Who Is Jesus Christ?

Introduction: An Account of Jesus Christ

Good morning! (If we haven’t met, my name is Devon Rossman, and) It’s a joy to have you here this Easter Sunday, as we give attention to the greatness of Jesus and his resurrection. For the past several months, as a church in Mt Pleasant, we’ve been working section by section, verse by verse, through a part of the Bible called Mark. It’s a record of Jesus’s life that was written by one of his followers. And we’ve seen numerous indications that Jesus Christ is an extraordinary person through his teaching and his supernatural power. And yet even with Jesus performing all kinds of miracles, setting people free from disease, and demons, and deafness – one of the issues we’ve seen is that people aren’t sure what to make of Jesus. They’re not sure who he is. This has even been the case with Jesus’s closest disciples – his closest followers. We saw evidence of this in our text last week. Even though the disciples have been seeing all of Jesus’s miracles, they haven’t been able to see what this means about Jesus himself.

But here in our text – we come to one of the most pivotal parts of the book of Mark. Because it’s at this point, that the disciples begin to see. And my prayer is that as we work through these verses together, that the Lord will deepen our ability to understand and embrace the significance of Jesus this morning. So if you haven’t already, please turn with me to Mark, Chapter 8. I’ll be reading Mark, Chapter 8, verses 27 through 33. But before I read our text, let’s ask God to work in our midst by His Spirit this morning. Let’s pray:

[Pray and Read Text]

Do You Know Jesus Christ?

If someone were to ask you where plants get energy from – the energy that’s needed to grow – my guess is that many of you would be able to answer that they get their energy from sunlight, in a process called photosynthesis. And yet even though many of us may know that word, photosynthesis, my guess is that if someone pressed you further, and asked, “No really, tell me, what does that process look like? When you say photosynthesis, what do you mean?”, I think that most of us would have a hard time describing what photosynthesis actually is or how it works.

Yet for many people, we don’t just have this issue when it comes to describing photosynthesis. We can also have difficulty explaining some basic things about Christianity, such as who Jesus is, and how Jesus works. Even if we’re familiar with Biblical words or titles that’re used to refer to Jesus – we may not have a good handle on what those words or titles actually mean, or why they’re important.

And in our text this morning, you’ll notice that even Jesus’s disciples had issues with this. Their perception of Jesus was fuzzy. But in these verses, Jesus gives his disciples special insight into his identity and mission. And not only does it set the stage for the whole rest of the book of Mark – it also sets us straight on how we need to respect and receive Jesus for who he actually is, rather than just for who we imagine him to be.

So as we walk through the text, we’ll consider three simple questions that are answered here. These three question will function as my three main points. First, who is Jesus? Second, what did Jesus come to do – what was it necessary for him to do? And then third – how must Jesus be received?

Who Is Jesus?

So let’s start by looking at the first question that’s raised in our text. Who is Jesus?

The first thing we’re told, in verse 27, is that “… Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi.” Jesus had just been in a Jewish town, called Bethsaida. He had just healed a blind man there. And now Mark explains, from there he goes with his disciples north and slightly east toward a city named Caesarea Philippi.

You may hear it in the name – but the city of Caesarea Philippi was named after Caesar – after the emperor of the Roman empire. And of course, this reminds us here that Jesus lived when the Roman Empire was in its golden age, during the reign of Tiberius Caesar. Jesus and his disciples were Jewish – but the Jews didn’t have a free nation of their own. Instead, the land that had historically been the land of Israel was now under Roman rule.

But to be clear, even before Rome came, the region had been conquered by Alexander the Great – a military leader from modern-day Greece. And that history had also impacted the region significantly. Because even in Jesus’s day, just about everyone still used the Greek language to conduct business in local marketplaces. This was true across much of the Eastern Roman Empire. And a number of people from Greece had settled permanently in places like Caesarea Philippi, and had brought their traditions and religious practices with them. In fact, before the city was renamed after the Roman Emperor, Caesarea Philippi had been named Paneas. It was named after Pan, one of the Greek gods. The city was considered to be a pagan pilgrimage site.

And so in the days of Christ, Caesarea Philippi was considered to be a spiritually dark place – unusually dark. There was a temple in the city dedicated to worshipping the Roman Emperor. There were multiple shrines for offering sacrifices to Greek deities, including Pan. And the Greeks even believed that one of the caves of a nearby mountain was a gate to the underworld, which came with its own share of superstitious rituals, as well. What the city seems to have been lacking was a synagogue. Many of the Jewish religious leaders at the time strongly discouraged people from visiting Caesarea Philippi. It had a distinct reputation for ungodliness and unbelief.

