Who do people say that I am?
Mark 8:27-35
In our lives, there are so many questions. Where we live, what we study or what job we do. Who we marry. But actually these are not as important as they seem. There is one question which sets the whole course of our lives and determines everything we do. Jesus asks his disciples this question today. Let's read Mark 8:27-35.
``Who do you say that I am?'' This is a question that is going to have a huge effect on Peter's life. Peter has already given up his job and his business, left everything to follow Jesus. He left everything because Jesus was an interesting teacher, or a miracle worker. But because of this question he will eventually go to Rome and be killed for his answer.
You see, we've been following the disciples and their experience of Jesus as we have studied the gospel of Mark. The disciples have seen him perform miracles and give teaching. They have seen him overturn religious traditions. They have seen him claim to be God himself. And they've seen him do things like controlling the sea and feeding the people of Israel. They've seen him do things that only God does.
We are going to finish our study of Mark here, but for the disciples this is the half-way point. From here, Jesus is going to head towards Jerusalem and head towards the cross. For the disciples, this is like their half-term exam. There are two questions on the exam. ``Who do people say that I am?'' ``Who do you say that I am?''
Jesus does not want them to cheat on the exam. They can't just get away with giving someone else's answers. Some people think that Jesus is a teacher or a prophet. But what about you? So Jesus asks Peter - who do you say that I am? Jesus knows that Peter cannot live his life based on someone else's faith. We can try to do this as Christians. We can expect someone else to make the decisions for us or to hear God for us. At the moment all the missionaries are trying to decide what to do with one of our churches while the pastors go back home. And it would be so nice if Martin could just tell us what he thinks God wants to do and who God wants to lead the church while the pastors are away. But it doesn't work like that. Because everyone involved has to have the vision themselves for what to do. Romans 14 says that ``each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.''
Jesus knows that you cannot go through trouble and persecution on somebody else's faith. Jesus does not promise his disciples a good time. He tells them that if they're going to follow him they need to deny themselves and take up their cross. This is about pain and suffering and dying. This is not something you can do if you are not convinced yourself! Martin Luther King said that you don't know what you believe unless you know what you're willing to die for. And it's strange but sometimes God uses the suffering in our lives to show us what we really believe. When suffering comes, where do we turn? What do we put our trust in? So if you are going to follow Jesus, then you can't rely on someone else's answer. You need to answer Jesus' question for yourself: ``Who do you say that I am?''
It took me three years to answer this question. When I was twelve years old, I met a couple of friends who told me about Jesus. I didn't have a church background or a Christian upbringing. I read the stories of Jesus with them, and I had many questions to answer. Was he real? Did he really rise from the dead? But the one question I had to answer was the question that Jesus asks: ``Who do you say that I am?'' It took me three years before I could give the same answer - you are the Christ.
``You are the Christ.'' Peter didn't really know what this meant. He has his own faith in Jesus and he gets the answer right, and he passes the exam. But he didn't really understand the right answer. So Jesus explains what it means. He's not going to become King of Israel. He's not going to overthrow the Romans. He has to go to Jerusalem and suffer and die. And suddenly Peter's faith completely disappears. He's said that he trusts Jesus - but the very next minute he completely disagrees with Jesus.
I think there is a lesson here about faith. We often get the wrong idea about faith. We can say that some person has ``a lot of faith''. We talk about faith as though it's a bank account. Someone who has a lot of faith can believe more than someone with a little faith. But it isn't like that. Faith isn't something we can store up in a bank and make a withdrawal every time we need to believe something. It is something that needs to be tested again and again. There isn't a big store of faith. For some challenges we will show faith, but for the next one we might stumble like Peter did. Faith is something we need from God for each and every moment.
But faith does grow, as we experience more of Jesus and learn that he is faithful. That is why Jesus' question is so important. ``Who do you say that I am?'' Can you trust Jesus with your life? Can you believe that his way is the best way for you, even if it may be the way of denial and suffering and the cross? You'll only be able to trust him if you know who he is. And that's what Jesus asks today: ``Who do you say that I am?''