The Messiah We Didn't Expect: Understanding the Suffering King

You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone

podcast, a ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone

Church in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan

Merrick, and it's our prayer that this message

strengthens your faith and draws you closer to

Christ. Let's dive in. With that being said,

we've got a lot to unpack, and I will tell you,

I don't know if I'll get through all of it today,

but If not, we'll leave the rest for next week.

But if you would turn to Mark, chapter eight

and the specific text I'm going to be unpacking

for the main chunk of it is verses thirty one

through nine one. But we have to kind of hit

some highlights first before we do that. So as

you're turning there. The title of my sermon

this morning is Seeing Jesus Clearly, the Revelation

of the Suffering Messiah. And the big idea is

true sight begins when we recognize Jesus as

the suffering Messiah and follow him on the road

to the cross. Noah, would you run to the room

in there? I think I left my water bottle in the

room, sorry. So, my wife, reminded me, because

I put in here that a few years ago, we bought

some bookshelves. And she reminded me that that

was not a few years ago. Noah was a baby. So

time goes by really quickly. But we had we had

bought some bookshelves. Thank you, but from

from Ikea. And has anybody ever bought anything

from Ikea in here? Yeah. OK, so just a couple

of people. It comes with about a thousand parts

and the directions make no sense. And so. But

I'm going I'm a man. I it's a bookshelf, it's

literally just a square. I can see the picture

on the box like I'm going to put this thing together

for my bride. So we bought two of them. So buddy

Looked at those directions for about a split

second was like yet. Nope. So I'm like, this

is simple I'm gonna do this and so I start putting

it together and I'm really proud of myself Putting

this thing together. So I yell for Tracy and

and at the moment you would thought that I would

have been like Really looking at this bookshelf

But I wasn't. I was just in my ADHD. I was excited,

man. I was just zipping everything, screws here

and going there and putting it all together.

And I call Tracy and I say, hey, babe, come in

here. I put this bookshelf together for you.

And as I step back, she walks into the room and

I'm like, uh -oh, because this bookshelf is leaning

like this and the shelves are all messed up.

And it's just a complete disaster of a bookshelf.

And Tracy's like, what did you do? And I'm like,

well, I thought I put it together together for

you. And so so then she jumps in trying to fix

it. And it was so messed up that we had to go

to Home Depot and get some get a piece of plywood

to screw into the back just to make the thing

stand up straight. And so it was really bad.

And I said, we got two bookshelves. So the second

bookshelf, I was not allowed to put together.

Tracy, Tracy took that over. But Tracy says,

yeah, she let me know my services were no longer

needed from there on out. But so The problem

was that it wasn't that I didn't know anything

about a bookshelf or what a bookshelf supposed

to look like that wasn't the problem or the fact

that I Didn't know how to operate a screwdriver.

I do a drill the problem was that I thought enough

of my own pride and Assumed I understood what

I was building and so I saw the picture and I

thought easy I got this But I was completely

wrong and what ended up happening was is how

do you know how many of you guys know that like

Or have you ever been in a situation where you

thought? Very confidently you knew what you were

doing and then you get into it or you get done

and you're like, yeah No, I should have called

a professional. I just saw Vicki May look at

Keith May like But but sometimes right like it's

The worst mistakes aren't always from people

who don't know what they're doing the worst mistakes

come from people who know just enough to be dangerous

You know what I mean? And and and and I will

say this Tracy gets us into some bad things sometimes

because there is not a thing that Tracy does

not feel confident in doing She's like electrical

work. We can do that. I'm like we can yeah, well

YouTube it and you instruct me through it. Hey,

touch this hot wire, just make sure it's off.

Okay. So in Mark chapter 8, this is where we

Mark 8 · chapter mention

find Peter. But before I dive into our text as

far as in verse 31, I want us to look at a couple

of other spots to kind of set this up. But just

so you know, we know that Peter claims Christ

to be the Messiah. This is where we're going

to unpack, right? The problem is, is Peter thinks

he knows what the Messiah is, and when Jesus

tells him what he must come and do as the Messiah,

Peter then rebukes him. completely lost, knows

just enough about the Messiah, but not really

and completely missed what Jesus has been setting

up the entire time. And so in many ways, the

central question of this passage is, do we really

see Jesus for who He is or have we created a

version of Jesus that fits our own expectations?

And so in Mark chapter eight, I want you to write

this down, Michael, if you would put this up

here, if you would. There's two things that Jesus

says that completely redefine what it means to

follow him. The first one he says, I am the king,

but I am a king who is going to a cross. And

then the second one is, if you want to follow

me, you must come to the cross too. I'll give

you guys time to write that down. And so before

I dive into the text, I want us to take a look

at and you you all you got to do is look across

the page. And again, once you're done writing

everything down, but if you look at Mark, chapter

eight, it says Jesus feeds the four thousand.

