Let's Get Clear

Mark 8:22 - 9:1

Transcript

 Nine, one. And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind
man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led
him out of the village. And when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on
him, he asked him, do you see anything? And he looked up and said, I see people,
but they look like trees walking. Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again,
and he opened his eyes. His sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
And he sent him to his home saying, do not even enter the village. And Jesus
went up with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way,
he asked his disciples, who do people say that I am? And they told him, John the
Baptist, and others say Elijah, and others, one of the prophets. And he asked
them, but who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, you are the Christ. And
he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. 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. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 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. 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. For whoever would save his life will lose it. For whoever loses his
life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to
gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for
his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and
sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in the
glory of his father with the holy angels. And he said to them, truly I say to
you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the
kingdom of God after his come with power. Would you pray with me this morning?
Father, we thank you for your word. And as we open your word this morning, I
pray that you would open our eyes, that we would behold the wonderful truths
that are found in the scriptures. Father, we thank you for Jesus. And I pray,
Lord, that you would help us clearly see what it means to follow a suffering
savior. Minister Grace, through your word this morning, we pray in Jesus' name,
amen. So what's your 2020 vision? Do you remember having those conversations a
little over five years ago? 2020 was supposed to be the time, the year, that
would clarify our vision of who we would become or what we would achieve.
Leaders and pastors and educators and especially marketers diligently made their
plans based upon a 2020 vision, clarifying expectations and goals in the pursuit
of greatness. And it seemed as if everyone could clearly see into the future and
everything looked great. But to everyone's surprise, something happened that no
one saw coming. A certain thing turned everyone's plans upside down. Dreams were
dashed, expectations were shattered, and all of that clarity became murky. In
fact, there was really only one thing that we could clearly see, and that was
that things weren't going to be the way we thought they would be. In many ways,
what took place a little over five years ago, the muddying of our plans and
visions is not all that different from what happens in the lives of Christians
today. Because we all have a vision of what life is going to look like following
Jesus, and we have certain expectations. If we faithfully follow Jesus, God's
going to protect us from suffering and sickness and shame. No tragedies, only
triumph. If we faithfully follow Christ, the Lord's going to do great things
through our lives and through our ministries. He's going to pour down his
blessings upon us. He's going to give us those picture perfect families where
everyone is healthy and happy and has perfectly white, straight teeth. He's
going to honor us. We're going to be respected and loved, admired and
appreciated, promoted and paid. After all, doesn't the Bible say that God
blesses obedience? So we all have a vision of what the Christian life looks
like. But then as time goes on, we find ourselves in a place where things aren't
what we thought they would be. And maybe we need some biblical clarity. And
that's what we find in Mark 8, 22 through 9, 1. As we open the text this
morning, we see that it is Jesus who helps us clearly see what it looks like to
follow a suffering savior. Jesus gives us clarity on what life looks like
following a suffering savior. Mark 8 begins with a miracle, which then leads to
a conversation and then clear instructions that help realign our expectations so
that we can clearly see what the cost will be of living a life following Jesus.
So we begin with the miracle, Mark 8, 22 through 26, revealing our need to
clearly see. Now before I read this, it's important to note that before this
miracle, Jesus has rebuked his disciples for their hardheartedness. Despite
being in his presence day after day after day, hearing his teaching, witnessing
his power and his miracles, the disciples still didn't get it. In verse 17,
Jesus says, why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not
yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened, having eyes? Do you not
see and having ears? Do you not hear? Do you not remember? Do you not yet
understand? The disciples needed the touch of Jesus to open their eyes so that
they would perceive who he truly was. They needed Jesus to work in his grace to
give them spiritual insight and understanding. And so Jesus is going to use this
healing, a very real, miraculous healing, to vividly show his disciples their
need to clearly see his identity and his mission. So let's read Mark 8, 22
through 26. And they, that is Jesus and his disciples, came to Bethsaida. And
some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took
the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. And when he had spit
on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, do you see anything? And he
looked up and said, I see people, but they look like trees walking. Then Jesus
laid his hands on his eyes again, and he opened his eyes, and his sight was
restored. And he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, do
not even enter the village. Now, as we read this passage, you'll notice some
strange and perhaps even some disturbing things about this event. This is not an
ordinary miracle like we read in the rest of the gospel accounts. In fact, only
in Mark do we find this specific record found. Unlike the other miracles, Jesus
deliberately removes this man from the crowd so that they could not witness what
was about to happen. As Jesus begins to heal the man, it appears as though
Jesus' first try at it didn't work. Unlike the other miracles, instead of Jesus
making a proclamation, he asks the man a question. Do you see anything? What's
with the man seeing trees or people walking like trees? I would love to just see
what this man saw. And why did Jesus spit in his eyes? Why did he take two acts
on Jesus' part to heal the man? There's lots of questions here. But let's
remember something. There's nothing accidental, there's nothing random about
Jesus' actions. He knows exactly what he is doing. As the all-wise sovereign
creator and Lord, he knows the best means to accomplish the best end. His works
and his ways are always good, even when we fail to fully grasp what he's doing.
