Who Do You Think I Am?

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Well, I invite you to turn with me to Mark's gospel, and to the eighth chapter – verses 27-30 are our text for this evening, as we look at, again, what Mark has recorded for us through the influence of the apostle Peter, his mentor and friend. We're going to be reading in just a moment those verses, but before we do, I just want to mention that it was back in the 1990's, while I was at Grace to You, that I had the privilege of being involved in co-writing and co-designing a gospel tract. Although, I'll be honest with you, I attempt to do the work of an evangelist – Paul commands me, as an elder, to do that, and Timothy – I am, by gifting, a teacher. We're all to be evangelizing, but for some people, honestly, it comes naturally – my wife's grandfather was like that; within five minutes of meeting someone, he was perfectly comfortable sharing the gospel with them. For me, evangelism is a challenging work. In light of that weakness in my own soul, it encourages me to see how many hundreds of thousands of those tracts that I was able to be a part of have now been distributed; they're now in both English and Spanish – perhaps you've seen a copy around; they look something like this: A stop sign, and then the words "Who do you think I am?" That, really, is the key question that faces everyone – your eternal destiny hangs on how you respond, you will spend eternity either in heaven or hell, based on how you answer that question in its fullest sense. It's the question that Jesus asked His own disciples in the text that we come to tonight in Mark's gospel, in Mark 8, and let me read it for you – Mark 8, beginning in verse 27.

Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way, He questioned His disciples, saying to them, "Who do people say that I am?" They told Him, saying, "John the Baptist, others say Elijah, but others, one of the prophets." And He continued by questioning them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ." And He warned them to tell no one about Him.

I think it's important, before we examine this passage, to step back from the trees and get a good look at where we are in the forest. Jesus' earthly ministry covered about three and a half years, and I'm not going to take you through how I arrived at these dates; we did that when we did the survey of the New Testament – if you want, you can listen to that, and you'll get a lot of evidence for it – but I'm going to assume it tonight. Probably, His ministry ran from the summer of 26 A.D. to April of 30 A.D. – the story we've just read falls into the final year of our Lord's life, this final section of His earthly life runs from Passover in the year 29 A.D. to Passover in the year 30 A.D. In this third full year of His public ministry, there are several features – His Galilean ministry ends, that happens very early in this final year; there's the training of the Twelve for about six months; and then, He's in and out of Jerusalem for three feasts, also about six months – there's some overlap here, obviously. This final year is, for the most part, a time when His popularity is declining, and He's constantly avoiding Jewish areas.

We find ourselves, in the story we just looked at, in those six months of training the Twelve, so – and this account in Mark 8 happens no more than about ten months before the cross; it was probably the early summer of the year before, the summer of 29 A.D., somewhere in that timeframe. It's also important to understand how this paragraph falls in the flow of Mark's gospel – you remember, in the last couple of paragraphs we studied together, it has become painfully clear and obvious to us all that the disciples are only very slowly learning all they need to know about Jesus. In fact, as that last miracle we looked at, the gradual healing of the blind man at Bethsaida, showed that, while the disciples are no longer spiritually blind, as they were before, like that man when he had vision, initially, they still see, spiritually, only in dark shapes and shadowy movements – that's how the disciples see and understand the truth at this stage, and only Jesus' continued work on their spiritual eyesight will allow them to come to a full 20-20 vision of who He is.

That was the story, the message, the lesson behind the gradual healing of the blind man, and now we see it lived out in the life of the disciples – they weren't still spiritually blind, they had come gradually to a settled understanding about who Jesus was; Jesus knew that – but He wanted them to know that, and He wanted us to know that as well, for our own spiritual benefit. This section, this paragraph I just read to you in Mark 8, is here for a reason – Mark wants every reader of his gospel to personally hear and to personally respond to Jesus' question, "Who do you say that I am?" That's the question that our Lord wants every single person here tonight to ask, to hear asked, and to answer – "Who do you say that I am?" This is a kind of watershed in Mark's gospel – up to this point, the question of Jesus' true identity has been sort of climbing, building to a fever pitch, but once this question is asked and answered, the gospel races downhill, races toward the cross, toward the resurrection. In a sense, with this story, the first act in the great drama of redemption closes, and the second act begins.

