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Scripture Reading: Mark 8:27-38; 9:1-13
In this message we come to 8:27—9:13. This portion of the Gospel of Mark may be considered the highlight of the Lord’s contact with His disciples.
In order for the disciples to be brought to the point described in 8:27—9:13, it was necessary for them to pass through a number of steps. We may take Peter as an example. In chapter one of the Gospel of Mark, Peter was called by the Lord and began to follow Him. From chapter one to chapter eight, Peter and the other faithful followers passed through a number of different steps. They went on step by step, higher and higher, until they were brought to a place called Caesarea Philippi.
Mark 8:27 says, “And Jesus went out and His disciples into the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, Who do men say that I am?” Caesarea Philippi was in the northern part of the Holy Land, close to the border, at the foot of Mount Hermon, the mountain on which the Lord was transfigured. Caesarea Philippi was far from the holy city with the holy temple, where the atmosphere of the old Jewish religion filled every man’s thought, leaving no room for Christ, the Slave-Savior. The Lord brought His disciples purposely to such a place where there was a clear atmosphere so that their thought could be released from the effects of the religious surroundings in the holy city and the holy temple and that He might reveal to them something new concerning Himself. It was here that the vision concerning Him as the Christ was given to Peter.
I wish to emphasize the fact that the Lord Jesus brought His disciples to Caesarea Philippi so that they would be in a clear atmosphere, an atmosphere without clouds or fog. He knew that in such an atmosphere their understanding and spiritual sight would be clear.
The Lord brought His followers from the river Jordan and the Sea of Galilee to Caesarea Philippi. It took Him at least two years to bring His followers through all the steps that enabled them to come to this point. These steps are recorded in the preceding chapters of the Gospel of Mark. Especially three of the Lord’s disciples — Peter, John, and James — were fully qualified to see something which no other human beings had been able to see. They were able to see a wonderful Person, a Person who is the secret of the universe and a mystery to all mankind. This One is also the secret of God’s eternal economy. Although He was a man, even a man in the form of a slave, He was an excellent, wonderful, mysterious Person.
In order to see the vision concerning this Person, the disciples had to pass through the steps recorded in the preceding chapters. They had to be healed in a general way and then in a particular way. Every function of their being — hearing, sight, and speech — needed to be healed. As the result of experiencing both the general and specific healings, they were qualified and enabled to receive the vision concerning who the Lord is.
In verse 27 the Lord asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I am?” As a man, Christ was a mystery not only to that generation, but also to people today. To the Lord’s question the disciples replied, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but others, one of the prophets” (v. 28). This indicates that, at most, without revelation, people can realize only that Jesus is the greatest among the prophets. Without heavenly revelation, no one can know that He is truly the Christ.
Verse 29 says, “And He questioned them, But you, who do you say that I am? Peter answering says to Him, You are the Christ!” Here we see that Peter took the lead to declare that Jesus is the Christ. Peter did not speak of the Lord simply in a general way as Christ, as an anointed One. Rather, he said, “You are the Christ.” This term may not be as striking to us today as it was during the time of the disciples. Peter was declaring that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed One, the Messiah.
When Peter made the declaration that Jesus is the Christ, he may not have been very clear concerning this point. Nevertheless, he saw that this One was not common, that He was not an ordinary person. He realized something that is very particular concerning the Lord, that He is the Christ, God’s anointed One, the Messiah. As we have pointed out, in order for Peter to see this vision, it was necessary for him and the other disciples to pass through all the steps in the preceding chapters to be brought to the stage of seeing the vision concerning Christ’s Person.
After Peter made the declaration that Jesus is the Christ, “He warned them that they should tell no one concerning Him” (v. 30). Then “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” (v. 31). Here we see that after the revelation of the mystery concerning Christ, we have the revelation of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. In order for Him to fulfill God’s purpose, Christ had to go to the religious center, pass through crucifixion, and enter into resurrection.
In verse 31 the Lord opened up some of the mysteries of God’s economy concerning Himself as the Christ, the anointed One of God. In this verse the Lord refers to Himself as the Son of Man. After Peter saw the vision concerning Jesus the Nazarene being the Christ, the Lord went on to unveil the fact that He, God’s anointed One, is the Son of Man. It is a great matter to see that the Messiah is the Son of Man.
In verse 31 the Lord went on to reveal that the Messiah, who is the Son of Man, must suffer and be rejected. Instead of being honored, respected, and exalted, He would be dishonored, despised, and rejected. The Lord said that He would suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and even be killed.
The unveiling of Christ’s rejection, suffering, and death must have come as a great surprise to Peter. He may have been shocked by such an unveiling. To be sure, Peter never imagined that the Messiah would be persecuted and even executed. From his youth among the Jews, Peter had heard many things concerning the Messiah. He surely expected the coming Messiah to be honored and exalted, regarded in the highest way. He had never before heard that the Messiah would suffer and be put to death.
