Ohh Father God, we thank you once again for your incredible
goodness to us, or we thank you for Bury and for the preparation
that he's put in as he comes to share with us this morning.
Lord, would you speak through him?
Would you use Him to honour and glorify your name and to lead us
to know you more? Father God, we pray as well for
the kids as they head out to Sunday school and for all their
teachers. Thanks for the preparation that
they've done as they look into your word.
Would you bless them and and help them this morning as they
share your word and that the kids would have a depth and an
understanding of what it is and what it means for them in Jesus
name, Amen. Good morning.
How are you? My name's Barry Stevenson.
It's in case you don't know, I've got a couple of sons here
and their families. Thank you for this opportunity
to share with you this morning. Today we are taking a look at
Mark Chapter 8 verses 22 to 38 and in this passage we see Jesus
takes two guys two goes to heal a blind man where normally his
miracles work first time. Next we see Peter declare that
Jesus is the Messiah. But soon after this Jesus says
to Peter, Get behind me, Satan. And finally, Jesus says, if we
want to be as follows followers, we must lose our lives, take up
our cross and follow Him. And these events seemed
unrelated, but actually Jesus connected these events to
teachers, disciples, something, and to correct some faulty
thinking that they'd grown up with from a child.
So we're now going to read the first part of today's passage.
Reading Mark chapter 822 to 26 and this is in the NLT version
which I like. It's simpler for my small brain.
Okay, verse 22 when they arrived and beside the some people
brought a blind man to Jesus and they begged him to touch the man
and heal him. Jesus took the man blind man by
the hand and led him out of the village.
Then, spitting on the blind man's eyes, he laid his hands on
him and asked. Can you see anything now?
The man looked around. Yes, he said.
I see people, but I can't see them very clearly.
They looked like trees walking around.
Then Jesus placed his hands on the man's eyes again, and his
eyes were opened. His sight was completely
restored and he could see everything clearly.
Jesus sent him away saying don't go back into the village on your
way home. Now Mark is the only writer to
record this miracle. Plus it's the only miracle that
took two goes. All of Jesus other miracles work
first time. For example, cripples never
limped away, but they walked away when Jesus healed them.
And when Jesus fed the 5000, no one went hungry.
So why did Jesus take 2 ghosts to heal the blind man?
Some people suggest he lack faith.
For example, in Mark chapter 10 when Jesus healed blind but
blind Bartimaeus, Jesus said go, your faith has healed you.
So clearly faith has something to do with it.
It must be important. The blind man's friends
certainly had faith because they had brought him to Jesus and
begged Jesus to touch him and heal his friend.
Yeah, well, obviously the the blind man hadn't seen Jesus and
hadn't seen any miracles. But maybe you've heard about
Jesus. So maybe, just perhaps it's
because of this, the blind man had kind of second hand faith.
Here's say faith, and maybe this is the reason that Jesus took 2
ghosts. Of course, I don't believe this
for a moment. I'm just having you on because
of March Chapter 9. We read about the Father who
brought his demon possessed boy to Jesus.
The Father admitted admitted his lack of faith, yet Jesus still
healed the boy. Jesus wasn't that callous not to
heal those who lack faith. Actually, Jesus was constantly
faced with people who didn't know what to believe about him,
and we may be the same. Not sure what to believe.
Our faith takes time and knowledge to grow.
Yeah. Jesus doesn't doesn't hold us at
arm's length just because our faith isn't up to full strength.
Some days it's nowhere near full strength.
God has quite the opposite to this idea of needing faith,
strong faith, for he cares for the weak and he desires to
nurture our faith. He wants it to grow as Matthew
Chapter 1220 says, a smouldering Wick He wills not snuff out.
In verse 26 we see the blind man didn't live in the village of
Basada. This made the village was an
unfamiliar place. We could easily bump into
people, trip over sheep. Maybe this is the reason that
Jesus led him out of town, away from those Richard sheep.
Jesus then spat on the man's eyes, touched him with his hands
and then asked if he could see anything and the man said yes,
he could see people, but they look like trees walking around
and I'm guessing that that man probably walked into a few trees
over his years. Couldn't see them of course and
that probably explains his description.
And plus The Walking trees were probably his friends who had
followed him out of town, or maybe Jesus disciples had also
followed along. When Jesus touched the blind man
a second time, his eyes were completely healed.
So clearly Jesus hadn't lost his touch.
But why did he take two guys to heal the blind man?
Well, I believe Jesus deliberately took two guys to
heal the blind man. I believe Jesus was using this
miracle as an object lesson to teach his disciples.
And the lesson is this Listen clearly.
Sometimes we don't see or understand things completely the
first time and fake really do we fully understand things the
first time we we hear ideas. Sometimes things don't seem to
be what they first seem to be. Our knowledge may in fact be
like walking trees and we don't actually see or know things
clearly. It's like when I was at school
and the teacher says do you have any questions?
