The Call of the Savior and the Saved, Pt. 1

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People often form an opinion of someone based on what other people say. Perhaps they hear a secondhand story, a passing comment, or a rumor floating around and suddenly they’re convinced they know exactly who that person is. Pastor Nick Gatzke cuts straight through the secondhand opinions people had about Jesus.

I want to ask you to open a Bible with me to the Gospel of Mark chapter 8. That’s where we’ll be spending the next number of minutes together. And as you turn there, I’m reminded of an article from a number of years ago that was published in USA Today by Larry Copeland about the danger of peephole driving. Growing up in Minnesota, this was a common occurrence. Here in Ohio, even though it’s a little bit warmer, it’s still a common occurrence. You know what it’s like. Anyone who’s lived in the frozen north has experienced at one point or another, you’re in a hurry to get to work in the morning, you walk outside, it’s very cold, and you see that your car is encrusted in frost or snow.

And so you break the ice and the door lock, you open the door, you start the vehicle, you turn the defrost on high, and you realize This is going to take a very long time. And so you get out your ice scraper, if you’re well prepared, or your credit card, if you aren’t. And you begin scraping the front windshield, and about six or seven minutes later, you finally carved out a hole about the size of a large pepperoni pizza. You’re cold, you’re miserable, but your work isn’t done. The car still isn’t warm.

You move around to the back of the vehicle and you settle for a hole that’s about the size of a small sausage pizza. And then you work on the side window. You throw caution to the frigid wind. You get in the car and you drive away. And as you begin pulling up your street, it hits you very quickly. You can hardly see anything. And so you drive really slow. And you lean up toward the front window, thinking that somehow your field of view will be increased. And then you realize that someone who’s driving at you is doing the exact same thing.

The article concludes with the warning, peephole driving is an invitation to disaster. Peephole driving is an apt picture of what it’s like to go through life with a limited vision that comes from a limited understanding, especially if you have a limited understanding or a limited view of who Jesus is and what it means to follow him. The end of Mark chapter eight marks the halfway point in the gospel of Mark. It’s a natural breaking point, not only in the length of the book, but also in the themes that it’s communicating.

And in our text today, we see a challenge and a warning about the nature of blindness and sight. This is what it says. Follow with me starting in verse 22. “It says that they, being Jesus and his disciples, came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and he led him out of the village. And when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, do you see anything? And he looked up and said, I see people, but they look like trees walking.

And then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again, and he opened his eyes. His sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, do not even enter the village. And Jesus went on with the disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way, he asked his disciples, who do people say that I am? And they told him, John the Baptist. And others say, Elijah. And others, one of the prophets. And he asked them, but who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, you are the Christ.

And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. And 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 again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and he said, get behind me, Satan. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the son of man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his father with the holy angels. And he said to them, truly I say to you, There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come in power.”

Now, it’s not normal for Jesus to perform a two-part miracle. At first glance, it might seem as if he wasn’t able to complete the job the first time, but that’s the farthest thing from the truth. brought a blind man to Jesus. It’s an extraordinary thing for friends to bring, to contend for a person to the point where they bring them to the Savior and expect the Savior to heal them. That’s exactly what you do, by the way, when you share the gospel with somebody. You’re contending for your friend or your family member and bringing them to Christ and asking him to heal them.

That’s what these friends did for the blind man. And Jesus engages with the man and we see just a very short accounting of their interaction. He takes the man aside, he spits on his eyes, he places his hands on him and he asks him if he sees anything. Jesus never has to ask if his miracles are effective. He’s trying to make a point because he knows the answer. And the man says, I see people. but they look like trees walking. The man had partial sight. After touching his eyes again, verse 25 tells us just very plainly that his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly and Jesus sent him straight home.

A partial and then complete healing. A two-part miracle. That’s a bit peculiar. You see, throughout the Gospel of Mark, the problem of spiritual blindness has been one of the reoccurring problems of people engaging Jesus. And physical blindness was often associated with spiritual blindness. Back in Mark 4, Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9 when he speaks to them in parables. “It says that they may be ever seeing but not perceiving.” In Mark 6:52, we see that blindness, not being able to see, is related to not being able to comprehend, and that’s a sign of a hard heart.

Jesus just fed the 5,000 people. He walked on water. His disciples were still confused. They had not understood about the loaves. It said their hearts were hardened. And in Mark 8, just very earlier in this very chapter, we remember that right after feeding the 4,000 people, Jesus is warning his disciples about the intention and the infectious nature of the Pharisees. And all the disciples care about is food. And he says to them, Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand?

Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? And so you see again and again, blindness, blindness, blindness, blindness. And now after all of these stories of spiritual blindness, here comes a physically blind man. How Jesus interacts with him is meant to point us to this theme of spiritual blindness in Mark. And so, verse 27, we see that the scene changes. As they’re going on the way, they have a conversation. And Jesus asks his disciples, who people say that I am?

And they respond, John the Baptist or Elijah. or one of the prophets. And he turns it on them and says, but who do you say that I am? Peter answered confidently, you are the Christ. Rumors were flying about who Jesus truly was, whether he went into Jewish towns or Gentile towns, the question remained, who is this guy? John the Baptist was dead, but Perhaps other people, just like King Herod, wondered if God had raised him from the dead because John was a spectacular figure who dealt in the realm of the supernatural.

