The Question: Daily Thoughts from Mark (Mark 8:27-30)

All of Mark’s Gospel is really intended to answer the question of who Jesus is.  He begins by telling us that Jesus is Messiah, the Son of God, and then begins to give evidence of that in the account of Jesus’ life and ministry.

There needs to be a point of decision.  Jesus will ask for it from his disciples and he asks for it from us.

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. (Mark 8:27-30, ESV)

The expectation of Jews in Jesus’ day was that if they were holy enough God would send His anointed one (Isaiah 61:1-3; Psalm 2; Psalm 110; Daniel 7:13,14) to throw off the rule of Rome and make Israel once again a world power, a free nation.  This was, in fact, the promise of God’s covenant with them, as seen for example in Leviticus 26, “If you walk in my statutes…I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid…You shall chase your enemies” (verses 1-7).

The Pharisees especially represented this view.  But the question was, had they been faithful enough to God’s covenant?  Could they ever be?  The Pharisees thought they were, but they did not think the majority of the people were, and they were more inclined to castigate people for that than to help them become more holy.  So, could Jesus really be the Messiah?  Was this really the time?

In Caesarea Philippi, a mostly Gentile area north of Israel where many Jews lived, Jesus helps the disciples gain clarity about who he is.  The people debate whether he is John the Baptist resurrected, Elijah who was to come to announce the day of the Lord (Malachi 4), or a prophet in his own right.  There is obviously a lot of superstition in these answers.

But Jesus asks the disciples who they think he is, having been with him now and seen all he has done and heard all he has taught, and Peter answers for all of them, “You are the Messiah.”  “Christ” is the Greek version of “Messiah” and both mean “anointed one.”  The oil of anointing was used to install priests, prophets and kings in Israel.  God had built an expectation of an ultimate anointed one, both prophet, priest and king, who would rescue His people.

Jesus, however, once again urges, even commands, silence about this, because the people are not ready to understand it.  We will see why in what follows in Mark’s Gospel.

Where do you rest with the question of who Jesus is?  If you agree with Mark that he is the Messiah, the Son of God, then every aspect of your life belongs to Jesus.  Is that how it is working?