So, let's look at this amazing account provided for us by the inspiration of the Spirit of God, through Mark. The story really begins by giving us the intentional setting for the questions – the setting was not an accident; it was intentional on Jesus' part, as we will see as we work our way along. Notice verse 27: "Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way, He questioned His disciples." They went out of the city of Bethsaida, where the miracle of the healing of the blind man had just occurred – you remember, they were really just on their way to Caesarea Philippi, when this man's friends brought him to Jesus. They were probably there because that was the shortcut up to Caesarea Philippi, that was the harbor at which to land, and maybe to get supplies, which they didn't have – you remember they only had one loaf of bread in the boat for all thirteen men. So, they go to the city, they encounter this blind man, Jesus heals him, and then they resume their journey. The journey from Bethsaida, on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, up to Caesarea Philippi, was about twenty-four miles, or in that day, about one day's journey by walk – you see the Sea of Galilee there on the north end; there's Caesarea Philippi, where the red arrow is pointing, and the journey would have gone from Bethsaida straight up to Caesarea Philippi, about a day's walk.

It's a very interesting city, actually, Caesarea Philippi – I had the chance to visit there – Caesarea Philippi was enlarged by Herod Philip, that is one of Herod the Great's sons; he was made tetrarch over this particular region when it was all divided up after Herod the Great's death. This city was named after Caesar Augustus; after Herod Philip enlarged it and sort of made it a nicer city, he named it as a bit of a brown-nosing act, actually, after Caesar Augustus. Philippi was added to make sure you were talking about the Caesarea in his territory versus the Caesarea on the coast, the famous city on the coast of the Mediterranean – literally, the name means, this is the Caesarea that Philip built. That's the idea – this is the city to praise Caesar Augustus that Philip, the son of Herod, built. It's a beautiful area, actually – this is sort of the sweep of the area there, just to give you sort of an aerial view of what that area looks like. And then, there are ruins there where the city was, next to this spring – where you see the cave, there's a spring; it's one of the four headwaters of the Jordan River. And it's a spring – now, the water runs underground; there was a time when it ran out. And it was a place where Pan, the god Pan was worshipped, half man half goat, and it was a wicked place, a Roman city. There's no record that Jesus ever came to the city itself, because it was a Roman pagan city, but you can see some of the ruins there of Caesarea Philippi; there are some niches for idols along the wall, there was a spring there, and then here's one of the ancient arches into the ancient city. The scripture tells us that Jesus was in the villages of Caesarea Philippi; that is, He was in one of the small little suburban villages surrounding the Roman city itself. Jesus intended to go to Caesarea Philippi for one specific reason that's going to become clear in the next few weeks in our study together – that one reason, we encounter in this conversation.

So, the exchange, then, happens on the way to Caesarea Philippi. The other gospels give us a little more detail; Matthew adds that Jesus brought this question up after they had already entered the district of Caesarea Philippi, so it wasn't like halfway along the way, it's after they'd gotten into this region – and Luke tells us that it wasn't while they were walking; it wasn't while they were strolling along, walking to their destination. Instead, here's what Luke writes. "And it happened that while Jesus was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, 'Who do the people say I am?'" That's in Luke 9:18. So, then, what happened when they arrived in the area of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus had been praying alone, His disciples are with Him – perhaps it's a situation similar to the one in Gethsemane, where He leaves them in one place to pray, and He goes a short distance away and prays alone – and then He comes back and He asks them this question.

Can I just stop here and say I am struck, as we work our way through the gospels, with the priority that prayer was in the life of Jesus? And if Jesus Christ, the Son of God, needed to be so regularly and faithfully in prayer, who do we think we are to act as if that's an unimportant issue?

Luke doesn't tell us what Jesus had been praying about, but it's probably about what He is about to ask them, and then what He is going to tell them, and shortly, what He is going to show them in the coming transfiguration. It's in this carefully chosen context that Jesus intentionally brings up a couple of questions – this is not an accidental conversation; Jesus intends to prepare them for the information He is going to give them about the cross, which is now less than a year away. But first, He needs to establish that through all the miracles they've seen, through all the teaching they've heard, they have come to truly understand who He is. So, after praying alone and coming back and joining them, in that intentional context, He asks them two absolutely crucial questions.

