The Confession – part 5
045 The Confession – part 5
Mark 8:27-38 (31-33)
June 7, 2026
Tonight we’ll just jump back in.
We are examining the disciple’s confession of the Christ
And Jesus’ response to it.
We are learning some very important facts about the Christian confession
#1 RESISTS CULTURE
Mark 8:27-28
· We aren’t confessing the cultural version of Jesus, we confess the Biblical One.
#2 RECOGNIZES CHRIST
Mark 8:29
· We see the Biblical Christ and we confess the Biblical Christ.
#3 REFORMS CONVICTIONS
Mark 8:30-33
This is where we are right now in our study.
The disciples had some very definite expectations
Of who the Messiah was and what He would do.
But their expectations were not accurate
And Jesus has set out to correct them.
There were some things that Jesus “must” endure
Which are totally opposite of what the disciples expected.
1) SUFFERING
“the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and the scribes…”
2) DEATH
“and be killed…”
Those are certainly hard pills to swallow
And were definitely NOT what the disciples expected.
· For if the man you follow suffers you will suffer.
· And if the man you follow is killed you likely will be too.
No doubt they were having to
Rethink their entire confession and their commitment to it.
But, as you know suffering and death were necessary
If Jesus was going to identify with sinners and then atone for them.
But that is the bad news, or at least the difficult news to hear.
There is one more thing that “must” happen.
3) RESURRECTION
“and after three days rise again.”
This is also something the disciples did not expect.
You know that even after it happened they were reluctant to believe it.
IT WAS JUST NOT ON THEIR RADAR.
But it was necessary.
· As sure as He must suffer…
· As sure as He must be killed…
· He must also rise.
And you’ve likely been through enough Easter Sunday services
That you know the reasons why.
We love 1 Corinthians 15
1 Corinthians 15:12-19 “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”
There is a logic expressed there that is really unequaled anywhere else.
Christianity stands or falls on the fact of the resurrection.
If Jesus stays dead we’ve got nothing.
· Preaching is pointless…
· Faith is worthless…
· The apostles are heretics…
· Forgiveness is a myth…
· The dead are in hell…
To say that Christ “must…rise again”
Is one of the most obvious realities we consider.
And certainly, just as we discussed with suffering and death,
We do need to discuss why.
We could start again with:
PROPHECY
Psalms 16:10 “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”
And that of course became
One of the favorite passages for the apostles to preach.
Peter used it in Jerusalem at Pentecost
Acts 2:29-32 “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.”
When Paul was saved and commissioned by the Lord, it was his text of choice as well:
Acts 13:34-35 “As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ “Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.’”
Though the apostles had not previously recognized it,
God Himself had announced that the Christ would suffer and rise.
Even Isaiah 53 alludes to the fact.
Isaiah 53:10 “But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.”
From a prophetic standpoint alone,
IF JESUS IS NOT RAISED, HE CANNOT BE THE CHRIST.
It is right up there with
· Being born in Bethlehem,
· Entering Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt,
· And having soldiers gamble over His garments.
The Christ had to suffer, die, and rise from the dead.
And that really narrows the field
When we start searching for potential Christs.
JESUS IS THE ONLY CANDIDATE.
We have also talked about the necessity of His resurrection as
VERIFICATION
· The resurrection proves Christ was sinless.
· Therefore it proves that His death was not for His own sin.
· The resurrection proves the cross works.
Peter preached it as well:
Acts 2:24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”
Paul said:
Romans 1:4 “who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,”
And again:
Romans 4:25 “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”
Jesus’ resurrection proves that justification occurred at the cross.
He said “it is finished” and the resurrection added the exclamation mark.
And you are certainly aware of that as well.
We also see the necessity of the resurrection in order that He might:
CONQUER DEATH
As we said this morning,
· Death is the enemy.
· Death is that which enslaved us in fear.
If He dies, but doesn’t rise,
It’s going to be incredibly difficult to prove He defeated it.
Hebrews 2:14-15 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”
How does it help us to overcome our fear of death if Jesus dies and stays dead?
· If He really was going to conquer death…
· If He really was going to set us free…
· If He really was going to give us hope…
Then He had to rise.
AND HE DID RISE!
We love the testimony of the apostle John on Patmos:
Revelation 1:17-18 “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
Peter also has a great declaration of Christ’s death and resurrection.
1 Peter 3:18-22 “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.”
Peter didn’t see death has having any effect on Christ at all.
In death He merely went and made proclamation to His enemies,
And then He came roaring out the other side.
We now know that death is not the end.
We now know that there is no reason to fear death.
CHRIST HAS CONQUERED THE GRAVE.
And again, not that we don’t love contemplating those truths,
But those are truths that YOU ARE LIKELY FAMILIAR WITH.
