I have taken a couple week break from preaching and during that time had some opportunity to reflect upon the nature of preaching and what makes for good preaching.
Enough for me to be a good orator, I'm not even sure that I am, or to have clever illustrations which I very rarely do.
To speak with any level of eloquence, I often find when I try to search for an eloquent word to make a point, I come up blank and fill it in with something random or I invent a word even at times.
The true mark of what makes a good preacher is a person who takes the scriptures and exalts Jesus Christ in them.
And so we have a text before us today that gives us great opportunity for that.
But before I get there, I want to say that the same is true of fathers on Father's Day.
The measure of success for us as fathers is not necessarily just in the way that we provide or the way that we protect the home,
but the way in which we point our children to Jesus.
So dads, let that be the measure today as we celebrate being fathers.
Let us, in that process, point our kids to Christ.
We'll be reading together today from Mark chapter 8, beginning in verse 22 and reading down through verse 33.
And they came to Bethsaida, and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him.
And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village.
And when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him,
Do you see anything?
And he looked up and said, I see men, but they look like trees walking.
Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again, and he opened his eyes.
His sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
And he sent him to his home, saying, Do not even enter the village.
And 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 told him, John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, and others one of the prophets.
And he asked them, But who do you say that I am?
Peter answered him, You are the Christ.
And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.
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.
And he said this plainly.
And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, Get behind me, Satan,
for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.
This is God's word to us.
It was written for his glory and for our good.
We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and to obey its commands.
Let's pray together.
Father, we do thank you this day for the blessing of your word.
The very pages we hold in front of us.
The English translation of the original language by which you inspired it.
And we thank you, Father, for your word incarnate.
That is Jesus, the Christ.
And I pray, Lord, by your spirit, as we study your word today,
you will use it to divide the very marrow of our souls.
That you will use it to drive out the dark places of our hearts.
That you will further conform us into the image of your Son.
We pray this in Christ's name.
Amen.
So it was fitting, not intentional, but fitting that we took a little break in the preaching through Mark
as we've been working through it, verse by verse, story by story, where we did.
And I didn't know that I was doing it, but we really took a break at the end of sort of an act one of Mark's gospel account.
And we now get into the beginning of what's very commonly understood to be the second act,
which is beginning in verse 22.
It starts this journey, this kind of this end as he's been transitioning out of his Galilean ministry,
where he spent the majority of his time thus far.
And he's beginning to work his way toward Jerusalem,
up to the passion, to the crucifixion, the resurrection of Christ.
And we see this kind of in-between time, which is primarily focused in on the apostles.
And we see interchangeably here, disciples and apostles.
He's really pouring into and connecting the gospel truths into their lives.
He's setting them up for what's going to happen and their ministry beyond that.
So he moves.
He's been in Galilee, southwest of the Sea of Galilee, functioning there.
And we see some movement.
He heads north for a little while.
We see in our story here, he goes from Bethsaida, which is on the west coast,
to up to Caesarea Philippi, which is located about 23 miles north of there,
north of the Sea of Galilee, for a bit of a retreat.
He's getting away from the Jewish population, from those people who had a misunderstanding of who he is
and who he was claiming to be in order to spend time teaching the apostles.
Healings now in these next couple of chapters have almost ceased.
We see a couple of them as this focus shifts.
We see another exorcism in chapter 9.
And we see two accounts of the healing of blind men.
And this second act is framed by that.
First, we see this healing of a man at Bethsaida.
And then we see the healing of Bartimaeus at the end of chapter 10.
So that kind of sets this up for us and where we are.
After we see this proclamation by Peter as a spokesman of the apostles that Jesus is the Christ,
he also begins to teach them what his ministry will finally and fully accomplish.
And that is his crucifixion and resurrection.
And we see three different passion predictions here in this next act.
In chapter 8, verse 31.
In chapter 9, verse 31.
And in chapter 10, verses 33 and 34.
And we'll, of course, address one of those incidents today.
Because we see in all of the cases that he makes these predictions,
the apostles' immediate response as a misunderstanding of the kingdom of God.
In fact, it would seem that all of this passage,
these three and a half, two and a half chapters,
kind of hang on these passion predictions.
And so we'll be looking at those in detail in the coming weeks.
But here we see, as the central part of our text today,
verse 22 through verse 33,
we see this incredible proclamation on Peter's part.
It seems that the scales are being lifted,
that their eyes are being opened as he responds,
but who do you say that I am?
And Peter responds,
you are the Christ.
But before we look at that in a little more detail,
let's back up just a bit to briefly look through the first act,
so to speak, of this book.
Many commentators, in a rather over-reductionary kind of way,
have said that Mark's gospel account is ultimately a passion account,
a story of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
with a long introduction.
