Lesson 99

LESSON 99 - Mark 8:29-33

29And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. 30And he charged them that they should tell no man of him. 31And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. 33But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

1. Jesus commanded His disciples not to publicize that He was the Christ, the Messiah. Why? I thought that's what He came to reveal.

2. If you read Matthew's account of this passage, (Mt 16:21 21From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.), it shows that Jesus began to teach His disciples what His future was to be, as His Father revealed it to Him. John 12:49-50

a. He would go to Jerusalem. Most of His ministry had been in the north, around Galilee.

b. He must suffer many things.

c. He revealed who would be responsible for the persecution--the elders, chief priests and scribes--the religious leaders of the nation.

d. Jesus stated He would be killed. As you read in the previous lesson, prophets like Isaiah and Daniel, hundreds of years before this, had prophesied that the Messiah would be cut off.

e. Jesus also told His disciples that He would rise again, specifying that it would happen on the third day after His death.

Why do you think the Father wanted Jesus' disciples to know what was going to happen? Here are some verses that pertain to this:

Sharing with His children...Ps 25:14 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

Enabling His children to be faithful.....Deut 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Protecting His children...Dan 2:22,28, 29 17Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: 18That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: 21And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22He revealeth the deep and secret things... 28... there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; 29As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.

Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

Jesus spoke openly of this prophecy to His disciples, (remember He had lots more than 12 disciples). His followers thought He was going to be King! Why was He talking about being killed? Peter took Him aside and rebuked Jesus for saying such a thing. Matt 16: 22 Then Peter took Him and began to rebuke HIm, saying, Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall not be unto Thee….33But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he(Jesus) rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

Why do you think Jesus turned from looking at Peter to looking at the other disciples?

I think Jesus was taking a moment to ask His Father for direction. Do I let this pass? Do I straighten Peter out? Some things can be ignored, because they aren't important. Other things must be addressed, because they will affect future behavior and understanding.

This was a crucial time for Peter to realize that his ideas of what the future with Jesus would be were not correct. Jesus wasn't going to set up an earthly kingdom at this time. He wasn't going to be accepted by the Jewish leadership as a king. The glory and rulership of the Messiah, of which Peter knew the Old Testament prophets had spoken, was not going to happen at this time. Jesus knew that, but Peter didn't. So Jesus corrected Peter. Here were two rebukes: Peter's and Jesus', but only one was deserved.

Have you ever mistakenly corrected or even rebuked God in your thinking or words? Have there been times when you thought God was wrong--that He'd made a big mistake? Did you do what you thought was right in your own eyes, but against what God had said?

If there have been those times, you need to admit it, humble yourself and repent of rebuking God in your thinking or actions. God is sovereign and omniscient. He knows it all and He is never wrong, not in what He says or in what He does, not in when He intervenes or when He doesn't intervene.

Jesus turns to Peter and addresses him as satan.

The word "satan" means adversary, opponent. Jesus explains why He calls Peter adversary. He says Peter doesn't savor (treasure) the things that be of God, but he does treasure the things that be of men. Why would Jesus say that?

Peter was all for being best friend to the next king of Israel, but he didn't like the message of death Jesus was speaking. It didn't set well with him.

Could Jesus truthfully make the same remark about you? Do you savor the things of this world more than the things of God? Are you in agreement with what the Lord has said or are you going against it?

Jesus finished His remarks with this: Mt 16:24-27 24Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Mk 8:38 38Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Mt 16:27 27For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.