So let's look at the story. You find a blind man, and his friends come to Jesus,
and they beg Jesus to touch their friend. Once again, we see Mark emphasizing
this truth, that in our brokenness and in our unworthiness, we can come to Jesus
begging boldly. And what does Christ do? He doesn't cast them aside. He responds
to their cry. He moves toward them in their neediness, because he is a high and
holy savior who dwells with the humble, who is near the brokenhearted. And so he
takes the man by the hand, and he removes him from the crowd, because he's about
to press home a truth to his disciples that they would need to understand. And
then Jesus does something, quite frankly, that is shocking. He spits in the
man's face. He spits in his eye. Now, in the Bible, spitting is always
associated with disgracing a person. You say, Micah, why would Jesus spit in
this blind man's eyes? That is shocking. That is disgraceful. Remember, Jesus is
preparing his disciples for what he is about to plainly reveal to them. And what
he's about to say, the disciples are going to find shocking and disgraceful.
Because Jesus tells his followers that he will suffer and die. And he calls them
to essentially do the same. Die to self, lay down their lives, lay down their
dreams, lay down their self-centered ambitions for his namesake. And that was
not something the disciples were prepared to hear. That did not fit into their
mental paradigm. That was not the way things should be. But even in revealing
these shocking purposes, he's actually doing something in their lives. He's
healing their spiritual blindness, helping them clearly see what it means to
follow a suffering savior. And so what Jesus is doing here, both with this man
and in his revelation, might not seem clean, but it's going to lead to clarity.
He spits in the man's eyes and he asks him, do you see anything? And the man
says, I see people. But they're walking around like trees. So did he see like
Treebeard and the ents before Tolkien did? I don't know. He saw something that
was extremely unusual, something I have never seen and I hope that I never will
see. But what's clear is he needs clarity. He sees, but not clearly. And he's
dependent then upon Christ, not only for the initial healing, but for the
ongoing clarity that will be essential to his life. I see trees, I see people,
but they look like trees walking. So what does Jesus do? Once again, he moves
toward this blind man in his need. He laid his hands on his eyes again and he
opened his eyes and his sight was restored. And this time he saw everything
clearly. Now in the Old Testament, we find this idea of touching as a sign of
blessing or setting someone apart for God. He touches the man. And with the
touch of Jesus, healing comes. And he sees everything this time clearly. And
Jesus tells the man, go home, but don't enter the village. Unlike the demoniac
man that Jesus healed, Christ doesn't send him back to the village to declare to
others what God had done for him. Because Christ knew what was in the heart of
the people. He knew their hard-hearted rejection. And so he says, go home and
don't tell anyone about this miracle. A strange miracle. The man goes from
blindness to then blurry, and then from blurry to seeing things clearly. And
notice, the blind man doesn't do anything here. There's no evidence that the
blind man even asked for this miracle. This was from beginning to end all of
Christ. Christ was the one who opened this man's eyes. Christ was the one who
gave this man clarity. Christ was the one who moved toward him even when he
himself did not move toward Christ. And friends, isn't that exactly how Jesus
works in our lives as well? This is the work of Jesus. And he's showing his
disciples who he is and how he works and what it means for them to then follow
him. Showing them their neediness for his ongoing grace. And so right on the
heel of this miracle, Jesus then begins to question his disciples about who they
say that he is. Look at verses 27 through 30. And Jesus went on with his
disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, about 25 miles north. And on the
way, he asked his disciples, who do people say that I am? And they told him,
John the Baptist. And others say, Elijah. And others, one of the prophets. But
Jesus asked them, but you, who do you say that I am? Peter, speaking on behalf
of the disciples, answers Jesus and says, you are the Christ. And once again,
Jesus strictly charges them to tell no one about him. So as they're on the way
to Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks his disciples, who do people say that I am?