Almost the first half of the book,
seven and a half chapters,
seems to be just this long introduction.
And there's some truth in that,
because he really speeds us along through this process.
He's really pushing very quickly.
Some people have said that Mark is kind of the comic book version
of the synoptic gospels as he's pressing us along,
but we're going to find that he suddenly slows everything down.
We get greater detail,
greater account,
as Jesus is teaching the apostles,
and therefore, teaching us.
So we see in these first eight chapters,
words often used like immediately,
immediately, now, and.
If you ever have an English professor,
college students,
that tells you that you cannot start a sentence with and,
show them Mark's gospel.
They're everywhere in Mark's gospel.
It is totally appropriate to do so.
Right?
And he starts his gospel account
with a one-sentence introduction.
Mark 1.1.
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God.
And then in verses 2 and 3,
he legitimizes John the Baptist's ministry,
who he's just about to talk about,
as the forebearer of Jesus,
with a quotation from Isaiah.
And then we are off and running.
Right?
We don't get the account of Jesus' birth.
We're right here at the very,
very front of his ministry,
as we see him then,
later on in chapter 1,
coming and being baptized by John.
And then we have the record
in verse 14 of chapter 1.
Jesus came into Galilee,
begins his Galilean ministry,
proclaiming the gospel of God
and saying,
the time is fulfilled
and the kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent and believe in the gospel.
And he spends the majority of his time,
we see him venture outside of Galilee a bit.
He goes to the Decapolis,
a largely Gentile region.
He goes off to Tyre and Sidon for a while,
kind of as a retreat from the ministry
he has been doing.
He's gathering large crowds.
He's teaching far and wide.
He's healing.
But the great theme that we see
as far as mankind's response
to the teaching of Jesus Christ
is a general rejection.
We see some positive response.
We see people believing that he can heal.
But we see very little discipleship.
We see very little of people
leaving everything and following him.
We see the example of the apostles doing that,
leaving behind nets and following him.
But they just don't get it.
Again and again and again,
we can see that they've been given faith to follow,
but they don't really fully comprehend
who it is that they're following.
We see in chapter 3, verse 21,
Jesus' family thinks he's a lunatic.
In verse 22,
the religious elite of the day
accused him of operating under Satan's power.
This was all by design.
In chapter 4,
the apostles asked Jesus
why it is that he speaks in parables.
Verse 11 and 12,
he says to them,
to you has been given
the secret of the kingdom of God,
but for those outside,
everything is in parables.
And then he quotes Isaiah 6, 9, and 10.
They may indeed see, but not perceive.
It may indeed hear, but not understand.
Lest they should turn and be forgiven.
And there's this theme
running through these first
eight and a half chapters
of spiritual blindness.
People can't see and can't understand,
even though he's demonstrating
in so many miraculous ways
and legitimizing his ministry
and his message in so many ways,
people cannot see who he is.
In fact, up until our text today,
the beings who get Jesus most rightly
are the demons.
They're the ones that Jesus comes
and casts out,
puts them in pigs,
drowns them.
Chapter 1, verse 24,
we see demons say,
call him Jesus of Nazareth,
the Holy One of God.
Later in chapter 1, verse 34,
the account is,
and he healed many who were sick
with various diseases
and cast out many demons,
and he would not permit the demons
to speak because they knew him.
They knew who he was.
Chapter 5, verse 7,
the great proclamation
that Jesus is the Son
of the Most High God.
It's not made by man.
It's made by something spiritual,
a demon,
an angel of darkness.
And so we get this shift here
in chapter 8, verse 22,
as a teaching time,
as a pulling away,
as a stepping away time,
and it's been introduced to us
by these questions
that Jesus asks
in chapter 8, verse 17,
18, and 21.
So look at those with me.
After some confusion about bread,
Jesus has provided abundantly.
He's fed huge crowds,
5,000 and 4,000,
likely more like 25,000 people,
16,000 to 20,000 people
that are worried about provision.
They forgot to bring more than
one loaf of bread on a boat.
And he says in verse 17,
Why are you discussing
the fact that you have no bread?
Do you not yet perceive
or understand?
Are your hearts hardened?
Having eyes do you not see?
And having ears do you not hear?
And do you not remember?
And then verse 21,
Do you not yet understand?
They still had yet
to fully wrap their minds
and therefore their hearts
around who it is
that Jesus is.
And so he steps away
as he's beginning his journey
towards Jerusalem
to begin to teach them more
about who he is,
to have them come to realize it
and therefore serve him
with their lives.
He states this rather emphatically
in chapter 9, verse 30,
in the first half of 31.
They went on from there
and passed through Galilee.
