Who Do You Say I Am Mark 8

Mark 8 27 - 9 1

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

 

In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to eat, he called his disciples and said to them, “I have compassion for the crowd because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come from a great distance.” His disciples replied, “How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?” He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. They had also a few small fish, and after blessing them he ordered that these, too, should be distributed. They ate and were filled, and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Now there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

 

The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” And he left them, and getting into the boat again he went across to the other side.

 

Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” They said to one another, “It is because we have no bread.” And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and fail to see? Do you have ears and fail to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” And they said to him, “Seven.” Then he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

 

They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?” And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again, and he looked intently, and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Then he sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.”

 

Jesus went on 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 answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

 

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

 

He called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Who Provided the Boat?

 

"And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples..."

 

This raises an interesting question that I will return to in a few paragraphs.

 

For me and for today, the big phrase in this morning's gospel portion is this phrase:

 

"I have compassion for the crowd..."

 

He was concerned that they were hungry and would not make it home in good health.

 

So, he immediately formulated a strategy and involved his inner circle in solving the problem, calling upon the power of Eternity to make up for what resources they might have lacked.

 

Then he got into a boat.

 

Here is another statement that I often overlook.

 

It seems that, while in Galilee, Jesus often traveled by boat and would just get in the boat.

 

Where did the boat come from?

 

Did he hire it, rent it, borrow it, or own it?

 

I think I would like to imagine that it was a part of the mini fleet from the business that Andrew and Simon Peter left behind.

 

I like to imagine that when they became disciples of Jesus, the resources that they had were available to the God-Movement and that there was always a boat ready for Jesus and the disciples.

 

What resources from your life and work have you brought to the God-Movement?

 

Are they available to Jesus at a Moment's notice?

 

Someone made fish and bread available, but there was also, that boat.

 

What About You?

"And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ." - Mark 8:29

 

Who does John say that I am? What does Mary say about me? How does Hector view me? Did Lupe quote me? Who and what do people say that I am?

 

When Jesus asks the question, it is merely a preface to the larger and more profound question, “Who do you say that I am?

 

It is as if he were asking, “Who am I to you? What place do I have in your life?”

 

It is very likely that if you have occupied your place in the pew for any length of time, you know all the right answers about who Jesus is. You know multiple names for him. You have a vocabulary full of adjectives to describe him.

 

Your doctrine about the nature and mission of Jesus is sound.

 

But what does your heart say about him? What does your life reflect? What does your soul believe? To what one thing about Jesus does your whole being cling?

 

Peter said, “Thou art the Christ” and he added, “the Son of the Living God.”

 

It meant something.

 

You are the Messiah, the one for whom we have been waiting. You are the promised one and the promise itself. You came from God. You are God’s Son. Whatever any of these kings and princes of Rome claim to be, you are the living one who has come from the Living God.

 

Where does such a conviction originate?

 

Jesus tells Peter that it came directly from God. It was a spiritual confidence that led him to speak so boldly and with such assurance.

 

From what part of your soul do you speak when you answer Jesus’ direct question? Who do you say he is?

 

If you lack the sort of testimony in your life that Peter was blessed with, ask God to give you such a blessing, a heart conviction that Jesus is the One.

 

Don't report the final score before the whistle blows and don't assume that setbacks predict loss. Furthermore, don't pursue that which is easy, popular, or compatible with the dominant narrative of any generation at the cost of the soul-searching, soul-wrenching, upside-down message of sacrifice, service, and radical discipleship.

 

The depth, reality, and long-term character of the call is seldom what would seem most expeditious in a meeting of our own minds for the purpose of securing short-term gains.

 

We come to Jesus, the Son and delight of the Father.

 

He knows who he is.

 

He knows why he has come.

 

He knows what people say and it does not matter.

 

He knows what he must do.

 

He wants his followers to know, and, to some extent, Simon Peter does.

 

But Simon is also an “accuser,” who, those his motives are to spare Jesus’ rejection and death, would terminate his mission by diverting him from it.

 

Grace, mercy, peace, and love do not come without a price and God pays the price.

 

To turn to God by turning to Jesus is to face the way of the cross.

 

It is to deny self which is to deny self-indulgence as well as self-righteousness and self-sufficiency. It is to deny both the pleasures of a God avoiding life and responsibility of setting ourselves up as demi-gods.

 

Jesus knew how difficult it would be for Peter and the friends to understand this.

 

His ways and thoughts were not theirs, but theirs would be transformed and enlightened. They would see things that would amaze them and give them a new perspective.

 

And so, shall we if we follow.