Date: Sunday March 7, 2021       Scripture: Mark 8:27-33

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Well, this morning we continue in Mark chapter 8, and you can see there the title of the sermon this morning is The Ultimate Question. So I'd invite you to open your Bibles to Mark chapter 8. We're going to begin in verses verse 26. Excuse me. Verse 27. And we'll read through 33.

I remember when I was in seminary taking classes, my favorite classes were the ones that didn't have any exams. They actually have those. There were some classes that all you had to do is write papers. And writing papers wasn't that bad because all you had to do is just do a bunch of research, throw it down on a paper and turn it in, and you had all semester to do it. But taking a test -- It's a lot more difficult. To take all of these theological terms and all of this stuff that you had to study throughout the semester, you had to cram it all into your mind. And then you had to go and sit into a classroom and try and regurgitate all of it onto a piece of paper. You had to get all this information in your head and put it down and try and remember all of these things that you had studied up to this point, and that was difficult. Some of those tests were really hard. Some of you might be test takers and maybe enjoy them, I don't know. But for me it wasn't my favorite.

This morning we're in the book of Mark and we've seen the disciples who've been trained in school by Jesus as He's been teaching them. They've been walking with Him and He's been declaring to them truth over and over again, declaring truth about who He is. In our passage this morning here that we are studying, the time now comes for their exam. It's exam time. Jesus is putting them to the test. And really, if you think about it, this test that they're going to take is not that difficult. In fact, it's only two questions. Pretty simple. Well, one of those questions is the most important question that any person could ever be asked.

Here's the two questions. The first one was.

1. Who do people say that I am? Who do people say that I am?

And then after that, Jesus asked the ultimate question.

2. Who do you say that I am?

Two questions. If you were put on the spot like that and had to take a test like these disciples did on that day, what would your answer be? What would you declare if Jesus was to ask you, who do you say that I am?

Well, let's look at our passage and see what their responses is as they were put to this test on this day. Look at Mark 8:27. We will read our passage this morning, Mark 8:27-33.

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?” 28 They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.” 29 And He continued by questioning them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And He warned them to tell no one about Him.
    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. 32 And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Now this passage here this morning in front of us is a high point in Mark’s gospel. Everything has been leading up to this point here….to this confession… to this declaration about who Jesus is. As we've seen, Jesus has done many, many miracles all throughout the land. He's gone to the Gentile land. He's been in Galilee there with Jewish territory. And He's been performing all of these miracles. We've seen how Jesus has been preaching sermons - sermon after sermon, calling people to repent of their sin. We saw how He chose the twelve disciples and teach them and reveal all of this truth to these guys. And everything that Jesus has been doing has all been leading up to this point here. This is a high point in the Gospel of Mark.

This is the ultimate concern for the disciples. It's the ultimate confession that they give. It's the ultimate conviction about who Jesus is. But after this it'll all go downhill… now from the disciples perspective, that is, it will go all downhill. From our perspective, it's going to keep going up. Because where is Jesus going to go? To the cross. But from these guys perspective, it's all going to go downhill from here.  Jesus is going to go to the cross?

We see as we're going to as we work through our through Mark chapter 8 and into chapter 9 and continue through in Mark, we're going to see that His miracles become less and less. He still does miracles, but they become less and less. Because Christ at this point is going to turn His attention to the cross. That's where He's going. This is the high point and it's a turning point as Jesus now focuses upon the cross.

That's why He came, right? He came to die on the cross. Mark 10:45 tells us:

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

That's why He came. He came to give His life.  To be the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of all of those who would believe in Him. And so from this point on, as we're going to see, Christ is fixing His eyes upon the cross.

But before that happens, we see this ultimate confession -- an ultimate confession that the disciples give about who Christ is, and so we'll look at our first point this morning, which is

1.    Peter's Ultimate Confession.

Our first point is Peter's ultimate confession.

Look at verse 27.  “Jesus went out.”

