“Jesus __________” Part 4: The Suffering Servant | Pastor Jacob Sheriff
Reading
Mark 8:27-38 (ESV)
Introduction
We are in a series on “Who is Jesus?”, specifically as the Gospel according to Mark presents him. We’re looking at how this story as a whole reveals who Jesus is, his identity and vocation, then puts the question before us, “Who do we say that he is?”
We’ve looked at how this Gospel is structured in 3 Acts (or Sections):
- Act 1: Galilee — Ch. 1:1–8:26 — Who is Jesus?
- Act 2: On the Way — Ch. 8:27—10:52 — How is Jesus the Messiah?
- Act 3: Jerusalem — Ch. 11:1–16:20 — How Jesus became King
The first verse of the Gospel is the only time Mark tells you what he thinks, that Jesus is the “Messiah (Christ), the Son of God.”
Mark 1:1 (ESV) The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
We looked last week at Jesus’ baptism and what those titles mean: that Jesus is the God-Anointed, God-Appointed King of the world.
Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God: the God-Anointed, God-Appointed King
In the first section (Mark 1:1-8:26), we looked at how all the different stories Mark tells is pointed at asking the question: “Who is Jesus?” In that section, we get all the various responses and confusion of people who encounter Jesus. What we are going to look at today is the convergence of those two questions: “Who is Jesus?” and “Who do you say Jesus is?” In this, we will look more specifically how Jesus understands his identity and vocation as the Messiah, the Son of God (God-Anointed, God-Appointed King), and how the disciples don’t understand it.
Jesus’ Messianic Identity: the Suffering Servant
Mark 8:27–29 (ESV) 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.”
The question in this section (8:27-10:45) shifts primarily from “Who is Jesus?” To “Who do you say that Jesus is?” And the answer carries significant weight. Jesus asks them the generic question, “Who do people say I am?” Maybe he does this to get a sense of their awareness of the various opinions. But now it is no longer general, but personal, “Who do YOU say that I am?” And Peter gets it right! He recognizes Jesus as the Messiah, God’s Anointed King. Jesus implies that Peter is correct.[i] But then Jesus proceeds to describe what this means for him to be the Messiah. The image Peter (and the other disciples) had in his mind about the Messiah was very different from Jesus’ description of the Messiah and his vocation: suffer many things, be rejected, killed, and then rise again. Jesus was working with their current revelation, “You are the Christ,” but expounded clearly and “plainly” what that means in order to get a clearer image of what it ACTUALLY means for Jesus to be the Messiah, the Christ.
Act 2: Mark 8:27—10:52 — How is Jesus the Messiah?
Mark 8:31–32a (ESV) 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.
Three times Jesus tries to clarify what it means for him to be the Messiah: that the Messiah MUST suffer, be rejected, be killed, but then rise again. He was very plain about this, but repeatedly, the disciples didn’t understand.
Death and Resurrection Conversations: Mark 8:27-38, 9:30-37, 10:32-45
These conversations culminate with Jesus asserting what it means for him to be the Messiah in Mark 10:45. Here Jesus reveals his understanding of his identity as the Messiah, but also his vocation, what he must do because of that.
Mark 10:45 (ESV) “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Here Jesus is quoting from a very significant passage from the Old Testament as a way to explain his identity and vocation. This comes from a section of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 53 referring to the Suffering Servant. Jesus is combining his identity and vocation of himself as the Messiah with the identity and vocation of God’s Suffering Servant from Isaiah 53.
God’s Suffering Servant: Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Backstory
But to understand this requires some understanding of the backstory[ii] behind this poem. To understand what “Messiah” and “Suffering Servant” means, we need to begin at the very beginning. In Genesis 1:26-28, humans are created in the “image of God,” which means “representation and rule.”[iii]
Humans made in the “image of God”: Representation and Rule
The idea is that God would rule creation through his royal representatives, they would rule the world together in partnership and relationship. The Scriptures give us an extremely dignified vision of all humans: humans were to “co-rule” over the earth with God, under His authority and direction. They are provided a choice between living submitted under God’s authority, represented by the Tree of Life, or to seize the knowledge for ourselves, grasp the power and wisdom of defining good and evil for ourselves without submission to God, ourselves as ultimate authority, represented by the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
A serpent arrives on the scene, telling a different story of this tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and Adam and Eve believe it. The humans launch a coup against God’s rule and try to seize the rule for themselves, making themselves into God. The goodness of the garden is tragically lost and evil and death enter into God’s good world.