And he did not want anyone to know
for he was teaching his disciples.
They made a secret journey
through Galilee
towards their destination
because this was the task
of this second part
of the Gospel of Mark.
As previously stated,
apart from the healing
of two blind men
and an exorcism in nine,
Jesus focuses entirely
on the teaching of the apostles.
In fact,
even these three miracles
in this section
seem to be aimed
at the fact that Jesus
is the Lord
of physical blindness
and therefore spiritual blindness.
They seem to be set up
in such a way
both carried out in reality
and recorded for us to observe
because we're being taught something
as the apostles
were being taught something
about who Jesus is.
So we come to our test.
Now I'm going to take it
a little bit out of order
because I want you to see
and fully realize
why it is that Jesus responds
in the way he does
and why it is that Mark
was inspired to record it
in the way that he did.
So let's start very first
with Peter's confession
beginning in verse 27.
Jesus asks the question.
He says,
Who do people say that I am?
And there's much debate
about Jesus' humanity
and his deity
and how those things coexisted,
the exact nature of that.
Some people presume
that Jesus,
because he was human
but still God,
knew things that were going to happen.
He could predict things.
We see some evidence of this.
He can perceive in men's hearts
what's going on.
So sometimes he answers a question
that they haven't even vocalized yet.
Maybe this is true.
Maybe it's not.
Maybe in his humanity
he really didn't know
and all he did is
he submitted himself to the Father.
We see accounts of this.
We know that all Jesus did
was do the things
that God told him to do,
God the Father,
and say the things
that God the Father
told him to do or to say.
Not incredibly important.
So Jesus either asks the question
knowing what their answer will be
or he's just not really sure
in his humanity
but they're on the edges of the crowd
and they're walking around
and he wants to know,
Who are people saying that I am?
But either way,
the people had an opinion of him.
John the Baptist.
Others say Elijah,
a great prophet of old,
reincarnate.
And some say one of the prophets.
And these would have been
flattering terms.
Any of us,
if you were to think me,
John the Baptist,
or Elijah,
or one of the prophets
risen from the dead,
that'd be very flattering to me.
But these were mere forerunners
of who Jesus is.
To think Jesus is one of these things
would actually be an insult
to who he is.
Not a compliment to it.
But this was common.
Jesus is doing miraculous things.
You can't deny that.
Something's going on
with this man.
Right?
Not just a couple people
here and here,
but far and wide.
He's doing amazing,
amazing things.
He's calming storms.
He's walking on water.
He's feeding multitudes.
He's casting out demons.
He's proclaiming the forgiveness
of sin.
Doing incredible things.
There must be something special
about this man.
And many people had many,
many opinions
about who he was.
In fact,
it's important for us to know
that the name itself,
Jesus,
was not a particularly special name
in this time.
Often pronounced in the Hebrew,
Yeshua.
Sounds a lot like Joshua.
Doesn't it?
Right?
This was a fairly common name
in the time.
It'd be like,
if there was a period of time
here at the church
where we had four or five Johns.
It was really confusing.
Who are we talking about
when we talk about John?
This was Jesus of Nazareth.
There's always these qualifiers
put on who he is.
He was a Galilean.
We had to know where it was
that this Josh came from.
Rightly,
we've given him from the Greek
a more specific name.
Not too many people
use the name Jesus.
Some cultures do.
We've got Jesus's out there.
But typically,
we've reserved this Jesus name
now for him.
So,
people had a,
had just,
Josh was going around
and he was doing stuff.
He was doing miraculous things
and they didn't understand.
They didn't have
the spiritual sight
to get that he was
the Savior.
He was the Messiah.
The one that was promised
from days of old.
In fact,
the name Yeshua,
Joshua,
means Savior
or Deliverer.
But they come to this,
this idea of Messiah,
this idea of the Christ.
Christ.
As a Jewish culture
that was very religious
in nature,
the teaching was far and wide
that there would someday
be a man that would come
and he would take away
the sorrows of Israel,
that he would reign
as a perfect king,
that he'd be in the lineage
of David,
David the greatest king
who ever lived,
who restored peace
and power to Israel,
that he would be in that line
and he would come
and he would do it
once again.
There was a massive
cultural misunderstanding,
a lens by which
they understood
who the Messiah
was meant to be.
And so when a humble
carpenter boy
shows up,
they couldn't see him
for who he really
was
and is
now.
In fact,
the wide acceptance,
and it still is true
of many people
of Jewish descent,
think of the Messiah
as someone who's going
to come
and is going to reign
militarily
and politically.
You remember Roman rule
reigned across this region
in this day
and the Jews were
oppressed.
They didn't have
the same
national fervor
that they once had,
the same status
that they had enjoyed
in the centuries past.
