The Cross Before Glory

Mark 8:27-35 27

27 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.
31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.

Mark 8:29 And Jesus asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”

A. A brief survey of the Bible starting in the OT and then going to the New Testament to find out what Peter was saying when he said, ‘Jesus, You are the Christ”

1. In the OT it is the Hebrew word, mashiyach. Messiah is the transliteration of mashiyach.
2. The first biblical use of this word is in 1 Samuel 2:10b at the time that Israel was about to get a king.
   The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his (mashiyach) anointed.
3. Another example is in 1 Samuel 12:3a. Samuel here is talking specifically about Saul.
   Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. …”
4. 1 Samuel 24:6 David calls Saul the Lord’s anointed, the Lord’s mashiyach, the Lord’s messiah.
5. Mashiyach always refers to the king, or ruler of Israel. 9 times total in 1 Samuel and it doesn’t deviate from that wether it refers to a good king or bad king.
6. In the New Testament and the Greek word is Christos, and obviously where we get the word Christ. Christ is the transliteration of Christos. The definition of the Christos: the one who has been anointed.
7. In our English Bibles, The Hebrew word, mashiyach, in the Old Testament is translated (as anointed) and in the New Testament, Christos, is transliterated (as Christ). The inconsistency (translation vs. transliteration) severs any possibility of seeing the continuity between the Old and New Testament for the English reader.
8. Messiah/christ/anointed is the title of the ruler/king of Israel.
   1. The throne name of the king of Israel.
   2. Pharaoh was the throne name in Egypt.
   3. Caesar in Rome.
   4. Czar in Russia.

B. The Covenant God made with David.
When your (speaking to David) days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 2 Samuel 7:12-14

C. Gabriel echoes the wording of the Davidic Covenant
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. Luke 1:31-33

D. There is a flow and continuity in all of Scripture. The expectation of what the Christ would do did not change to mean anything else. Jesus did not redefine the Kingdom when He came. Jesus will usher in the Kingdom when He returns and sits on David’s throne forever.

Mark 8:31-33 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

A. Jesus was revealing in this response a critical thing about Himself, He was showing what God was like, showing how His Kingdom will come and how we, as His disciples, are to live in anticipation of that Day.

B. Simple Biblical timeline. THE CROSS marks this age and the glory is in the age to come.

25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:25-27

Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Hebrews 9:27-28

Acts 3:18-21 “But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that (1st coming) his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 (this age) Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time (2nd Coming. Day of the Lord followed by the AGE TO COME) for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.”

1 Peter 2:20b-23, …if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 Christ committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Philippians 2:8-11 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus (at the Day of the Lord) every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

C.We are a people who are living for the age to come. We can not get from here to that day when He alone is exalted without a massive shift. Scripture calls this transition the DAY OF THE LORD.

D.The nations will not give up being wicked and full of pride without a fight. The age to come will not come without much tribulation.

Isaiah 2:11, The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

E.The Day of the Lord (cf. Is. 13:6, 9; Ez. 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14; Am. 5:18; Ob. 1:15; Zeph. 1:7, 14; Zech. 14:1; Mal. 4:5; Mt. 7:22; 26:29; Lk. 10:12; 21:34; Jn. 6:39f, 44, 54; 7:37; 11:24; 12:48; Acts 2:20; Rom. 2:16; 13:12; 1 Cor. 1:8; 3:13; 5:5; 2 Cor. 1:14; Eph. 4:30; Phil. 1:6, 10; 2:16; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Thess. 1:10; 2:3; 2 Tim. 1:12, 18; 4:8; Heb. 10:25; 1 Pe. 2:12; 2 Pe. 1:19; 3:10, 18; Rev. 16:14) The Day of Wrath (cf. Ps. 2:5; 21:9; 79:6; 110:5; Prov. 11:4; Is. 13:9, 13; 30:30; 34:2; 63:6; 66:15; Lam. 1:12; 2:22; Hab. 3:12; Mic. 5:15; Zeph. 1:15, 18; 2:2f; Mt. 3:7; Lk. 3:7; Rom. 2:5-8; 5:9; Eph. 5:6; Col. 3:6; 1 Thess. 1:10; 2:16; 5:9; Rev. 6:17; 11:18; 16:14; 19:15) The Day of Judgment (cf. Ps. 9:19; 82:8; 83:18; 96:10ff; 98:9; 110:6; Is. 10:3; 26:9f; 41:1; 66:16; Jer. 50:27; Joel 3:2, 12; Mt. 10:15; 11:22, 24; 12:36, 41f; Lk. 10:14; 11:31f; Acts 24:25; Rom. 2:16; Heb. 6:2; 9:27; 1 Pe. 2:12; 2 Pe. 2:4, 9; 3:7; 1 Jn. 4:17; Jude 1:6, 15; Rev. 11:8) The Day of Recompense (cf. Ps. 28:4; 94:2; 103:10; 137:8; Is. 3:11; 34:8; 35:4; 59:18; 61:2; 63:4; 66:6; Jer. 46:10; 51:6; Lam. 3:64; Joel 3:7; Ob. 1:15; Mt. 12:36; 16:27; Lk. 16:2; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 2:6; 12:19; 14:12; 2 Thess. 1:8; Heb. 4:12; 10:30; 1 Pe. 1:17; 4:5; 2 Pe. 2:13; Rev. 2:23; 20:12f; 22:12)

1. The Day of The Lord is the antithesis of the days of man.
2. Revelation 4 and 5 show us things yet to come when Jesus alone will be exalted. Those Revelation songs that give all honor to the Father and the Lamb are in contrast to the exaltation of man.
3. Knowing the day of the Lord is coming helps us rightly relate to God’s mercy. We cry out for mercy because His Day is coming and only He will stand.
4. The cross was not the Day of the Lord. The cross offers forgiveness, mercy in light of the Day of Wrath that is coming.
   See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. Malachi 4:1Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” Isaiah 35:3-4

   By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men . 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:7-9

Mark 8:34-35 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

A.This life is to short to live for any else other than what Jesus calls us to. Abide in Him now, only in Him. So that when he appears you will have confidence and not shrink back in shame at His coming. (1 John 2:28)

B.The Apostles are clear on this point. The cross, suffering, going low, displaying the mercy of God by laying down our lives is our portion in this age.

Romans 8:16-7 16 The Spirit (Holy Spirit is given to us as the down payment of the inheritance, the resurrected body that we will receive when Jesus returns. The Spirit is the grace we need to get to that day) himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and 17 and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Hebrews 13:12-14 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

1 Peter 2:21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

C.Joyfully humbling ourselves now knowing that the Day of the Lord is just around the corner. No matter when Jesus splits the sky, in light the ages upon ages of resurrection life that awaits us it is so close.

D.Because His day is soon to come: Wake up now! The end of all things is near. Be sober and self controlled for the sake of your prayers. (1 Peter 4:7)

1 Peter 5:5b-11, …Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (Day of The Lord language through out Scripture) Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

E.The call is simple. To go low now. Humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, go the way of the cross. And in a little while when He returns, He will reward you with the crown of righteousness! (2 Timothy 4:8)