They say, well, some think that Jesus is John the Baptist raised. Others think
that Jesus is Elijah. And that's significant. Because according to the Jews,
they thought that once Elijah came, the day of the Lord had arrived. Malachi 4,
5 notes, behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome
day of the Lord. So they're anticipating something great with the coming of
Christ. Maybe this is Elijah, like the Old Testament prophets had said would
come. And others just simply thought, he's just, you know, one of the prophets.
So clearly, they did not see who Jesus was. So Jesus then presses home to his
disciples and he says, but you. Not interested in what the crowd say, you, who
do you say that I am? And Peter immediately responds with confidence. And he's
not just talking for himself, but really as the kind of self appointed
representative of the disciples, he chimes in. You are the Christ. You are the
Messiah. The chosen one, the one that was promised and anointed by God to be
king over God's kingdom. He was the one that they had been waiting for. He is
the one that was promised to Adam, promised to the patriarchs, promised to
David, prophesied by the prophets. The fulfillment of Israel's hopes and dreams
and expectations. And Matthew tells us in the parallel account that this clear
confession was due to God's work in Peter's life. In fact, Jesus says in that
text, flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. But my father, who is in
heaven, you are the Christ. Now, in some ways, this might seem like the
climactic moment in Mark's gospel. Mark writes his gospel to prove that Jesus is
the Christ, the son of God. And here, Peter, the first one in Mark's gospel,
boldly declares, you are the Christ. It seems like the climax of the story. But,
despite the clear confession, Peter and the disciples are still very blurry
about the necessary suffering and shame that is associated with the Messiah and
his mission and in the lives of all of those who would then follow him. So in
verse 31, we find the call where Jesus helps us to clearly see what it means to
follow him. We saw the miracle showing us our need for clarity. We see this
confession that appears to be clear but is still blurry. And now Jesus is going
to make things clear. This is who I am. And this is what it means to follow me.
Verse 31 through 33. 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. And
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 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 remember,
the disciples, they had a 20-20 vision, if you will, of what life would look
like following Christ. The time was going to come when Jesus would no longer
hold back. He was going to unleash his God-given power. He was going to triumph
over all of Israel's enemies. He was going to set up his kingdom. And the
disciples, as those chosen by Christ, would rule and reign with him from
positions of honor and glory and prestige. And this was the future that they
were expecting. This was the future that they could clearly see. And in their
minds, it was only a matter of time before it all began to unfold. But what does
Christ do? Christ essentially spits in the face of their self-centered vision,
plainly revealing his upcoming suffering and shame. Now he had hinted at this
earlier, but this was the first time in Mark's Gospel where Christ speaks
plainly about his suffering. He says, the Son of Man must suffer. He's
identifying himself here as the Son of Man, the one that Daniel said would have
an eternal dominion. But he was also identifying himself with the suffering
servant in Isaiah, demonstrating that the road to the glorious kingdom would be
walked through rejection and suffering and shame. Now the Bible plainly reveals
this in the Old Testament, but that was not the expectation of the Jewish people
at that time. So I want you to imagine Peter as he's hearing Christ speak of
this suffering. And as he hears Christ speak plainly, think about all the hopes,
think about all the ambitions, think about all the dreams that are crumbling
under the weight of this revelation. And Peter, he's not about to let his vision
die. He's not going to go down without a fight. And so right after confessing
that Jesus is the Christ, through the power of the Father, he now becomes a
mouthpiece of Satan himself, angrily rebuking Jesus and urging him to renounce
his necessary suffering. The word rebuke here is a strong word. This is the same
word that Jesus uses when silencing the demons. He rebuked them in the same way
Peter rebukes Jesus. And as he does that, he's not acting alone. He's speaking
on behalf of the disciples because this is why Jesus turns and then speaks to
them, rebuking Peter. He says, get behind me, Satan, for you're not valuing the
things of God. Your mind is set on the things of man, not on the things of God.