But of course not. None of us put our hand up first
to show that we didn't understand that was you just
didn't do that. Or it's like being given
directions by your wife as you drive down the road.
But halfway there you have to ask, Ohh, by the way, where are
we going? We like to think we fully
understand, but chances are we don't and even sometimes we may
be completely wrong. In Philippians chapter 1-6 it
says God who began a good work in you will carry it on to
completion until the day Jesus Christ returns.
And here we see the Christian life has a start date and a
finish date. However, in between, our
knowledge and understanding is not complete.
Over time, God wants to transform us to become like
Christ. But it's not instant.
We're not instantly perfect, full of knowledge, perfect
knowledge. The moment we receive Christ as
we journey along, we may think we fully understand, but chances
are we don't. We may think we have the whole
picture, but really the painting is only half done and people
still look like walking trees. Therefore, we need to be careful
about what we think we know and understand.
We need to be careful about the ideas and opinions we hold and
be open to change for us. Not until Christ's return that
we will truly see the complete picture.
Only then will we clearly see and know what God intended.
Only then will we say ohh so that's what God was up to.
Didn't see that coming. I'd now like to read our next
few verses of this morning's message, verses 27 to 30.
Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went to the villages
near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he
asked them, Who do people say that I am?
Well, they replied, some say John the Baptist, some say
Elijah, and others say you're one of the other prophets didn't
asked them. But who do you say I am?
Peter replied. You are the Messiah, But Jesus
warned them not to tell anyone about them.
The Caesarea Philippi was a town about 40 kilometres north of the
Sea of Galilee. And as they walked along, Jesus
asked them asked as the cycles what were people asking about
and what was the word on the street.
And they replied that people thought he was one of the
prophets of old, like Elijah who had been who had returned as
promised in Malachi chapter 4. Others, like King Herod, believe
Jesus was John the Baptist raised back from life.
And what this shows us is people hadn't worked out who Jesus was,
and Jesus wasn't in a hurry to tell them either.
He stopped demons from revealing he was the Son of God and asked
those he healed not to say what happened to him.
That's why Jesus told the blind man not to go back into the
village. On his way home, Jesus didn't
want people to see him and started asking the blind man how
he could now see. And when Jesus asked as a
cyclist what they who they thought he was and people, Peter
declared you are the Messiah. Even then, Jesus warned them not
to tell anyone about them. And so it seems, Jesus wants to
keep a low profile. He hadn't come to earth to
become the most popular boy on the block and ride a misguided
wave of public support. Rather, He came to earth to
teach us the way to God, and He provided that He achieved that
by dying on the cross for our sins only at the right time,
close to the time of His death. This is death approach to Jesus.
Confirm who he truly was, that he was the Messiah, the Son of
God. I'd never like to explain this
word. Messiah.
I'm sure you probably know, but be with me.
Messiah comes from the Hebrew language and means Anointed 1.
In Greek crisis the name for anointed 1.
So Christ and Messiah mean the same thing in Old Testament
times. Profits, priests and kings were
anointed. Anointing was a ceremony where
an individual was dedicated to a special position, just like
Moses anointed Aaron as priest in Leviticus chapter 8.
Now throughout the Old Testament times, throughout history, their
bills and the nation of Israel and expectation of a unique
individual who would bring deliverance and restoration.
For example, Genesis chapter 49 speaks of the King whom all
nations will honour true to your enemy.
Chapter 18 speaks of a prophet like Moses who would speak the
words of God. Jeremiah 23 speaks of a
righteous king who rule the rule with wisdom, who will do what is
just and right, who will save Israel, whose name is the Lord,
is our righteousness. And finally, in Decorah chapter
3, the Lord says I'm going to bring my servant to branch and
I'll remove the sin of this land in a single day.
These are just a few references, but I trust you get the picture
of this expectation that built built up within the nation of
Israel of a remarkable individual and Messiah who would
fulfil all roles of prophet, priest and king.
That individual would bring God's word and would bring a
sacrifice for sin and ultimately be the King of the Jews in all
the world. Unfortunately, by the time Jesus
came, the Jewish concept of Messiah focused only on a king,
and the roles of a prophet and priest were largely forgotten.
The Jews were only looking for a political and military ruler who
would free them from Roman rule and This is why they didn't
recognise Jesus as their Messiah.
Like the blind man, the people only partially understood and
saw who their Messiah would be. They didn't understand their
Messiah was coming to freedom from their sin and not from
Roman rule. OK, and now I'd like to read the
last part of today's passage. Okay, verse 31.
Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer
many terrible things and be rejected by the elders and the
leading priests and the teachers of religious law.