And yet Jesus takes his disciples toward this place – up to the dark city, face-to-face with the unbelief of people in that region. And as he does this, Jesus does something interesting. He asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

In verse 28, his disciples respond: They tell him, “John the Baptist” (there are people who say that) – “and others say Elijah, and others, one of the prophets.” Spoiler alert, the crowd doesn’t have it right. They don’t know who Jesus is. But it’s worth pointing out – these were educated guesses.

We were introduced to John the Baptist earlier in Mark. He came as a forerunner of Jesus. He preached in wilderness areas around the Jordan River, calling people to turn from their sin. And John himself said he was doing this to prepare the way for the arrival of someone greater, who would come after him. Crowds of people had come out to John, and had been impressed by his teaching. It was widely recognized that he was a real messenger from God. And so even after John was arrested and put to death, a number of people seem to have believed that Jesus was just John the Baptist, back from the dead – or perhaps John had never died in the first place, but it was just a look-alike of John who died. It’s not clear how the Jews understood this. But in any case, a number of them thought that Jesus was this messenger from God, John the Baptist.

Others believed that Jesus was Elijah. Elijah was a prophet from the Old Testament (mentioned in 1^st and 2^nd Kings). And his ministry was aimed at trying to turn the hearts of God’s people back to the truth. And the Old Testament had indicated that Elijah – or a prophet like Elijah – would show up on the scene again, in places like Malachi 4:5. And so it was natural for some of the Jews to speculate that maybe Jesus was the guy. Or if not Elijah, maybe he was one of the other prophets. Some of the Jews seemed to think that was a safer guess.

But none of these answers is right. Because they all come up short. They rightly identify that Jesus is truly human, like the prophets were. Certainly, Jesus was a godly man. And many people in the crowds have discerned that when Jesus speaks, he’s speaking the Word of God – just like the true prophets did in years past. And yet the crowds were missing that Jesus is much more than a godly man – much more than a prophet, even.

It’s interesting, the same thing happens today. There are people who know the name of Jesus. They’ve heard of things Jesus did and said. They think they know who he is – a good example to follow, a teacher of true religion, one of God’s messengers, perhaps. And yet they miss Jesus’s identity because they don’t go far enough.

Just imagine, that you’re visiting London, and you go into a nice restaurant with a friend, or with your spouse. And as you’re looking over the menu, suddenly there’s a disturbance near the door. And King Charles III, the current king of England, is escorted into the restaurant by members of his royal guard. Now, if you just thought to yourself – “ah, it’s a well-dressed man,” or, “this is a fellow who likes to travel with people in red suits” – in some sense you’d be partially right. But at the same time you’d be totally missing the point. If you thought, perhaps this is a member of Parliament, or a Duke, or a man engaged in important business – you’d be right in recognizing that he’s an important person. But you’d be totally missing the actual identity of who this man is.

And this is the mistake that the crowds were making about Jesus. And so Jesus takes the same question, and he turns to his disciples in verse 29. “He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’” And notice the answer that comes. “Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”

It’s a good answer. And it’s the right answer. Way back at the beginning of Mark, in Chapter 1, verse 1 – it’s already been asserted. Jesus is Christ, and he’s the Son of God. This is one of the foundational points Mark wants us to see and understand about Jesus. But what does it mean? It’s not just Jesus’s last name. What does it mean for Jesus to be the Christ?

Essentially, Jews at that time would have taken it to mean that Jesus is the chosen one – the one appointed by God to rescue and rule over God’s people. Throughout the Old Testament, when God chose people to take on key leadership roles, they were often anointed with oil – and that’s what the word Christ means. Anointed one. And as olive oil, often mixed with spices, was poured over a person’s head, it was a visible sign that God was placing that person into their official role, as a prophet, or priest, or king.

And for Jews living in Jesus’s day, they were looking for God to send them someone like this. Specifically, they were waiting for God to send them an anointed king. Because they knew that God had promised to do it – the promise was hundreds of years old. God had promised to raise up a Son from the great royal line of David, a former King of Israel. And this Son of David would have his throne established forever. This coming anointed one – the Christ – would usher in an everlasting kingdom. This was what many Jews were looking for and longing for.