The serpent enters strangely and without explanation, it’s just presented as a creature in rebellion and wants to get humans to doubt God’s goodness and generosity and lead them on a path towards death. Whatever this snake is, it is seen to be the source of evil that pervades our world and our lives even still today. But this story is not without hope…
Genesis 3:14-15 (NLT) Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.[iv] He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
God makes an interesting promise. Someone will come in the future, an “offspring (seed) of woman,” a “snake-crusher” will come and who will destroy evil at its source, but it will be at the cost of his own life, a type of mutual destruction. He will be a “Wounded Victor” as the Snake Crusher. Its a strange and beautiful promise, and it’s just left hanging there…
Wounded Victor (Genesis 3:15)
The story of the Bible continues to show the downward spiral of humanity into sin and rebellion…unleashing all kinds of evil and violence, brokenness and injustice.
Humanity’s evil reaches its pinnacle as they asserted their rule over one another in violence, even attempting to hold the position of “gods” at the Tower of Babel. Instead of defeating evil, crushing the snake, humanity is completely overtaken by evil (the snake). God scatters humanity across the globe, but out of the scattering, He calls a man, Abraham[v], that He chooses as His partner and makes a promise to bless the world through him. Through this man’s family, God will restore goodness and blessing to all of the nations of the world.
And as we follow this family, we get to one of Abraham’s great-grandsons named Judah[vi]. He receives a promise that a king will come from his line, and that the whole world is going to follow this guy, and he’s going to bring peace and harmony, with lots of food and wine and vineyards and it’s going to be awesome. The first king we meet from the line of Judah is a guy named King David. God makes a promise to David, that a king will eventually come from his line.[vii] But it turns out David is infected with the same evil like the rest of humanity.
As you go on into the rest of the story, you see that each generation of David’s sons are total chumps. They choose evil and go after money, sex, and power, and following other gods. But the hope for a King from the line of David is kept alive through prayers and psalms. Even though this hope is kept alive, none of the “Sons of David” come even close to this Anointed King. Things get so bad that they run the nation of Israel into the ground. And the nation of Babylon takes them out. Babylon destroys the city of Jerusalem and the Temple, murders the family of the king from the line of David, takes the nation into exile. Now, there are no more kings to fulfill this promise. It seems like the whole plan is lost…
But during these dark days of the exile in Babylon, there’s this crazy group of guys called “prophets.” They just keep talking about this coming Messiah who will come defeat evil, and restore the garden.[viii]
When it seems all hope was lost, the prophet Isaiah spoke of a coming figure called “God’s Servant,” whose beautiful poems and prophecies pinnacle in Isaiah 40-55.
God’s Servant: Isaiah 9:1-7, 11:1-7; Isaiah 40-55
Scripture asserts to us the harsh, but true reality that from the beginning (Genesis 3:15), humanity has committed great sin, rebellion, and transgression. Our self-centered actions have caused great injustice, brokenness, and evil. We have all failed to bear God’s image[ix], which is a definition of sin, and our rebellion has not just made us guilty before God, but broken in our ability to fulfill the original vocation of humanity: bear God’s image (representation and rule). We needed the debt paid and the image healed. Our whole Old Testament is telling the story of how humans have been completely unable to do this in their own power and ability. Even God’s covenant people proved to go the way of all humanity: sin, rebellion, brokenness, evil, and injustice. We are not just guilty of sin, but slaves to sin. We are not just broken, we have no power to heal that brokenness on our own.
Isaiah prophesied a coming Servant from God, this Servant will be a light to the nations, he will bring Israel back to God and bring justice to the nations. He will bring God’s salvation and the kingdom of God, ushering in God’s return to His people. But to do this, the Servant must deal with what is at the root of Israel’s exile, slavery, and the injustice and brokenness of the nations; the Servant must deal with sin, iniquity, and transgression.
God’s Suffering Servant: Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Isaiah 53:2-6 (NLT)[x] “My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
Isaiah tells us more as to why this Servant King is to be killed. Isaiah says this promised king (Anointed King) will receive this wound because of humanity’s evil and that it kills him. This “Suffering Servant” in Isaiah 53 will be “pierced” (or “crushed”) for humanity’s evil and will die.
Isaiah 53:10-12 (NLT) But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.”
Jesus quotes Isaiah 53 to make sense of his identity and vocation as the Messiah: he is God’s Suffering Servant who will bear the sins of all humanity by being rejected, suffering, and dying. But death will not have the final say. He shall rise again and make it possible for many to become righteous.
Jesus, as the Messianic Servant, offers himself as a guilt-offering[xi] in compensation for the sins of the people. The release effected by this offering overcomes man’s alienation from God, his subjection to death, and his bondage to sin. Jesus’ service is offered to God to release men from their indebtedness to God.
