Who Do You think Jesus Is?
Eric Durso
The Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted
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John Lennon, one of my favorite musicians, and a leading member of my favorite band, said something that caused thousands of people to get enraged, denounce his music, and even burn his albums. “Christianity will go,” he had said. “It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I know I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now. I don’t know which will go first – rock & roll or Christianity.”
There are pictures you can find online of people burning Beatles albums, Beatles pictures, Beatles’ books. It was a bit of an overreaction, I think. And the reason is because it’s really nothing new to claim that Christianity is a temporary fad that will soon fade away.
It is said that in the roaring twenties, Zelda Fitzgerald asked Ernest Hemingway whether Al Jolson was greater than Jesus. Does anyone here know who Al Jolson is?
We can go back further: The French philosopher Voltaire said “A hundred years from my death, the Bible will be a museum piece.” That was 200 years ago.
Now this morning, you’re here on Easter Sunday. Whatever you think about Jesus, and about Christianity fading away, you know that Christianity still has a strong influence on the world. I think most of you have an idea about Jesus Christ. I would even imagine that most of you have an appreciation of Jesus Christ. You will happily agree with history and say that Jesus was a highly influential figure - you might even say the most influential man to have ever lived.
So I don’t think you’re in danger of acting as if Jesus does not matter at all. What’s a more imminent danger is this: believing things about him that are not true. Or, not believing certain things about him that are true.
The popular the figure, the more people think they know him. Do you know your favorite celebrity? Really?
In one sense, everyone knows Jesus. But how many people have actually studied his life, from the original sources? How many people actually know what he taught? How many people understand the significance of what he claimed?
Have you? Where did your beliefs about Jesus come from? Pop-culture? Pop-Christianity? A well-meaning friend? Your parents? The reality is that most people have boiled Jesus’ significance down to a few of his most popular quotes: “Treat others the way you’d like to be treated.” “Turn the other cheek.” Don’t judge, lest you be judged.” Things like that.
But most people don’t know what Jesus taught about God. About who he was. About human wickedness. About judgment. About heaven. About hell. About salvation - and who will get it.
That’s why we’ve been studying the earliest biography of Jesus, titled the Gospel according to Mark - and now we come to one of the most significant sections.
Read the text:
This passage can be divided into three sections, and each section answers a significant question. We have three points this morning, and they’re all in the form of a question: “Who is Jesus?” “What did Jesus do?” and “Who does Jesus save?”
First, who is Jesus?
Verse 27 says Jesus and his disciples went up to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi was a city north of Galilee. All you need to know about this place is that it was not as densely populated as back in Galilee, and it was probably another retreat attempt.
Now as they’re walking there, Jesus asks them a question: “Who do people say that I am?” I wonder what kind of answers we would get if we asked people today.
I watched a reporter go around New York City and ask people that very question: “Who do you think Jesus is?” A good teacher, a good man whose life got blown out of proportion, a man who spread peace and love, an influential figure, like Ghandi.
That wasn’t quite what people were saying back in Jesus’ day. The disciples responded by saying: “John the Baptist.” It was true; Herod Antipas thought Jesus was John the Baptist. Others say “Elijah” - Elijah was one of the most well-known prophets of the Old Testament. And they include that others simply say he’s another one of the prophets. Powerful figures.
But Jesus wasn’t ultimately interested in what the crowds thought. So he asked a much more personal question: “But who do you say that I am?” At this point, if you’ve followed along up to this point, you know that the disciples had seen a lot. They had seen him heal, they had seen him teach, they had seen him cast out demons, raise the dead: What did they conclude?
Peter, ever the spokesman for the group answers: “You are the Christ.” The Christ - in Greek, Christos, the word “Christ” is not Jesus’ last name, it’s the Greek word for Messiah. To say Jesus is the Christ is to say that Jesus is the Messiah.
Now, this will not be quite understood if we read this with our 21st century lenses on. To say that Jesus is the Messiah doesn’t mean a lot to modern Americans. So we have to jump in a time machine and go back to the first century, go back to the land of Israel, and think about what a Jew, like Peter, would have meant by the word “Christ” or “Messiah.”
The word “Messiah” is a Hebrew word. It literally means “anointed one;’ because, when a man was made king over Israel, he was “anointed” with oil, and that was an official symbolic act that he was chosen to rule. King David was an “anointed one.”
And throughout the Old Testament - which would have been the Jews’ Bible at that point - there was thread, woven in and throughout the entire story - from creation, to sin, to the promise of redemption, the message of the prophets - this thread of a promise that there would come a man, an anointed one, a Messiah, who would be the One to reverse the curse of sin, restore creation, and establish an everlasting kingdom.
