Corona Chronicles - Crown of Thorns

Welcome back to corona chronicles. We're still in Mark chapter 8. We're just gonna go back a bit and reread sort of a little section that we read yesterday, because this is such a wonderful question in here. So we're looking at Mark chapter 8, at verse 27 to 30. Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarria Phillipi.

On the way, he asked them, who do people say I am? They reply, some say you're John the Baptist, others say you're lying, and still others 1 of the prophets. But what about you? He asked, who do you say I have? Peter answers, you are a messiah.

Jesus warned them, not to tell anyone about him. Good questions, aren't I? You know, who do people say Jesus is? Yeah. I mean, if you were to do a survey on the street today, you would get different answers, but you would get all kinds of answers -- Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. You know, I mean, why are they there? Well, people would say, you know, so there's there's lots of Muslims who live in Kingston, and they would they would really want to stress their own affection for Jesus. You know, he's a prophet.

We love Jesus too. He's a great teacher, and he's even gonna return 1 day, and there would be that side of things. You would then have a more perhaps just kind of cynical atheistic view, which which I mean, I don't think there are any actual sensible historians who deny that Jesus existed. No. Not anymore.

Not anymore. No. So they would have to say something like that, you know, well, he was he was a good he was a good teacher and you know, revolutionary at this time and kind of shea Guevara, you know, I mean, I'm turning the system to So so in art of everything, inspiration, he was an alien, like, coming from another guy. Yeah. Okay.

Some of some of the king's seniors versus students would sense things like that. Yeah. Yeah. There's all kinds of views, isn't there? Yeah.

And I think I think I think most people would would just think of him as really a kind of irrelevant, wouldn't they? To modern to modern life and they would see him as a historical figure, you know, But, yeah, really. So, he asked that general question about, but this is why I love about Jesus. He's he's not really He's not vague, you see? So, I think the idea that you get of Jesus on, you know, the Simpsons or any of those sort of programs, is that he's like a hippie walking around, slightly in a trance, very vague, you know.

But Jesus isn't like that. He he really goes for you. And he goes for this question. Okay. That's what people say.

Yeah. But what about you? Who do you say I am? And I love that question because I think it's worth asking. And it's worth asking you who are listening.

Who do you say? Not not who does Richard Dorkins say? Yes. Not Who does aren't Fanny say? Not does who your re teacher said.

You know, whatever. But I don't know who aren't. Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, have what's your intelligent thought through position of who Jesus is?

And that's what we try to do as, Christian, isn't it? It's to ask that question. Don't just come out with memes and, you know, slow jokes. Have a real serious investigation Who do you genuinely think Jesus is? Yeah.

I mean, we've just come to the end of 1 of our tales of the unexpected courses. And it's just a great course because the conviction behind it is the best way to introduce people to Jesus is through the things that he taught. And 1 of the questions at the end of every session is where are you in this story? You know, who are you in this story? What do you think about which category would you fall into?

And it's trying to do the same thing really. It's not allowing us just to comment politely on an interesting story. It's forcing us to do what Jesus does here and and to actually come to a conclusion about who he is and how we should respond to him. And You could you you know, you can't give a politician's answer to this. No.

You know, so I was just thinking about that famous interview between Jeremy Pack I can't remember who it was when he asks him the same question 13 times. You know, so did you threaten him? Yes or no? Did you threaten him? Yes or no?

Did you threaten him? Yes or no? Did you threaten him? Yes or no? And every time, there's a well, it depends what you mean by you.

It depends what you mean by threats. And there's ways of kind of shirking it all the time, and most of us get pretty frustrated with politicians. Can't answer straight questions. But but Jesus is not gonna allow that. He's he's given some time to the general answers.

But as you said, now he wants to confront these guys and say, come on. Let's get to it. Yeah. Who am I? Based on the evidence you've seen, based on the things that I've said, based on the things that I've done, who do you say I am?

And we want to put that out, don't we? Or we want to say that's the question, who is Jesus? Because if he's just a political revolutionary, he's really only really only interested in him for politics. And if he's just another good religious leader, well, you know, you could have him as others choose from. This others to choose from.

But if he's if he is the son of the living God that has the words of eternal life, it blinks are different, isn't it? So I think it was c s Lewis that had that very famous thing. You know, he's he's either a liar because he claims to be the son of God. He's always a lunatic on par with somebody who says they got a poached on their head. Yeah.

Or he is the lord. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there is another 1 you can put there. It's just a sort of legend, you know, a made up sort of thing.

But So there, the question is he a liar, limited, lord, or legend? Is either lord? And of course Peter says weighing on the evidence I see, you're the messiah. You're the lord. Yeah.

And as we looked at last time, although he doesn't fully understand what that means. In other accounts of this, it does say, you know, blessed are you son. This was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, you know, but by my father in heaven. So that is a true conclusion. Because in our age, we would we would think that every answer could be right.

Yeah. To who do you say I am, profit, that's right. Who do you say I am, but suddenly, yes, that's right for you. That's right for you. That's right for you.

But There is a correct answer to that question. Isn't there? Yes. Yes. Because we're in the age of even of, you know, ice who do you who I say I am?

I am. Whatever I say I am. Yeah. Which is sort of a nonsense, isn't it? But what we ate.

Yeah. So So, here we are. We see that I mean, I came to the conclusion, and you obviously did that Jesus is the Messiah, he's the king. And he's the king of the universe. And therefore, he knows better how I should live my life than I know how to live my life.

And even though he may say some things that don't feel even natural to me and feel a little, you know, I'm in conflict with, then if he is the Messiah King, I would be wise to listen to him rather than even myself. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.

I think if you make up and if you acknowledge something like that, there is a life that must follow it. Yeah. If it's a consistent claim. So if you acknowledge someone to be the rule and king of the universe, it follows that your life is gonna go under this work. Whereas if you acknowledge it just to be a historical figure, well, so what?

It doesn't actually make any purchase on my life. Does it? Whereas if you acknowledge this, what then everything changes? Yeah, you know. I mean, that's a really, very, very important point, because I think some people just don't want that.

You know, they want to have, okay, Jesus is king, but it doesn't affect my life. And that's not a Christian life, is it? It it really is to say, Okay, you do know better. And even though it hurts me, to listen to you, because I might have to change various aspects of my life I am under you. So, who do you say Jesus is?