Turning Toward the Cross

MARK 8:27-34—It was but natural that Jesus should be interested to learn what impression his ministry had made upon the minds of the public, and upon his disciples as well. “Whom do men say that I am?” By now many throughout all Judea had at least heard of the Master. Not a few had heard first hand the gracious words which he had spoken and had witnessed his miracles of healing the sick and raising the dead. What opinions had been formed as a result of this testimony?

The disciples’ answer to this question is very revealing, and in a large measure presents a public appraisal of the Master very similar to the viewpoint of the world and of nominal Christianity. It indicates that the general public thought well of him, and believed that he was a servant of God. Some had one idea, and some another, but they were all good. Some thought Jesus might be John the Baptist raised from the dead; others that perhaps he was the foretold Elias, or some other prophet.

Yes, Jesus had made a good impression on many, and they were willing to concede that he was a man sent of God. How similar this is to what has occurred throughout the entire age. There are millions who have been convinced that Jesus was a servant of God, but how widely they have differed as to his true identity, and how wrong practically all of them have been!

Most people have admired the virtues of Jesus’ glorious character. Some have claimed that he was God incarnate in the flesh. Others, swinging to the opposite extreme, have said that he was no more than a member of the fallen and dying race—yet a virtuous character worthy of our emulation, whose teachings, if followed by all, would make the world much better. Between these two extremes various viewpoints of Jesus have been held, but all of them in one way or another claiming that he was a prophet sent of God.

Jesus did not tirade against those who thought he was John the Baptist, or Elias, or one of the other prophets. He may, indeed, have had an inward sense of satisfaction that this much of an impression had been made upon their minds. But the report was not wholly satisfactory, and turning to his disciples he asked, “Whom say ye that I am?” Peter answered, saying, “Thou art the Christ.” In Matthew’s account of this dialog (16:17), Jesus replies to Peter saying that this insight into the matter had been given to him by God—“flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee.”

There is a lesson here which should be a great encouragement to all who know the truth. The best ideas the human mind can conceive come far short of the truth concerning Jesus, “for they are merely “flesh and blood” conceptions. Millions who have honored Jesus, and who have professed to be his followers, have had no truer understanding of him than their fleshly minds could conceive, and these have come short of the truth.

True, the world has been made a better place in which to live because millions have, to some degree at least, endeavored to follow the example of Jesus; but the world has not thereby been made a Christian world. It has been made a morally better world, but not Christian. To the extent that the nations have professed to be Christian while flouting his teachings, the world has been made hypocritical.

The only ones who have truly known Jesus to be “Christ, the Son of the living God,” have been those to whom the Heavenly Father has specially revealed him. True, others have called him Christ, but this has been merely attaching his name to false conceptions they have held concerning his identity. The worst of these misconceptions has been that he was a torment deity incarnate in flesh.

But “blessed” have all those been to whom the Father has revealed the true identity of the Master, that he is the Christ. To know this implies an understanding of the position the foretold Christ was to occupy in the plan of God, and the work he was to do on behalf of the people—that he is the “seed” of promise, the One through whom all the families of the earth are to be blessed. Only to a “little flock” in all the age has this knowledge been revealed. How thankful we should be if the Lord has thus favored us!

After Peter had properly identified him as being the foretold Christ, Jesus gave strict instructions that this information should not be made public. The reason for this restriction is not readily apparent. On this same occasion he began to teach his disciples that he must suffer and die. Jesus undoubtedly knew that the religious rulers were already plotting against his life, and while he was prepared to complete his sacrifice in death he realized that there was something more for him to do, as well as a “due time” in the divine plan for him to die, and he may have been refraining for the time being from stirring up any undue opposition.

When Peter heard Jesus prophesy that he was to suffer and die at the hands of the chief priests and elders he rebuked him. The discernment of truth which God had given him up to this point in his experience was limited—he still did not understand that it was necessary for his Master to die as man’s Redeemer. He sincerely thought that Jesus would be making a mistake to permit his enemies to arrest and kill him.