Elijah was one of the greatest prophets in Jewish history. And the miracles that Jesus had been performing were so tremendously powerful. The only frame of reference that a Jew would have had to try to associate this type of spiritual power with anybody in the history of Israel would have been the prophet Elijah because he did some absolutely amazing things. But Jesus turns the broad sweeping rumors and he turns it right back in a very, very personal way. do you say that I am? And that’s a question that will be asked of every single one of us.

Who do you say that Jesus is? Is he a great moral teacher? Is he an example of godly living? Perhaps he’s a powerful historical figure. Jesus asks, and will ask of every person, who do you say that I am? Those closest to him should know by now, but Jesus asks them what they think. And per usual, Peter, quick to speak, proclaims the truth. You are the Christ, he replies. This is exactly what Jesus had been hoping that they would understand. For him to call Jesus the Christ is not for him just to give Jesus another name, Jesus Christ.

Christ is not his last name. Christ is a title. It’s a title that means anointed one. It’s a word that can be interchanged with the Jewish word Messiah. Peter is acknowledging that Jesus is the long-awaited Savior of God’s people. His profession was… it was real. Jeremy Bowen was a presenter for the BBC a number of years ago when they did a documentary on the person of Jesus. And as he is trying to thread the needle of understanding the historical significance of Christianity without wading into the waters of personal implication, he stated, The important thing is not what he was or what he wasn’t. The important things is what people believe him to have been.

A massive worldwide religion numbering more than 2 billion followers of his memory. That’s pretty remarkable 2,000 years on. But Jeremy Bowen couldn’t be more wrong. Who Jesus is and what he did. is the foundation of faith and a life in him that has massive implications. Friends, each and every person will have to make a decision of who they believe Jesus is. You are asked that very question. And how you answer that question will point to where you put your trust, where you put your hope. where you find your joy, how you live your life.

Peter’s profession was personal and it was real. But as we’re about to see in a minute, it was partial and it was incomplete. Because one thing to say that Jesus is the Christ, but what does it mean for him to be the Christ? It’s another thing to proclaim that you will acknowledge him and even follow him. But what does it mean to follow him? Well, we see in verse 31, Jesus begins to teach them. Look with me. He teaches 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 again. And he said this plainly, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing the disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, get behind me, Satan, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. Jesus describes to them what it means to be the Messiah. What it means is suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection. He lays it all out long before it happens for his disciples to hear. It says that he communicated this plainly.

Now, if you take a big step back, remember what the announcement was. Remember what the message was. All the way back in chapter 1. Jesus comes and he announces that the kingdom of God is at hand. And so repent and believe the gospel. And the king is here. And he goes on to show that he’s the king. He’s the king. He’s the king. And so what would his disciples think that the king would do? What kind of kingdom would this be? Is this all a kingdom of power and healing? Jesus says this. Kingdom is not political.

That the king’s goal was not to overthrow Caesar. It wasn’t to free the Jews. The Christ had come. The king was here, yes. But he came to suffer, be rejected, die, and rise again. That’s why he came and Peter couldn’t stomach it. And so it says that he pulled Jesus aside and rebuked him. I wish. I could have heard that conversation. It’s probably something like, Jesus, you can’t be serious. You’re the king. Jesus, you can’t be telling people this. How are they gonna believe you? Jesus, nobody’s gonna think that you actually have real and lasting power if you tell them this or if you allow this to happen or if you do this.

And Jesus’ response back to him was even stronger. Get behind me, Satan. You’re not setting your mind on the things of God, but the things of man. And these, I think, are the harshest words that Jesus said to one of his closest followers. Because Peter had just entered a territory that only Satan had to this point. He had tried to tempt Jesus not to fulfill his mission, but instead, to take the easy way forward. Your eyes are on the things of man, and that’s what man does. We take the easy way forward.

This is exactly what Satan did when he tempted Jesus back in the wilderness. You might remember Matthew 4. Satan tempts Jesus and encourages him to use his power to take the easy road. And Jesus rebuked him. And here, as Peter does the same, Jesus rebukes him as well. And you begin to see how these interactions start to fit together. Just as the blind man had partial sight, so too, Peter only has partial sight of the Savior, a Christ, Without a cross isn’t the true Christ. Isaiah had prophesied long ago about the coming Messiah and the fact that he would indeed suffer.

He wrote in Isaiah 53, starting at verse two, “he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of the dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him. and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with his wounds, we are healed.” The king had come, and God’s plan for his chosen king was to pay the penalty that others deserved. The king would be crushed for the sake of others. He would offer forgiveness of sins, but he would only do so by enduring the judgment of those sins. He would be a victorious king, no doubt about it, but he would be a suffering king.

And by his suffering, by his wounds, all of those who would follow him would be healed. And Peter didn’t see that clearly. But Jesus made it very clear, a Christ without a cross isn’t the true Christ.

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This transcript was generated using AI transcription technology and reviewed for accuracy, but may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for precise wording.