Peter was thinking about Jesus all along. He was seeing Jesus through the lens
of his own self-interest. He wasn't valuing Christ for who Jesus is, but rather
he valued Christ for what he wanted Jesus to be. Now before we get angry at
Peter or think, what a shocking thing to do, don't we do the same? Think about
this. How easily you and I can become bitter or angry. How easily we can doubt
the goodness and wisdom of God when God's plans don't align with our vision and
our expectations. We begin to ask God, why? This isn't right. This isn't fair.
And we question the wisdom and the goodness and the plan of an all-powerful,
sovereign, good God. And so what Peter does verbally, we often do internally,
rebuking Jesus, because his plans, his mission, don't align with our plans and
our mission. And the truth is, like the blind man and like the disciples, we
need the hand of Jesus. We need the touch of Jesus so that we can see clearly
that regardless of what is going on in our lives, regardless of the
circumstances that you and I face, Jesus is worthy to love and serve and obey
and follow. We need Christ to help us see clearly so that we can say with Job,
though he slay me, yet I will trust him. So that we can see with Habakkuk,
though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce
of the olive fail and the fields yield no food. The flocks be cut off from the
fold and there's no heart in the stalls. In other words, if everything fails,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy, not in my circumstances, but in
the God of my salvation. God the Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the
deers. He makes me tread on high places. None of us talk that way. We need the
hand of Jesus, the touch of Jesus. We need Jesus to help us see clearly. What it
means to follow in the footsteps of a suffering Savior. Far too often, our minds
are set on the things of this life and not on the things of God. So in verse 34,
Jesus calls the disciples and he calls the crowd. And after clearly revealing
his suffering, now he clearly reveals what it's going to look like following
him. Verse 34, if anyone would come after me, Jesus says, let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life, hold on to
it, they will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's,
they'll save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and
forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is
ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him
will the Son of Man be also ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father
with the holy angels. Wow. Jesus gives us a call and then he gives us some
clarification. What's the call? If you come after me, Jesus said, you must deny
yourself, take up the cross and follow me. This is a call for a wholehearted
commitment to Jesus. It's a call to repent and believe, to forsake and follow.
It's both a decisive call and an ongoing lifestyle. Now when some hear these
words, they think, well, this isn't about the gospel. This is about like second
level Christianity. Like first you believe in Jesus and then eventually, you
know, if you get serious, then you start to take up your cross. No, no, no, no,
no, no, no. This is a decisive call. It's what it means to repent and believe
both initially and ongoingly. To deny yourself, he's saying here that you cannot
come to Christ and insist that you are the center of your universe. You can't.
He is Lord and to come to him means that life cannot be about you anymore. Think
about when Satan came in the garden and he tempted Adam and Eve. What was the
essential temptation? You will be like God. You can live independently of God.
