Who do They say that I am? (Mark 8:27-30)
Chapter 8: 27 Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea and Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.” 29 And He continued by questioning them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And He warned them to tell no one about Him.
After last week’s teaching by Pastor Ray, I wanted to investigate more concerning the questions Jesus asked His disciples. The question being “Who do They say I am?” We can surely ask the same question to ourselves about who do we say Jesus is and wonder how others would answer it. So as we read in Mark chapter 8, Jesus was walking toward the villages of Caesarea and Phillipi,we hear Him wanting to know from the disciples “what is the street saying” about me and our ministry? Remember they did a lot of walking back in the days of Jesus, so you could spend many hours conversing and reflecting while traveling on foot. So what were people saying? The word was that Jesus was thought to be John the Baptist, or Elijah or a prophet. Many of these Jewish folks would be familiar with the prophets from their learning about the many prophets in the Old Testament. But the “people on the street” had not yet fully come to understand the mission and plan of God.
Certainly Jesus had quite a reputation among the people and villagers in this part of the world, since during this time of His ministry He has performed quite a few healings and taught and spoke in many places. You just have to go back a few chapters in the book of Mark when Jesus was speaking to a gathering at a house in Capernaum. When a paralyzed man was presented to Jesus, the people were amazed that Jesus said that the man’s sins were forgiven. For they believed only God could forgive sins. Then when they questioned this word of forgiveness spoken by Jesus (that healed the man spiritually), Jesus went ahead and healed the physical part of this paralyzed man too.
Some in the crowd thought this was committing blasphemy, so Jesus said to them in Mark Chapter 2: ……. 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He *said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” Those who witnessed this healing certainly would have quickly passed this miracle story to others, ( not as fast as today’s internet social media methods), but certainly it got around to other villages. The word got out about this Jesus so some were amazed. Yet, some were not liking what this preacher was doing.
The Pharisees were a group that could not understand why a man of God would defile Himself by associating with tax collectors or how he would let a woman anoint Him with oil. Only great kings and priests were anointed and God chose holy men, like Samuel in the Old Testament , to do the anointing. And being in the same home or close to a person who was thought to be “unclean” was an intolerable activity according to the “religious leaders” of the day.
So the “word on the street” about who this penniless preacher Jesus was had a wide range of answers. And if we did a survey even today, the answers we would get would vary just as greatly, but people would probably have a strong opinion. It is certainly a personal question and one that each of us must know in our hearts. While we think about our own answer, next week we will see how the disciples answered the second form of this same question, “Who do You say that I am?”
Amen
One thing we do know as believers is the name of Jesus is beautiful to us!