Let's stop right there. Jesus went out. Out from where? Where did He go out from? Well, if you remember our study from last week, He went out from Bethsaida. And He went with His disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. You remember last week where He healed the blind man there in Bethsaida. This blind man is healed, and Jesus then leaves Bethsaida and as He leaves Bethsaida what does He do? What's going on there?  He’s bringing judgment upon Bethsaida because they've had all of these miracles that have been revealed to them, to declare who Jesus is, and yet they don't believe. And so Jesus leaves. He goes out and He heads on with His disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Now where was that? Where is Caesarea Philippi?

This was north, directly north of Bethsaida about 25 miles, and it was along the Jordan River. As the Jordan river dumped into the Sea of Galilee, you would take it 25 miles up from Bethsaida. You followed along the river there and you would come to Caesarea Philippi. Now this city Caesarea Philippi was a city that was full of pagan idols. It was a pagan city. It was known as the place where the Greek god Pan was worshipped. It was a Roman city and it was dominated by paganism. But notice where it says Jesus went with His disciples, where did He go? It says He went to the villages of Caesarea Philippi.

He didn't go into the actual city of Caesarea Philippi, but He went to the villages surrounding it. Now who are these people in the villages that were surrounding Caesarea Philippi? These were Gentiles. These were Gentile people and this is Gentile territory. And Jesus heads out there with His disciples. Why?

Why does Jesus go from Bethsaida and head up north to Caesarea Philippi? Because He wants to get away from who? From the crowds. Remember, as Jesus goes into cities and He begins to teach and He begins to do miracles, crowds begin to gather around Him, and thousands of people would come out to see Jesus, and to see His disciples that were with Him.

And Jesus says I got to get away from the crowds because I've got more things that I've got to teach My disciples. They're going to be commissioned to go out and preach the Gospel one day. And so I've gotta train them. I've gotta teach them. And so Jesus gets away from the crowds to get some alone-time with these guys, because He's got a lot more to teach them.

Notice what Mark tells us in verse 27. It says “and on the way He questioned His disciples”, that is, as they are walking to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus begins the test. He begins this test with these guys and He asked them a question. And it seems pretty easy to answer this question, right? What's the question? What does He say?

First question, who do people say that I am? Pretty simple. Now the twelve, you think about this. The twelve have been following Jesus and seeing all the things that He's been doing. And there have been crowds that have gathered around Him, and as the crowds are gathered around Him, who's there with Jesus?  His twelve disciples. And what are they doing? They're listening to all the things that the people are saying about Jesus.

As Jesus heals people, as He cast out demons, as He teaches the people. These people are murmuring certain things about who Jesus is. And so these disciples are listening. What are the people saying about Him? We have been spending all this time with Him. We know who Jesus is. We know Him on a personal level. We've seen miracles that these people haven't even seen. We know who He is, but what do the people say?

And so Jesus asked them this question. Who do people say that I am? And so when Jesus asked this question, all they're doing is repeating what the people have been saying. And what have the people been saying? Well, look at verse 28, look at what it says there.

They told Him, saying John the Baptist. Some people say You’re “John the Baptist, others say Elijah, but others, one of the prophets.”  Passed the test. Got an “A”, right Jesus? There you go, that's what You asked, we told You.

That's what the people were saying. Now, why did the people say these things? Why would the people say that Jesus is John the Baptist? What's interesting is at this point, when Jesus asked this very question to the disciples, John the Baptist is dead. He's been beheaded. You remember that. Herod had him beheaded because John the Baptist was preaching against his immorality. He was calling him to repent, so he put him in jail.  And then there's this dance that happens and all of a sudden he's got to go and get John the Baptist and have him beheaded because his wife wanted him beheaded.

So John the Baptist is dead. But Herod, Herod Antipas, who was the one who had him beheaded, thinks that maybe John the Baptist has risen from the dead. Herod had feared that John the Baptist had risen from the dead to avenge his murder. He's back… Uh-oh… and look at what he's doing. And this rumor may have been passed around among the people, and so the people were thinking, who is this guy? John the Baptist. Risen from the dead.