He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from
the dead. Has he talked about this openly
with his disciples people? Peter took him aside and began
to reprimand him for saying such things.
Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples.
Then he reprimanded Peter. Get away from me, Satan, he
said. You are seeing things merely
from a human point of view, not from gods.
Then calling the crowd to join as disciples, he said.
If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your
own way. Take up your cross and follow
me. If you try to hang on to your
life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for
my sake and the sake of the good news, you will save it.
And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose
your sign soul? Is there anything worth more
than yours? Ohh, if anyone is ashamed of
Maine and my message and these adulterous and sinful days, the
Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in
his glory of His Father and with His holy angels.
Please note that Jesus didn't refer to himself as Messiah but
as the Son of Man, so I'd also like to explain this to him.
Son of Man Firstly Son of Man reveals Jesus human side.
Jesus is God, but he's also human.
The Son of Man. Dislike the story The Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis Dear Mr. Tumnus the Fawn
asked Lucy Pevensey whether she was the daughter of Eve.
Was she in fact human? Jesus called himself Son of Man
because it was a less political name compared to Messiah.
Son of Man is less clear cut, yet it's still an Old Testament
name that indicates someone with God's authority.
In the book of Ezekiel, God referred to the prophet Ezekiel
as Son of Man 92 times. This name came to symbolise
someone chosen by God, as Ezekiel was someone with God's
Spirit and someone delegated to speak on God's behalf.
In Daniel Chapter 7, Daniel also talks about a Son of Man
approaching God in heaven and giving, being given authority,
honour and sovereignty over all the nations of the world and
that one day everyone will obey the Son of Man and his rule will
will be eternal. So we see that when Jesus used
the name Son of Man, it carried great significance and I believe
people in the know like the High priest knew exactly who Jesus
was claiming to be. He was claiming to be the
eternal world ruler sent by God with God's message.
I believe the Jewish Council knew exactly who Jesus was, yet
they still send them to the his death because they were
unwilling to bow to his authority and accept Him as
their Lord. They had too much going for them
to lose it all. In verse 31, we see Jesus raised
a new topic with his disciples. He speaks plainly.
No parables this time. He told them he would suffer
terrible things, be rejected by members of the Jewish Council,
would be killed in three days later, he would be right.
He would rise from the dead and when Peter challenged Jesus love
for talking like this, it shows that Peter and the other
disciples were no different from the average Jew.
They too had been raised to expect a Messiah who would
overthrow Roman rule and reestablish the Jewish nation.
They had just recognised Jesus to be the promised Messiah, but
they were still thinking Jesus would soon be king and they
would be part of his government. But they were wrong.
They were totally misguided in their thinking.
The disciples were just like the blind man who didn't see
clearly. They didn't understand.
They didn't have a clear picture of God's plan.
As Jesus says in verse 33, they were looking at things from a
human point of view. They wanted a Messiah to free
them from Roman rule. Their God knew their real need,
and our real need is to be freed from sin by way of the cross.
When Jesus rebuked Peter and said get away from me Satan, he
was saying Satan was behind Peter's thinking.
Peter didn't understand why Jesus must die, and Satan
happily used his ignorance to try and divert Jesus away from
needing to die on the cross. Remember, Satan had tried this
before when he tempted Jesus in the desert.
They are. Satan offered Jesus authority
over all the kingdoms of the world without the pain of dying.
Sounds a great idea. Save New Jesus would one day be
king over all the world and willingly offer Jesus an
alternative strategy. However, Jesus knew it was God's
plan for him to die in the cross.
Jesus didn't want to suffer and die and even prayed in the
garden of Ghasemi asking God for another way.
But ultimately, Jesus was obedient to God's plan and
suffered and died on the cross to free us from our sin and free
us from Satan's control over us. These are the These verses are
the first of three in Mark's gospel where Jesus explained
that he must die. This was new stuff for his
disciples and Jesus needed to change the disciples thinking
about the type of Messiah they were following.
They needed to see clearly, like the blind man.
They weren't going to become members in a government.
Rather, Jesus was going to suffer and die.
And there was a really good chance that they would too.
And this 34 Jesus caused the crowd to join him in the
disciples. And then he says, if you, if we
want to follow him, we must turn from our selfish ways, take up
our cross and follow Him. And this reminds me of the
children's game. Follow the leader.
This game was fun, but only if you're happy.
Where the leader was leading you.
Where the leader was taking you. That seems to recall being laid
down a thorn Bush one time. So just imagine the shock on the
disciples faces as they realise that Jesus was leading them in a
totally different direction. An unexpected future, A scary
future. The future is the issue here,
Jesus presenting us with two lifestyles, two different
lifestyles or outcomes. As verse 33 says, Do we want to
live life from a human point of view or God's point of view?