The disciples certainly weren’t at first, BUT YOU ARE.
BUT THE POINT WE HAVE BEEN MAKING
Is NOT JUST that Christ must suffer and be killed and rise from the dead,
But that as we contemplate that,
We realize that such truths challenge our convictions.
WE’VE ASKED:
How does the fact that Christ had to SUFFER reform your expectations?
How does the fact that He had to SUFFER change your ministry?
· Should it not teach you that suffering is part of the deal?
· Should it not teach you that suffering must be endured?
· Should it not teach you that suffering is a badge of honor, not evidence of
God’s displeasure?
The necessary suffering of Christ teaches us
To think different about what we expect from following Christ.
And how about Christ’s necessary DEATH?
· How does the fact that Christ had to die reform your expectations?
· How does the fact that He had to die change your ministry?
· Does it not change your expectations about what following Christ may cost?
Of course it does.
Any notion that following Jesus was going to be
This easy road of fame and fortune should be reformed.
We are following a CONDEMNED MAN.
We are following an EXECUTED MAN.
BUT THAT LEADS US TO TONIGHT’S QUESTION:
How does the fact that Christ had to rise from the dead reform your expectations?
THERE’S A QUESTION WE NEED TO ANSWER
Well one way is of course THE SPIRITUAL RAMIFICATIONS of it.
This is what we studied during our study of sanctification.
TURN TO: ROMANS 6:3-14
You’ll remember that the question which started the conversation
Was whether or not we can and should sin now that we are under grace.
And Paul just about lost his mind.
Of course not!
And the reason is because we have been united with Christ
In His death, burial, and resurrection.
Our old man should have been crucified and buried.
We should now have a new resurrected nature.
Not only should we not desire sin,
But we also should not be mastered by it.
(Read 3-14)
You see it over and over there.
· We died and now we live.
· We are dead to sin but alive to God.
And the ramifications are that sin should no longer reign in our mortal bodies.
· We should no longer obey its lusts.
· Sin should no longer be our master.
That is a spiritual ramification of Christ’s resurrection.
Just as He identified with us
In that He bore our sin and took our punishment,
We now identify with Him
In that we receive new life and freedom to be holy.
That is a clear ramification of Christ’s resurrection.
We have a new resurrected life.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
There is also a PHYSICAL RAMIFICATION of Christ’s resurrection.
Just as we will physically die,
We now fully expect to physically rise after death.
TURN TO: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-58
I love this passage and use it often at gravesides especially.
· The Corinthians were questioning what the resurrection would look like:
· Some kind of zombie apocalypse or something.
Paul rebuked them for their ignorance of such an important fact.
They didn’t understand that the resurrected body is a new body.
It’s like the forgot that God is both Creator and creative.
(Read 35-41)
To deny the resurrection because they couldn’t understand it
Was quite the insult to the creative power of God.
That’s like the disciples on the boat
Wondering where they were going to get bread?
WHEN THE CREATOR IS PRESENT
Getting something new from nothing is not difficult.
BUT PAUL DOESN’T STOP THERE.
He actually describes the type of body we expect.
And this is fantastic!
(Read 42-44)
That is what we hope for.
· One day we will get the body we’ve always wanted.
· A body fitted for heaven.
· A body ready for glory.
(Read 45-49)
Paul speaks of it as a certainty.
As surely as Adam produced offspring that looked like him,
So also Christ will produce offspring that look like He does.
It is a real physical resurrected body.
And then Paul outlines why resurrection is so important,
Because this type of body only comes through resurrection.
THE FIRST BODY MUST DIE.
(Yes, there are a few who will be alive when Christ returns who will skip death,
But by in large most of humanity will die)
We leave the old body behind that we might rise in a new one.
(Read 50-57)
So the resurrection of Jesus changes our expectations
Both spiritually and physically.
1. We have a new spiritual life now.
2. We expect a new physical life later.
The fact that Christ was raised should definitely reform our convictions.
But NOT JUST your personal expectations for life.
I want you to think about
How Christ’s resurrection should TRANSFORM YOUR MINISTRY.
IT SHOULD HAVE A MAJOR IMPACT.
However the most obvious problem we see in ministry today is that
We have far too many ministries who are not
Informed, transformed, or reformed by the resurrection.
WHAT DO I MEAN?
I mean that far too many ministries today
Are pursuing success and glory and prosperity IN THIS LIFE.
AND YET the resurrection clearly teaches us
To expect those things in the next life.
One more verse there in that Corinthian passage.
Look at verse 58.
1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”
Because of the resurrection we know that
Our “toil is not in vain in the Lord.”
IN SHORT,
· Paul was NOT measuring his ministry with an earthly measuring stick.
