Flashback Episode — The Question We All Must Answer: Mark 8:27-30

If you have ever had a rumor circulate about you, you know how difficult it can be to break that rumor in light of the truth. And if you are in the spotlight, or in a place where you have people looking up to you, then this is even more true.

While the rumor mill is alive and well today, when we look back at the first century, during the time Jesus walked the earth, Jesus was one of the most famous, or infamous, people around. Almost everywhere Jesus went, He drew a crowd, whether it was a synagogue or a deserted place in the middle of nowhere. If someone knew where Jesus was, a crowd would eventually find Him and form around Him. Part of me wonders if there wasn’t always a crowd of people actively looking for Jesus, and that Jesus subtly tried to avoid the crowd whenever He needed time to rest.

However, oftentimes when big groups of people get together, they start talking, perhaps even exaggerating, the stories or things that they say, and when this happens, rumors start that either exaggerate the truth, or spread speculation that is outright false. This is just as true today as it was in the first century.

With the frame of mind that rumors were alive and circulating about Jesus during the first century, let’s read our passage to uncover a question Jesus asks His disciples about the rumors. In my mind, as we read this passage, it is unclear if Jesus really had two questions He wanted to ask, or if the first question really was designed to lead into the second question that Jesus was more interested in knowing.

Our event for this episode is found in three of the four gospels, but Matthew’s gospel includes some details that Mark and Luke don’t include. However, too often, we get caught up in the details Matthew includes that are unique that we miss the profoundness of Jesus’ questions and the responses that the disciples gave.

Because of this, for this episode and our time together, let’s look at Mark’s gospel. In Mark’s gospel, this event is found in chapter 8, and we will read from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 27, Mark tells us that:

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 Messiah.”

³⁰ Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

In this event, Jesus opens with a question asking the disciples what the rumors surrounding Him are.

Something I find interesting in the response the disciples give is that the people living in Jesus’ time did not believe Jesus to be the Messiah that God had promised, but simply another prophet, or significant historical figure. Some might point to this detail as evidence that the people in Jesus’ time believed in reincarnation, but what is described here is a lot closer to resurrection of a historical figure than someone who is inherently immortal, continually returning in different forms.

It seems that the people believed Jesus to have been sent from God with a message for them, just like God sent John the Baptist and the prophets who came before Him. Jesus shared many similarities with the prophets God had send before, including the somewhat ironic detail that most, if not all, of the prophets were disliked by the spiritual and political leaders during their prophetic ministries. Part of me wonders if the regular Israelite living in the Old Testament had any positive or negative opinions of God’s prophets. From what I remember reading from the prophet and history portions of the Bible, I don’t recall anything being said about the common Israelite’s impression of any of the prophets.

However, the first question Jesus asks seems like more of a setup question in my mind. As I look at this conversation, I suspect that Jesus used this first question to change the subject of the conversation before asking the real question He wanted to know. While the disciples know what other people think and talked about, I believe Jesus really wants to know what they think about Him.

If other people were claiming Jesus was the Messiah, that would be one thing, but I suspect that Jesus wanted to avoid His followers making grander claims about Jesus than what the larger crowds of people were able to handle. I also suspect that since Jesus came to be a different type of Messiah than the culture at that time believed, Jesus knew that claiming the role of Messiah would not be in His best interest.

In my imagination, I wonder if there was a long awkward silence that hung in the air when Jesus shifted the focus from the larger population’s opinion of Him and onto the disciples’ opinion. As I imagine this event, I wonder if Peter responded immediately without even hesitating, or did one or two of the other disciples elbow him into making a response because the silence seemed like an eternity.

Regardless of the length of the silence following Jesus’ question, and regardless of what ultimately prompted Peter to respond in the way that He did, Peter’s answer to Jesus’ question is powerful and significant. Peter replied in verse 29, “You are the Messiah.” It is a simple, direct response, and probably the one Jesus was looking for.

Remember how I shared that Matthew includes some details that Mark and Luke don’t include. These details are shared in Jesus’ response to Peter’s declaration, and the first thing Jesus says I’ll pull into our discussion. In Matthew’s version of this event, which is found in chapter 16 of his gospel, immediately following Peter’s response, we read in verse 17, “Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.’”

The one big detail that made Peter’s response different from all the rumors circulating about Jesus is that God the Father prompted this belief in Peter’s heart that Jesus is the Messiah. From all the rumors circulating, none that the disciples shared framed Jesus as the Messiah, which meant that Peter would have gotten His belief from a different source than the crowd. Jesus frames Peter’s other Source as God the Father prompting this truth on Peter’s heart.

In Jesus’ response, and in the warning to not tell others about Him, I see Jesus saying to all of His followers living throughout history that it is God the Father and His Spirit who impress upon people the truth about who Jesus is. We can share the good news, we can tell others about Jesus and how our faith has helped our own lives, but only God can really move someone to internalize the truth about who Jesus is in their own hearts. Only God can make Jesus real to someone.

Jesus warned the disciples to not go spreading this around. This could have been a message for them prior to His death, since up to Jesus’ death, the popular view of who the Messiah would be was significantly different from the Messiah Jesus came to be. Or this could have been a message for them from that point forward, and to share about what Jesus had done for them and let God’s Spirit move those they shared with into the realization about who the resurrected Jesus is.

In my mind, this second idea could be relevant for us today. We can be witnesses who share our experiences and our testimony about what Jesus and God have done in our lives, but only God and His Spirit can move someone to internalize the truth about Jesus in their hearts.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life. If you are unsure about who Jesus is or should be to you, prayerfully ask God to help you understand how He wants you to see Jesus.

With this prayer on your mind and in your heart, open up your Bible and study it for yourself looking for an answer for this question. The Bible is the best place for us to find information about Jesus, if for no other reason than the New Testament has more recorded copies and manuscripts than any and every other historical document from that era. God wants us to know about Jesus, and He preserved not just the New Testament for us to learn from, but the whole Bible as well.

Also, purposefully and prayerfully study the Bible for yourself so you can learn more about what Jesus is like, which also gives God an opening to make Jesus real to you.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!