Others say Elijah. Why would they say Elijah? Why would they think that Jesus was Elijah? What does Elijah have to do with Jesus?  

Well, we know that He was an Old Testament prophet. In 2 Kings 2:11. It tells us this about Elijah

“As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.”

That is, Elijah was just taken. He didn't die. He was taken to heaven. Off he goes -- a prophet of God -- and now he's been taken off to heaven. And so Elijah has this unusual departure from Earth, right? He just goes. Maybe he's back. He's come back. He departed from Earth and now he's back.

But they would also have another reason to believe that this is Elijah, because of the prophecy that's told in Malachi chapter 4. Remember the last book in the Old Testament, Malachi 4:5-6. It says this,

“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. 6 He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

What is Malachi telling us? Elijah is going to come. The prophet of the prophet Elijah is going to come, and so many of the Jews were expecting Elijah to return. So they thought maybe Jesus was Elijah.  He is the fulfillment of Malachi chapter 4. But we know that this prophecy of Elijah was fulfilled in who? John the Baptist. It was fulfilled in John the Baptist.  Matthew 11:14. Jesus says John himself is Elijah, who was to come.

John the Baptist is coming. What did they do with John the Baptist? Killed him. The greatest man who's ever lived, born of a woman, a prophet sent from God to call the people to repent of their sin and what did they do? They killed him.  Elijah the prophet did come. That's what they did. So they're thinking…Well, maybe Jesus is Elijah. Others say He's one of the prophets. In Matthew’s account, if we looked at Matthews account of this same situation here that's going on, he names Jeremiah. He specifically names one of the prophets. That is, as the people are saying, he's one of the prophets, somebody pronounces well, maybe he's Jeremiah. Because what did Jeremiah come to do? To proclaim what?  Repentance. To Israel to call them to turn from their sin, to come to God. So some thought that Jesus was Jeremiah or just one of the Old Testament prophets.

And indeed, Jesus was a prophet, right? A prophet simply means someone who speaks for God. Who declares God's Word. Who declares something on behalf of God and Jesus was a spokesman for God. But He's more than just a prophet.

Notice what no one said about who Jesus is. No one identified Jesus as the Messiah. In fact, if you remember what we talked about last week, even John the Baptist had at one point questioned whether Jesus was the Messiah, right? When John the Baptist is locked up in chains, he sends some of His disciples to go and find Jesus and ask Him “Are You the Expected One?” Oh… is He it? Are You the Messiah? They're questioning whether Jesus was the Messiah. Was He simply just a prophet? Was He on the same level as all of the Old Testament prophets? Who was this guy? Who is Jesus?

Well, the people think that he's just a man. Just a man. Now they know that He's more than just an ordinary man. But they don't come to the right conclusion about who Jesus is. In fact this is true of many people today, right? If you were to ask them, “Who do people say that I am?” You're going to get all kinds of answers.

Most agnostics believe that Jesus is simply a good man. In fact, I remember working with a woman one time who was agnostic. And she said, yeah, I believe that there is a Jesus who came and He was a really good man. He's not God. He's not the son of God. Just a really good guy.

I said, well, then who is He? Well, He's an example for all of us to live up to. It's all that He is to them.

Many Jews just believe He's the founder of Christianity. Who's Jesus? He's the founder of a religion that they call Christianity. They can't deny that He existed because we see in the scriptures that Jesus did exist. But they won't declare that He is the Messiah.

For Muslims they believe that Jesus was a messenger from God. But they don't believe He's God. They don't believe He's the Son of God.

For Jehovah's Witnesses, they believe that Jesus was created by God along with Michael the Archangel. And they declare that Jesus is not God. And on and on it goes with all of these religions who get it wrong. Who is Jesus? They all get it wrong. They don't know who Jesus is. Just as most of the people in Jesus’ day got it wrong. They didn't know who Jesus was.