But in this Peter was exercising the limited wisdom of a fleshly mind. Flesh and blood had not revealed to him that Jesus was the Christ, but it was due time for him to have this knowledge, so God gave it to him. However, it was not yet the due time for the disciples to discern clearly just why it was necessary for their Master to die. God wanted them to be tested in connection with this experience. So Peter, expressing a purely human viewpoint—and a selfish one at that—told Jesus he was making a mistake.

Jesus used the opportunity to tell his disciples that they also would have an opportunity to suffer and die—“Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” This does not have reference to the many little “self-denials” which we properly practice from day to day, but to the denial of self—the denial of all our rights as human beings, even our restitution rights. It means the denial of our own wills and the acceptance instead of the will of God, through Christ, as the supreme and rightful arbiter of our lives.

This is an exacting test of discipleship. It leads to sacrificial death, which Jesus symbolized by the thought of taking up one’s cross and following him. Many pretty thoughts have been attached to this statement. The shape of the cross itself has been used to suggest the idea of the Lord crossing our wills with his. But what he really meant was that to be his true disciples we must lay down our lives sacrificially; even as he was doing. The thought is based on the ancient custom of a condemned criminal carrying his own cross from the judgment hall to the place of crucifixion. For one thus to take up a cross and carry it meant that he was on the way to death. It was in this sense that Jesus invited his disciples to follow him.

LUKE 9:28-35, 51—The transfiguration scene is described by Peter as a vision of the coming (parousia, presence) and power of our Lord Jesus Christ—a vision of the kingdom. (II Pet. 1:16) Not taking into consideration the fact that it was a vision, many have used this incident to attempt to prove that Moses and Elias, and all others who died prior to Jesus’ first advent, were in reality alive, and the righteous among them, in heaven.

But Jesus himself spoke of the experience afterward as a vision, and of course a vision is not a reality. (Matt. 17:9) John, on the Isle of Patmos, saw many things in vision that did not exist in reality. In the transfiguration vision, Moses and Elias testified of Jesus’ death. In this phase of the vision we might think of Moses as representing the Law, and Elias (Elijah) symbolic of the prophets; and we know that both the Law and the prophets testified concerning the suffering and death of the Christ. After Jesus was raised from the dead, he explained the necessity of his death to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and in doing so, “beginning at Moses, and all the prophets,” made this great truth plain to them.—Luke 24:27

Peter wanted to build three tabernacles and remain on the mountain, but the account states that in suggesting this he didn’t really understand the matter—he did not realize at the time that Moses and Elias were not really there at all, that they were merely seeing a vision of them.

One of the significant features of this vision was the message of the “voice” which was heard when the cloud overshadowed Jesus and those who were with him. It said, “This is my beloved Son: hear him.” One of the charges leveled against Jesus which helped to result in his death was that he claimed to be the Son of God. At the very beginning of his ministry a voice from heaven gave him assurance of his divine sonship, and although Satan later challenged it, nevertheless, it was one of the vital facts concerning Jesus and his relationship to God and to God’s plan.

Now the time was near when this great truth was to be contradicted (Heb. 12:3), and it would seem as though the Heavenly Father was preparing his Son for this severe test by reassuring him of his standing in the divine family. How precious the thought that the Lord is ever near to give strength to his people in their every time of need. If necessary he provides the strength in advance, as he did in this instance when he gave Jesus a renewed assurance of his sonship.

The fifty-first and fifty-third verses of the chapter are most revealing of Jesus’ resolute determination to do his Father’s will. It tells us that when the time came, “he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.” This is tantamount to saying that he deliberately walked into the clutches of his enemies, knowing that they were plotting his death. What an example this is for us! We may not have the opportunity to walk so dramatically and precipitously into death; but we can, if we will, be faithful in dying daily for the Lord, the truth, and the brethren.

QUESTIONS

Do wrong opinions of Jesus make men Christians?

How alone can one understand the deep things of God?

What is the true meaning of cross-bearing?

Did the disciples actually see Moses and Elias?

What is one way in which God gives strength to his people?

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