I was visiting someone during the week, and I mentioned that I was struggling with my sermon. My friend asked my what was it about. I told her that it was about Jesus being 'the Christ'. Sarah replied that that was interesting because she had been just thinking about the fact that we use titles like Christ without actually considering what they mean.
Christ (Greek) or Messiah (Hebrew) means 'anointed one'. In the Old Testament a prophet or a king could be anointed to show that this was God's choice. Then there was the expectation of an anointed king that would come from the line of David. This anointed king would rescue His people.
We are going to look at this passage through asking three questions:
1. Who do people say that Jesus is?
2. Who did the disciples say Jesus is?
3. Who do you say Jesus is?
Who do people say Jesus is?
I suppose we could say that people respond to this question in one of three ways: with ancient answers, inadequate answers and modern answers.
The disciples tell Jesus that some people were claiming that He was Elijah or John the Baptist. We might refer to those as ancient answers. No-one is going to give such an answer today. Those answers were related to their situation and their expectations.
Then there were some people saying that Jesus was a prophet. That is true, Jesus is a prophet, but He is more than a prophet. Interestingly, our Muslim friends believe that Jesus is a prophet. Other religious and inadequate answers come through the New Age (which is influenced by Hinduism), and says that Jesus is an avatar (I don't actually know what an avatar is), or the Jehovah Witnesses, who claim that Jesus is the archangel Michael.
Then there are modern answers. Go onto the streets of Limerick and you will find people saying that Jesus is 'a good teacher'. In his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis calls such an answer presumptuous and foolish. After all Jesus never offered us that option of seeing Him simply as a good teacher. In fact, it makes no sense to see Jesus as a good teacher.
If someone walked into this church and started saying that things Jesus said, we might begin by thinking they are a good teacher. But listen more carefully to what that person says and alarm bells should start sounding. Jesus claimed to do things that only God can do, like forgiving our sin. Someone who claims to do what only God can do can't simply be a good teacher--they would either be out of their mind or a complete liar, or they would be God the Son.
Who did the disciples say that Jesus is?
Peter answers on behalf of all the disciples and says that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the promised anointed one, the king in the line of David, that has come to set the people free.
It is interesting that Mark records these words right after showing Jesus heal a blind man. He is making a point: the disciples only reached that conclusion because God had opened their eyes. In Matthew's account of this incident Jesus calls Peter blessed, and says that such truth was not given to him by flesh or blood, but by the Father Himself. People do not recognise who Jesus is because they are wilfully blind.
I find this a great source of assurance. If you have seen that Jesus is God;s Christ, His promised rescuing King, and you are glad about that truth, then that is evidence of the the fact that God is at work in you. We don't welcome such conclusions in our own power. God is doing a work within you, so rejoice and be glad.
Who do you say that Jesus is?
Notice the strange command that Jesus gives the disciples in verse 30. Now that you have seen that Jesus is the Christ, don't go telling people. Why would Jesus say such a thing? He says it because the Jews (including the disciples at this stage) had a faulty view of what the Messiah/Christ would do. They thought that God's Christ would be a king who would throw the Romans out of their land. They had too small and narrow a view of God's work. Too small because Jesus was going to bring a far greater freedom, and too narrow because He was going to do it for more than a single people living in the Ancient Near East.
They wanted freedom from a tyrannical regime. Jesus brings, through His death and resurrection, freedom for condemnation, guilt, death and hell. It is much bigger than they imagined! You can live in a free country, if there is such a thing, but if your heart is condemning you, you are not free. Indeed, many Christians have lived under oppressive rulers and known true freedom in Jesus.
The problem was that the Jews had set their own agenda on what they wanted Jesus to do. I think we can still do so today. Let me give you three examples.
There are those who still want a political Christ. When I first worked in a church in Northern Ireland some of the men told me that i should not preach politics. Politics, they claimed, was not for the pulpit. Then I realised that these same men went to events where politics and religion were regularly mixed. It was not that they didn't want politics in the pulpit, they simply didn't want someone else's politics in the pulpit.
It is not that long since fanatical loyalists shouted 'for God and Ulster', or fanatical republicans thought of their struggle in terms of a religious-like blood sacrifice. Freedom movements all over the world have tried to recruit Jesus to endorse their violence, but Jesus has said that His kingdom will not be advanced by the sword. Be careful if you believe that Jesus has some special allegiance with your nation, He doesn't.
Then there is the progressive Christ. Now I do not believe that Christians should sit simply on the political left or right. We should be challenging the sins of both. But there are those who want to redefine Jesus' teaching to fit into our liberal western worldview. They want to say that He would never condemn what the Bible clearly condemns.
We are not to stand over the Bible and judge it, we are to sit under the Bible and let it judge us. If we find that Jesus simply agrees with us on every issue, or that we never find that the Bible teaches things that we find uncomfortable, then we are probably not reading it very well. We should not be surprised that in the changing morality of culture, there are times when Jesus' words are very counter-cultural.
Finally, there is the prosperity Christ. Even though the Bible clearly tells us that God grows us through suffering, and that the love of possessions is the root of all sorts of evil, there are no shortage of televangelists who will tell you that it is always God's will to make you healthy and wealthy. Pester God enough to give you your worldly desires, and He might give you what you ask, but it may come at the cost of the health of your soul.
Conclusion
Last week I had a call from a man who wants to talk to me about Jesus. We have talked before, and I have never made any progress with him. The reason is that he simply will not accept who Jesus is. He insists that Jesus is just a good moral teacher. Interestingly, this man also struggles with a troubled conscience, and his views about Jesus don't relieve his sense of guilt. How could Jesus, if Jesus is just a good teacher? A good teacher can tell you how to live, but he cannot set you free.
So Jesus is the promised Christ. The rescuing king from the line of David who is blessing people from all over the world. How does this truth impact us? It should impact us by reminding us that while Jesus is such a great and compassionate brother and friend, He is also our ruler and Lord. Therefore, we don't simply recruit Jesus to play to our agenda, but we listen to Jesus to give us our marching orders. Orders like telling people about Him, loving our enemies, seeking His strength to let go of bitterness, and depending on Him in prayer.
Thank God for opening our eyes, giving us freedom and calling us with purpose. Amen.
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