March 25, 2002
BaptistWay Bible Study for Texas lesson for April 21
No need to look further when Jesus is clearly seen
_____By Joe Parker
_Mark 8:11-38
___11 The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. 12 He sighed deeply and said, "Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it." 13 Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.
___14 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15 "Be careful," Jesus warned them. "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod."
___16 They discussed this with one another and said, "It is because we have no bread."
___17 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don't you remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the 5,000, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?"
___"Twelve," they replied.
___20 "And when I broke the seven loaves for the 4,000, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?"
___They answered, "Seven."
___21 He said to them, "Do you still not understand?"
___22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?"
___24 He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around."
___25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying, "Don't go into the village."
___27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?"
___28 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets."
___29 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
___Peter answered, "You are the Christ."
___30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
___31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
___33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
___34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
___In a recent survey of Swiss young people, someone stated: "I have pieced together my own religion ... because, if you pick out a bit of truth everywhere, then you have the absolute truth, namely your own truth."
___Ingolf Dalferth says society, through migration, missions and the mass media, has created a situation where we now have "cafeteria religion"--people put together their own menus from a religious smorgasbord and individually determine who God is.
___As it concerns the issue of who God is, Texas attitudes are not so different from those in Switzerland. In their book "The Truth Is Stranger than It Use to Be," Richard Middleton and Brian Walsh note the crisis of our times is that our society is "marked by a plurality of voices vying for the right to reality."
___Texas Baptists are therefore challenged to state who Jesus is in the midst of a religious smorgasbord. Defining who Jesus is defines who we are.
___As we reach Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ in our text, we also reach the theological midpoint of Mark's writing. Jesus now begins to teach his disciples what kind of Messiah he will be.
___Don't cheapen Jesus with a request for a sign
___Each generation has its sign seekers mocking trust in God and demanding some additional sign as evidence for why one should have faith in God.
___In the background of our text, we see that just before Jesus enters Bethsaida, Peter's hometown, the Pharisees have demanded of Jesus a miraculous sign from heaven. They continued to attempt to show his miracles had been by chance, coincidence or evil. But Jesus refused their demand because he knew whatever he did would not persuade them.
___After leaving the site, Jesus warned his disciples to "watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod." When the disciples thought he was asking about bread they had not brought for the journey, he asked them why they did not understand, since he had fed 9,000 people with a few loaves of bread and fish. Jesus recognized his disciples were not seeing clearly who he was.
___As we share the message of Jesus, we must not be tempted into requesting signs as proof of who he is. Today, Jesus invites his followers to see him clearly and not through a glass dimly.
___Understand Jesus clearly
___Leading up to the events in our text, a blind man was brought to Jesus to be healed. After Jesus' touch, the man could see, but not clearly. A second touch from Jesus caused him to see clearly.
___As with this blind man and his disciples who had dim spiritual sight, Jesus' followers today must clearly understand and see who he is. Although Jesus could have healed the man with one touch, his second touch teaches us about the need for on-going spiritual care, follow-up and perhaps multiple touches, to move his disciples from following him to understanding him clearly.
___We cannot assume that those who accept Jesus and those who are already in our churches see Jesus clearly, even after completing our new member orientation classes. Perhaps Jesus' approach affirms the need for continuing discipleship training, so people who have accepted Jesus as Savior can move to truly knowing him as Lord.
___Indeed, Jesus also asks each of us, "Do you still not understand?" As with the disciples, sometimes our words and actions reveal we really do not understand.
___Jesus took an informal survey of his disciples as to whom they and the people said he was. Peter's reaction demonstrated he did not clearly understand who Jesus was. When he correctly identified Jesus' title as the Christ or Messiah but incorrectly rejected Jesus as a suffering Christ, it was clear he did not fully understand. As Jesus attempted to explain that being the Christ meant he would suffer, be rejected, die and rise again, Peter rejected Jesus' interpretation by boldly yet privately rebuking him.
___Peter forgot his place as Jesus' student, and his understanding of Jesus' title was based on his selection from the religious smorgasbord of the day. The messiah, as understood by Peter, was not to suffer and die. He shared the view of his fellow Jews that the Christ would be a liberator who would free Israel from Roman domination and oppression.
___While Jesus Christ is a liberator, his liberation is from sin. Consequently, Jesus rebuked Peter because he was denying the suffering and sacrifice involved.
___Do we reject our identity as Jesus' followers by refusing the call to suffer and sacrifice? Have we effectively rebuked Jesus by our response to suffering that comes because of our faith and Christian witness? Have we incorrectly told ourselves and other disciples that we bear our cross by the problems or challenges we experience in life? Have we told them our cross is born only as a result of our identification with Jesus? Have we been unwilling to tell people that Christian discipleship is costly?
___We should not dilute the costs of discipleship. We should not apologize for our beliefs. Indeed, I believe the unchurched and people selecting from the religious smorgasbord are looking for people who unashamedly and unapologetically believe their faith. Our faith should not make us ashamed or apologetic for any of its requirements or teachings.
___Jesus wants his disciples to identify him as "the Christ," but they must understand the title's meaning better than did Peter when he stated Jesus' identity. We must not only get Jesus' identity right, but we must also understand what his identity means. Not only must we understand our identity as Jesus' followers, but we must also understand the accompanying obligations and responsibilities.___
___Follow Jesus courageously
___Like Jesus' disciples, we show our understanding of Jesus as well as our own identities by how we follow him. We must be willing to follow Jesus courageously, and we must refuse to love anything more than Jesus.
___Jesus wanted his disciples to know the cross was central to what it meant to be the Christ. He also wanted his disciples and the crowd that followed him to know the cross was central to what it meant to be his followers. In order to help them understand, he commanded his followers to deny themselves and take up their crosses.
___He was not speaking necessarily of wooden crosses similar to the one on which he would be crucified. Nor was he speaking of physical aches and pains. Rather, he was referring to the cross of suffering, which represents the oppression, ridicule and shame Jesus' followers would encounter because of their faith and witness. When we refer to personal burdens as crosses, we trivialize Jesus' requirement.
___Jesus says we, as his followers, must make following him a priority higher than our own ambitions and desires. This is not a seasonal restriction we place on our lives, but a lifestyle where we choose Jesus as the highest priority each day. This choice will lead to suffering caused by others and suffering caused by our own desires that conflict with Jesus' desires for us.
___When we follow Jesus faithfully, we encounter voluntary suffering, hardship, opposition, shame and humiliation. Yet we must not deceive ourselves by believing sacrifice and suffering are not part of being a disciple of Jesus. Suffering can, nevertheless, help us grow spiritually when we follow Jesus courageously.
___Give yourself to Jesus completely
___Jesus told his disciples and the crowd that followed him that they were expected to be loyal to him even if the punishment were death. Though we may not be called on to die for our faith, we will be called on to live our faith. True discipleship costs, and Jesus' disciples must not reject him through words or actions that suggest their souls are placed on the auction block to the highest bidder. He expects his followers to give themselves to him completely.
___Indeed, he says saving our souls is greater than gaining the world. If you give your life completely to Jesus, you will save your life for eternity, even if you lose your life now. You must be willing to follow Jesus completely, despite the cost. Know Jesus will be present along the way helping us balance our crosses.
___We must recognize that we live in a world where faith is more than a political matter. For some, it is an arbitrary choice. We must, nevertheless, offer Jesus Christ to people while informing them that Jesus calls them to be fully committed to him, regardless of the cost.
Questions for thought and discussion
___In sharing our faith, how should we respond to people who put together their own religious menus from a religious smorgasbord?
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