Every Sacrifice will be Salted with Salt
Mark 8:27-30
And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.
Today's focus question is built into our focus scripture. Jesus questions his disciples and in doing so he's questioning all the people of that age. But his question also strikes at the heart of our modern society and its incessant obsessive quest for identifying who we really are, or what we're actually all about. I suppose every generation seeks after a sign, a hook to hang its hat on.
You understand, don't you?
That this is really about this unending need that every generation has to define itself and align itself with an ideology and philosophy that meets their own particular values and goals. An identity that qualifies their meaning and purpose especially in spiritual matters. People are always looking for these signs. And we're told by the New Testament that in the future there will be a man who will come with all sorts of supernatural signs and wonders. This man, this antichrist person will deceive many, many of the faithful. He'll will be able to make this happen because the faithful will have not removed the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod from their doctrines and traditions. This antichrist man will come out of those traditional teachings.
Revelation 16:14
"For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty."
2 John 1:7
"I say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist."
Some of the Jews and gentiles of that age thought that Jesus was a prophet like Elijah. Today the Muslims and various Christian sects say Jesus is "a" son of God like Mohammed or others who have supposedly spoke for Jesus. There are indications that the current Roman Catholic Pope believes that Jesus Christ is revealed to many people through many people/deities. It seems that many today want to lean on not getting the answer to Jesus' question correct but instead focusing on their own profession of faith. It's about their particular profession of faith, and not the source of that faith. And once they have determined to do this, to qualify their relationship with Jesus based upon their own profession, and not based upon the Word of God, they have opened up the door for the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod to do its work.
"Who do you say that I am?" Jesus asks.
Peter got it right.
He said, “You are the Messiah.” (Mark 8:28)
Did he get it all right, or did he only get the word right?
"Christ" is not a name; it's a word that stands as a title. A very important word that recognizes his anointed kingship. He has revealed himself to them, his Holy Almighty self, but he's not who they thought he was. He's not merely a prophet, and he's not the Messiah that they were expecting. They wanted a military ruler king who would throw off the oppressors and restore the nation to its rightful glory. But it turns out he's not the Messiah who was going to immediately come and take control of the nation by setting up the kingdom of God here and now. He's not the Messiah THEY wanted; he's the Messiah that God's word has prophesied.
Isaiah said he'd be despised and rejected; he'd be numbered with the transgressors. Daniel said the Messiah would be cut off. David in Psalm 22 describes the Messiah's death. All these things had to be fulfilled because God's word promised the people of God it would happen.
Mark 8:31
And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.
But they weren't listening to that last part. They missed the resurrection. All they saw was "their" Messiah, the Jesus they had invented in their own minds, was now saying that he was heading for destruction. WILLINGLY heading there!
That's all they heard.
Peter, the one pointed out as the rock of their faith, rebuked Jesus on this point.
If this was today, Peter sent Jesus a DM and gave him what for about this plan of his. Jesus couldn't be clearer, he was being straight up and honest about what's coming, and the scripture even points that out.
Mark 8:32
"And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him."
Peter openly rejects Jesus' plan. So much for the rock of our faith. He got the Messiah thing right but the path of salvation all wrong.
And Jesus lays out just exactly what's happening there and is still happening today.
Mark 8:33
But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."
That's it isn't it? Peter is thinking about the Messiah he expects and not the one promised in the Scriptures.
The leaven is still in the dough. The traditions and plans of men are still intact in these people. Even though they call him Messiah, the Christ, they're not exactly clear on the purpose of The Church and where it's going to be built. They may try and build the church on Peter's rock that got the Messiah wrong, but is that the church that Jesus was establishing?
Here's the thing, Peter was only expressing his love for Jesus, and he couldn't handle these very emotionally charged comments Jesus was making. So, it's only natural that he was willing to rebuke Jesus in the way that he did. But Jesus rebuked Peter's rebuke, and by default the rest of us all as well, because of our lack of discernment.
That's why he first turned to the group before he rebuked Peter directly.
So, Jesus decided to enlighten them all about what discipleship really costs. He lays out the three requirements for discipleship that everyone who loves God and hopes to keep a relationship with him must keep.
First: Deny yourself. Complete obedience and sacrifice.
Mark 8:34
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?"
This couldn't be further from what many of the religious and non-religious people today want or strive for. The people today create for themselves identities that meet their own needs and comforts, and they're told to assert that idea they have about themselves, and everyone must affirm them in their assertions.
Jesus says, "no, you must deny yourself".
Second: Pick up your cross. Faithfulness to Jesus and not to your own will.
And on top of that you must pick up your cross and carry it. Your faith must be picked up and carried by you. Not by others. Not by gaining the world. Not by being all you can be. Not by living your best life now or how many people attend to your teachings. This is a personal level cost to discipleship. It's between you and Jesus.
Jesus is talking about eternity. What's your soul worth to you? How much value do you put on your eternal soul? Is it worth more than just some prayer beads and a few moments of peace?
Third: Follow me. Recognize his authority. Realize that you aren't God. You haven't got any control over your own justification.
Mark 8:37
"For what can a man give in return for his soul?"
Jesus says he's coming again to bring his kingdom, but not at this time. This time, for now, you must follow him in faith. And follow him in worshipping in Spirit and Truth. Here he is, the Messiah who has brought with him the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. Before the Lord spoke through the law and the prophets and now, He speaks through Jesus the Son of Man. And it is his words you must obey. It is his teachings that you must follow. It is his cross that justifies you, because now God has given ALL authority to him.
If you believe, all things are possible. If you take up your cross, Jesus will strengthen you. If you follow his instructions, his Holy Spirit will guide your paths.
But if you don't or won't...
Mark 8:38
"For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Friends,
If you're not quite there yet. If you haven't been captured by the words of Jesus and haven't decided that you want to be his disciple because this kind of faith is maybe too costly, then I ask that you try this. Pray for yourself and for your faithfulness. Pray like the father of the demon possessed boy.
Mark 9:24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!"
I say this because I understand. I was there myself. I wanted a relationship with Jesus, but I wanted him on my own terms. I appreciated the attributes of Jesus that I most admired. I'd receive the truths he was speaking about that I thought were most true for me. And I'd follow him as far as I wanted to go, but no further. I needed Jesus, but on my own terms. I needed him to exorcise my demons, but I wasn't willing to make the necessary sacrifices to get away from them. I needed to grow in my faith, but I wasn't willing to grow in my understanding of his teachings. I wasn't willing to live by his words and I wasn't even willing to teach them to my children. I wasn't doing the work of the Lord; I was making a god for myself that featured the things I wanted and left off the things that made me feel uncomfortable.
What I didn't understand was that these kinds of demons require continual prayer and meditation, with fasting and obedience. It requires discipleship in order to overcome it.
Mark 9:29
And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer."
And friends?
Try not to get too caught up in points of style and traditions so that it becomes a stumbling block for reform. Pray for each other. Teach each other. Grow in faith with each other. And love one another in Jesus' name. Try to find common ground when you can. Have the truth in your own walk and in your public witness and have mercy and compassion on the demon possessed and others who haven't found Jesus yet.
Jesus said:
Mark 9:50
"Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another."
The disciples were upset that some people were casting out demons in Jesus' name, but they weren't "following" them. They weren't part of their church group. And so they tried to stop them.
And Jesus says:
Mark 9:39-40
"Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. For the one who is not against us is for us."
How is that possible?
Simple answer: They were able to do the mighty work because the Holy Spirit was with them. Somewhere in there the Spirit was working. And therefore, if He is with them, so too should we be. And if we can't by our own will? Cut that spirit of discrimination right off. Trust God to sort out the sheep from the goats. He'll identify them by how they identified his Son. He'll know them by how they answered Jesus' question in Mark 8:29. And he'll reward them for what they did and didn't do for Jesus. That's His job. But don't think he won't be checking our walk too. Checking if we forgave them that sinned against us.
Mark 9:49
"For everyone [every sacrifice] will be salted with fire."
No one escapes the flame. The righteous will be found out and the self-righteous too. Each will receive what's coming to them.
As for now, we live in a world where no good deed goes unpunished and no bad one unrewarded. Sometimes it seems like life only rewards the wicked.
Just know that every sacrifice will be salted with salt by God.
As for you?
"Be at peace with one another."