Mark 8:27-30 – Peter’s Confession

Mark 8:27

1. John the Baptist, because he preached repentance.
   1. Jesus also preached repentance, but he was much greater than John the Baptist.
2. Elijah, because he did many miracles.
   1. Jesus also did many miracles, but he was much greater than Elijah.
3. Prophet, because he conveyed the word of God.
   1. Jesus also conveyed the word of God, but he was much greater than just a prophet.
4. If you think that Jesus corresponds only to one of these personalities, then you have only partially understood who Jesus is. 

Mark 8:29

1. It is not enough to know what others think of Jesus, one needs to realize and confess who Jesus is.
   1. For example, one is not automatically a Christian because one’s parents are Christians.
   1. It is not enough just to confess what one’s pastor has taught, one needs to realize this and confess it.
2. “Messiah” is Hebrew and means “the anointed one”
   1. In Old Testament times, it was common for God’s representatives to be anointed with oil to symbolize that they were chosen by God and sanctified for a specific mission.
      1. David was anointed king (1 Sam 16:1-13).
      1. Aaron was anointed a priest (Leviticus 8:12).
      1. Elisha was anointed a prophet (1 Kings 19:16).
   1. As the Messiah, Jesus is all three:
      1. Jesus is King (Matthew 27:11).
      1. Jesus is a priest (Heb 6:20).
      1. Jesus is a prophet (John 12:49).
   1. Zechariah prophesied of a “son” who would be king and priest at the same time and who would build the temple of the Lord (Zech 6:12-13).
3. The Jewish people waited for the Messiah to come and forcibly drive out the Romans and re-establish Israel as a powerful nation.
   1. Jesus is the Messiah, but he has not come to respond to these expectations, so he forbids his disciples to say that he is the Messiah because then there is a risk that the Jewish people will take matters into their own hands and try to make Jesus king by force (John 6:15).
4. Jesus is the Messiah who has established the Kingdom of God, not as a worldly nation, but as a spiritual nation.