Except for twelve men. Twelve men who knew who Jesus was. Now they've passed the exam about who the people say that Jesus is. But now the question gets real. Now the question gets personal. It gets turned on them and the ultimate question comes, and look at what Jesus says in the middle of verse 29. Look at what He says there.

“But who do you say that I am?”

Uh-oh.  What are we going to do with this question? We can tell you who, who the people say that You are Jesus. “But who do you say that I am?” Are they going to give the answer that they've been hearing from all of the people? Or are they going to give the correct answer? Now when Jesus asked this question, He's not asking about what He did. He's not asking about the things that He did.

Jesus wanted them to identify His person. Who am I? Who do you say that I am? Don't tell me that I'm a miracle worker or a healer or a prophet. Those are the things that I do. He's getting after His personhood. Who He is.  That's what He wants them to identify.

Tell me about My person, who do you say that I am? This is the ultimate question. This is the question that every single person must answer. Every person is accountable for answering this very question right here. Who is Jesus?

We're all accountable for this question. And you can't just answer this question about things that Jesus did. You can't just say He was a really good guy. You can't just say He was a miracle worker. You can't just say that He's a prophet.

Who is Jesus? This question is confronting you about His person. Who is He? Well, Peter responds. Peter is the spokesman for the disciples, as they all agree on who this is. Peter then speaks and look at what he says in verse 29...he says:

“You are the Christ.”

Peter gives the ultimate confession. “You are the Christ”. Now Matthew’s account, he tells us that Peter says “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” You are the Son of the living God. And although Peter here is the one speaking, he's speaking for all of the other guys who are in agreement with this answer, “You are the Christ.”

Now what does Peter mean by “Christ” here? Well, the Greek word is Christos, which is Greek for Messiah. And the word Messiah comes from the Hebrew word Mashi’ahh, which means Anointed One. That Jesus is the Anointed One. It was used in the Old Testament to refer to the great deliverer and ruler who was the Promised One who is greater than the son of David.

He's the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. The one who is going to come and sit and rule and reign for all of eternity on the throne of David. That's the Anointed One. That's the Messiah, the Mashi’ahh. That's the Christ. And the Jews were anticipating His coming, but they were anticipating His coming in power.

That He would come in power and He would come and establish His Kingdom to rule and to reign. He would come as God's anointed one to be the Savior of the world…but One who would rule and reign on His throne. And Peter's confession shows that they now believe that Jesus is Him. Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Expected One. He is the Anointed One. Jesus is the Messiah.

Now, has it really taken them two years with Jesus to finally come to this realization? Not really. I mean, if you remember back in John 1:40, with Andrew calling his brother Peter to come and see Jesus…to come and follow Him. What does Andrew say?

He comes and he finds Peter and he tells Him “We have found the Messiah”. Why? Andrew is following John the Baptist, and John the Baptist looks at Jesus and points to Him and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  Andrew says He's the Messiah, I better go tell my brother!

So he runs home and he tells Peter and he says we have found the Messiah. Come on, let's go! Let's go follow Him. And so off they go -- to go and follow Jesus the Messiah. But remember, these guys are what? They're Jewish. They're Jewish boys. They’re Jewish guys who would have been taught by the Jews what to expect about the Messiah, and there were certain things that were taught by the Jews about what they were to expect.

At that time, John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and he told everyone that He is the Messiah. But as these guys have been spending time with Jesus, He's not really matching up with everything that they've been taught from the Jews, from the Pharisees, from the rabbis about who the Messiah is. To rule and to reign? He's going to come and conquer. Who is this guy?

And so there's been doubt that's been set in. And what were the people saying about Jesus? What were they claiming? Were the people claiming that Jesus was the Messiah? No, they weren't. No. They didn't confess Him as Messiah. But now, as these twelve are there and they come to this point in Jesus Ministry as they've been following for the past couple of years, they finally realize Jesus is the Messiah.