Two absolutely crucial questions – the first question is more for the people, "Who do people say that I am?" Verse 27, "who do people say that I am?" Now, at this point, Jesus is asking them to consider the various ideas that exist about who He really is – He doesn't ask them, by the way, what the Pharisees thought; we're all very clear on what the Pharisees thought about Jesus, we saw it back a few chapters ago, they thought He was in league with the devil. Matthew says, Jesus said, "If they have called the head of the house," Me, "Beelzebub, how much more will they malign the members of His household?" So, that's what the Pharisees thought; everybody was clear on their animosity, their hatred of Christ. But instead, Jesus was asking them the sort of popular thought, what do the people in general think of Me? And notice what the people think – He goes on to hear from each of them; "They told Him," verse 28, "saying, 'Some say John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, but others, that You're one of the prophets.'" Matthew adds, by the way, that they said "Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." Why Jeremiah? It's interesting, because legend had it that Jeremiah had hidden the Ark of the Covenant in a cave, along with the Altar of Incense, during his time – that's actually written, if you're interested, you can read about it in 2 Maccabees, one of the apocryphal books – that he had hidden the Ark of the Covenant, he had hidden the Altar of Incense, and that at some point, Jeremiah, at the right time, would return, he would reestablish temple worship before the Messiah came – so, maybe, He's Jeremiah. Luke adds, others said that He was "one of the prophets of old that has risen again."

Now, the people's mistaken ideas about Jesus really fall into two basic categories – both John the Baptist and Elijah, based on a misunderstanding of Malachi, were supposed to be forerunners of the Messiah, so some people thought that Jesus was not the Messiah, but He was the forerunner of the Messiah; He's the one who comes before the Messiah comes. To others, category number three here, He was simply one of the long line of prophets, a holy messenger sent from God – perhaps, even, one of the Old Testament prophets, one of the great prophets, raised from the dead, a great teacher of the people, a holy messenger sent from God. The point is that what everybody was saying about Jesus was terribly deficient in two basic ways – either they were thinking that Jesus was merely a forerunner of the Messiah, that is, that He was important and powerful, yes, but not the Messiah Himself, He was simply there to prepare; or the other mistake they made was thinking that Jesus was only a man – actually, it's not or, it's and; both of these mistakes, that Jesus is only a man, perhaps a good man, a righteous man, a powerful man, a holy man, a miracle worker, a man sent by God, a unique messenger, maybe one of the greatest prophets of all time – but in the end, just a man.

That's what the people were saying about Jesus in His day – I find that very interesting and, frankly, ironic, because it is what most people still try to say about Jesus today; He's a good, righteous man, He's a wonderful teacher, He's a great guru, He's a voice you should listen to, He is a perfect example for the kind of life we ought to live – but that's as illogical a position today as it was in the first century. I mentioned that tract that I had the opportunity to be involved in writing, along with another man – here's what the tract says on that front, "Many people today don't understand that Jesus claimed to be God; they're content to think of Him as little more than a great moral teacher – but even His enemies understood His claims to deity; that's why they tried to stone Him to death, and eventually had Him crucified." As C.S. Lewis observed, "You can shut Jesus up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill Him as a demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God, but let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher; He has not left that open to us; He did not intend to." "Who do the people say I am?"

The second crucial question He asks His disciples was, "Who do you say that I am?" Look at verse 29 – "And He continued by questioning them." The picture is, perhaps, Jesus not asking simply a general question, but perhaps looking around, and in several different ways, asking the question of several of the disciples – "Who do you say that I am?" You remember that back in chapter 4, verse 41, when they saw Jesus quiet the wind and the sea, "They became very much afraid and said to one another, 'Who is this?'" Now Jesus asks them the same question – who am I? By the way, in verse 29, in the Greek text, there is a very emphatic point on "you" – let me read it for you as it actually appears in the Greek text. "But you, whom are you saying Me to be?" He repeats "you" twice. "But you, whom are you saying Me to be?" Jesus now moves from the views of the culture about Him to the conclusions to which the disciples themselves have come – they've seen His amazing miracles, we have seen those miracles as well as we have worked our way through this gospel – and now Jesus wants to know, what have they learned about Him from all they have seen and heard? You know, in a moment of emotion, in response to the miracle of Jesus walking on the water and quieting the wind, they had said, "Truly, You are God's Son." But now, away from the crowds, away from the excitement, away from the miracles, Jesus wants to know, what do they really think about Him – and the question was addressed to them all.

