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1. Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ, The Son of God, And Falls into the Temptation of the Devil (Mark 8:27-33)
MARK 8:27-33
27 Jesus went out, with his disciples, into the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that I am?” 28 They told him, “John the Baptizer, and others say Elijah, but others: one of the prophets.” 29 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.” 30 He commanded them that they should tell no one about him. 31 He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke to them openly. Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. 33 But he, turning around, and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter, and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you have in mind not the things of God, but the things of men.”
Christ guided his disciples to maturity in faith until they recognized who he was. He gradually led their growing faith to confess him openly, that they might decide to walk with determination and follow him faithfully.
The multitudes called Christ a prophet, signifying Moses’s successor, or the second Moses. Some thought he was John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah, the zealous prophet who was promised to come before Christ. But Christ pierced the hearts of his apostles so that they confessed straightforwardly the truth of his nature.
What about your faith in Jesus? Who do you say that he is? Do you just say that he is the Christ? Do you know the different meanings implied in this profound name? The title “Christ” means he who is anointed with the Holy Spirit, as God had already anointed chief priests, faithful kings, and notable prophets. Yet Jesus Christ is the perfect Anointed of all the anointed, for in him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. All the attributes, powers, and gifts of the Holy One are included in this unique name.
The Jews thought that the Christ to come was a political king sent by God at the end of time to deliver them, through his miracles, from the yoke of Roman occupation, and make them a leading nation in the whole world. Their belief in a political king was a deception of Satan, who interpreted the promises of the Old Testament with great subtlety.
However, Christ knew and taught us that all nations founded on force, taxes, and laws are unable to change the hearts of men. He wanted to set up a spiritual kingdom where God lives with men in an everlasting covenant. But men moved away from the Creator. Our sins are more than the sands of the sea, and we have turned our own way. This is why Christ took away our sins, and reconciled us to the eternal Judge, that we might live in the peace of heaven. Peter spoke for the other disciples, and confessed Jesus as the true Anointed of God. He did not obtain this knowledge through reasoning, or free determination, but through inspiration by God the Father who in compassion, revealed to him the truth of Christ Jesus. Inspiration is not revealed through flesh and blood, but through the Spirit of God from beyond our world.
Probably Peter did not understand the profound meaning of confessing the title of Christ at that time, but thought that he was a spiritual Savior, and political king at the same time. Therefore Jesus began to explain to his disciples the necessity of his death at the hand of the elders and chief priests, being refused by the nation.
Then Peter flamed up with rage. He wanted to save the Son of God from evil ones, and was tempted to dissuade the Lord from going to the cross. With such human thought he was drawn, opening himself to the insinuations of the devil, who had already tempted Jesus in the wilderness to dissuade him from going to the cross, and failed. Therefore, Satan came back now and dwelt in Peter who, shortly before this saying, was the mediator of God’s revelation among the disciples.
We learn from Peter that the testimony to Christ may soon turn into a devilish curse if we are not established in the reason of Christ’s coming, i.e. his reconciliation of men to God on the cross. He became incarnate to open for us the door to the Father, and he purchased us with his death as children of God.
PRAYER: O Father, forgive us if we believed in your Son in a superficial manner, and wished through our faith in him to be successful in exams, offices, money, and honor. Open our eyes that we may see the glory of Christ realized in the contempt on the cross, when he bore the sins of the world, justified us freely, and reconciled us to you that we might be broken, repent, continue in his humility, and realize his love in our life. Amen.
QUESTION:
- What are the most important meanings in Peter’s confession?