· Paul was looking to the resurrection.
· He was looking to the true results.
Remember what he told the Corinthians?
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 “According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
Paul wasn’t even trying to get a bead on the success of his ministry
Until after death, judgment, and the resurrection.
That is where it matters, not here.
IT DOESN’T MATTER
How big your ministry gets here.
How successful you look here.
The test comes at the resurrection.
The test comes after the judgment.
That’s where the size of your ministry matters.
PAUL KNEW THAT.
He was ok with what appeared to be failure here
Because he was counting on absolute success in eternity.
WHY?
Because Paul believed in the resurrection.
2 Timothy 4:6-8 “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
· That is a man facing death.
· He was dying alone in a Roman prison.
· He had been rejected by almost everyone.
He had no knowledge at that time
Of the impact his letters were going to have on the world.
I seriously doubt he ever thought
He would be a household name for thousands of years.
He wasn’t measuring his success in this life.
He believed in the resurrection
And he knew that is where the reward was coming.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
See his focus?
Philippians 3:10-11 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
See his desire?
SO I ASK YOU, HOW WOULD YOUR MINISTRY LOOK DIFFERENT
IF YOU BELIEVED IN THE RESURRECTION?
· Would you be more concerned about your earthly success or your heavenly success?
· Would you be more concerned that your children prospered now or in eternity?
· Would you be more concerned that your church had comfort here or in the afterlife?
YOU GET THE POINT?
It’s not hard to tell when a ministry is not influenced by the resurrection.
The total focus and goal is nothing more than
Success and glory and comfort and prosperity in this life.
AND OUR WORLD IS FULL OF MINISTRIES LIKE THAT.
So what does a ministry that is influenced by the resurrection look like?
That ministry is focused on holiness and faithfulness
And endurance and humility and things like that.
They have pondered passages like Psalms 15
Psalms 15 “O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the Lord; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.”
Those types of things become far more important when a person is influenced by the resurrection.
So do you see how the resurrection must reform your convictions?
· It shifts what matters.
· It shifts the conversations we have.
· It shifts the things we pursue.
· It shifts the treasures we store.
· It shifts the goals we set.
And this is what we have meant in this segment.
THE TRUE CHRISTIAN CONFESSION REFORMS OUR CONVICTIONS.
No longer is earthly COMFORT the goal,
But suffering with Christ and having fellowship with Him wins out.
No longer is ACCEPTANCE in the world the goal,
But dying to self as a faithful follower is more important.
No longer is treasure and SUCCESS here the goal,
But rising with Christ and sharing in the joy of eternity becomes the focus.
Our focus changes.
Our perspective changes.
Our convictions are totally reformed.
THAT IS WHAT THE CHRISTIAN CONFESSION DOES.
NOW, AS WE SAID, THE DISCIPLES NEEDED THAT.
· They were not ready for such a truth.
· They were not ready for all of this suffering, death, and resurrection talk.
(32) “And He was stating the matter plainly.”
Jesus wasn’t mincing words.
He was clear.
And Peter responds.
“And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.”
It’s hard to believe Peter could one minute confess Jesus to be the Christ
And the next minute feel the liberty to rebuke Him.
BUT THAT IS WHAT HE DOES.
WHY?
Because his convictions were off.
That is why Jesus had told him not to preach yet.
· Peter’s theology on the suffering of Christ was incomplete
· Peter’s willingness to suffer for Christ was nonexistent.
· Peter’s willingness to die even to self was missing.
· Peter’s focus on the resurrection did not exist.
HE WAS NOT READY TO GO OUT AND PREACH.
In fact, what Jesus says next reveals just how badly
Peter’s convictions needed to be reformed.
(33) “But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
Do you see the difference?
When we are not focused on
The suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ
It is clear we are not focused on the things that matter to God.
In fact Jesus tells Peter
· His allegiance is not to God, but to man,
· And he sounds more like Satan than a child of God.
Like Satan
He was setting his mind on “man’s” (his own) interests, not “God’s”.
That is why his convictions needed to be reformed.
And that is where we pause and reflect on our own lives.
WHOSE INTERESTS AM I FOCUSED ON?
· Am I focused on God’s interests?
· Am I focused on Christ’s interests?
· Or am I focused on my own interests?
WHAT TYPES OF THINGS AM I PURSUING?
· Obedience or comfort?
· Self-denial, or self-service?
· Eternity, or this life?
There are probably areas where
We need our convictions reformed as well.
Philippians 3:17-21 “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”
And now that you see the difference choose to confess Christ anyway.
· Resist the culture
· Recognize Christ
· Reform your convictions
Set your mind on the things that matter to God and to Christ,
Not on the things that matter to men.
This is what it means to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Pray