town, and then Herod Philip renamed the city to show his allegiance to Caesar and also to toot his own horn. Caesarea Philippi. That's how we get that term. And so it became an epicenter for the worship of different gods, Lord G gods. A temple to Zeus was built. Augustus Caesar, of course, he built himself a temple that they can worship him at. And then there were the places where you can go today and you can see these niches in the rocks, and in the niches of the rocks, they used to put different Greek god statues. No joke, this was the epicenter of pagan worship and idol worship in the area. So let's get back to the story because it's really important where Jesus asked this question. You see, Jesus takes a field trip with his disciples to a specific area, and with the temples clearly visible in the distance, that as the backdrop. Jesus asked them a very important question. Who do you say that I am? Not what anybody else thinks, not when anybody else is worshiping. Who do you say? And at first, Peter absolutely nails it. Way to go, Peter. You're the Messiah, you're the Christ. But we may have judged his right view of Jesus a little too quickly, and so let's keep reading in verse 31. Says this. He then began to teach them, this is Jesus, that the Son of Man, he uses that a lot to describe himself, and actually Daniel uses that as a term, son of man, to uh denote the Messiah. And so he then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. Don't read anymore. We're not quite there yet. This is the first time that Jesus would plainly mention to them about his death and his resurrection. And to say the least, Peter was a lot confused. You see, Peter and all the disciples had a different picture of what the Messiah actually is. This is who they thought the Messiah was going to be. It was a political and military leader that was going to vanquish the evil enemy and free them from Roman oppression. Nowhere in their view of the Messiah did they see him dying and suffering. I guess they had forgot to read, and you can write this down if you want to look at it later, they forgot to read Isaiah 53, verse 1 to 9, which prophesies that the Messiah would be a suffering servant. Jesus. Well, Peter. He took it upon himself to talk to Jesus, of course. Verse 32, he, Jesus, spoke plainly about this. And Peter took him aside and he began to rebuke him. And I can kind of imagine what this rebuke went like. No, Jesus, you mustn't stay stuff like this. You're the Messiah, you're the conquering king. This is how it's going to go down, Jesus. Okay? You're going to storm down Jerusalem. You're going to lay the smack down on all the people who are oppressing Israel, and there's going to be no more taxes to Caesar, no more harsh conditions or laws like we already have it figured out. James is grabbing the popcorn and the cokes, and Matthew is grabbing the hot dogs. You're not going to die. You're not going to suffer. You're going to conquer. You're wrong, Jesus. Rebuke. I embellished a little. But you can understand what Peter was going through there. There was a war in his heart. And I think two things were at play in Peter's heart. The first, as he hand slaps Jesus, the Messiah, was that he had a false view of what the Messiah was. He thought he was a conquering king, and Jesus came to serve. But the second thing, I really believe that Peter was taken back because of how much he loved Jesus. That was his boy. For the last three years, they have done everything together. He's like, nope, this is not happening. It was an emotional response. But the craziest part of this was that Peter's response actually caused temptation for Jesus. I mean, where would we be if Jesus hadn't done what he'd done? Jesus died on the cross and he rose from the dead, and that is why we're free. That's the reason that I don't have to carry the burden of my past. Because Jesus paid it all. And he then sent his Holy Spirit to bless us because he had conquered all. Complete victory. And here there's this temptation to go, oh yeah, I could just hang out with Peter and you know, maybe I will just go conquer. There's that little bit of temptation there. And we need to understand that Jesus being tempted does not mean that he ever sinned. He is perfect in every way. But we cannot look at the three temptations and the desert and say, that was it. You can look here, you can look at the Garden of Gethsemane where he is just in pain over what's about to come. Our Messiah, our Lord, our Jesus, was fully human and fully God. And so he was tempted. This was one of these times. And so Jesus responds harshly, and I want to say it's not to Peter himself so much as the enemy. And Jesus says this in verse 33. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. Get behind me, Satan. You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. He called me to the accuser. What? But Jesus didn't leave it there because he never does. He's such a loving God that, yeah, he's gonna he's gonna put us back on the straight and narrow, but he's gonna keep going. And so then Jesus not only calls his disciples, but he calls the whole crowd together so that he can put back the pieces of what kingdom and what Messiah is all about. And so verse 34 says this. Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said, Whoever wants to be my disciples must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his father's glory with the holy angels. If you're fluent in Christianese, then you know something. You know that we love to use memes about taking up our cross and the metaphor is there. But I think often we don't really dig into what that actually means because Jesus calls it to us. When Jesus said this, know something. It's the first time Jesus has ever said, I'm gonna die and then I'm gonna raise from the dead. He didn't say he was gonna die on the cross, they didn't know that. But what I love is that Jesus is timeless and that we can look to this, and the disciples can look back to this moment and go, Wow, he's the Messiah. Wow. He was foreshadowing his death and so much more. Uh Jesus was saying something here, and it's it's worth noting and to dig into that anyone who wants to follow him, like to be a Christian, to be a Christ's follower, you gotta deny themselves. You need to take up your cross and you need to follow him. Let's just look at that metaphor for a second. It's a picture of a man that is already condemned. He's already gone to the court. The court of the world, by the way, the Roman government. And he's condemned, and he's submitting to the rule of the power, and he is carrying by requirement the cross that he will be executed on. His electric chair, his fill-in the blank. That is what it means to carry your cross, to submit fully. Well, thanks for that cup of cold water, Mike. Hey. I mean, isn't Christianity all about the warm and fuzzies and the joy and the peace and the potlucks? Is that what it's all about? You see, we've grown up in this culture, friends, where all we have to do is say a prayer. And then suddenly it's all good we got our fire insurance. And we're saved. Such a farce. It's not true. Believing in Jesus and following him is about what Jesus is talking about here. It's about admitting that Jesus is your king and it's turning your lives and saying, I want to follow you. That's what it means to follow Jesus with your whole life. And the problem is that we have something else in our culture, particularly in our North American culture, that is just like heaping on misinformation. And there seems to be a very strong sense of Christian entitlement. Like I deserve everything, and I'm gonna go fight for what I deserve. And please hear me, Christian entitlement and standing up for what's ours, especially when it trounces on others to get there, it is not a biblical response. It's not a biblical concept. Jesus sets that lie straight right here and now. We are called to deny ourselves our sense of deserving, to put that aside and to embrace radical love for others. To think outside of ourselves and follow Jesus. That, love God and love others, is what we are commanded to do. I don't want to miss something here. I like being a follower of Jesus is all about embracing what Jesus did for us, and it's about receiving that life to the full, and it's about joy, and it's about peace, and it's about hope, and it's about freedom. But don't get that confused with the world standards. It doesn't come in stuff, it doesn't come in luxury or holding on to money or putting your faith in money. Retiring at 55 or whatever you have. It's a good goal, but don't put your faith in that. It's not about comfort, it's not about the cushy life. Because we know, because we've seen so many celebrities that have it absolutely all, and yet they're dead inside. And many of them come to tragic ends. The pursuit of this world often ends in tragedy, but the pursuit of life with Jesus brings fulfillment. I want to say that once more. The pursuit of this world often ends in tragedy, but the pursuit of life with Jesus brings fulfillment. Love and joy and peace and bettering yourself and bettering the world through you. What it doesn't mean, and please hear me because I want to just get this out there, is it doesn't mean self harm or Or anything like that, because Jesus also calls us to have an incredible life with Him. So know that we are God's children. When we deny our own wants, we open ourselves up to something. We're living out our purpose more fully, and we actually gain our needs and wants and more in that moment. Like it's so counterintuitive yet completely amazing. Radically loving others, forgiving people completely, even though sometimes they've wounded in a huge and great way. Some of you feel that even on Father's Day. We're called to forgive. When we do that, there is a weight that lifts off of us. We stop drinking the poison of bitterness and instead we forgive. I think it can be just an easy habit to come to church and to take Jesus off the shelf. And we have Jesus for Sunday. And then we put it back up there for the rest of the week. And what we do is we cling to the ideas of the world and the promises of the world that don't lead us in positive directions. And then we hope that the sprinkling of Jesus will help our lives. And when it doesn't work, we cry out, God, why aren't you here? And it's because we put them on a shelf. And we're going back to our old ways. You see, what Jesus calls us to do is to embrace Him fully and His plan for your life. And it is the greatest and noblest and most meaningful thing you could ever do. It is life-changing, and I know it because it has changed my life in a profound way. The way we love people, the way we humbly approach people, the way we forgive people, the way we live life generously, both with our time and with our money. It means something. So as we think on that, and we're going to sing a closing song, which is just focuses on the name of Jesus. And I want to just ask you the question that Jesus asked his disciples. If you were in front of that temple of Pan or Apollo and all the other stuff that's out there, and Jesus asked you, what would be your response? Who do you say Jesus is? And then I have one more question. What does it look like to take another step in following him? So, Holy Spirit, we are here. We're on various stages of our journey with you. And God, I ask that you come and you meet each of us personally. Where we're at. God, if you if we need to know you're real, would you make yourself real tonight? For those that can firmly say you are the Messiah, God help us to know what it means in this cultural context to take up our cross and follow you. Show us right now in these moments we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. We're so glad you chose to join us today. To find out more about Meadows Church and how you can get involved, connect with a pastor or how you can partner with us in ministry. Go to meadowschurch.ca.