On Line Bible Study for the week of June 15-22, 2009

Lesson 392

Mark 8: ²⁷Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?" ²⁸They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." ²⁹"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"

Peter answered, "You are the Christ." ³⁰Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

We have arrived at the centerpiece of the Gospel of Mark. As noted in the previous lesson, everything has been leading up to this question: Who do you say I am? For those who have grown up in the church, who are accustomed to thinking of Jesus in "messianic" terms, we might miss the literary power of this moment in the writing of Mark. There were many reasons to associate Jesus with John the Baptist, Elijah or one of the other prophets. Jesus was baptized at the hand of John, and their theology and teaching has many common points. Jesus was looking for that "coming day of the Lord" and thus could be associated with Elijah (see Malachi 4:5). And he certainly spoke in ways clearly identified with the prophets of Israel.

But is Jesus different from all of these? Obviously, Mark says "Yes!" But he also puts the question directly to us who read his Gospel: Do we have the eyes to see it? (See Mark 8:22-25.)

One of the challenges for those who "believe" is to continue to grow in our comprehension of this statement of faith. In the First Century there were many who laid claim to the title of "messiah". In fact, it was part of the way people would speak of kings and leaders. So, Mark has to help us to see that Jesus breaks away from the pack, so to speak. And this is going to be a hard lesson for the disciples to learn - not only that Jesus is the messiah, but just what exactly his brand of "messiahship" is going to look like.

So, Mark brings us to the point of decision; then once the proclamation of faith is made, we have to learn the key to understanding the kind of "messiah" Jesus is going to be. Look at the very next verse in Mark 8:

³¹He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. ³²He spoke plainly about this.

Do you need to be told how the disciples responded to this stark - and frightening reality?

We'll talk more about that in the next lesson.