He is the Christ. And then look at what it says in verse 30.

“He warned them not to tell anyone.”

He warned them to tell no one about Him, why? Think about this, they just make this amazing declaration. You are the Messiah, You're the Christ. You're the one we've been waiting for. You're the Anointed One.

Don't tell anyone. Why? Because although they make the right proclamation about who Jesus is, they still don't quite understand how He is the Messiah. You see they get who He is now. But they don't understand how He is the Messiah. There are still things that these guys have to learn.

They don't understand what the Messiah has to do. Because remember they’re still wrestling with all of this that they've been taught about…about the Messiah growing up. All of these things that the rabbis have been teaching them, that the Jewish leaders have been teaching them, all of these things the Pharisees had been teaching, all of these things about the Messiah.  This is who the Messiah is and they're wrestling with...but that's not what we've been taught. You are the Messiah. But we still don't get it.

That's right, there's still things that they have to learn. They're thinking the Messiah is supposed to be a national ruler. He's supposed to come and to conquer and to rule, and to establish His Kingdom. But they're looking around going. Where is the Kingdom? Why does Rome still have so much dominance? You are the Messiah. But we don't get it.

Their plan of what the Messiah was going to do was not God's plan. It wasn't God's plan, which leads to point #2.

2.God's Ultimate Plan.

God's ultimate plan. Look at verse 31.

“And He” (Jesus) “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 to teach them about what? The cross. The cross. This is a new teaching for these guys. This is the first time that Jesus has revealed this to them. They hadn't heard this before. The Messiah going to a cross? This is news!

Now if they would have read Isaiah 53 they would have understood it right?  Which is what the Jews would understand today if they would just read Isaiah 53. But you know what they do, they skip right over it. They don't want to know. According to their plan, and all the things that they had been taught, the Messiah would come to rule and to reign. But Jesus just told them that the Messiah would do what? “Suffer and be rejected”.

What? In their mind they're thinking, did we just make the right confession…that He's the Messiah? This doesn't compute. All the things that we've been taught about the Messiah, and now Jesus, You're telling us You are the Messiah -- and you're going to suffer? You're gonna die?

Notice how Jesus identifies Himself in verse 31. He calls Himself what?  The Son of Man. The Son of Man. Notice Jesus doesn't call Himself the Christ. The Messiah. Why?

Well, the Son of Man was another messianic title found in Daniel 7:13. But even in Daniel, the Son of Man is seen as a ruling King, and so why does Jesus use this term, this title, Son of Man? 

One commentator says Jesus preferred Son of Man, probably because it was free of political connotations and enabling Him to associate with it the thought of the suffering servant.

Not the Christ. Not going to declare that that title “the Christ”, because you have a wrong understanding of the Christ. I am the Son of Man, the Messiah.  It’s a title, a messianic title. I am Him.  

If He uses Christ, there are certain connotations that are attached to that title, but by using the Son of Man, He's able to still refer to Himself with the messianic title and yet now associated with a suffering servant, a suffering Messiah. Because that's what He came to do.

And Jesus gives them this new teaching. And Jesus teaches them that He has to do what? Look what it says there… to suffer…to be rejected, to be killed, and then rise again after three days.

This wasn't some mysterious teaching.  It wasn't a parable that Jesus has given the guys they couldn't understand. How do we know? Look at verse 32:

“and He was stating the matter…”  what? “plainly.”

This is plain teaching for these guys to see, to know. It was simple enough for these guys to understand. And He wanted them to understand it because He didn't want them to be blindsided by the cross.

In fact, this is not the only time that Jesus will tell them that He's going to go to the cross. He's going to continue to tell them time after time, that He is going to the cross to go and suffer. He'll tell them  repeatedly that that is His mission. His mission is to come to die.

One commentator says if Christ had allowed His death to come upon Him without a word of warning to His disciples, it would have shattered their faith completely.