That brings us to the only right answer – Peter, as always, spoke for the others. Jesus had asked all of the disciples; the pronouns are all in plural form, but Peter, as he so often did, speaks up – and he makes this amazing statement, verse 29: "Peter answered and said to Him, 'You are the Christ.'" Christ, as you've heard me say many times, is not Jesus' last name – He's not Jesus Christ in the sense that I'm Tom Pennington – Jesus is our Lord's earthly name. He's sometimes called Jesus of Nazareth because of where He was from, but Jesus Christ – His name is Jesus; Christ is a title. It's a title – the Greek word is Christos; it comes from the Hebrew Old Testament, where the word is Hamashiach, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the special One that God will send. Peter says, you are Hamashiach, you are the Messiah, the Anointed One by God, the One the Old Testament scriptures promised. Now, that's an amazing statement, because the last time anyone in Mark's gospel used that title for Jesus, was all the way back in chapter 1 – in fact, it's in chapter 1, verse 1: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christos" – Jesus Hamashiach, Jesus the Messiah – "the Son of God." Mark had come to embrace that truth about Jesus, undoubtedly from the influence of dear friends like Peter, and he now sets out to explain that – but Peter came first to that conclusion, "You are the Christos," You are the Messiah. Matthew tells us the complete response of Peter, Matthew 16:16. "Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ,'" the Messiah, "'the Son of the living God.'" So, this was not really one answer to Jesus' question, it was two – You are the Messiah that God promised would come in the Old Testament scripture; that is really a statement about Jesus' mission. Some of the disciples had accepted that truth about Jesus from the very beginning; John 1:41, Andrew "found his brother Simon" – that is, Peter – "and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah' (which translated means Christ)." So, early on, they had concluded that was true, but now, having witnessed the miracles, having heard His teaching, they are thoroughly convinced of this reality. You're the One, Jesus, that the Old Testament promised would come, that God promised would be sent for our deliverance, for our salvation, for our rescue. And, You are "the Son of the living God" – that is not a statement about Jesus' mission; that is a statement about Jesus' being, about His nature. By the way, in this statement in the Greek text, there are ten Greek words – Peter uses the definite article, "the" in English, four times in those ten words – he's convinced, as the disciples are, this is who Jesus is.

How did Jesus respond to that confession? Mark doesn't tell us, but go back to Matthew. Matthew 16:17 – as soon as Peter said, "You are the Christos," the Messiah, "the Son of the living God," verse 17: "Jesus said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.'" It's interesting, because we've been talking through Mark, haven't we, about seeing and not seeing – how do you come to see? God has to make you see, and Jesus says to Peter, you didn't come to this on your own; God opened your eyes to see it. And then He goes on, in verses 18 and 19, to say that He's going to build a church, and that that statement, that confession of who He is, the reality of who He is, becomes the basis on which the church will be built; the church will be built on a clear, agreed-upon confession of exactly who Jesus is. He is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and the church will form with those who believe that and who embrace that, and nothing can destroy the church, nothing can stand in the church's way – that's more of the picture that Jesus gives in Matthew 16. The gates of hell can't stand against the onslaught of My kingdom; I'm going to build the church, and it's going to be a people, Peter, who believe what you just confessed.

You know, there's something else that's really important for us to understand here, absolutely crucial – there are many cults connected to Christianity, and there are even unbelievers who have no connection to Christianity but who like to claim that Jesus Himself never claimed to be anything but a good man, and a teacher, and that He didn't permit even His disciples to think those kinds of things about Him, either. You know, when I hear that kind of thing, I think, there is someone who has never bothered to read the New Testament. Here is one of the many places in which Jesus affirms His true identity – Peter says, You are the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, and even more than that, You are the one and only unique Son of the living God, You are the Messiah, and You are deity. Now, you tell me, what would you expect any truly good and righteous man to do at that point, if his followers said, you are the Messiah, the unique son of God? You would expect any righteous, holy man to say what Paul said in Acts 14 when the pagans in Lystra identified him and Barnabas as gods and tried to worship them. "When the apostles Barnabas and Paul," Acts 14:14, "heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out and saying, 'Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and we preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.'" A truly holy man, when he's called a god, says no, God forbid, I'm just a man, rips his robe in fright of the thought. How does an angel respond when mistaken for God? Revelation 22:8-9: "I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. But he said to me, 'Do not do that, I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.'" That's how a holy human responds, that's how an angel responds – that's what any good man or even a created angelic being would do – but notice Matthew tells us exactly how Jesus responded, verse 17. "Jesus said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.'"