They were oppressed
by Roman rule
and so they were looking
for someone to come
and to take over
and to rule
in the way
they wanted him
to rule,
which is in fact
likely the reason
that Jesus is
constantly pressing
secrecy.
That he's constantly
doing something
and then commanding
somebody to not
talk about it.
We see two different
occasions of that.
The man he heals,
the blind man,
he tells them
not to even enter
the village.
Don't even go around
people because people
are going to see you
walking around,
not blind,
and they're going to
know that something
miraculous happened.
And he tells the
opposite thing we would
think he would tell
the apostles.
When Jesus says
you are the Christ,
he goes,
shut it.
We'll talk about that
right now.
It's not the time
for these things
to be revealed.
The likely danger
was that people
would have taken
him by force
and made him king.
And that is not
the way he came
to serve.
He came to die
rather than to rule
over them
in the earthly
sense.
So there's this
massive misunderstanding
as they come
to this idea
of who
the Messiah
is.
So you see
a breakthrough,
this incredible
proclamation
on Peter's
behalf.
Likely it was
something that
the apostles
agreed upon
together.
He was often
the spokesman,
the first one
to rush in
and make
the comment.
Verse 30,
Jesus says,
or Mark records,
and he strictly
charged them
to tell no one
about him.
They were all
coming to this
realization that
he is the
Christ,
the anointed
one of God.
But isn't it
fascinating that we
see that even
the apostles,
as they make
this proclamation,
still don't
quite get it.
They get it,
but they don't
get it.
They're not all
the way there yet.
They haven't
fully come to
comprehend who
it is that
Jesus is.
That he has
come as a
suffering servant
who will be
a reigning
king.
So Jesus goes
on to teach
them.
They make this
proclamation,
and he makes
a passion
prediction.
Verse 31,
32,
and 33,
he begins to
teach them
that the
son of
man,
that he
himself,
must suffer
many things
and be
rejected by
the elders,
the chief
priests,
the scribes,
and be
killed,
and after
three days
rise again.
And I love
this little
phrase at the
beginning of
verse 32,
and he said
this plainly.
Right?
No parables at
this point.
He just said
to them
straightforward,
this is
what's going
to happen
to me.
And then the
audacity of
Peter,
who takes him
aside,
away from the
other apostles,
and rebukes
him.
So you have
Peter making
this proclamation,
you are the
Christ,
you are the
Messiah,
you are the
anointed one
of God.
We'll get into
what that means
further in just
a moment.
And then he
tells him in
the next moment,
but you don't
get the way
you were meant
to come and
serve.
That's what he
says to him.
And Jesus'
response to him
is a rebuke
in return.
But turning and
seeing his
disciples,
he rebuked
Peter and said,
get behind me,
Satan.
Now is he
literally calling
Peter Satan
in this case?
No,
but Peter's
being a
mouthpiece for
Satan.
Satan's work
in this day
was to thwart
at every turn,
to do everything
he possibly
could do to
prevent the
crucifixion of
Christ.
He knew that
his death
sentence was
made final
when Jesus
Christ was
crucified and
resurrected.
And so Peter's
serving Satan's
purposes at
this point,
and he
elaborates on
that by saying,
for you are not
setting your mind
on the things
of God,
but on the
things of man.
You have a
wrong perspective,
a culturally
defined perspective
of who the
Christ is.
Are we that
way?
Do we often
have a culturally
defined perspective
of who Jesus
is?
I believe that
those of us
who are in
the faith,
who have
recognized Jesus
as the Christ,
still are
tainted in
this way so
often.
And as we
look around at
the culture
around us,
they are
constantly at
the work of
making Jesus
into their
image,
that they
might worship
him rather
than lifting
him and
exalting him
as the
risen and
reigning
king,
the Christ,
and conforming
themselves to
him's image.
And so here
we see this
story back up
at the beginning
of our text,
verse 22
through 26,
this rather
odd healing.
Did it strike
you as strange
when we read
through it
together?
You see
Jesus doing
amazing miracles.
People are
touching him
and being
healed.
It's said
that as he
traveled through
the land
that he was
eradicating
sickness in
the areas
that he
traveled in.
And here
he has a
man who
was blind
that he
just doesn't
seem to
have enough
power to
get it on
the first
go around.
Did he
not meter
the power
right?
He gave
him power
to heal?
Not quite
enough.
And he
gave him
more power
to heal?
Or did
he do it
in this
way
specifically
to teach
us
something?
Of course
that's the
answer to
my rhetorical
question.
Now note
in verse
23 we
see again
Jesus leads
outside of
the village.
He's again
going to do
something physical
so this blind
man can
understand where
the very power
for his healing
has come from.
