Resurrection Sunday is a day of celebration. Today, in the 21st century, we sing upbeat songs, we put out lilies, and we exchange greetings like “He is risen. He is risen indeed!” It is a day of great joy. Such was not the atmosphere on the very first Resurrection Sunday. For most people it was a day like any other—in fact, a day to get back to work. For most Jews it was the day after a big event: the Passover. But for a small group of Jewish men and women, it was a day of sadness, grief, turmoil, churning stomachs, fear—and confusion. Rather than starting out a normal Sunday, the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth were holed up, scared to death that they would be targeted for execution next—as the previous Friday they had lost the One they had placed their hope upon. But it needn’t have been this way, had they paid closer attention to an event that took place a little earlier on. We find it in Mark chapter 8.
Mark 8:22 – 26
Bethsaida Julius was a large village of around 15,000 situated on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was also Peter’s home town. This is like the miracle earlier in the chapter with the deaf/mute in that Jesus took them both aside, used saliva, and did not publicize it. This miracle is recorded only here.
It’s a great bridge from the spiritually blind disciples to the physically blind man. Like the deaf man, Jesus touched him—first leading him physically out of the village, then touching his eyes and laying His hands on Him. Imagine what it would be like to have the hands of Jesus rest upon you!
This is the only miracle where there are stages in the healing. If this man were blind from birth he would not know what trees or people “looked” like, only what they “felt” like. So it’s possible that Jesus had restored the “physical” apparatus needed for sight, but now needed to heal the mental capacity for his brain to interpret the signals from his retinas.
Jesus told the man go to home perhaps because He did not want a bunch of people needing healing to come to Him right then—He had some other very important things to do. Though Jesus had compassion on the physical needs of people, He never lost sight of His ultimate mission—to heal souls through the cross. He was about to reveal this mission openly.
27 – 30
Caesarea Philippi is a beautiful area of Israel, located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, about 25 miles north of Bethsaida. It was primarily a Roman area. Jesus avoided the city itself and instead went to the surrounding villages. His question for the disciples was to provoke them to think deeper about what they had seen and heard. There were many public opinions about who Jesus was—John the Baptist raised, Elijah who was taken up in a fiery chariot, or one of the other prophets. But Jesus wasn’t interested primarily in public opinion. He wanted to know what they thought.
“Messiah” comes from the Hebrew word that means “anointed.” It comes from Psalms 2:2 “the Lord and his anointed.” It was a person promised by the Scriptures that would rescue Israel. Peter is sure of who the Messiah is; he is a little fuzzy on what the Messiah would do. Jesus says in Matthew 16 that Peter got this idea of the Messiah from God and not man.
Peter declares Jesus is the Messiah – but when we look at him later, after the resurrection, he doesn’t seem to get it. You’d think after Jesus rose Peter would be all over it saying “Remember, Jesus – I was the one who said you were the Messiah?” But he is very tentative.
Mark 16:10-14 says that Peter and the boys simply didn’t believe that Jesus had risen.
In John 20:3-10 Peter and John ran to the tomb but only John believed. After, they simply went home. In verse 19 we find them cowering for fear behind locked doors. What happened to the bravado of “You are the Messiah!”?
It’s because Peter’s Messiah didn’t make room for death. Had Peter really been listening, he would have heard all he needed to prepare for Good Friday—and Resurrection Sunday.
Mark 8:31
Now that Jesus’ real identity was confirmed to His men, He could be much more frank about what that role meant. But Peter’s idea of Messiah followed the popular belief that He was a warrior king who would come to return Israel to world prominence and throw off the Roman yoke. We are always interested in what gets us what we want now—but Jesus knew the real mission was much bigger than that.
For the first time Jesus speaks of four realities of being the Messiah.
1.Jesus must “suffer” (Isaiah 53:5) “But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him”
2.Jesus must be “rejected” (Psalms 118:2) “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”
3.Jesus must be “killed” (Daniel 9:26) “After those 62 weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing.”
4.Jesus must “rise” (Psalms 16:10) “For You will not abandon me to Sheol; You will not allow Your Faithful One to see the Pit.”
Though Jesus didn’t explain here why He must suffer, or what it would do, they should not have been surprised by it. Jesus often spoke enigmatic things they didn’t get. Yet the very idea of a suffering Messiah was so foreign to the Jewish mind that Peter corrects the Lord on His own plan!
32 – 33
The word “rebuke” is a strong word that indicates Peter was rejecting Jesus’ interpretation of the Messiah’s role. The same man who first proclaimed who Jesus was now rejects it—why? A Messiah who dies was not part of the political playbook. But bypassing the cross for world dominance was also in Satan’s playbook. Satan wanted Jesus to get the world by bowing and worshipping him (Matthew 4:8-9)—that’s why Jesus calls out Satan, which means “adversary.” Anything that keeps Jesus from the suffering cross would keep mankind forever in bondage. The disciples were doing this out of loyalty to Jesus. But Jesus does not call on us to guide Him but to follow Him – something He will get into in the next verses, which we’ll look at next time. “Man’s ways” are not the ways of apparent weakness. Jesus is describing to Peter a defeated hero. But to defeat the ultimate foe, death, Jesus must go right into death’s heart and kill it by dying the death of an outcast and a sinner, while being totally innocent. Man would never have come up with this rescue plan. And we should take heed because often our plans to solve the problems that face us only make them worse. By trusting in God’s plans, and God’s ways, it might seem weak but in the end is very strong.
Conclusions
Resurrection Sunday was a very confusing time for the disciples. Maybe it is confusing for you too? Maybe Jesus isn’t the Messiah you expected either. He certainly goes against all the norms of a superhero, doesn’t He? Mark places a story here very strategically to help us make sense of it.
The incident of the blind man points out to us is that sight, as well as insight, doesn’t necessarily come instantly. Jesus had to put His hands on the man’s eyes twice in order for the healing to be complete. For Peter, He had a glimpse of who Jesus really was, but that glimpse was also incomplete. He saw the coming King, but skipped over the suffering Savior. You too might have an incomplete picture as to who Jesus really is and what the cross means to you. The gospel is clearly out there—you have the physical apparatus to “see” what Jesus said and did. Now you need those signals to come from your eyes and ears into your brain and heart in a way that you can understand them. So let Him touch the eyes of your heart and give you clear sight into the gift He offers—all you have to lose is your life—and all there is to gain is life eternal!
Jesus asks you the same question He posed to the disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” Answering that question is the most important thing you will ever do—so consider it carefully, prayerfully, thoughtfully. If you ask God, He will give you insight into who the Jesus is.
The Jewish idea of Messiah was of a king, which is true, yet incomplete. What are some incomplete visions of Jesus that we have?
He was a good teacher
He was a moralist
He was a prophet
He was an example
He was an activist
To get a clear vision of whom Jesus is there are two concepts you must grapple with: Savior and Lord.
Savior is the role Jesus consistently taught while on earth (except to Pilate where He declared His kingship). Savior means He voluntarily experienced separation from the Father so that you could be joined to Him forever. It means you admit your imperfection and that Jesus is the only way to repair our broken relationship with God by giving us new and eternal life.
Lord means that He now gets to run the show in your life. He must first be king of your life, then He will return to be king of the earth and set all things right.
In the end it is all about knowing and belonging to Jesus—having a relationship with Him. See Him clearly then decide—not based on preconceptions but on the reality and totality of who He is!