And so when Peter answers Jesus’s questions, “Who do you say I am?” – When Peter says, “You are the Christ,” Peter is basically saying, “Jesus, you are the supreme ruler of the earth – chosen by Almighty God. You’re the king who will rule forever, who will raise up your people, and who will render judgment to all the nations of the earth. Jesus you are the Great One who deserves our utmost submission and devotion – the one whose sandal straps we aren’t worthy to untie. Jesus, you are the Christ.

This is very different from merely saying that Jesus is a good man, or a godly messenger. This is even different from saying that Jesus is one of many good kings that God has provided for Israel. No, Jesus is identified here, correctly, as the ultimate King of the Jews – really, as the King over all Kings, as the Premier over Presidents, as the Master of Monarchs. Jesus is in his own category, above and beyond all other rulers of the world. He’s not just a Christ. But he’s the Christ – the ultimate leader chosen by God to rescue and rule over God’s people.

And if you do not understand that this is who Christ is – if you’re still fooling yourself into thinking that you are the king of your life – if you still imagine that your time and money and affections and priorities should revolve around you, instead of being offered in service to Jesus, then you have not understood what it means for Jesus to be the Christ. Jesus is not a hobby. Jesus is not a myth. Jesus is not an entertainer, or a therapist, or a cheerleader. But Jesus is King. Jesus is the Christ. All things on this earth exist for him.

What Did Jesus Have to Do?

Now, since Peter is the one who identifies Jesus as the Christ, you might assume – Peter must understand what Jesus’s kingship is supposed to look like. He must understand what Jesus’s mission is. But Peter doesn’t understand at all. In fact, none of the disciples do. You’ll notice – in verse 30, Jesus strictly charges his disciples – for the time being – they must not tell anyone that he’s the Christ. It might seem strange for Jesus to do this. But he can tell that his disciples have the wrong idea about what his kingship is about to look like. So before he sends out his disciples to announce the arrival of the Christ, Jesus wants to make sure they understand what the Christ has actually come to do.

And so this brings us to the second question that’s answered in our text. What did Jesus come to do? – What did Christ, the Chosen King, come to do?

It’s important to understand, many of the Jews – Jesus’s disciples included – they assumed that the Christ would take the form of a great battle commander. They had it all worked out in their minds – the Christ would muster a military force. He’d destroy the pagan Roman empire. And he’d re-establish a prosperous nation-state for the Jews in the land of Canaan. Their ultimate hope was that he would bring political revolution, military victory, and a right-here, right-now earthly kingdom. That’s what many of them expected.

But as Jesus refers to himself, here, as the Son of Man – which Jesus has already done earlier in Mark – as Jesus explains what must happen to him, in order for him to fulfill his mission as the Christ, and to ascend to his throne, it’s much different from what the disciples imagined. It’s much different from broader Jewish ideas of what the Christ should look like. In verse 31, Jesus identifies four things that he must do.

Number one, Jesus says that he must suffer many things. He, the Christ, must suffer. You can just imagine how hard it would have been for the Jews to accept this. Because the expected that the Christ would come and cause his enemies to suffer – he would cause the Romans to suffer. But Jesus says that the Christ himself must suffer.

And Jesus follows this up with a second thing that the Christ must do. Thing number two: he must be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes. Again, this would seem preposterous. What do you mean, Jesus, that you – the Christ – that you need to be rejected? That’s not how it’s supposed to work! Surely, when the Christ comes, he’ll be celebrated, and honored, and lifted onto his throne by all the great Jews. How could he be rejected?

But the third thing Jesus mentions is possibly the hardest of all. Jesus says that the Son of Man, the Christ, must be killed. Surely anyone operating with that Jewish concept of the Christ as a mighty, invincible warrior – surely it seemed scandalous to suggest that the Christ would be killed. Because that would suggest that he failed. That would suggest that he was weak. That would suggest, that God had never really been with him in the first place!

But then fourth and finally, Jesus predicts that there’s one more thing that the Christ must do. Number four – after three days, he must rise again. This is the first time in the gospel of Mark that Jesus explicitly mentions his resurrection from the dead. And perhaps you’d think that the disciples would be able to appreciate – “Ah, yes – the Christ will have power over death – power to raise himself and others out of the grave. Of course, this is what the Christ must do.” But as it turns out, the disciples aren’t convinced. Because, of course, in order to rise from the dead, the Christ would need to die. And they can’t accept that this could actually happen.