He does
something physical
with him and
he doesn't want
anybody to be
confused back
in the village
about what it
is that healed
this man.
He doesn't want
people to think
that spitting on
eyes is what
heals people but
that is the power
of God that
heals people.
We talked about
this at length
earlier when we
looked at the
healing of the
deaf and mute
man.
So he does
this.
He goes through
this action
to say to
this man
I am Lord
over sickness
and asks him
do you see
anything?
His response
is I see
people but
they look like
trees walking
and there's some
debate out there
if we actually
saw trees or
if we actually
saw people.
It doesn't
really matter.
He just
didn't quite
see clearly
enough.
He saw some
version of
reality but
not quite
the full
reality.
And then Jesus
lays his hands
on his eyes
again and
he opens
his eyes
and his
sight was
restored.
And the
Greek here
means literally
put back
to new
and he saw
everything
clearly.
So what is
Jesus trying to
teach us as he
begins this
teaching as he's
going through a
process of a
number of
chapters of
teaching the
apostles something
and that thing
is that he is
the Lord of
physical and
he's also the
Lord of
spiritual blindness.
That he is
unfolding who
he is to the
apostles in the
exact way that
he intends to.
That these people
are coming into a
fuller more
clear picture of
who Jesus is.
Isn't that cool?
The healing we see
at the end of the
second act is a
full final healing.
There's no stages in
it at all.
So these stories are
very cleverly placed
in this order
under inspiration
and I believe acted
out in this way
to be a teaching
tool for the
apostles and
therefore for us
spiritual clarity
of sight is a
work of the
Lord.
And as such
those who are
outside the faith
and those who are
in should pray
that God would
give us clear
eyes.
That we should
see properly
who Jesus is.
We should start
our mornings in
that way.
Lord don't let
any cultural
misunderstanding
work into my
mind and my
heart about who
you are.
I want to be a
disciple of Jesus
Christ.
I want to follow
him in purity.
I want to follow
the true Jesus
not some different
version of him.
We have so many
different versions
of who Jesus is.
These are my own
titles.
These aren't
official so please
don't think that.
We have hippie
Jesus.
Right?
Peace, love,
happiness.
Everybody get along.
Tolerance Jesus.
This is not the
Jesus of the Bible
and it's certainly
not the Jesus
who reigns on
high now.
We have slot
machine Jesus.
If you just hang
out with him long
enough it's going
to pay off big
for you.
Right?
He's going to put
the money in your
pockets.
Heresy.
We have the
puzzle Jesus.
If you get the
equation just right
salvation is yours.
Do it this way.
Walk this way.
Pray this way.
Do this thing.
Then salvation or
whatever promise
people want to
attach to that is
yours.
We need to be so
careful that we
don't make Jesus
in our image.
That we don't
bring him down
on our level.
This is why I
think it's really
important that we
speak properly
about who Jesus
is.
Luke 6.45 says
the good person
out of the good
treasure of his
heart produces
good and the evil
person out of his
evil treasure produces
evil.
For out of the
abundance of the
heart his mouth
speaks.
The things we
say give evidence
to what we think.
And so have you
noticed I have
in the past couple
of decades the use
of the word Christ
is declining.
Lots of Jesus.
Not a lot of Jesus
Christ.
How we speak of
him matters.
I think the effort
has been to make
him more relatable
to talk about our
buddy Josh.
And there is a
relatable, personal,
we are co-heirs,
we are siblings with
Jesus, he cares
about us, he's a
near friend, all
these things are
wonderful and true,
but he is the
king.
He is Jesus
Christ, the
anointed one,
prophet, priest,
and king.
The Old
Testament almost
always refers to
him as Jesus
Christ or Christ
Jesus, it rarely
refers to him
simply as Jesus.
Now I'm not
saying we can't.
I think I've done
it a bunch of
times just here in
this sermon.
But we need to be
careful about how
it is we speak
of our Lord.
Jesus is the
Christ.
We need to get a
very clear picture
of who he is.
Paul prays for the
believers at Ephesus.
Believers, right?
Believers.
People who have
believed that Jesus
is the Christ.
This is his
prayer for them
in Ephesians 1,
15-18.
He says,
For this reason,
because I have
heard of your
faith in the
Lord Jesus,
and your love
to all the
saints.
These people are
regenerate.
As far as we
can tell,
they have placed
faith in Jesus
Christ.
Verse 16,
I do not cease
to give thanks
for you,
remembering you
in my prayers,
that the God
of our Lord
Jesus Christ,
the Father of
glory,
may give you
the spirit of
wisdom and
of revelation
in the knowledge
of him,
having the eyes
of your hearts
enlightened,
that you may
know what is
the hope to
you,
what are the
riches of his
glorious inheritance
in the saints?
