You Are The Messiah: Mark 8:29

Jesus doesn’t need our complete understanding; He wants a willing heart instead.  We don’t always know where God is leading us; what we need to do is follow.  He has the plan.  He has the answers.

Jesus closes in on the heart of the issue with His disciples when He asks them who they think He is.  While Jesus wants the disciples to be aware of the crowd’s understanding, Jesus doesn’t want the disciples taking their cues from the crowd.  Jesus wants the disciples thinking for themselves and following the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus differentiates between what the crowd thinks and what the disciples think.  The disciples should look to the crowd to perceive who is ready to be challenged in Christ.  When we are among the crowd, we perceive through the eyes of service and mission.  Jesus wants the disciples to be in touch with the crowd so they can have an ear for who is ready to go deeper in their understanding.

This goes back to what Jesus taught earlier about things on the outside being unable to defile us.  When His disciples listen to the crowd, the focus is on looking for opportunities to take God’s Spirit within and give it away.  By focusing on giving out of the Spirit within us, we are much more likely to avoid bringing the outside world inside.  When the crowd becomes the object of our service and mission, the crowd’s ability to lead us astray wanes.

Turning now to the response to Jesus’ question, Peter volunteers his belief that Jesus is the Messiah.  Peter believes Jesus is God’s chosen one.  He deserves credit for answering the question boldly and answering the question correctly.

However, don’t think that Peter understands how Jesus plans to go about the work of the Father.  Peter knows Jesus is sent from God, but He still doesn’t fully grasp God’s plan.  Peter is just as surprised as the rest of the disciples at the crucifixion, which is why he denies knowing Christ.  Peter is just as surprised as the rest of the disciples at the empty tomb, which is why he runs to the tomb when the women report it being empty.  This isn’t a condemnation of Peter.  It is a realistic understanding that human beings seldom know the fullness of God’s plan.  We are clued in, but seldom completely clued in.

There is a spiritual beauty in this passage.  The crowd doesn’t understand at all.  The disciples understand and follow, but they don’t understand fully.  Neither of these conditions prevents Jesus from interacting with the disciples or the crowd.  Jesus doesn’t expect us to have everything figured out.  Jesus doesn’t require us to have all the answers.  Jesus only asks that we believe Him to be the Messiah, follow Him, and look to the crowd to see where He is opening doors and calling us to His service.  Jesus doesn’t need our perfection, He wants a willing heart instead.