Who do YOU say I am?

We had another great evening at Sunday night’s ‘Redefine’.

After playing some fun team games which involved smarties, balloons & plastic cups, we broke up into our small groups for our Bible study time. Tonight we were looking at Mark 8:27-30. A fairly short passage of scripture, but one chock full of importance.

Jesus asks the disciples who the people around them that they have been ministering to think that He is? Then Jesus gets more personal and asks the disciples directly who they think that He is. “Then Jesus and his disciples walked to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. On the way, he posed this question to his disciples: “Who do the people say that I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptizer, others say Elijah the prophet, and still others say you must be one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter spoke up, saying, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!” Then he warned them not to breathe a word of this to anyone.“

Interestingly Jesus has just healed a blind man before this in the town of Bethsaida. It’s on their journey from Bethsaida to Caesarea Philippi that He poses this question to them. The only disciple to have full revelation of who Jesus is, was Simon Peter. He was the only one not blind to who Jesus is. Simon Peter’s name in Aramaic is ‘Shimon‘ which means ‘he who hears’. Simon was the one who heard from God the Father the truth of who Jesus was. That reveals to us an important point. We need revelation from God of who Jesus truly is, otherwise we can be left floundering like the disciples, saying that He is a prophet, wise teacher or good man, but not the promised anointed one; the Son of God.

Another fascinating point is that at Caesarea Philippi there was a cave dedicated to the pagan god Pan that had a deep pool in it that was so deep it couldn’t be measured that was called the gate of hell (hades) and also it was the source of the principal spring of water that fed the river Jordan (see here).

Jesus the Messiah is more powerful than any pagan god and he is more powerful than death itself. ‘On this mountain he (God) will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death for ever.’ – Isaiah 25:7-8  We know that by His death & resurrection Jesus would deliver us not only from sin, but also the power of death.

Back to Jesus’ question – ‘Who do you say I am?’ It’s important to ask yourself that question. Who do you say Jesus is?

Again, it was a great evening and a lot was discussed and learned from the passage. Please be praying for the young people that come to Redefine. Pray that just like Simon Peter, they would have a revelation from God the Father of who Jesus truly is.

Be blessed!