And he elaborates
on what that
means.
I would encourage
you to continue
reading that for
the sake of time.
I stopped it
there.
But his prayer,
Paul's prayer for
the church at
Ephesus,
is that having
placed faith in
Christ,
they will have
their eyes and
their hearts
enlightened.
That they will
continually see
in a more clear
way the hope
to which we
have been called,
what are the
riches of his
glorious inheritance
in the saints?
The psalmist,
Psalm 119,
18,
says,
open my eyes
that I may
behold wondrous
things out of
your law.
Charles Spurgeon
in a sermon
on the parallel
passage found in
Matthew,
I believe,
chapter 16,
said,
if you know
more of Christ,
if you know
no more of
Christ than
the world
knows,
than the
learned know,
than the
philosophical know,
you have not
found the
blessing.
If you know
no more of
Christ than
you have
found out
for yourselves,
even by
reading the
word of God,
unaided by
the Father,
you are not
blessed.
If you know
no more of
Jesus than
flesh and
blood has
revealed to
you,
it has brought
you no more
blessing than
the conjectures
of their age
brought to the
Pharisees and
Sadducees,
who remained
an adulterous
and unbelieving
generation.
we must have
a clear vision
of who Jesus
is.
I hope I'm
setting you up
to spend time
in the rest of
the gospel of
Mark.
Nonetheless,
even though we
see Peter here
says to Jesus,
you are the
Christ,
and then seems
to foul it all
up in his
very next
response,
it is still
an emphatic
and beautiful
and important
confession.
It seems that
they're beginning
to see and
beginning to
understand.
He is saying
to Jesus that
you are the
anointed one.
That's what this
word literally
means.
And there were
three Old
Testament offices
that were
inaugurated,
that were brought
into being by
an anointing.
This culture
would have
totally understood
that title,
what it meant
to be the
Christ, right?
The article is
there, not a
Christ, but the
Christ, the
anointed ones.
And those three
offices were the
office of prophet,
of priest,
and of king.
In fact, we
see Jesus
anointed in
Mark 1,
9-11,
a cleansing
in the
baptism of
John, and
then the
descending of
the Spirit of
God, not as
a dove, but
like a dove,
and God
speaking out of
heaven,
this is my
Son with
whom I am
well pleased.
This was
Jesus'
anointing to
fulfill and to
perfectly fulfill
these offices
forever, those
offices of
prophet, of
priest, and
of king.
So I don't
think that the
apostles totally
understood the
proclamation that
they were making.
I don't think they
were quite there
yet when they
said, you are
the Christ.
But we are now
on this side of
revelation.
We now have the
scriptures.
We can see a
more clear picture
than they could
at the time, and
so we should.
I hope you're
with me on that.
Right?
Jesus fills the
role of prophet,
the perfect prophet.
It was the job of
a prophet in the
Old Testament to
speak on behalf of
God, to warn the
people of God of
God's coming
judgment for their
sin if they would
not repent.
Brought the words of
God to the people
of God to tell them
of the danger of
their sins.
Stop what you're
doing and turn back
to God.
The Old Testament
is riddled with
this.
So much of it is
about calling God's
people back together.
The writer of
Hebrews 1,
verse 1,
first half of
verse 2 says,
long ago,
at many times
and in many ways,
God spoke to our
fathers by the
prophets.
But in these last
days, He has
spoken to us by
His Son.
Jesus is the
prophet of God.
John's account,
gospel account,
John chapter 1,
verse 1,
and the beginning
was the Word,
and the Word was
with God,
and the Word was
God.
Jesus Himself is the
very incarnate Word
of God.
And then down in
verse 14,
and the Word became
flesh and dwelt
among us,
and we have seen
His glory,
glory as of the
only Son from the
Father,
full of grace and
truth.
Jesus lived and
died and rose
again and reigns
now to speak to
us the words of
God, to call us
back to God.
Jesus fills the
office of priest.
It was the job of
the Old Testament
priest to make
sacrifice on behalf
of the people of
God, to make
atonement for
their sins, to
stand in the gap
between them and
God.
Hebrews chapter 7,
so much of Hebrews
is thematically about
Jesus being the
perfect priest.
Hebrews chapter 7
beginning in verse
23, the former
priests were many
in number because
they were prevented
by death from
continuing in office.
They died.
They couldn't do it
forever and ever.
But he, being
Jesus, holds his
priesthood permanently
because he continues
forever.
Consequently, he's
able to save to
the uttermost those
who draw near to
God through him
since he always
lives to make
intercession for
them, to stand
between them and
God.
The wonderful truth
that when God
sees us, he sees
Jesus.