And then, in all three gospel records, Jesus warned them not to tell anyone else. Look back in Mark 8:30, "And He warned them to tell no one about Him." Matthew says that He warned them not to tell anyone that He was the Messiah. In other words, what Jesus said was, you know what, Peter? You're exactly right, and you didn't come to that on your own – God the Father told you that about Me, and don't tell anyone else that I am in fact exactly what you said. Why not tell anyone else? Because the people had one idea of what the Messiah would be – an earthly king, a political ruler for the nation – and Jesus begins to make it clear and plain that He had come as the Messiah on an altogether different mission. Look down in 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. And He was stating the matter plainly." He says, don't tell anybody I am the Messiah, because everybody is going to think I'm here to establish some earthly kingdom – that's not what I'm here to do. I am the Messiah, you're exactly right, but your concept of the Messiah's mission is all messed up. Jesus says, listen, when it's time for a public announcement of My claims to be Messiah, I Myself will make them – and He did just that. Look over in Mark 14:53 – "They lead Jesus to the high priest," this is His trial, they're all gathered together, all the leaders of Israel – and notice what happens here. They kept questioning him – verse 60. "The high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, 'Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?'" They had suborned perjury, they were getting false witnesses and none of it was consistent – but Jesus, verse 61, "kept silent and did not answer. Again, the high priest was questioning Him and saying to Him, 'Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?'" Are You Hamashiach, are You the One the Old Testament promised, and are You the Son of God the Blessed One? Let's just hear it from His own mouth, verse 62: "And Jesus said, 'I am.'" And then He says, "'And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.'" You see that's in all caps in your New American Standard Bible; that's because it's a quote from Daniel 7; it is a quote that speaks of God. And they understood it – verse 63. "Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, 'What further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy'" – He says He's the Messiah, the unique Son of the living God, the one and only Son of God, He is deity – that's what He's claiming; let's kill Him, because it can't be true. So, when the time came to announce it publicly, it was Jesus who did it, and He did it in front of the leaders of Israel – and they refused to believe.

Now, go back to chapter 8 – Mark includes this question that Jesus asked His disciples at this point in his gospel, because he wants every reader of his gospel to personally hear and respond to Jesus' question about who He really is. Let me ask you – I want you to engage; if you've been disengaged, engage; I want you to listen to this question, I want you to answer the most important question you will ever answer in your life, I want you to answer in your own heart – who do you really think Jesus is? I'm not asking who your parents think He is, I'm not asking you what some book you've read says about Him, I'm asking, really, in your heart of hearts, as God knows – who do you really think Jesus is? Have you come to understand that He is the one God promised – that He came to do all that the Messiah, the suffering servant of Isaiah, said He would come to do, to lay down His life as a sacrifice for sinners, and be raised again on the third day? Do you believe that He is nothing less than the unique Son of God, that He is a real person, He walked on the earth, He is a real human being, but He is at the same time fully God? And do you believe that your only hope of escaping the wrath of God that your sins deserve is by falling at the feet of this one that Peter called the Messiah, the Son of the living God, confessing your sin and asking Him to save you, to rescue you, from what your sins deserve? Do you really believe that about Jesus? He wants to know – if He were here tonight, He would ask the same question, who do you think I am?