What would the Messiah be? 5 things: 1) He was God’s chosen one. 2) He was God’s sinless servant. 3) He would be God incarnate; both God and man; 4) He would be established as king. And 5) He would rule the world in righteousness.
So when Peter says “You’re the Christ” he’s making a monumental claim. He’s saying, “Jesus, I think you’re the Chosen One, to be his perfect sinless servant, God in the flesh, to be his righteous earthly king, and I believe you’re going to establish an everlasting kingdom.”
And Jesus tells them in verse 30 not to tell anyone. Which is exactly what he’s been doing all along. When people get a grasp of who he really is, he tells them to be quiet. Why? First, because he doesn’t want to stir up the crowds into a frenzy of excitement to the degree that they won’t actually listen to his teaching. Because they won’t grasp it.
So we started by pointing out that many people “know” Jesus but don’t really know Jesus. And many people have no idea what it means for him to be Christ, or the Messiah.
So who is Jesus? He’s the Christ, the Messiah, God come in the flesh; the chosen one to bring order to the chaos of this world; he’s the hero who conquers evil and establishes righteousness.
This is good news, because humanity needs more than a good teacher, or a powerful wonderworker. Education is accessible anywhere, technological advances are incredible, and we are finding nothing can fix the problems that ail us. Humanity is more fundamentally flawed. We don’t need a guru, a life coach, a religious leader - We need a Messiah - God in the flesh.
Second, What did he do?
Now, I just explained to you what the Jews would have understood about the Messiah. They must have begun squirming with excitement. They’re thinking he’s going to overthrow Rome. They’re thinking he’s going to run out the wicked leaders. But look: Verse 31: “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.”
Jesus begins explaining to them that the “Son of Man” must suffer. Who’s the Son of Man? Well, he is; he’s used that nickname for himself several times already in this book, from Daniel.
This is too much for Peter. Hang on, hang on. You’re the Messiah! You can’t be rejected by the Jewish leaders. You can’t die. We’re going to establish the kingdom now! It says that Jesus actually took Peter aside and rebuked him. It was uncanny to think the Messiah would die. This is so ludicrous to Peter that he rebukes Jesus, but Jesus says, “Get behind me Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
So what did Jesus say he would do? First, he would be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes. That is to say, he is upturning the religious order of the time.
Secondly, he predicted that he would be killed. From a human perspective, the reason he was killed was because he so utterly upset the religious big-wigs that they wanted him dead. He was a threat to their power, so they wanted him eliminated.
But third, he also predicted he would rise from the dead. He called the play before it happened. His death wasn’t an unforeseen tragedy; it was a divine strategy.
Now many people have heard about the fact of his death and resurrection, but few understand the theological significance of his death and resurrection.
His Death. There was another, more theological reason that Jesus would be killed. This was predicted in the OT Scriptures - that the Messiah would come and die in the place of his people.
Let’s zoom out a bit. When God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the forbidden tree, he said the penalty for their sin would be death. And after they sinned, he did not kill them immediately, rather he killed an animal and clothed them and covered their shame. In other words, God said they would die, but they did not die, and instead, this animal died.
And then God taught his people in the Old Testament to make animal sacrifices. Why? Because they were sinners too. And what did it mean? Every time they killed a goat, or they killed a bull, they would see the blood, and they would think, “I am the one who sinned, but this is the animal who dies.” My sin resulted in this animal’s death.
The Bible teaches the wages of sin is death. Death always must be the punishment for sin. So why did the Messiah die? Here’s why: because you and I are guilty of sin, you and I deserve death. But Jesus volunteered to die, like a sacrificial lamb, in the place of sinners like you and me. And we now can look at the cross and say, “I have sinned, but he died instead of me. I was guilty, but he took my guilt upon himself. I deserved God’s judgment, but he came to suffer it.”
One of the most glorious passages in the whole Bible is this one: 1 Jn 4:10 “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
Propitiation. No one uses that word anymore. Sometimes preachers shy away from it because they don’t want to use big words people won’t understand. But I think you’re smart, and I think it’s high time for us to learn this word. Propitiation. Write it down!
What’s propitiation? The word means: “a sacrifice that appeases God’s wrath.” The Bible says God has righteous wrath against sin, but Jesus’ death was a propitiation - it appeased God’s wrath - so that there is no more wrath for those who trust in the death of Christ, only love!
So God the Father and God the Son, out of their immeasurable love, contrived a plan to save sinners. Because God is just, he cannot let criminals go without a payment being made. And because God is merciful, he volunteered to suffer the penalty himself.