Humanity’s biggest problem is not tyrants or despots, it’s not oppression or occupation, though these are problems and should be dealt with. But these are only physical mirrors of a dark, spiritual reality: the satan, the serpent from Genesis 3, is the worst of all tyrants, and sin our greatest oppressor and enslaver. Israel wanted to be free from foreign occupation, God wanted all humanity free from the power of the satan. Israel wanted vengeance on their natural enemies, God wanted all humans victorious over spiritual slavery to sin. Israel wanted their enemies to die, God wanted death itself to die. This is the mission of the Servant: to SACRIFICE himself in obedience to the will of God, SUFFER on behalf of all humanity, and DIE for their guilt and sin.
This is what Jesus was trying to make sense to his disciples these three times (Mark 8:27-38, 9:30-37, 10:32-45). But they didn’t get it. This is what makes this whole section of Mark important: both questions matter, “Who is Jesus?” and “Who do you say that Jesus is?” And the answer carries significant weight.
Discipleship to Jesus
The first question has been explored throughout the entire first section (Mark 1:1-8:26) and we’ve seen how others thought how to answer this. Mark has been placing story after story in front of us of who Jesus is and how different people have had different responses. Up to this point, we are simply observers. Now in this section of the Gospel (8:26-10:52), we are invited into the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples where we become more like participants in the questions and stories. Jesus is answering the first question when he explains his identity and vocation in connection to the Suffering Servant (Mark 8:27-38, 9:30-37, 10:32-45). This makes the second question even more consequential: “Who do you say that Jesus is?”
We are all disciples of something, in that we are all worshippers. We were made to worship. We were made (as God’s image) to find our identity and vocation in who/what we worship. God made us to worship and enjoy relationship with him. But as worshipping creatures, we cultivate desires for “the good life,” the image of a life we deem to be good, and out of those desires we begin to pursue that life. We find “icons” / “images” of that good life, people we deem to have that good life, and we begin to model our lives after them in order that we might live a similar good life. We become “disciples” of the ones we deem to have a life worth living, what we determine to be “good.” We are not always doing this consciously, but it is our reality.
“To be human is to be on a quest. To live is to be embarked on a kind of unconscious journey toward a destination of your dreams… you can’t not bet your life on something. You can’t not be headed somewhere. We live leaning forward, bent on arriving at the place we long for.[xii]” ~ James K.A. Smith
Now Mark’s gospel zooms in to his disciples, those who have committed their life to follow Jesus. It’s no longer general, but personal, “Who do YOU say that I am?” To be a disciple means to follow in the way of life of the Master. In a sense, they believe Jesus to be the ONE, the one who has the “good life,” and can share the “good life” with them. And Peter gets it right! He recognizes Jesus as the Messiah, God’s Anointed King.
But when Jesus describes what it means for him to be the Messiah, being God’s Suffering Servant, it’s disorienting to Peter. The image Peter (and the other disciples) had in his mind about the Messiah (and the “good life”) was very different from Jesus’ description of the Messiah and his vocation: suffer many things, be rejected, killed, and then rise again. Jesus was working with their current revelation, “You are the Christ,” but expounded clearly and “plainly” what that means in order to get a clearer image. You can immediately see there was an incongruence, a difference, between Peter’s image of Jesus, and the truth of Jesus.
Mark 8:31–33 (ESV) 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.”
Maybe Peter getting the answer correct made him get a little too big for his britches, because he “took him aside and rebuked him.” The word “rebuke” is the same Mark used to describe Jesus “rebuking” the demons, asserting an authority over the one being rebuked. Peter attempted to assert authority over Jesus; asserting the authority of his picture of the Messiah over the truth. A contemporary parallel would be asserting “my truth” over God’s truth. And Jesus would have none of it. He in turn rebuked Peter harshly, calling out the spirit behind Peter’s assertion (“Peter’s truth”), asserting God’s will and truth of a suffering/dying Messiah calls for complete obedience beyond being tempted to deviate from it. Our “minds” cannot be set on things of man, or images of the good life created by man, but must be set on the things of God, His will and His truth.
Jesus proceeds to give important details as to what it means to be his disciples. We do not get the luxury of asserting our assumptions, our “truth”, over Jesus, but must be dead to self, dead to selfish ambition, selfish motive, selfish perspective, selfish agenda. Jesus is the Master who gets to determine what the good life is, and he gives a counterintuitive image of life in the kingdom as his disciples: denying self, taking up our cross, and following him. We have to lose our life for the sake of Jesus and his gospel, and only then will we find our true life.
Mark 8:34–38 (ESV) 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. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Conclusion
This is why the question, “Who do you say Jesus is?” matters so much; it becomes the reference point of where you are in relation to the truth of who Jesus is. We do not get to project onto Jesus all of our wishes and desires, our imagination of what the good life is, and demand he provide for it, or else. Jesus is not at the mercy of “our truth,” we are at his. An analogy might be the maps at the mall. We have a destination we desire to get to, but we need a “You are here,” indication to see where we are in relation to the intended destination. Jesus is the truth, the destination, and we do not get to determine where that is. But if we want to be where he is, we need a “You are here” marker.