Why is this so important – why do we need to worry about this, what are the implications? First of all, if we are Jesus' disciples – if, when I ask you that question, you affirm yes, I believe those things about Jesus with all of my heart, that's who I think He is, I've embraced Him as Lord and Savior – why is it important? What are the implications for us, as Jesus' disciples? Jesus is about to explain what is going to happen to Him – the disciples need to be clear that He really is the Messiah, because they're about to discover that their ideas of His mission are all wrong. Look again at verses 31-33. "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 was stating the matter plainly." Now, remember, Peter has just said, You are the Messiah, the unique Son of the living God – the Messiah, the unique Son of the living God says, here's My mission – I am going to go to Jerusalem and I am going to die, and then I am going to be raised again. Notice Peter's response. "And Peter," verse 32, "took Him aside and began to rebuke Him." We'll look at this text the next time we have the opportunity to. "But turning around and seeing His disciples, Jesus rebuked Peter and said, 'Get behind me Satan, for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's.'" As disciples, we have to understand that God's ways, our Lord's ways, are not always our ways – He has a mission and a plan; if He is in fact the Messiah, if He is in fact the Son of the living God, He sets the agenda, and we get in line.

What about, for those who remain undecided – who, when are asked the question, who do you think I am, are still waffling, still not certain? I know what my parents believe, I know what I was taught when I was growing up, I know what I've said all my life, and why I'm even here tonight at church – but I just don't know for sure. For those who remain undecided, this question is crucial as well, because Jesus is about to explain what can happen to anyone who follows Him – He wants you to know, if you're still on the fence, listen, don't make that decision easily, because the cost of discipleship is incredibly high. If you have come to the conclusion, Jesus says, that I am everything I claim, that I am the Messiah, you had better stop and count the cost of what it will mean to you. That's the next passage in Mark 8 – notice verse 34. "He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and He said to them," – and this is the call to the gospel, this is the call to respond to Him, to become His disciple. "'If anyone wishes to come after Me'" – you want to be My disciple? Okay – "'he must deny himself , he must take up his cross and follow Me.'"

You want to really embrace Jesus Christ? It's not about praying some prayer, it's not about signing some card, it's not about looking at some date in the front of your Bible – "'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself," he must be willing to die to himself, and all of his ambitions. He must be willing to die – for Me – "'and take up his cross and follow Me.'" He must be sick of the person that he is, he must be willing to follow Me, even into death. "'For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?'" Jesus calls out this confession, and to His disciples, He says, okay, if you really believe that's who I am, then get in line – I've got a plan. Your life is Mine, you're going to march with Me – that's what He says to all of us who are His disciples as well. To those who have not yet fully embraced Him as Lord and Savior, who have not come to that point, who are still a bit on the fence, He says to them – this is a key question for you, too – if you think you can just say, yeah, I agree with that, then you've got another thing coming. Salvation is free, but the cost is high – it will cost you everything to follow Me, Jesus says. "'Who do you say that I am?'"

Where Peter's confession happens, Caesarea Philippi, is not an accident – to whom was Mark writing his gospel? Do you remember? It was to the Romans. It was to the Romans, Gentiles – and what is he trying to prove? Verse 1 of chapter 1, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. So, the first great declaration, Jesus is the Messiah, spoken by a Jewish man, Peter, but in a Gentile area in villages just outside of a great Roman city, one hundred miles north of Jerusalem. The second great declaration comes at the end of Mark's gospel – it is that Jesus is the Son of God; it's spoken by a Roman centurion who witnessed Jesus' death, inside the heart of Israel, and just outside the city walls of Jerusalem. Mark's point is, Christ is not just for the Jews – He is for all of those who will acknowledge who He is. "'Who do you think I am?'" Let's pray together.

Father, thank You for our study together this evening, thank You for the baptisms that we enjoyed, hearing the testimonies and being challenged by those who have come to understand who Jesus is, and embrace Him as Lord. And Father, thank You as well for this wonderful encounter between Jesus and His disciples. Father, I pray for everyone here tonight that You would help them to honestly, in a soul-searching way, ask themselves what they really believe about Your Son. And Father, my prayer would be that for those who know and love Christ, who have embraced Him as Lord and Savior, that this would all be a great encouragement, that it would challenge them, that it would remind them to follow their Lord, the Messiah, the only true, unique Son of the living God. And Father, for those here tonight who perhaps, like Joseph, whose testimony we heard tonight, sat in services like this one, hard-hearted, disliking the truth – Father, may they never be able to get away from Jesus' soul-searching question to them. As they go to bed tonight, may it rattle in their minds – "Who do you think I am?" And Father, may they not go to sleep tonight until they have bowed their knee to the Anointed One, the Son of the living God.

For it's in His name we pray – Amen.