Have You Seen The True Jesus?

Intro

There was a popular television show in the 50’s and 60’s called To Tell the Truth.  My grandmother and I used to enjoy watching reruns on Saturday afternoons when I visited her.  There were four celebrity panelists who must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual occupation or experience has been read aloud by the show's moderator/host. When the panelists question the contestants, the two impostors may lie whereas the "central character" must tell the truth about themselves. The celebrity panelists would then have to try to identify the true central character by placing faith in their testimony and trying to identify the lies spoken by the other contestants.  The object of the game is to try to fool the celebrities into voting for the two impostors. For every wrong guess made by a panel member, the contestants win money. Fooling the panel completely earns big money.

Jesus however was not playing a game of To Tell the Truth.  Jesus came to proclaim the truth.  The prize for accepting this truth would not amount to earthly riches.  Instead, the prize would be the gift of God’s kingdom or Christ himself.  But, to receive this prize, one must see and believe in the true Jesus and his message.  

At the time of Christ, there were several self-proclaimed Messiahs who came before and after His incarnation. The problems was, the people of Israel and their leaders misunderstood the Bible’s definition of the long awaited "Messiah” often fell hook line and sinker for these false Messiah’s.  Why? Because they weren’t looking for the true Messiah.    Instead of looking for a Messiah to come and deliver them from eternal sin, the crowds were looking for a “divinely appointed king” to save them from Rome.  While some of these false kings claimed to come from God and used old testament prophecies in their deception, none ever come close to fulfilling the prophecies and miracles of Christ. 

It was Christ’s mission to help the people see he was their true, long-awaited Messiah.  Jesus was their true anointed king.  But to see the true Jesus would require faith on the people’s part.  For Seeing the true Jesus requires true faith.

In our narrative this week Mark 6 addresses several settings in which Jesus is either rejected or received in faith.  In each interaction, we see both the people’s response to Christ’s identity and then we see Christ’s response to the people.  Jesus even today is teaching us through His Word how we may see and respond to the true Jesus.   Seeing the true Jesus requires true faith.

Setting #1:  Nazareth, the home town of Jesus.

?     How do the people of Nazareth See Jesus? 

·      Vv2-3 They question who this man is?  Where did he get his wisdom?  How can he do these mighty works?  Is he not the carpenter, son of Mary?  (illegitimate son of Mary)

·      V3 says the people took “offense at him”

o   Skandalizamei (to take offense)

o   Skandalon (noun-offense)

o   English translates to scandal. 

o   “The people were scandalized by Jesus”. 

o   Skandalon: refers to a stone that is rejected by masons. 

Jesus is the rejected son of Mary, who will later become the rejected son of Israel.  Jesus will experience rejection on many fronts by His own people.  Jesus will experience the ultimate rejection on the cross at Calvary. His own people will accuse him of being a false Messiah and they will demand the sentence of death.  God’s own people will not see the true Jesus.  For Seeing the true Jesus requires true faith.

In response to Jesus’ rejection in Nazareth, he proceeds to teach his own disciples how they too should respond to rejection.  Jesus gives his 12 disciples authority from God to heal the sick and cast out unclean spirits.  But he also gives them permission in v 11 to reject “any place that will not receive you and will not listen to you”.  

?     What message do the disciples proclaim to the people in  v 12?   Repent 

?     What is missing from the original proclamation from Christ in 1:15?  Repent and believe in the gospel

?     Why do you believe their proclamation didn’t include the message of believing ?

The disciples did not yet see the true Jesus.   For Seeing the true Jesus requires true faith.

Setting #2:  Palace of King Herod Antipas

?     What do we know about King Herod?

o   He is a puppet King, appointed by Rome to rule over the people of Judea. 

o   He feared John the Baptist because he saw him as a “righteous and Holy man”.

o   He worried more about his own reputation and pride than he feared John and his message of repentance. 

o   He executed John the Baptist to preserve his own reputation. 

?     How did King Herod See Jesus? 

o   The ghost or resurrection of John the Baptist (v14).

o   If Herod feared John, he most certainly had to fear Jesus. 

?     What does Mark’s account of John the Baptist’s death serve in his narrative?

o   It points to the growing threat to Jesus and his ministry. 

o   Herod, the puppet king of Judea did not see the true Jesus, because he didn’t have true faith. 

Setting #3:   Near Bethsaida, close to the Sea of Galilee. (Luke 9:10)

         Jesus and his disciples were exhausted from their ministry work and they searched for a “desolate place” where they could “rest for awhile”.  But, the crowds once again gathered.

?     How did the crowd of 5,000 + along the Sea of Galilee respond to Jesus?   “Recognized” Jesus and his disciples. 