Mark 9:30–35 (ESV) 30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. 33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
Your answer to the question, “Who do you say Jesus is?” is that indication. In answering that question, and having the clearer picture of who Jesus is, you can see where you are in order to draw closer to Jesus.
The disciples imagined Jesus to have the good life and let them in on it…but Jesus is revealing the counter-intuitive mature of the kingdom of God and discipleship to the true Messiah, the Suffering Servant.
Mark 10:35–41 (ESV) 35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.
Mark 10:42–45 (ESV) 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The key to the model both incarnated and commanded by Jesus is in the verbs “to serve” and “to give.” The reason why a servant is the most preeminent position in the kingdom of God is that the sole function of a servant is to give, and giving is the essence of God.[xiii]
Nevertheless, [Jesus’] submission to the servant’s vocation is here proposed as an example to the Twelve, who are summoned to pattern their lives after the humility of the Son of Man. Jesus’ sacrifice of his own glory is the ground of a renewal of life to self-sacrificial obedience. The disciples were to experience this power of his death in themselves. That John, the son of Zebedee, ultimately understood Jesus’ intention is clear from 1 John 3:16: “He laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”[xiv]
Sacrifice, Servanthood, and Suffering; this is the way of discipleship to the Suffering Servant Messiah and King.
Extra Notes: Jesus’ Transfiguration
Mark 9:1-13 — The Transfiguration
Mark 9:2–4 (ESV) 2 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured[xv] before them, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
Mark 9:7-8 (ESV) And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him[xvi].” And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.
“The transfiguration, likewise, is his way of indicating what their understanding must become if they are to see Jesus from God’s perspective. In Peter’s confession (8:33), Mark teaches how disciples should think about Jesus, and in the subsequent transfiguration narrative he allows them to behold his true nature.”[xvii]
At Jesus’ baptism, the word from the Father out of heaven was to Jesus. Throughout the Gospel, Mark portrays Jesus pleading with people to hear and understand. Now in this story on the mountain, the voice from heaven now makes the same plea to the disciples. God’s direct word concerning Jesus is to the disciples (not Jesus) and is necessary for them to grasp the one point they struggle to accept—that the Son of God must suffer!
[i] Matthew’s gospel has the fuller story of Jesus’ immediate response to Peter in this moment (Matthew 16:13-20). Mark is intentionally vague in his retelling of this moment.
[ii] For a more full explanation of what the Messiah means, watch this sermon: https://www.youtube.com/live/NrUOUHcMFeQ?si=EAfxNiCOrHdoA9F2
[iii] Genesis 1:26a — “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion…”
[iv] זֶרַע (zeraʿ). seed, sowing. The word zeraʿ appears frequently in the OT. This is the main “thread” that will connect to the theme of the Messiah. It is the word “zera’” that makes you start looking for the “offspring” or “seed” of woman.
[v] Originally named “Abram,” God will later change his name to Abraham. The key texts of God’s promise to Abraham to bless the world through his family is found in Genesis 12:1-3 and 22:17-18, among other places.
[vi] The full blessing Jacob speaks over Judah is Genesis 49:8-12
[vii] Cross reference God’s covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7:11-16 with 1 Chronicles 17:10-14; and see the poetic reflections on this covenant in Psalms 2, 72, 89, 110, 132.
[viii] Key texts are found in Isaiah 2:1-4, 9:1-7, 11:1-7, 42:1-7, 49:1-7, 52:13-53:12
[ix] Paul describes it in Romans 3:23 that, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
[x] This “Suffering Servant” is connect to the Wounded Victory (Snake Crusher) of Genesis 3:15
[xi] Leviticus 5:14–6:7; 7:1–7; Numbers 5:5–8
[xii] James K. A. Smith, You Are What You Love, pg. 10
[xiii] Edwards, James, Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark, Mark 10
[xiv] Edwards, James, Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark, Mark 10
[xv] “To transfigure,” from the Gk. metamorphoun, carries the root meaning “to change.” The verb occurs only four times in the Greek Bible (9:2; Matt 17:2; Rom 12:2; 2 Cor 3:18), and in each instance it denotes a radical transformation. Referring to the transfiguration in 2 Cor 3:18, Paul says that as a consequence of beholding the glory of the Lord we were transformed (Gk. metamorphoun) from glory into glory.
[xvi] Cross-reference with Moses’ word about the Prophet that would come — Deuteronomy 18:15
[xvii] Edwards, James, Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark, Mark 9