At the end of verse 31, the Lord Jesus clearly indicated that He, the Christ, would rise after three days. Thus, in a brief way He spoke concerning His resurrection. It is doubtful, however, that this word concerning the Lord’s rising from among the dead made an impression on Peter. He had no understanding at all about what it meant for the Lord to rise after three days. Peter either did not hear this word or he had no realization concerning it.
We are told in 8:32 that the Lord “spoke the word openly.” This verse also says, “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.” Peter actually began to rebuke the Lord Jesus! To rebuke someone implies that he is wrong and needs to be adjusted. If someone is not wrong, there is no need to rebuke him and thereby correct him. The fact that Peter was rebuking the Lord indicates that Peter thought the Lord was wrong in saying that the Messiah would be despised, suffer persecution, and be killed. Here Peter seems to be saying, “Lord, what are You talking about? You are the Messiah. Certainly You are wrong in telling us that the Messiah will be despised, rejected, and killed. I must correct You concerning this matter.”
According to verse 32, Peter even took the Lord aside in order to rebuke Him. Apparently Peter was endeavoring to train the Lord, to teach Him, to open His eyes to see what Peter saw. Only the Gospel of Mark, neither Matthew nor Luke, gives us this detail concerning Peter’s taking the Lord aside. Mark received the report concerning this from Peter himself. Peter, then, must have told Mark that he took the Lord aside and began to rebuke Him.
Did the Lord go along with Peter when he took Him aside to rebuke Him? It seems that He did. But after Peter began to rebuke Him, He rebuked Peter. Peter tried to correct the Lord, and then the Lord corrected him.
In verse 33 we see the way the Lord rebuked Peter: “But He, turning around and seeing His disciples, rebuked Peter and said, Go away, behind Me, Satan, because you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men!” In the four Gospels this may be the strongest negative word uttered by the Lord Jesus. He perceived that it was not Peter but Satan who was frustrating Him from taking the cross. This reveals that our natural man, which is not willing to take the cross, is one with Satan. When we are setting our mind not on the things of God, but on the things of men, we become Satan, a stumbling block to the Lord in the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
In verse 33 the Lord said specifically that Peter was not setting his mind on the things of God, but on the things of men. This is a matter of the evil reasonings mentioned in 7:21. Man’s corrupted heart is filled with evil reasonings. Here the Lord Jesus seems to be telling Peter, “Peter, there are evil reasonings in your heart. In particular, you have evil reasonings within you concerning My word about My being put to death. First you reason, and then you rebuke Me. This reasoning indicates that your mind has been set on the things of fallen man, not on the things of God.”
The Lord’s word here reminds us of Paul’s word concerning the mind in Romans 8:6: “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” No doubt, at this juncture Peter set his mind on the flesh. When he was reasoning concerning Christ’s sufferings and death, he was setting his mind on the flesh.
Verse 34 says, “And calling the crowd to Him with His disciples, He said to them, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” To come after the Lord is to have Him, to experience Him, to enjoy Him, and to partake of Him. If we want to gain the Lord in this way, experiencing Him, enjoying Him, and partaking of Him, we must deny ourselves. If we remain instead of denying ourselves, the Lord is gone. If we would have the Lord, then we must go, we must deny ourselves.
In a previous message on the Lord’s exposing the condition of our heart, I pointed out that at the end of chapter seven we do not have the solution to man’s inward condition. Here in chapter eight we have the solution. The solution is that, as a fallen person with an evil heart, we must have Christ. We must follow Him, partake of Him, enjoy Him, and experience Him. Then He Himself will be the “medicine” to heal our evil heart. Therefore, the solution to the condition of our evil heart is Christ Himself.
In chapter eight of Mark we have a revelation not only concerning the wonderful Person of Christ, but also concerning His marvelous death. In His death we are crucified, terminated, annulled. Hence, when we come to partake of Him, we need to deny ourselves; that is, we need to put ourselves aside and forget ourselves.
Actually, the Lord’s word here concerning His death requires all the Epistles written by the Apostle Paul for its definition. If we do not have an adequate understanding of the Epistles of Paul, we shall not be able to understand thoroughly the Lord’s word in 8:34-37. According to the revelation regarding Christ’s death in Paul’s Epistles, Christ went through the process of death for God and for us. His all-inclusive death dealt with sins, our sinful nature, the self, our flesh, the old creation, the Devil, the world, and all the ordinances. Through the all-inclusive death of Christ, we have been terminated. Now if we would enjoy Christ and partake of Him, we need to realize that we have already been terminated. Based upon the fact that we have been crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20), we should deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow the Lord.