Our righteousness
righteousness is
now given to us
because God
granted it to us
in Christ.
For it was indeed
fitting that we
should have such a
high priest, holy,
innocent, unstained,
separated from sinners,
and exalted above the
heavens.
He has no need like
those high priests to
offer sacrifices daily,
first for his own
sins and then for
those of the people,
since he did this
once for all when
he offered up
himself.
So Jesus fulfills
this office, the
priest, the perfect
priest.
He's also the
sacrifice that was
made on our behalf.
Jesus fills the
office of king.
I hope that these
are programming into
your mind.
You say, what offices
did Jesus fill?
Prophet, priest, and
king.
It was the job of
the king to reign
over the people of
God, but not the way
most of us think.
I think most of us
growing up and
living in a democracy
think of kings as
dictators.
We see lots of
unhealthy dictatorships
around the world.
Someone who comes
and lords unjustly
over the people.
That is not the way
God established kings
in the Old Testament.
That was not their
task.
They were to reign
over the people,
but they were to be
the people's protector.
They were to protect
them physically,
fortify cities,
have armies,
protect them from
the enemy outside,
but they were also
meant to protect
them spiritually.
It was his major
task to lead the
people of God
in the ways of God.
There are tale
after tale after tale
in the Old Testament
of kings who failed
rather miserably
at this task
given to them,
but Jesus is the
perfect king who
reigns forever.
In an interaction
found in John 1,
verse 49,
a man named
Nathaniel answers
to Jesus,
Rabbi, you are the
son of God.
You are the king
of Israel.
So Jesus is the
anointed one,
the prophet,
the priest,
and the king.
He is the one
that the Old Testament
has talked about.
He is the one
that the New Testament
continues to unfold
the realities of.
He is the very
central theme
of all that we
understand.
He is the central
theme of the
universe.
All things were
created in him
and through him
and for him.
It's an incredible
reality that Jesus
is the Christ.
And at this point,
I think rightly,
if you're a good
listener,
you should say,
okay,
I'm with you.
Jesus is the Christ.
What does it mean
for me?
What does it mean
for me today?
Does it have any real,
does it have a reality?
Is there an implication,
an explicit implication?
How should I live
in response to that
reality?
Well, let me say to you,
as Christians,
our image-bearing
capacity has been
restored.
Our hearts have been
made new.
The old heart,
the one that was
spoiled by sin,
had been replaced,
metaphorically,
with a new heart.
We have the Spirit
of God that
now lives within us.
We have the ability,
once again,
to be human.
To live as the
creation of God
was meant to live.
To worship Him
and to honor Him
with all that we do.
And in that way,
we also,
in service to Jesus,
play out these types
of roles in our living.
Jesus,
prophet,
priest,
king.
We are Christians.
We are little Christ.
We do this
in a lesser way
than our Lord,
but we are His ambassadors
and so we carry out
His will and His work
in this world.
So as Christians,
we have a prophetic role
to play.
We proclaim the Gospel
of truth.
It's our major job
as believers
is to propagate
the truth of God
far and wide,
to call men and women
back to God.
To tell them
of the danger
of sin.
To say to them,
there is an eternal
state for you.
It will be heaven
or it will be hell.
It will be punishment
or it will be reward.
And there is a way
and that way
is Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5,
17-18,
Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation.
New.
We're now citizens
of God's kingdom.
The old has passed away.
Behold,
the new has come.
All this is from God
who through Christ
reconciled us to Himself
and gave us
the ministry
of reconciliation,
bringing about peace.
This enmity
that exists
between mankind
and God.
It is our job.
It is our ministry
to bring about peace.
We bear the message
of Jesus.
As His ambassadors,
we find in Mark 1, 15,
this is our message.
This is our message.
The very message
that Jesus preached.
The time is fulfilled
and the kingdom of God
is at hand.
Repent and believe
in the gospel.
As Christians,
we have a priestly role
to play.
Peter,
in 1 Peter,
calls us a royal priesthood.
Chapter 2, verse 9.
The author of Hebrews
views us as priests
as Hebrews 10, 19-22 states,
Therefore, brothers,
since we have confidence
to enter the holy places
by the blood of Jesus,
this would have been
the place that the priest
would have gone into
in the temple
to make sacrifice
on behalf of the people of God,
we now have confidence
to enter the holy places
by the perfect sacrifice
of Jesus,
by the new and living way
that He opened for us
through the curtain,
that is,
through His flesh.
And since we have
a great priest
over the house of God,
let us draw near
with a true heart
and full assurance of faith,
with our hearts sprinkled clean
from an evil conscience,
and our bodies washed
with pure water.
These were priestly activities
that took place,
a purifying
to enter into the presence of God.