?     How did Jesus respond to the great crowd? 

o   (v34) “he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd and he began to teach them many things”. 

o   He recognized the crowds hunger and he feed them with five loaves of bread and 2 fish. 

?     How did the crowd respond to Jesus? 

o   (v42) “they ate and were satisfied”

Jesus responded to the crowd’s spiritual hunger and their physical hunger.  This was a monumental miracle on a very grand scale.  Mark end’s his account of this miracle by describing the people as “satisfied”.  John’s account of this miracle however, describes the crowd’s response like this:  John 6:14,15: “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”  Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself”. 

John’s Gospel account sheds more light on how the “satisfied” crowd truly saw Jesus.  They saw them as their king.  They saw power in Jesus, which is good.  But they saw his power as a liberator from Roman oppression.  Not as a liberator from their sin.  The large, satisfied crowd did not see the true Jesus, because seeing Jesus requires true faith. 

 

 

Setting #4:  Takes place in a boat on the Sea of Galilee.

         As Jesus heads to the mountain to pray, the disciples head across the sea to the other side of Bethsaida. They all attempted to get the rest they deserved, but God had other plans.  Once again, the disciples found themselves struggling to stay alive in a boat during a great storm at sea.  This time, Jesus isn’t in the boat with his disciples fast asleep.  Instead, Jesus comes to them by walking across the sea. 

?     How did the disciples initially respond to the sight of Jesus walking on water? 

o   V49 “they thought it was a ghost and they cried out, for they saw him and were terrified”. 

?     How did Jesus respond to his disciples when he reaches them? 

o   “Take heart.  Do not be afraid” and the wind ceased.

o   V52 “they did not know about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened”. 

Jesus just performed an incredible miracle.  He showed the disciples his glory thru the theophany of him walking on water and Jesus proclaims He is the “Great I AM”.  Jesus tells his disciples he is Yahweh, the God of Jacob, the God of creation and yet they still don’t see the true Jesus.  Their hearts were still hardened.  For Seeing the true Jesus requires true faith.

Setting #5:  The “shores of Gennesaret”. 

         Our final setting in this week’s narrative is in a small Jewish fishing community.  Immediately after the disciples and Jesus get out of the boat the crowds begin to gather.  This crowd saw Jesus as a healer of the sick, for they ran about the whole region to bring the sick so that they might be healed by touching just a “fringe of his garment”. 

         I’m exhausted just thinking about the whirlwind of activity Jesus and his disciples encountered in our narrative this week.  At the center of all his ministry loomed the mounting threat of the leadership in Judea.  King Herod was just one of many threats that could potentially hurt Christ’s true mission to reach the cross of Calvary.  However, the even greater threat was the growing crowds of people who sought to make Jesus their king.  Judea was not happy with their puppet king.  Herod proved he cared more about his own interests and earthly desires.  He indulged in pagan festivals like birthdays and he clearly enjoyed sensual entertainment.  Herod also didn’t care about God’s law.  He promised to give away ½ his kingdom to a young girl who gave him great pleasure with her dancing.  

         We know however, God the Father expressed his pleasure in His Son at Christ’s baptism.  God, the Father entrusts his entire kingdom to His Son, Jesus Christ.   With the coming of Christ, the kingdom begins not in the coronation of a mighty king but with the birth of a baby. Yet as Jesus’ ministry begins in Mark, he announces, What Israel had long awaited, Christ had now inaugurated. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Jesus not only declares the kingdom with his words but also demonstrates the kingdom in his works by casting out demons, healing the sick and controlling creation and life & death itself. 

Application

Ladies….how do you see Jesus?

Is he your teacher, full of wisdom and truth?

Is he your good shepherd who guides you to green pastures?

Is he your healer, who comforts your afflictions?

Is he your king, who rules over your heart?

Jesus is all of these truths.  But if we don’t see the glory of God in Jesus, we don’t see the true Jesus.  The disciples failed their test in the boat when the Glory of God came to them.  They didn’t see the true Jesus then and we can’t fail this test now. 

Jesus is our true king.  Jesus encompasses the full glory of God.  It is the pleasure of our King Jesus to give us the keys to his entire kingdom on earth as in heaven.  The key to this kingdom is for all people who believe in the true Jesus with true faith.  Jesus is God's very person and presence, his character and nature, in flesh and blood and Spirit. John 1:14 tells us: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”. 

To see Jesus is to see God and His glory embodied in Jesus.  It takes faith to see the true Jesus.  It takes a heart that is prepared to see the true Jesus.  Have you seen the true Jesus?  If you have, then you have seen His glory through true faith and you shall receive His kingdom. Amen.