Can You See Yet?
Mark 8:27-33
This devotion and 3-minute video come from a message of the same title.
First, take a few minutes to read through the text and watch the video above.
Many Opinions
Before today, the Disciples had plenty of opportunities to see WHO Jesus truly is. But they either saw things incorrectly, or they weren’t even paying attention.
In Mark 8:27-28, Jesus asks the Disciples who people say that he is, and the Disciples threw out some of the opinions they had heard; you are John the Baptist... Elijah... One of the prophets... The people had every possible opinion except the right one.
Have things changed that much in 2,000 years? Don’t we see the same thing today? Most of our culture has an opinion of WHO Jesus Christ is, just as the culture did on the day Jesus asked his Disciples this question.
But the people's opinion was not the main point for Jesus. In this text, Jesus is just trying to get the twelve guys who’ve been with him for almost three years to see WHO he truly is.
In Mark 8:27-28, Jesus asks the Disciples who people say that he is, and the Disciples threw out some of the opinions they had heard; you are John the Baptist... Elijah... One of the prophets... The people had every possible opinion except the right one.
Have things changed that much in 2,000 years? Don’t we see the same thing today? Most of our culture has an opinion of WHO Jesus Christ is, just as the culture did on the day Jesus asked his Disciples this question.
But the people's opinion was not the main point for Jesus. In this text, Jesus is just trying to get the twelve guys who’ve been with him for almost three years to see WHO he truly is.
Direct Question - Direct Answer
Mark 8:29 (NLT)
29 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” . . .
The emphasis here is on the “you.” Jesus is saying, “I know there are a hundred opinions about who I am, but none of that matters right now. The only thing that matters is, who do YOU say that I am."
There was likely a pause, as the Disciples raced mentally through all they had witnessed. Finally, Peter answers at the end of verse 29.
Mark 8:29(b) (NLT)
29 . . . Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”
This is an incredible, watershed moment – this is it! You ARE the Messiah. In Hebrew, “the Anointed One come from God,” in Greek, Christ means the same thing, “the Anointed One come from God – to save.”
Peter is saying; you are the one all the prophets have foretold, the one promised to come in the lineage of King David, the one who will sit on the throne of Israel and establish the perfect reign of God. Peter says – You ARE the Messiah. That is who you are!
29 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” . . .
The emphasis here is on the “you.” Jesus is saying, “I know there are a hundred opinions about who I am, but none of that matters right now. The only thing that matters is, who do YOU say that I am."
There was likely a pause, as the Disciples raced mentally through all they had witnessed. Finally, Peter answers at the end of verse 29.
Mark 8:29(b) (NLT)
29 . . . Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”
This is an incredible, watershed moment – this is it! You ARE the Messiah. In Hebrew, “the Anointed One come from God,” in Greek, Christ means the same thing, “the Anointed One come from God – to save.”
Peter is saying; you are the one all the prophets have foretold, the one promised to come in the lineage of King David, the one who will sit on the throne of Israel and establish the perfect reign of God. Peter says – You ARE the Messiah. That is who you are!
God's Victory God's way
Peter got that right! And it's a great moment when we get that right, in our own hearts.
But then, in verse 31, Jesus began to break down to the Disciples how God's victory was going to come to pass. It was time they heard the straight truth. He had told them before, but they were seeing in stages, and it was now high-time the final stage started becoming clear to them.
The victory that Jesus came to bring would be accomplished through a terrible and suffering death on the cross, followed by a resurrection from the dead. (Mark 8:31)
But then, in verse 31, Jesus began to break down to the Disciples how God's victory was going to come to pass. It was time they heard the straight truth. He had told them before, but they were seeing in stages, and it was now high-time the final stage started becoming clear to them.
The victory that Jesus came to bring would be accomplished through a terrible and suffering death on the cross, followed by a resurrection from the dead. (Mark 8:31)
Reprimands
As Jesus begins to lay out the details of exactly HOW his victory was going to be won, Peter “takes him aside” and begins to reprimand Jesus (Mark 8:32). The language here is like a parent reprimanding a child.
The Disciples think they see it now, they think they’ve got it now; Jesus is the Messiah! And so, they were thinking, “Okay, now let’s get on with overthrowing Rome and setting things up like we see them in our mind.”
How often do we think we see it now? How often do we think we’ve got it now? But really, might we just be assuming that Jesus is going to do things the way we see them in our minds? And might we even (in our heart) reprimand Jesus a little bit if we see him veering off our path.
And so, to help the disciples get back on Jesus' path, Jesus reprimands Peter and calls him Satan (Mark 8:33), because Peter was speaking to Jesus the same way the devil spoke to Jesus in the wilderness at The Temptation when the devil tempted Jesus to short-cut the Father’s plan and avoid the cross.
The Disciples think they see it now, they think they’ve got it now; Jesus is the Messiah! And so, they were thinking, “Okay, now let’s get on with overthrowing Rome and setting things up like we see them in our mind.”
How often do we think we see it now? How often do we think we’ve got it now? But really, might we just be assuming that Jesus is going to do things the way we see them in our minds? And might we even (in our heart) reprimand Jesus a little bit if we see him veering off our path.
And so, to help the disciples get back on Jesus' path, Jesus reprimands Peter and calls him Satan (Mark 8:33), because Peter was speaking to Jesus the same way the devil spoke to Jesus in the wilderness at The Temptation when the devil tempted Jesus to short-cut the Father’s plan and avoid the cross.
Your Point of View
What was it that caused Jesus to issue such a scathing reprimand? The answer is in the second half of verse 33,
Mark 8:33(b) (NLT)
33 . . . “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
That’s it? Just seeing things from a human point of view causes Peter to be lumped-in with Satan's view of things??? Yeah – that’s it!
What does that mean for us, when we try to press God into our human point of view, or into our personal-opinion of how things should go? It actually might mean that same thing, right?
If we see that Jesus is the Messiah (the Savior), that’s the big thing, it is. But – can we really see God’s perspective yet? Can we really see God’s timing yet? Can we really see God’s plan yet?
Mark 8:33(b) (NLT)
33 . . . “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
That’s it? Just seeing things from a human point of view causes Peter to be lumped-in with Satan's view of things??? Yeah – that’s it!
What does that mean for us, when we try to press God into our human point of view, or into our personal-opinion of how things should go? It actually might mean that same thing, right?
If we see that Jesus is the Messiah (the Savior), that’s the big thing, it is. But – can we really see God’s perspective yet? Can we really see God’s timing yet? Can we really see God’s plan yet?
Trust and Obey
I pray that you have (or would) put your full faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. But if you have, that does not automatically mean that you can now see God’s perspective, or God’s timing, or God’s plan.
Let’s trust the sovereignty of God. Let’s trust God’s plan. Let’s trust God’s timing. And let’s trust our Messiah – our Savior – our soon and coming King.
Let’s trust him, and let’s understand that we will never see fully until we see Him face-to-face.
Let’s trust the sovereignty of God. Let’s trust God’s plan. Let’s trust God’s timing. And let’s trust our Messiah – our Savior – our soon and coming King.
Let’s trust him, and let’s understand that we will never see fully until we see Him face-to-face.