It would have shattered their faith completely. And so Jesus telling them this here, this is a loving thing for Jesus to do, to warn them and tell them…Yes, you're right. I am the Messiah…and guess what I've got to do? Go to a cross. I’ve gotta suffer… I'm going to be killed.

And Jesus says this when Jesus says that He's going to be killed…that must have been the point that the disciples, especially Peter, just shut their ears, just turned it off.  We just proclaimed that You're the Messiah, and You're going to be killed? A dead Messiah?  What?  What are you talking about Jesus?

Now why do I say that they shut their ears off at that time?  Because look at what Peter does in verse 32.

“…And Peter took Him” (Jesus) “aside and began to…” (what?) “rebuke Him.”

Peter couldn't take it. And with boldness… oh Peter…really, you want to do that? Peter takes Jesus aside though. Imagine that…taking Jesus…the Messiah…you just declared Him to be the Messiah, the son of the living God…and now you're going to take Him aside and rebuke Him?

That's pretty bold Peter. The other guys were probably thinking the same thing as Peter, but Peter was bold enough to go and do it. It didn't compute in Peter's mind that the Messiah would suffer and die. He could accept that Jesus is the Messiah, but not the role of the Messiah as One who would suffer and die on a cross. But listen…that was God's plan all along. Right?

That was God's plan. It's been God's plan that the Messiah would come and that He would suffer and that He would die. Isaiah 53:5-6 says this,

But He was pierced through for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,

And by His scourging we are healed.

6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,

Each of us has turned to his own way;

But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all

To fall on Him.

It's been God’s plan all along. That He's going to send His Son, the Messiah, to come and to suffer and to die for sinners like you and me. This isn't something new. It's a new teaching for these guys. But it's not a new plan. It's always been the plan of God. It's been God's ultimate plan for the Messiah to come and to suffer and die for our sins. But Peter…Peter didn't like that. So Jesus has to have a word with Peter.

Which leads to our third and final point. Point number 3

3.    Christ's Ultimate Rebuke.

Christ Ultimate Rebuke. We see God's ultimate plan in sending the Messiah to come and suffer and die, and now we see Christ's ultimate rebuke. Look at verse 33:

But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Jesus responds to Peter with a very harsh rebuke. This is harsh. These are harsh words. And Jesus says it to Peter with all of the other disciples in view there, so that they could hear the same thing.

Why? Because they needed to hear it too. Peter was bold enough to come and rebuke Jesus while the other guy stood back. And as Peter rebukes Jesus, the other guys are probably back there, thinking... Yeah, that's right, Peter. The Christ…suffer and die? So Jesus rebukes Peter with all of the other disciples in earshot so that they could hear -- because they needed to be warned as well.

And what is the warning? Don't stand in front of God's plan. Don't stand in front of God's plan. Peter thinks that he knows the best plan. But his plan is all about what? Man's interests. Not God’s. And any plan that is not God's plan is a stumbling block. In fact, in Matthew's account (Matthew 16:23), Jesus says to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me.”

Why? Because you are focusing upon man's interests. You're focusing on your own interests. Instead of what God's plan is.  

Now notice this phrase here “Get behind me, Satan.” It's similar to what Jesus said to who? To Satan himself. In the wilderness, remember when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness? In Matthew 4:10 Jesus said, “Go, Satan!”  Here, He tells Peter “Get behind me, Satan!”  He tells Satan to go away, and He tells Peter to get behind Him. Why? Because Peter's rebuke of Jesus was him acting in accord with the devil. He's not saying you are Satan, that's not what he's saying to Peter there. He's saying you are acting in accord with Satan. With the devil. Get behind me. Get in line Peter. You're focused on your own interests, no…You need to be focused upon the interests of God.

You need to be focused on God's plan.

Peter and His disciples needed to learn that day why Jesus came to Earth? Why did He come? To do what? To die. That's the Messiah.  That was His mission. He's coming to die for sinners like you and me because we need a sacrifice for our sins. And the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away our sins. It doesn't offer us forgiveness of our sins and therefore Christ had to come and pay the ransom for our sins. He had to give His life for us because we are sinners.

