The Gospel According To MarkSample

 Peter’s Affirmation of Jesus as Messiah: Mark 8:27-30

This is the famous scene on the way to Caesarea Philippi in which Jesus drew out of his disciples the confession that he was the Christ. And almost every Markan scholar agrees that it forms the centerpiece of Mark’s gospel.

In the first verse of the gospel, Mark wrote, “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus was the “Christ,” the Messiah. But since that verse, the word “Christ” had not appeared anywhere in Mark’s gospel. Mark had not spoken of Jesus as the Christ. He had not reported that the disciples had called him the Christ, or that the people who witnessed him had speculated that he was the Christ, or even that the demons had used the term Christ.

In fact, nearly everyone who had tried to identify Jesus had been wrong. They thought he was a mere miracle worker, or a prophet, or John the Baptist, or a lunatic, or a demoniac possessed by Beelzebub. But at this moment, Jesus decided it was time to press his disciples to acknowledge who he really was. Consider their dialogue in Mark 8:27-29: 

[Jesus] asked them, “Who do people say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”

After 8 chapters of evidence, the apostles finally affirmed their belief that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the one who was bringing the kingdom of God.

After the apostles’ affirmation of the Messiah, the fourth major section of Mark’s gospel deals with the suffering of the Messiah. This section extends from 8:31-15:47.

In the first half of his gospel, Mark had focused on how Jesus’ powerful ministry led up to the glorious affirmation that he is the Christ. But at this point, Mark began to emphasize a different aspect of Jesus’ messianic work: his suffering and death in Jerusalem.