And so notice – again, the disciple Peter is the one who takes action here. At the end of verse 32, we see that he pulls Jesus aside, and Peter begins to rebuke him. Now, Mark doesn’t tell us exactly what Peter said. But it’s not hard to figure out what he’s saying. Peter obviously doesn’t agree that Jesus’s words about the Christ are right. Peter’s saying, “No way, Jesus! You’re the Christ. These things can’t possibly happen to the Chosen King. Jesus, you have power – you shouldn’t let these things happen. You mustn’t let them happen.

And just in case there’s any question about Peter’s rebuke – the account of Jesus’s life written by Jesus’s disciple Matthew, records this same event. And in Matthew Chapter 16, Peter’s on record for saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” Peter is clearly denying the suffering, the rejecting, the killing, and the resurrecting of the Christ.

And yet Jesus says these are things that he must do. So why does Jesus say this? Well, I’ll mention three reasons. First, Jesus must do these things, because they’re part of God’s unbreakable plan. God had already said, through his prophets, in the Scriptures, that the triumph of the Christ would follow after a hard road of suffering, rejection, and death. The sufferings of God’s chosen one were foretold in Psalm 22 and Psalm 69. The rejection of the Christ was foretold in Psalm 2 and Psalm 118, verse 22. The death of the Christ is clearly predicted in Isaiah 53. And then the resurrection of Jesus is likewise announced, hundreds of years beforehand, in Psalm 16:10, and Psalm 7, verse 20. And so Jesus insists, these things must happen to him.

But there’s a second reason. The sufferings of the Christ are also necessary for confirming to us that Jesus is the true and righteous King, Chosen by God – a King of perfect sinlessness and justice. He remains consistent in his integrity and uprightness, even in the fiercest furnaces of affliction.

Consider this – the strength of a strong man isn’t really confirmed when he’s just bench pressing 50 pounds. Even if he seems to do it effortlessly, the limits of that man’s strength are still quite a mystery. But when a man bench presses 1000 pounds, with multiple reps – it makes it apparent that this man truly is incredible – superhuman – in his power.

And in the same way, the perfection of Jesus is seen most clearly in how he endured suffering. His human obedience wasn’t just seen when life was easy. He didn’t just go through life bench pressing a 50 lb bar. But Jesus remained sinless and selfless. He was constant in his love for others, and perfect in his devotion to the Father, even as he was under the crushing, thousand-pound weight of pain and death. The intensity of it all exposes the unwavering strength of Jesus’s character. And God wants us to see it – to be convinced that His Chosen King is truly good – relentlessly good. Because if we have this confidence, it’ll drive us to offer ourselves to this good King’s service. That’s a second reason why the sufferings of Jesus are necessary.

But a third reason why Jesus needed to suffer many things, and be raised from the dead – is because it was necessary for rescuing human beings from evil and death. Often, when we consider the sufferings of Jesus, we think of what he suffered psychologically and physically. And certainly, these were significant things. He was mocked, and spat upon, and flayed open by whips, and pierced through the wrists with large, ugly nails – Jesus was essentially suffocated as he dangled from the cross. And yet he wasn’t just afflicted by the hands of men. As Jesus was on the cross – more than this – he was afflicted by the very hand of God.

It wasn’t because of anything wrong Jesus had done. But you see, God was rightly angry at us, for our selfishness, for our moral failures, for our unbelief and irreverence. God, because of his goodness, was filled with wrath over our badness. But instead of just striking us down and sending all of the wretched human race to Hell, in a surprising display of love, God sent his Son to save us. And Jesus, the Son – willingly offered himself for us, saying. “Let me face the fire instead. I will take the judgment of Almighty God, in the place of my guilty people. I will suffer and die, so that the crimes of my people can be forgiven, and so their souls can be saved.”

And the great suffering of Jesus – it wasn’t in vain. He successfully suffered under the raging fire of God’s judicial wrath, until there was no more punishment left over for us. Because he was rejected – rejected by heaven, all who trust him are accepted into paradise. And because he was put to death, he secured for us eternal life. And we know that Jesus’s mission was triumphant and successful. Because on the third day, Jesus gave us evidence – observable evidence – of his great victory. He rose from the grave – once and forever, never to die again.

