Feb 15, 2010
What Kind of Jesus are We Looking For? (Mark 8, Part One)
Continuing my series on the Gospel of Mark…
Jesus taught his disciples to care for the crowds and to believe that he is the Messiah. On yet another occasion the crowds ran to Jesus without considering their provisions, spending three days with Jesus in a remote place.
These people desired Jesus more than bread, choosing to be uncomfortable, if not placing themselves in danger in order to learn from him. After three days Jesus once again put his disciples in a tough spot by challenging them to feed the people, and they failed to realize that Jesus once again had the ability to feed the people.
Though Jesus fed the people, the inability of his disciples to figure out his identity must have irked him. They had seen many miracles and had received explanations, but they remained unable to understand. Jesus was worried that the thinking of the Pharisees may in fact influence how his disciples saw him.
When the Pharisees confronted him on the other side of the lake he refused to operate according to their terms and later on warned his disciples from imitating the Pharisees. From the disciples to the religion scholars, there weren’t many, if any, people who had Jesus figured out after seeing so many of his works.
The Pharisees had rejected the message and works of Jesus. Instead they requested a miraculous sign in the heavens. As his own disciples worked through their own doubts, Jesus made it clear that they needed to recognize him on the basis of his works. If he gave them a sign in the heavens then they would believe for the wrong reasons—Jesus was a different kind of Messiah that they weren’t expecting. They needed to conform their expectations according to the terms set by Jesus.
As Jesus explained the significance of his miracles and warned against the teaching and expectations of the Pharisees, his disciples had an opportunity to reconsider what they expected of the Messiah. Would the Messiah come in power with heavenly signs, or would the Messiah come in power with acts of mercy and service?
Jesus redefined what it means to faithfully follow God, what it looks like to exercise power, and what faith should be based on. It’s easy to miss Jesus, far easier than we’d like to admit. Jesus wants his followers to understand who he is based on his feeding of thousands, not some mighty act in the sky.