We now have been granted
that in Jesus.
And later in Hebrews,
chapter 13,
15 and 16,
through Him then
let us continually offer up
a sacrifice of praise to God.
That is the fruit of lips
that acknowledge His name.
Do not neglect to do good
and to share what you have
for such sacrifices
are pleasing to God.
So we make sacrifice now
in the way in which
we praise God.
Right?
Lips that acknowledge His name
and the doing of good
and the sharing of what we have
for those around us.
The Apostle Paul
had a priestly duty in mind.
In Romans 12, verse 1,
he says,
I appeal to you, therefore,
brothers,
by the mercies of God
to present your bodies
as a living sacrifice.
Present yourself
as a sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual worship.
We're to be priests.
We're to offer sacrifice to God.
And we have, as Christians,
a kingly role to play.
Jesus has risen
and He is reigning.
Paul states in Ephesians 2,
4-7,
that we have been raised with Him.
Verse 4,
But God, being rich in mercy,
because of the great love
with which He loved us,
even when we were dead
in our trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ.
By grace,
you have been saved.
And raised us up with Him.
This is a present reality.
And raised us up with Him
and seated us with Him
in the heavenly places
in Christ Jesus.
So that in the coming ages
He might show the immeasurable riches
of His grace and kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus.
For His glory,
He raised us up
and He has seated us with Him
in the heavenly places.
We reign in a sense
along with Jesus.
This reality has an abounding
future implication for us.
A massive, massive,
forever future implication for us.
But it's also pertinent to today.
We have been given power over sin.
It does not reign over us,
but we reign over it.
And the same way the kings of old
were meant to protect the people of God,
we are to do the same thing.
To reign over and purge out sin
in the lives of others.
Romans 6, chapter 12,
excuse me,
chapter 6, verses 12-14.
Let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal body
to make you obey its passions.
Do not let it reign in you
who has the power in that situation.
We do.
Do not present your members to sin
as instruments for unrighteousness,
but present yourselves to God
as those who have been brought
from death to life.
Right?
Not in degree, but in kind.
We once were dead,
we are now alive.
And your members to God
as instruments for righteousness.
For sin will have no dominion over you
since you are not under law,
but under grace.
We reign over this.
We have been set free from it.
And we can now fulfill
these priestly,
these kingly,
and these prophetic roles
in the world
because Jesus is the Christ.
Beloved, we've been given
great blessing.
These men stood in an interesting place
in history.
It's a fascinating thing
that they were doing here
as they were seeing
the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy
as all of this misunderstanding
was being brought into right light
and being brought together for them.
But we now have the full revelation of God.
We are immensely blessed
to have this book.
And beyond that,
in the century in which we live,
we now have resource upon resource
upon resource upon resource
to help us understand
this book more rightly.
We have the shoulders
of spiritual giants to stand on
who have gone before us
and have worked and labored
through the understanding
of these texts.
We find in 1 Peter,
soon in chapter 9,
we're going to see
an account of the transfiguration.
And Peter talks about
getting to be with Jesus
on the mountain.
And then he says,
and we have a more sure thing.
And that's the Scriptures.
We are blessed.
You think it would have been great
to walk with Jesus.
Wouldn't that have been awesome
to get to be with Him?
Yes, it most certainly would have been.
I would take that,
but I would take this over that
because He's given me a helper.
He's given me the Spirit of God.
He's given me the Scriptures
that we might have a full
and right understanding
of who He is.
There's eternal consequence
to this question.
Who is Jesus?
Who do you say that I am?
All of us will one day
stand before Him in judgment
and He'll ask that question of us.
What are you going to say?
And will your life reflect
a proper understanding
of who He is?
Those of us who are found in Christ,
we can confidently stand before Him
and say,
you are the Christ.
But I believe there will be
reward beyond that
for those of us
who are faithful to Him,
who are disciples
in every respect,
who didn't just recognize this thing
and do this little act
and give kind of the paltry leftovers
of our life to Jesus,
but we followed Him.
Everything we had,
we left the nets
and we went,
and we went to the point of death
serving our Lord.
This question has to ring
and resonate in all of our ears.
Jesus is the anointed prophet,
priest, and king.
This is a reality.
It's not a subjective thing.
It is an objective truth.
We should align our minds
and our hearts with it.
We would do well
to worship Him as such.
Let us praise God
that this has meaning for us.
It's not some abstract thing
that Jesus lived in this day,
worked in this fashion,
did what He did,
accomplished things for us.
For now,
it means something today.
Our imagery and responsibility
as God's creation
has been restored.
Our lives have beautiful meaning
as we live in service
to Jesus,
the Christ.
Let's pray together.