And we shouldn’t miss the glory of Easter morning. Because it focuses our attention on Jesus, breaking out of the clutches of death, and rising out of sin’s curse. And it declares to us – a great war has at last been won on our behalf. Christ our King has achieved an even greater victory than the overthrow of pagan empires. Because death has been defanged, the devil’s work has been destroyed – and for those who trust in Jesus as their victorious King, the declaration of God toward us is no longer guilty – condemned. But instead God sees us as clean, covered by the blood of Jesus. And he declares that we are washed. We are right with him. We are rescued into the everlasting kingdom of His divine Son.

How Must Jesus Be Received?

But these truths call for a response from us – not just a one-time event type of response, but a change in the direction of our lives – that type of response. And this brings us to the third and final point that’s raised in our text. How must Jesus be received?

Well, notice first – in our text, Peter gives us an example of what not to do. Because even though he’s able to identify that Jesus is the Christ, the King – you’ll see that Peter sure doesn’t treat him like a king. Because as soon as Jesus starts to say something that Peter doesn’t like, Peter says no. In fact, he essentially charges Jesus with wrong. He rebukes him. Peter’s so full of himself, he has no problem pushing back against Jesus’s words, picking and choosing whatever it is that he wants to believe. Who is Peter, to speak this way to the Chosen King of God? And who are we, that we would resist Jesus’s words – that we would make excuses, that we would raise complaints? This isn’t the way to receive Jesus.

And that’s why Peter receives such a rebuke from Jesus, in verse 33 – and notice, it’s in front of the other disciples. This a lesson – a rebuke – that Jesus wants all his followers to hear. He tells Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.”

The first comment there is especially intense. Jesus says get behind me. In other words, Peter – your job isn’t to give corrections or commands to your King. Your job is to follow your king. And in the next section of our text – Jesus is going to unpack this further – what following Jesus looks like, practically.

But of course, the full comment Jesus makes – and the reason why it’s especially intense – is because Jesus says, “Get behind me Satan.” Some people have supposed from this that Peter must have been possessed by the devil while he was rebuking Jesus. But even though this is possible, there’s no direct language about demonic possession here, like there is for Judas Iscariot later on. So it’s perhaps even more likely that Jesus was simply describing Peter and his words as devilish – that Peter’s words were just as opposed to the true mission of the Christ as Satan.

And Jesus points out why this is – he describes what Peter’s problem is. Instead of setting his mind on the things of God, Peter’s been setting his mind on the things of men. In other words, Peter’s priorities haven’t been centered around God. But they’ve been centered around the things of man – human ideas, human pragmatism, human passions. And this is ultimately a rejection of God. Peter is acting as God’s adversary, standing in opposition to God’s Chosen King – and Jesus insists it must not continue.

Yet this isn’t just a word for Peter. It’s possible that some of you need to hear the same rebuke Peter did. You might be able to say, “Jesus is the Christ.” But here’s the real question. Are you accepting the reality of what this means. Are you setting your mind on the things of God, accepting King Jesus on his own terms – or are you instead building your life around something else? Because if your mind isn’t set on God’s priorities – if you’re living for someone else’s dream, for someone else’s kingdom, instead of the kingdom of Christ – then you are God’s adversary. And Jesus says, Get behind me, Satan. Put away your opposition. Grieve over the corruption of your attitudes and actions. Listen with faith. Learn to follow. Because only in this King – only in King Jesus, can you be rescued from Hell, and raised up from death.

But I understand, that many of us in the room are people who have a genuine faith in Jesus. And as far as we can tell, our endeavor each day is to set our minds on the things of God. And it’s a wonderful gift that we can do that. But I want to urge you, today – do not forget that the sufferings and rejection and death and resurrection of Jesus – these things are the things of God. Jesus Christ, is a vivid demonstration of God’s wisdom and glory and power and love and perfection. And I would urge you – not just today, on Easter – but rise each morning, with Christ. Rise up and in each new day, take hold of the new life that Jesus has purchased for you. Set your minds more and more on the things of God. Because the Chosen King sent to us isn’t just a quaint old story, that we talk about each year for the sake of tradition. But the Chosen King, Jesus, is a living King, who works in his people, who brings life and fire and joy to his people. His kingdom is a living and growing kingdom. So set your minds on Jesus. Offer yourself in Service to the Christ. And live in the triumph of his resurrection. Let’s pray: