“WHAT
THINK YE OF CHRIST?”
-MARK
8:27-38.-APRIL 10.-
Golden Text:-“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”-Matt.
16:16.
IT was probably
toward the close of the third year of our Lord’s ministry that the incidents of
this lesson transpired. In all this time of now three years from the beginning
of John’s ministry, we have no record that either John or Jesus had publicly
proclaimed the Messiahship of the latter. There was wisdom in this. When we
remember the expectations of the Jews for eighteen centuries, that the coming
of the Messiah was to be the great event for their nation and for the world,
and that his Kingdom was to accomplish the blessing of all the families of the
earth, we can readily see that their ideas of the glories connected with this
heavenly King were such that had Jesus announced himself the Messiah at the
beginning of his ministry, the effect would have been disappointment to
the degree of disgust. Without political or social influence, without wealth
or name or fame as a leader and commander of the people, or a general of
armies, he would have been regarded as mentally unbalanced to have made such a
claim.
He merely took the position of a religious teacher with whom divine power
was specially present, divine power manifested in the dignity of his manner,
the grace of his lips, the authority of his teaching, and his wonderful
works-healing diseases, casting out devils, walking upon the water, stilling
the storm, etc. It would appear that John the Baptist knew more than anyone
else respecting our Lord’s mission. This is indicated by the sending of the
query to Jesus, “Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?” John’s
knowledge apparently came less through Jesus than through the spirit of
prophecy, which indicated to him that the one upon whom he saw the holy Spirit
descend was the special ambassador of Jehovah. Even John’s faith was staggered
by the absence of the glory and prosperity he had anticipated for Jesus. What,
therefore, the sentiment of the masses would have been, had Jesus been publicly
proclaimed the Messiah, we can readily imagine.
BE YE WISE AS SERPENTS, HARMLESS AS DOVES.
But now, after his disciples had been intimately associated with him for
three years, and after John the Baptist had been dead for a year, the time had
come for Jesus to prepare the disciples for the ignominy and death which he
knew to be in store for him. But even then the matter was approached in a wise
and careful manner. O, that all of the Lord’s dear
people could learn the value of wisdom in connection with their endeavors to
serve the Truth! Our Lord not only taught us to be wise as serpents and
harmless as doves, but he exemplified this lesson in his own course, saying on
another occasion to the apostles, “I have many things to tell you, but ye
cannot bear them now.” We, too, should learn that there are opportune and
inopportune times for mentioning certain truths, and that there are wise and
unwise methods of presenting them. It is not enough that we do not speak
untruths, it is not enough that we speak the truth; additionally we should see
to it that we speak the truth in love, and love that is trained uses wisdom
that it may accomplish the more good.
Our Lord would draw out the apostles and seek to crystallize in
their minds the thought which he knew already was forming or formed. Leading
up to his intention he inquired respecting the general voice of the people as
to who he was. The answer that some thought him John the Baptist risen from
the dead, and others thought him Jeremiah or one of the other great prophets
risen from the dead (Matthew’s account), showed that the public mind was being
exercised-was noting that he was not an impostor. As we read later on, some of
the people were ready to inquire, “When Messiah cometh, will he do greater
works than this man does?” All of these sentiments indicated the wisdom of the
course pursued by our Lord, and that it was taking effect-that instead of being
ridiculed, he was respected by the people, some of whom even thought to take
him by force to make him their King.
Now the Lord addressed his disciples as implying that they were separated
in his mind from the rest of the people, and should have a clearer knowledge of
him than others, and his question is. “Whom say ye that I am?”-with the
intimate acquaintance that you have had, what is your opinion? Peter, probably
the eldest of the disciples, and in general a leader and spokesman amongst
them, answered for them all,-“Thou art the Christ [God’s Anointed One: Hebrew,
the Messiah], the Son of the living God.” This answer proved that Jesus had
rightly judged that the time was ripe for such a confession of him amongst his
apostles, and for the first time he intimated to them that their surmises on
the subject were correct-that he was more than Elijah, Jeremiah, or any of the
prophets-that he was the long-promised Messiah.
THE HUMILITY OF OUR LORD.
Our Lord’s answer, given in another account, distinctly acknowledges the
correctness of Peter’s statement, and declares that flesh and blood had not
revealed it unto Peter, but the Father in heaven. We are struck with the
modesty of our Lord Jesus in respect to this proclamation of himself as the great
Messenger of the Covenant. How beautiful a lowly mind is! and if it was
beautiful and appropriate in our Lord, how much more appropriate it is for us
who are his followers and who have nothing of ourselves-nothing that we have
not received through him. How appropriate the Apostle’s words, when, after
speaking of how Jesus humbled himself to become a man, and to be obedient unto
death, he exhorted us saying, “Humble YOURSELVES, therefore, brethren, under
the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” Indeed, we may be
sure that none will share with the Lord in his exaltation who do not learn at
heart this lesson of humility. “The Lord abhorreth the proud but giveth grace
to the humble.”
Jesus charged his disciples that they should tell no man that he was the
Messiah. This was an item of truth intended only for themselves as yet; and to
have proclaimed it in a general way might have created more or less of
insurrection, and might have hindered the carrying out of the divine
arrangement respecting his ignominious death. They could still proclaim the
Kingdom of heaven at hand, they could still speak of Jesus as the great Teacher
and man, they could still wonder as to whom he might be; but the proper time
for making him known as the Messiah would be after he had finished the work of
sacrifice which the Father had given him to do. Indeed he could not be the
Messiah except by accomplishing this work. He must purchase the world of
mankind before he could become its Lord and Life-giver, its Restorer, its
Messiah.
Now for the first time Jesus began to teach his disciples to expect his
ignominious rejection by the Jews, his ultimate death, and his resurrection on
the third day. Matthew’s account makes this still more explicit, saying, “From
that time he began to teach them these things.” What a sifting, what a testing
of the hearts of his apostles, and yet how wisely it was done! They must be
prepared in advance for his shameful death, else it would prove such a shock to
their faith that they could not recover from it, neither believe in his
resurrection. But now, after nearly three years of experiences, and when they
had just confessed him to be the Messiah, and by so confessing had crystallized
the thought in their own minds, it must have been a severe blow to all their
hopes and aspirations to be told of his ignominious death. How could he be the
Messiah, and yet suffer death at the hands of his enemies? How could he bless
all the families of the earth, and yet be put to death as a malefactor?
These things must at first have appealed to them as inconsistent; but all
the more the announcement would prepare their hearts for the explanation of the
Scriptures which Jesus was ready to impart. The statement that he began to
tell them about his coming death implies that thereafter this was frequently a
subject for discussion and consideration between him and them. The same Lord,
with no less wisdom, is still guiding in the affairs of his Church, and still
teaches us line upon line, precept upon precept, as we are able to bear the
Truth, and our preparedness for it will be proportionate to our nearness and
fellowship with him. It is worthy of note, also, that the deep things of the
divine plan are revealed to us only as we have confessed Christ. To this class
it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom which are withheld from
others. Only if we have fully confessed Christ are we granted a knowledge of
the fact that all who would be his disciples must take up their cross to follow
him, must suffer with him if they would reign with him, must be dead with him
if they would live with him.
SLOW TO SPEAK AND SWIFT TO HEAR THE GREAT TEACHER
.
Our Lord uttered this statement respecting his rejection and death
openly-before the entire twelve apostles; but Peter, possibly elated by our
Lord’s words of commendation that the Father had revealed the matter to him,
took our Lord aside privately to whisper to him that such sentiments should not
be introduced nor expressed before the apostles-that it would be discouraging
to them all, and that anyway there was certainly a mistake about the matter,
for such things could never happen to him-must not happen; he must so order his
speech and his conduct that these things would not happen. He must not violently
antagonize the chief priests or elders, to thus lead them to conspire for his
death. Allowance must be made for Peter, in that he was not only the eldest of
the apostles, but quite a good deal older than our Lord, and that he was of a
very ardent disposition, strong and impulsive. However, Jesus-who had a few
moments before commended Peter for his appreciation of the fact of his
Messiahship-now rebuked him, not privately, but in the presence of all the
apostles. He probably knew that this would be the best method of correcting
Peter’s sentiments, which, should they spread amongst the apostles, would be
very injurious to them all. Hence, our Lord’s rebuke was pointed, sharp, and
made known to all the apostles. He said, Get thee behind me, Satan-adversary;
thy words are not in accordance with divine wisdom, but in accord with human
wisdom. We are not to understand that Peter was turned into Satan, nor that
Satan got possession of him, but rather in taking such a position he was
becoming an opponent of the divine arrangement, as Satan was and still is.
There is a great lesson in this for us. Even though we be the Lord’s
disciples, and honored ones at that, we might very easily reach such a position
as would be antagonistic to the divine arrangement and thus put ourselves
unintentionally on the side of Satan, and become his ministers or servants.
Our Lord emphasized this again on another occasion, saying, “His servants ye
are to whom ye render service.” It is not enough that we have named the name
of Christ and have placed ourselves under his banner, and called ourselves by
his name, and rejoiced to be accounted his servants; it is necessary that we
see to it that we are rendering him service, and that our energies are not
being spent in opposition to him and really in cooperation with the Adversary.
It is our opinion that a great many are in this very position today.
Unwittingly they are on the Adversary’s side of many questions connected with
Churchianity and sectarianism, and especially does this seem true of many
ministers in the nominal Church. We may assume that some of them, at least,
have made a full consecration to the Lord, yet as a whole they are standing in
opposition to the Truth-supporting the errors of the dark ages and helping to
blind and mislead the people. Let us each be careful, let us each see to it
that we be not disposed as Peter was to be wiser than the Lord, and to attempt
to tell him how matters should be conducted. In everything connected with the
Lord and his service, let us, as the Apostle exhorts, be slow to speak and
swift to hear and to obey the divine plan.
THE MILK OF THE WORD-THEN ITS STRONG MEAT.
The foregoing special lessons were to the apostles apart from the
multitude; but later on Jesus began to teach the multitude as well as his
disciples some of the deep things pertaining to his mission and the conditions
upon which any might become his disciples. There is a lesson in this also for
us: We are not to put tests of discipleship to the forefront in the preaching
of the Gospel. We are not to meet inquirers with the announcements of the
“straight gate and narrow way” and the lessons of self-sacrifice, as they come
to us to hear something about the Gospel of God’s dear Son. There are primary
lessons for them to learn first. They should be instructed respecting the
goodness, love and mercy of God, respecting the redemption accomplished through
the blood of Jesus and that it is free and for all, respecting the glorious
times of restitution which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy
prophets since the world began, and respecting the call of this Gospel age to
association in the Kingdom. They should know these things with considerable
clearness before being informed of the cost-the self-sacrifice even unto death
which is the price of joint-heirship in the Kingdom. This appears to have been
the Lord’s method, and we cannot do more wisely than follow it.
The time had come when not only the twelve apostles but all of the people,
who were deeply impressed with the teachings of Jesus, should know what it
meant to be his followers. In other words, a time of sifting had come-the time
for presenting doctrines that would shake off, sift out, from close sympathy,
fellowship and discipleship, all except the Israelites in whom there was no
guile. We remember that while there were thousands who attended the Lord’s
ministry and were miraculously fed by him-amongst all the thousands upon
thousands who heard him and profited by his healing, his teaching, and the
wonderful words which proceeded out of his mouth, only “about five hundred
brethren” (I Cor. 15:6), true disciples, remained faithful to the end. The
remainder were all sifted out by such teachings as these that were now for the
first time promulgated.
The substance of these discourses is briefly stated to have been that, if
any man would be the Lord’s follower or disciple, he must practice self-denial
and cross-bearing. Of course these words are used in a figurative sense: they
signify that all who will be the Lord’s disciples and share his Kingdom and
glories, will be tested in faith and obedience to such an extent that they will
fall out by the way unless their faith and interest are so deep as to lead them
to ignore themselves, their own earthly interests, pleasures, appetites, and to
seek chiefly for this joint-heirship with the Master in the Kingdom. They must
regard the pearl of great price as worth more than all else, so that they will
be willing to dispose of, to give in exchange for it, every earthly interest
and thing-houses or lands, parents or children, the love and esteem of friends
and neighbors-choose obedience to the divine arrangement at any cost, else they
will not be worthy of the Kingdom. They must count upon such crossbearing, such
a crossing of their own wills, submission to the divine will.
CHOOSING BETWEEN GOD AND MAMMON.
Emphasizing this lesson, the Lord says that it amounts to a question as to
whether we love the present or the future life. He who sets great store by the
present life, in whose heart the joys promised in association and
joint-heirship with our Lord in the life to come does not overbalance present
interests and hopes and aims, that person would lose the life which the Lord
was proposing to give to his disciples-the life eternal, in the Kingdom, with
“glory, honor and immortality.” While our Lord used these words particularly in
reference to the elect class which he is seeking as joint-heirs in the Kingdom,
and therefore particularly in respect to immortal life of the Kingdom class,
nevertheless there is a large sense and degree in which his words will always
be applicable to all men-in the next, the Millennial age, as well as in the
present age. Whoever will attain eternal life, either as member of the Church
which is being elected now or as members of the restitution class which will be
developed during the Millennial age, can only have the eternal life by a full
submission of himself and every interest to the will of the Lord. Whoever
self-willedly refuses such complete submission will thus prove himself unworthy
of eternal life on any plane, for the terms of life-eternal are full obedience
to the divine will.
From this standpoint the force of our Lord’s words is manifest: it would
profit no man if he should succeed selfishly in gaining the whole world, and as
a result of that selfish will, which is opposed to the divine will and its law
of love, bring upon himself the utter destruction of the Second Death. What
would compensate a man for the loss of his soul-his existence? Assuredly
nothing would compensate, for without existence there could be no possession or
pleasure.
The lesson then is that if we are granted hearing ears and understanding
hearts in this present time, and a knowledge of the exceeding great and
precious things which God is offering during this Gospel age, we would be
without excuse before the Lord if we were to despise his offers and selfishly
choose self-control and a share in the world rather than joyful submission to
the divine will and a participation in the sufferings of the present time and
the glories which shall follow when, as members of the Kingdom, it will be our
privilege to participate in the showering upon the world of the blessings
secured by our dear Redeemer’s sacrifice. (Gal. 3:29.) Similarly, those who
will live during the Millennial age, after the present offer of the Kingdom
shall have been withdrawn, and when the offer of restitution will be made to
every creature, those who then selfishly refuse to submit their wills to the
Lord’s will fail to make progress in the highway of holiness toward perfection,
and instead of gaining life eternal they will fail and fall into the Second
Death. In other words, there will never be any other way of attaining life
than a full renouncement of every selfish aim, object and desire, and the full
acceptance of the divine will.
A SAVOR OF LIFE UNTO LIFE OR OF DEATH UNTO DEATH.
Our Lord sums up this lesson respecting the necessity for self-denial and
cross-bearing by showing what it would really mean-that to confess him and the
great truths of the divine plan for which he stands as the representative,
would surely mean at the present time to bring upon one’s self the opprobrium
of the world, for whosoever will live godly in this life shall suffer
persecution. To live godly will mean not only to abstain from crimes, but to
live up to the light which God gives us, to be faithful to the principles of
truth and of righteousness. Those who are blinded by the god of this world so
that they do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, the sin-bearer and coming
King, are proportionately irresponsible at the present time. Their responsibility
will come when this knowledge reaches them, and ultimately the knowledge of the
Lord shall fill the whole earth.
The time, therefore, will come when they will be responsible, and when the
Truth will be to them either a savor of life unto life everlasting, or a savor
of death unto death everlasting-the Second Death. But those who know the
Truth, and who allow shame to hinder them from espousing it, may be sure that
they are not disciples of Christ, that they cannot share in the life which he
is now holding out as the reward of the overcomers-immortal life. All those
who will be acknowledged before the Father and before the holy angels at our
Lord’s second advent will have proved so loyal to the Lord and to the
principles of righteousness that he will take pleasure in acknowledging them,
and the Father will also acknowledge them as being copies of his dear Son,
their Lord.
The Lord has given us examples of those who are bartering the glorious
hopes and opportunities of participating in the Kingdom for the things of this
life. The type in the Old Testament mentioned by the Apostle Paul is that of
Esau, who for a mess of pottage sold his birthright. Foolish as was that
transaction, it was only a type: much more foolish is it for those who are now
having the opportunity by the Lord’s grace of becoming joint-heirs with the
Lord Jesus, in the glory, honor and immortality of the Kingdom, to lose all
these privileges and advantages and favors-to trade them, as it were, for a
mess of pottage-for a more favorable condition in this present life, for
greater honor amongst men, or for wealth, or for the affection and sympathy of
husband or wife, parents or children. The prize is of so great value that
nothing is comparable to it.