As we learned about this morning in equipping hour, right? We are all sinners.  And we needed a sacrifice. And Jesus came as the perfect and ultimate sacrifice to pay for our sins. And it's at this point, in Mark chapter 8, at this point in Jesus’ ministry that He is now fixed upon what? The cross. To accomplish what? God's plan.

That's what He came to do. The cross is His destination. That's where He's headed, because that's why He came, came to suffer and to die. And anyone who tried to stand in front of Jesus would be rebuked. Why? Because this has always been God's plan. That the Messiah would come. That He would suffer and die on a cross and anyone who stands against God's plan is only trying to appease men and becomes an instrument of who? Satan.

In closing, every one of us must take this test. Every one of us must answer this ultimate question. Who do you say that I am? Is He your Savior? Is He your Lord? Is your master? Is He the Messiah? The promised one who would come to take away our sins. If you answer yes to all of these questions, let me ask you a question. Do you live as if this is true? Is He your master? And we ought to live our life and submit to Him in every aspect of our life…with Him being our Lord and Master.

And that's exactly what James Coats is doing in Canada right now, as he sits in prison, he says Jesus is my Lord and my master… not the government. I won't submit to them when they tell me to disobey God. No, because God is my King. Jesus is my King and I will submit to Him, and I will do exactly what He commands me to do, not what men tell me to do, but what God commands me to do. Because these people are instruments of Satan and they're trying to get in the way of God's plan and he says, no, God has called me to preach and proclaim the gospel. That's what I will do.

And they'll try and throw him in prison. But the gospel will still go forth. Because he's fixed upon God's plan. Not man's. Do you live as Christ...as if Christ is your master? Submit to Him.

And let me say this to you, if any of you are here and you answered “no” to this question, to these questions “Is He your Savior, is He your Lord, is He your Master?”.  If you answer “no” to those questions, then I call you to repent of your sin and put your faith in Jesus Christ. Who came as the Messiah to suffer and die…for the sins of all those who would believe in Him.  Turn from your sin and come to Christ today and put your faith in Him… and come to know Him for who He is -- the Messiah --the Savior of the world. And you will be given the gift of eternal life. To live with Him forever for all of eternity, as Lord and Master. That's the call to you. Come to Christ today.

Well, what happened to Peter? Peter rebukes Jesus. And then Peter gets rebuked. Did Peter learn?

Turn over with me to Acts chapter 2. In Acts chapter 2, this is Peter's first sermon…on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit comes upon the church and the church is established. In Acts chapter 2 Peter stands up and look at what he says in verse 22. Acts 2:22. He says

“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know-- 23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24 But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”

Did Peter get it? He did. Peter learned. He got it. Ahhh! That's who the Messiah is. The Christ who would come and suffer because it was a predetermined plan of God by the foreknowledge of God… It's been God’s plan all along that the Messiah, the Christ, would come and suffer and die, but He wouldn't stay dead. What would He do? Rise again on the third day.

That's our King. And that's the One in whom we worship, and Peter submitted himself to the Lordship of Christ. And God used him mightily. And God will use you as well. As you submit to God's plan.

Let's pray. Father, what an amazing passage this is. To think of the confession, the ultimate confession of these disciples. Peter is the mouthpiece who would declare that Jesus is the Messiah. That is the ultimate confession. Father, we declare that with him, that Jesus is the Messiah. He is the One who has come and paid the penalty for our sins. He was dead, and He was buried, but he rose again on the third day. And we thank You for the gift of eternal life that You give to us. Through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. And through faith in Him. God, what an amazing plan You have had from eternity past that You would save sinners like us. Thank you for this great gift of salvation, and I pray that You would help us to live in light of this great plan…to submit ourselves to You fully and completely. That we would do all that You command us to do. Not for our glory, but for Your glory alone. We pray all of this in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ the Messiah, Amen.