But look, Jesus also said he would rise three days later. And what does that mean? The resurrection of Jesus Christ means he was victorious - it means that he did in fact make payment for our sin, he did satisfy the wrath of God, and he did conquer death itself.
This is what Christian churches every are announcing: that because Jesus is this Messiah, and because he did these things, you who are far from God, you who are guilty, can be forgiven.
None of this will make any sense if you think mainly about the things of man - that is, if you think of salvation from a human perspective. God is not like man. He does not operate according to our expectations. To understand salvation, you need to see things his way. He does not save according to the things we do, but according to the things he has done.
There’s a resource we’ve used here called Christianity Explained. In it, there’s a section that attempts to explain the nature of salvation. As an illustration, it tells you to create 2 envelopes. One envelope has the words, “WHAT I HAVE DONE” printed on it. The other envelope has the words, “WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE.” And you take those two envelopes and you offer them to the individual and you say, “Imagine you’re about to stand before God. And he’s going to ask you why he should let you into heaven. You have a choice between these two envelopes. You can choose to stand before God, hoping he’ll accept you based on WHAT YOU HAVE DONE - and inside you find all your good works - good worker, honest, integrity, faithful, whatever. Or, you can choose the other envelope - WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE. And in it you find, he lived a perfect life, he died on the cross, he rose from the dead.”
You’re going to stand before God. Which envelope will you choose? Are you going to set your hope on WHAT YOU HAVE DONE? Or are you going to set your hope ON WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE? You see, this is what is meant when Christians say, “Salvation is by grace!” That is, you don’t get saved by what you have done - you can’t do anything! You get saved by trusting in what Christ has done!” His life in your place, his death in your place, his resurrection proving he has accomplished salvation for those who will receive it: yours for free. No charge. Believe.
Don’t you want that?
Who does Jesus save?
Verse 34: “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” This is the expression of saving faith. “35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Are you trying to save your own life? Jesus says you will lose it. Can’t you see it? The better car won’t make you happy? The bigger house won’t satisfy you. The promotion won’t. THe more you try to save your life, the more you’ll see it slipping through your fingers like sand. You must see that you have no hope apart from Christ, and give up your life to him!
“36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” I think someone here this morning is working to gain the whole world, but is at risk of losing his soul.
37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Jesus wants no secret disciples. Do you have saving faith?
Jesus saves those who, in faith, deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow him.
Last year I finished Christopher Hitchens book that he began writing when he got diagnosed with cancer. It’s called Mortality, and it starts at the diagnosis, and the final chapter is broken sentences, incomplete thoughts, lines from favorite books or poems. And then it ends.
I’ll give you some examples: Lost fourteen pounds without trying. Thin at last. But don’t feel lighter because walking to the fridge is like a forced march. Or, No pretense of youth or youthfulness anymore. From now on an arduous awareness. Another: I’m not fighting cancer -- it’s fighting me. Or, If I convert it’s because it’s better that a believer dies than that an atheist does. Or, Misery of seeing oneself on old videos or Youtubes.
The whole book - and forgive me if this is morbid - is a meditation on death by a man who is rapidly dying. And so it forces you to think about a subject that makes us all uncomfortable.
One of the final lines he included was a quote by author Saul Bellow: “Death is the dark backing that a mirror needs if we are able to see anything.”
Isn’t that fascinating? Here’s a man, perceptive, well-read, intellectual, and as he’s dying he sees something that too few of us see: That facing the reality of death is the only way to make sense of your life.
Do you think about your death?
It really does no good to avoid it, right? Everyone in the history of humanity has died. You will die. And the Bible says that after death comes judgment. You know that’s true.
But let me ask you: have you come to see that if you bring the envelope titled WHAT I HAVE DONE to God, that you cannot be saved? Because you are a sinner, you cannot save yourself.
And have you come to embrace the envelope that Jesus offers - “I deny myself. I will take up my cross - gladly! I will follow Christ! And I will bank my eternity on WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE!
And this is why this morning Christians all over the globe are celebrating the resurrection. Jesus died on the cross, as a payment for the sins, to satisfy God’s righteous wrath, so that we don’t have to die, and then he rose from the dead, conquering death, and he promises the same resurrection to eternal life for all who trust in him.
If you want to be saved, right now, by faith, repent, confess your sin, confess that you are a sinner, and embrace Jesus Christ as not only the Messiah, but your Lord, your Savior, and trust that what he has done to save you.
If you want to come to Christ, or have further questions, please come up and speak with me after the service. And be sure to take home our little booklet, What is the Gospel?