Chapter # 8 Paragraph # 6 Study # 1
October 11, 2022
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: The cultural confusion regarding "The Christ" is a major part of Jesus' reason for forbidding His disciples to tell anyone that He is The Christ.
Introduction: In our last study we considered why the people were mostly giving the wrong answer to the question of Jesus' identity. I drew from the "danger" issue of "the leaven" to argue that those wrong answers all had their root in that dangerous leaven. I also drew the conclusion that "wrong theology" arises out of the bondage of men to "the leaven" so that it is impossible to "see" the truth if one is blinded by a strong commitment to the opinions that men have of that one.
At the end of that paragraph we are told that Jesus insisted that His disciples refrain from declaring to anyone (as doctrine) that Jesus is The Christ.
In our study this evening we are going to zero in on that insisted upon "restraint". It is an interesting restraint, especially in light of John 1:41 where Andrew told Peter, his brother, "We have found The Christ".
- I. The Strength Of The Restraint And Its Roots.
- A. The statement that Jesus "warned" the disciples to "tell" no one "about Him" (as to His identity as The Christ) uses the very strong word, "epitimao".
- 1. This word is found in nine texts of Mark's Gospel.
- 2. It carries a strong sense of powerful authority as in 1:25 (an unclean spirit), 4:39 (the wind and the waves), and 9:25 (another unclean spirit; this one being recalcitrant about obeying the "exorcism authority" of the disciples).
- B. The rationale for this "strong insistence".
- 1. In the context, the "problem" is that the populace is in a great deal of turmoil over what to think about Jesus because, as I attempted to argue last week, there is simply too much "leaven" in the hearts of the people.
- a. This is a conclusion from the strength of Jesus' warning about it's danger.
- b. This conclusion is reinforced by Mark's record of Jesus' statement about "being rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes" because the significance of those categories of "rejectors" is only one: the power of their rejection in the minds and hearts of the nation.
- 2. Also, there is a significant danger in identifying Jesus as The Christ in respect to this turmoil.
- a. This danger is revealed by what Jesus began to strongly "highlight" in His teaching after His strong demand.
- 1) This "highlighting" is the coming rejection by the leaders of the nation.
- 2) Since the majority concept of "Christ" in the culture is that of "Messiah ben David" and that is NOT the concept that Jesus is going to establish by His future, it stands to reason that the disciples should be restrained from "pushing" this concept before its time.
- a) There is, in Mark 10:47-48, an example of Jesus acquiescing to the appeal for healing from a blind beggar on the basis of "Son of David" terminology.
- i. This acquiescence is, first, not a proclamation by the disciples of Jesus; it is a statement about Jesus by a "blind man" who has no credibility in the culture.
- ii. This acquiescence is, second, very late in the time frame in that Jesus is on his way out of Jericho and toward Jerusalem to His crucifixion that is rooted in His admission that He is that "Son".
- b) There is, in 11:10, a second example of Jesus being identified as the Son of David, but this is just five days before He is put to death.
- 3) If Jesus is identified too early, He will be rejected by too many.
- a) In the issue of "believing", there is the fact that it is critical for the facts of the truth to come in a timely manner (John 16:12, 1 Corinthians 3:1, and Hebrews 5:12-13).
- b) Once "rejection" occurs, it is doubly difficult to accept that decision as wrong.
- b. This danger is also revealed by the fact that the very one who said "You are the Christ" is the one most strongly influenced by Satan to reject Jesus' "highlighted" teaching.
- II. The Deliberate Focus By Jesus Upon His Identity As "The Son of The Man".
- A. This focus is upon His "parallel" identity to "The Christ": "The Son of The Man".
- 1. In 3:28 Jesus uses this phrase in the plural, "the sons of the men", with the obvious meaning of "human beings" as "sons of post-fall Adam".
- 2. But Jesus, Himself, threw somewhat of a monkey-wrench into this "Son of Man" identity early; in 2:10 and 2:28.
- B. The title "The Son Of The Man" will yet be a legitimate title when this "Son" descends at the Second Coming (14:62).
- C. This focus is upon His treatment by the leaders of the nation.
- 1. He will suffer many things.
- 2. He will be rejected.
- 3. He will be killed.
- D. But there is this: He will be raised on the third day.
