Reflections on "Who Do You Say That I Am?" Mark 8: 27-30

I used a Wordle poster for the visual aspect of the sermon, and I will use a different one each week. Kind of a cool way to print the message.  Clearly, the Wordle was not as exciting as the brightly wrapped gift that adorned the pulpit area during Advent, but it will have to do.  I hope that during the course of this sermon series our monitors will become functional in our Sanctuary so that the Wordle can be put on the screen.

The sermon went ok.  I have to confess it was a bit weird to actually be preaching behind a pulpit in the Sanctuary.  I felt a little tied down, which suggests I need to find a more comfortable use of my notes.  I found myself looking at them a lot more than I did when I was preaching without the pulpit.  Not sure if that was noticeable to the congregation, but I felt it.

This is one of my favorite passages to preach.  My symmetrical side noticed that the first of the three points was much longer than the following two.   I suppose the first point could have been restructured as the whole sermon.

Somehow in my corrections after preaching the sermon early Sunday morning I deleted the passage from SJ Jacobs book.  I didn't notice until after the sermon had been preached in the Chapel.  The sermon seemed to flow well without that passage, so I did not put it back in for the Sanctuary service.

My ending was open-ended and intended to be thought provoking.  Not sure how well it worked.  I added "begin to..." for the Sanctuary service.  Not sure it made a difference.

“Who Do You Say That I Am?” 1/27/13; FPC, Troy Mark 8: 27-30; Jesus Is the One Who... preaching series

Introduction: We begin a new preaching series this week with Jesus' question: who do you say that I am.

We will then spend each week reflecting on “Jesus in the one who...” and fill in the blank

In keeping with that theme, I am going to ask a person in the chapel and sanctuary service each week to share briefly how they would fill in the blank after “Jesus is the one who...” If you want to be one of those who shares your answer, please let me know.

We will travel through Lent, then Palm Sunday, the Maundy Thursday, then good Friday, then Easter, and Jesus' post resurrection appearances, and learn from those events something that will help us finish the sentence, “Jesus is the one who...”

Finally, on the first Sunday in May when we come to our Lord's Table; when we listen as our confirmands answer the question, “who do you say that I am? with their profession of faith profess their faith; on the morning each of of will be better prepared to claim that answer for ourselves.

WE begin with three things to note about Jesus' question “Who do you say that I am?”

Move 1: First of all, it is an very important question

a. Critical place in the gospel of Mark.

1. Almost exactly at the book's midpoint, this passage initiates a major shift in Mark's plot.
   
   
2. The word Christ has not appeared since the Gospel's opening verse. We have had seven-plus chapters of Jesus' ministry, questions asked about his true identity and authority, secrets told and disclosure promised, and demonic powers identifying Jesus as God's Son.
   
   
3. We the readers have no idea that Christ's death is just around the corner.

4. But after Peter announces, “You are the Christ” or “You are the Messiah” the race is on to Jesus' death and resurrection. He not only will die soon, but he has to share with his disciples the challenges they will encounter. The high demand that will be placed on those who will follow him.

5. This question marks the turning point in the Gospel of Mark.

b. The place where the question is asked is also of great importance.

1. Jesus asks the question when he is near Caesarea Philippi, a very Roman setting. It is Jesus' first time in Roman territory.
   
   
   2. Caesarea Philippi also represents the northward extension of Israel's power when it was once a world power.
   
   
   3. In a place that that screams of worldly, Roman power, in a place that exemplifies the limitations of Israel's power, Jesus asks “who do they say that I am?

4.and Peter answers “You are the Messiah” to affirm that Jesus in the one who will overcome worldly powers and sweep beyond the limitations of Israel.

5. This question is asked in an important place.

c. Important question because it demands more than a rational response.


1. When the disciples answer the question with John, Elijah, or one of the prophets, they give sensible, rational answers.


2. Jesus does seem like these others with his calls to repentance, healings, and meals served in the wilderness.

3. But Peter looks beyond the reasonable, he looks beyond the rational, he looks beyond all the data that says who Jesus should be, and he answers from his heart and his hope.


4. “You are the one who will change the world. You are the one offers me something more than the world. You are the one in whom I can place all my hopes and dreams. You are the Messiah.”

Jesus' question demands an answer that goes beyond the realm of reasonable and enters the realm of faith.

Move 2: secondly, we notice that Jesus does not want the disciples to share their answer yet.

a. After commending Peter for his answer, Jesus instructs the disciples to tell no one.

1. Lots has been made of this demand for silence.

2. Biblical scholars have spent many hours and pages exploring the question and not really answering it definitively.

b. But it was clear that it was not time to announce that Jesus was the Christ.

1. Before they do that, they have to learn more about Jesus.

2. They will have to witness his death.

3. They will have to come to some realization about what it means to be his disciples.

4. In fact, before the scene ends, Jesus announces, for the first of multiple times, his impending suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection. He also -- finally! -- starts to tell his disciples and others just what he wants from them.

b. Most of us here have professed our faith in Jesus Christ at some time or another.

1. 1. If you have not, I hope that today or in the coming days you will hear more about Jesus and want to profess your faith in him as your Lord and Savior.

2. I'm not asking those who have already professed their faith in Christ to undo it.

3. But I invite all of you to explore who Jesus is so that we can reaffirm our faith knowing more about the one in whom we first professed our faith.

Move 3: thirdly, we are going to shift the question.

a. NT Wright, the well-respected New Testament scholar in his book Simply Jesus (pp. 1-3) discusses the importance to his life of faith and study of Jesus this question “Who do you say that I am?”

1. But, he also notes that early on in his ministry as he sought to answer Jesus' question, “who do you say that I am,” the musical “Jesus Christ, Superstar” hit the theaters.
   
   
2. When originally produced, the musical met lots of resistance from churches for the way in which Jesus was portrayed.
   
   
3. Wright had a different response as he saw Jesus in this new way. He wrote that as he heard sung the question, “Jesus Christ, Superstar, who are you?” and he began to realize the importance of answering the question, “Who are you Jesus?” as he sought to answer the question “Who do you say that I am? That Jesus asked.

b. So we embark on that journey of discovering again, and in new ways, who Jesus is.

1. Through the years, I have often introduced questions of faith with youth by creating this scene: You are sitting in the cafeteria at the high school, or the Jr. High, or your elementary school and someone sits down next to you and says, “You go to church don't you? I don't know much about (whatever the topic is – in this case Jesus). Who is the Jesus guy?

2. So there you are: on lunch break at work; or sitting in the stands at your kid's basketball game; or standing out on the street after shoveling some snow; and someone comes up to you and says, “ hey, you go to church don't you. I've been meaning to ask, 'What can you tell me about this Jesus guy?”

Conclusion: And you begin to answer, “Jesus is the one who...”



For the historical-textual information in this sermon, I consulted study notes on the Mark passage written by Matt Skinner, Associate Professor of New Testament, Luther Seminary St. Paul, MN at http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=9/16/2012&tab=4 which I found on www.textweek.com