The human view on life is self centred, looking after #1A life
of physical comfort, pleasures, assets and security, even to the
point of gaining the whole world. 1st 38 says this life
also is ashamed of Jesus and his teaching.
In other words, the human view of life rejects Jesus Christ as
Saviour and has no interest in his teachings.
This lifestyle is like what Jesus described as adulteress
and sinful days. Now, the human view of life can
appear attractive at times. However, Proverbs chapter 1412
says there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end
it leads to death. And The thing is this, if we
hang on to our life, we lose it. We will lose our very soul.
Our soul is our own distinct being, different from anybody
else. El Soul is who we are.
Our unique personalities, our feelings, our thoughts, our
aspirations, our souls are what make me, me and you, you.
But if we reject Jesus Christ 1st 36 says our souls are lost.
Jesus will be ashamed of us. He will reject us and have no
interest in us. When He returns, we will no
longer have the option of living in heaven for all eternity, but
we will spend eternity in hell. So what's the alternative?
Well, the attendance at the alternative is to give up our
lives for Jesus sake and the sake of His gospel.
Take up our cross and follow Him.
Now the word sake carries the idea of living for the benefit
or interest of somebody else oo instead of living for
self-interest and our own advantage, now we are to live
for the benefit and interest of Jesus.
Our prime interest is serving Jesus in whatever way we can
find and ever way we are skilled.
And sharing is good news. Like in the children's game, our
purpose in life is to stay focused on the leader who is
Jesus and keep following. And this is seen in Second
Corinthians chapter 515 and it says Christ died for us.
So we who live no longer live for ourselves, but for Christ
who died for us and was raised again.
And the interesting thing is when we give UR living for our
own benefit, we find purpose. Purpose and satisfaction in life
is found and dying to self and living to help and support other
people. In particular, purpose is found
on serving Jesus Christ and sharing the story of the cross.
I'd like to finish this talk with the elephant in the room.
When Jesus calls us to follow. He said we must take up our
cross when we follow him and there is no getting away from
the fact that the the cross represents suffering and pain.
In Roman times, crucifixion was used as a public form of
punishment. Crucifixion was terribly painful
and human and a humiliating death where victims were put on
public display as examples of Roman dominance.
Victims were made to publicly submit to Roman power and
authority, submission to the will of Rome.
Therefore, when Jesus calls us to take up our cross, he's
calling for submission. He's calling for total
commitment and dedication to Him because he died and bought us
with his blood. He owns us.
So to take up our cross and follow Christ is to fully submit
our will to Jesus Christ, even to even to the point of being
willing to suffer and die for our faith.
Do you know that even today Christians are making it
ultimate commitment to Christ and dying for what they believe
is in terrible things happening throughout Africa in particular?
At this moment? If it came to our turn, would
would we be willing to stay true to faith in Christ and face
death from those who hate Christianity?
Because that hate is growing rapidly in our world and many
Christians are bearing the brunt of it.
Now, maybe we in New Zealand may never die for our faith, but are
we prepared to suffer? Are we willing to lose contact
with friends and family who don't believe in Jesus?
Are we willing to lose job and business opportunities because
we are open to our faith? Are we willing to suffer
ridicule and abuse from those who are anti Christian?
Are we willing to be misunderstood and now have our
reputations maligned by those who disagree with us?
This is reality. When the writer two of the
Hebrews wrote to his friends in chapter 1032, he said, Remember
how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible
suffering. Sometimes you were exposed to
public ridicule and beaten. You suffered with those thrown
into prison, and when all that you own was taken from, you
accepted to it with joy. Are they crazy?
You knew there were better things waiting for you, so do
not throw away your confident trust in the Lord.
I guess the point is there are better things waiting for us who
trust in Jesus Christ as Lord. What does it matter if we lose
in this life compared to the rewards of the next?
We need to remain focused on the salvation and hope we have in
Jesus Christ. Remember, He is the Son of Man,
the man sent from heaven, the man who ruled over all the
world, and he is also the promised Messiah who sacrificed
himself to save us from our sin. We may still feel like the blind
man who couldn't see clearly. We may feel this big gaps in our
understanding, or we might be the other way.
We may think we have it all together.
But I can assure you, you don't. We need to be constantly
learning and don't be. I'm not knocking you back.
I want you to take heart because this is the human condition.
This is okay, Bob. My encouragement is you keep
working at growing in your understanding and we've grown
this morning. We know a little bit more about
Messiah and Son of God. We know a little bit about the
the disciples who didn't see clearly.
They didn't understand the Messiah they were following.
But we know more than they do. We understand more than they did
of the Messiah we are following and we need to be confident in
that even if it means a hard time ahead for us.
The great thing is that one day we are going to meet Jesus face
to face and then our faith and our our understanding will be
complete. What a wonderful day that will
be. Thank you for your time, it's
been a pleasure to see you.