That's the essence of sin. Me trying to make my life work apart from the wisdom
and the goodness of God. And Jesus says, no, you must repent. You must deny
yourself. You cannot continue believing that satanic lie anymore. Friends, there
are so many people who hear the gospel that affirm that the gospel is true and
yet they won't come to Christ because they hold on to their plans. They say,
nope. I want life my way. I want to call the shots. I want to be the captain of
my own ship. And Jesus says, if you hold on, you will lose everything. You must
deny yourself. You cannot continue in that satanic lie that life will work apart
from him. You must take up the cross. This was not a common phrase. In fact,
this is the first time that cross is associated with Jesus in the gospels and
the cross was the most horrific, shameful way to die. And when Christ says, take
up your cross, he's saying, embrace the shame and the suffering and the reproach
that will surely come when you obey me. Follow me. The truth is, faith, real
faith, always follows. If any man is in Christ, he's a new creation. The old is
past. The new is come. There's a whole new direction. This is why Jesus would
say, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. You come to
Christ, deny yourself, embrace the shame and suffering, and come to him. And
Jesus gives us a reason. Because if you save your life, you're actually going to
lose it. But if you lose your life, that's where you find it. All throughout the
gospels, we see these upside down values of the kingdom. You hold on and you
think if I hold on, then I'll have control and then I'll have life. Now, you
lose it. You lose it. And not for a moment. Not just in this lifetime, but for
all eternity. But when you lose your life, you say, you know what, it's not
going to be about me anymore. I'm yours, Lord. Your kingdom come. Your will be
done. You are the Christ. You are Lord. And regardless of the outcome and
regardless of the circumstances, by your grace and for your glory, I will follow
you. You lose your life and guess what? That's when you find it. That's when you
find it. Both here and forever. Because the life that he's talking about is not
just eternal existence. Eternal life, abundant life is to know the Father. To
walk with God. Both here and forever. You lose it and you find it. You hold on
to it and it's gone. Oh, the lie that thinks we can grab something that belongs
only to the Father. Jesus then after giving this first reason, urges the people.
He says, listen, what profit would it be if you gained the whole world? You got
all the things that you wanted in life. You got the picture perfect smile and
you got everything going on and life's great and everything's dandy. You got
everything you wanted, but in the end, you lost your soul. Think about how
foolish that would be. How stupid would it be to go after all this stuff only to
lose everything? What profit? What would you give in exchange for your soul?
Jesus is placing eternal value on the soul because he knows that following him
is worth it. Even if it means temporal sacrifices. So the first reason he gives
is that if you save it, you're going to lose it. And there's nothing more
valuable than that. Then he concludes by saying this, whoever is ashamed of me,
I, when I come back to judge, will be ashamed of him. Now, Jesus is not talking
about a momentary weakness. There's been times in all of our lives. If we've
known Christ or followed Christ for any length of time, there's times when maybe
the Lord opened an opportunity to share the gospel or the Lord opened an
opportunity to speak of him and we backed away and we felt a sense of shame. We
feared men. We've all been there. We've all been there. That's not what Jesus is
talking about. Even the disciples we read later on in Mark, they were ashamed.
He's not talking about momentary weakness. He's talking about a decisive, this
isn't worth it. It's just not worth it. Think of the rich man who comes to Jesus
and he says, good master, what can I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus
confronts him. Sell all that you have and follow me. And what does the rich man
do? He walks away with great sadness because he had great wealth. He said, it's
not worth it. It's just not worth it. And he walked away. And Jesus says, if you
hear this gospel, if you hear this call and you know it's true and yet this
isn't worth it. I don't want it. I'm ashamed of it. He says, I will be ashamed
of you. That's a strong statement when I stand before my father with the holy
angels in glory. This isn't going to be easy following Jesus. In fact, it
requires the touch of Jesus so that we can clearly see and gladly embrace a life
of repentance and faith following him. But here's the conclusion in verse nine,
chapter nine, verse one. And he said to them, truly, I say to you, there are
some standing here who will not taste death until after they see, clearly see
the kingdom of God after it has come with power. So this passage, it's a hard
passage, concludes with really good news. He said, some of you, you're going to
see. Right now, you're hazy. Some of you are even blind. But you will see the
kingdom coming in power and think about it. They did not just in the
transfiguration that was about to take place, but they would see the resurrected
Christ who defeats sin and death and hell, who defeats all the enemies that keep
us from the father, who establishes his kingdom as he brings his Holy Spirit and
the gospel spreads to all the ends of the earth. They see it. And it goes far
beyond their vision and their dreams and their expectations. At the end of life,
if we follow Jesus, our faith, a faith that will be tried and tested, faith that
will endure hardship and suffering, our faith will turn to sight and all your
suffering, friend, will give way to glory. And as the old hymn says, it will be
worth it all when we see Jesus. We need Jesus' help to clearly see what it means
to follow him. So let Jesus realign your vision. Let him shape your expectations
and values. Yes, you will suffer following him. And your expectations in life
may never be met, but friend, it will be worth it because your suffering will
give way to glory and your weakness will culminate in power. So let Jesus help
you see the goodness and the beauty of life following him. Let's pray.