Now, we already seen saw him feed. The five thousand,

right? So you can be like, well, Is this the

same account? Nope, it's a different account,

completely different. This time, people are following

him and they're so infatuated with Jesus and

his teachings and his words that they completely

forget about eating. And so Jesus, it says, has

compassion upon them and he looks upon them and

he goes, we're going to feed you guys. So we

have the same thing happen. Now, let me ask you,

let me ask you all this. If we had just literally

six months ago to a year ago had a crazy event

where we fed thousands from a happy meal, anybody

in this room going to forget that? No, no. Look

with me at verse four. Because Jesus asked the

question or verse three says, and if I send them

away hungry to their homes, they will faint on

the way. And some of them have come from far

away." In verse four, and his disciples answered

him, how can one feed these people with bread

here in a desolate place? Come on, bro. Right?

And you know that's what Jesus is thinking. Like,

you guys can't be serious right now. And so...

You get you get the disciples still missing it

They've literally watched him feed up to 20 ,000

people and they still aren't getting it, right?

so Earlier in chapter 8 Jesus feeds another multitude

and this isn't feeding of the 5 ,000 like we've

already studied like I said, but it says so he

goes on and he goes Just like you really you

guys really don't see it But then if you look

at verse 21, what does he ask them in verse 21?

Don't you guys get it? Don't you understand?

And they're like, yeah, yeah, we get it. You

want us to build a bookshelf and not use directions.

And so they're totally not getting it. And Jesus

is like, okay. And so that question becomes the

key to everything else that follows. The disciples

are seeing, but they're not understanding. They're

witnessing miracles, but they're missing what

those miracles reveal about Jesus. And then something

fascinating happens. Immediately after this conversation,

what does it say in your Bible, like the subtitle

before verse 22? Does your Bible have something

there? What does it say is gonna take place starting

in verse 22? Yeah, a blind man gets healed right

and you guys More than likely you guys know the

story Jesus takes this blind man away He spits

and he makes mud and he puts on his eyes and

he and he heals him and so The funny thing about

this is we go from Jesus heals the blind man

Two, now let's go into verse 27 and I'm going

to read to verse 9 -1. 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? And they told him John

the Baptist, and others say Elijah, and others

one of the prophets. And he asked them, but who

do you say that I am? And Peter answered him,

You are the Christ and he strictly charged them

to tell no one about it then we keep going and

He began to teach them that the Son of Man must

suffer many things and be rejected if you're

highlighting or if you have a highlighter a pen

I want you to underline that but I want you to

circle the word must He must be rejected by the

elders and the chief priests and of the scribes

and be killed and after three days rise again

And he said this plainly. And Peter took him

aside and began to rebuke him. By the way, that

word rebuke is like he literally begins to yell

at him. Like he's very stern about it. He's angry

with Jesus. Verse 33, but turning and seeing

that 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. and calling the crowd to him with his

disciples, he said to them, if anyone would come

after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross

and follow me. You should highlight that as well.

For whoever would save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for my sake in the

gospel will save it. For what does it profit

a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his

soul? And for what can a man give in return for

his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and my

words. And 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. And he said to them, truly I say

to you, there are some standing here who will

not taste death until they see the kingdom of

God after it has come with power. So now, It's

really interesting that Mark chooses to set up

Peter's confession right after the blind man

Gets healed. What do you think mark is trying

to tell us as an audience? Yes, yeah, and so

and it's also really funny so if we read the

account Let's go to verse. Let's back up. Just

just a minute go to verse 24 Jesus asked the

blind man Bartimaeus is his name. Do you see

anything and what does it say in verse 24 and

He looked up and he saw what? He saw people but

they were like trees so he wasn't he was seeing

but he wasn't fully seeing yet So then when you

go to Peter's confession You see what Mark is

setting up here? He's seeing but not seeing.

And so that's a really interesting little writer's

thing that he did there. And so Peter's sight

is improving, but it's not clear yet. And then

Peter's confession is not by accident. I'm skipping

ahead in my notes and I need to just stay locked

into them. By placing the blindness, the blind

healing, just before Jesus's exchange with Peter,

Mark suggests that Peter and the disciples will

not enter Jesus's messiahship and death unless

their blindness is healed. And that's exactly

what is happening here. Peter can see something.

He knows Jesus is the Messiah, and he gets the

answer right when others get it wrong. But like

the blind man, after his first touch, this vision

is still blurry, and he sees Jesus, but he doesn't

see him clearly. He understands Jesus' identity,

but he misunderstands Jesus' mission. And that

leads us to one of the most important titles

that Jesus uses of himself in this passage, the

Son of Man. How many of you guys know that that

is an important distinction of a title? Do you

guys know that? It sounds like he's just saying,

oh yeah, Son of Man. But it's an important distinction.

Why? Write this first down. And Daniel chapter

seven, that is the prophecy of a divine or I'm

sorry, that is the prophecy of the Messiah. But

I want you to write this down. I don't have it

up here, so I'm just going to have to read it

slowly. Here is what the definition of a Messiah

is. A divine messianic figure who comes in glory,

receives an everlasting kingdom. and sets everything

right. And so that term, Son of Man, that is

what that means. When they say, when Jesus calls

himself the Son of Man, he is calling himself

the Messiah, the Christ. So when you hear people

say, Jesus never said he was God, Jesus never

said he was the Messiah, Jesus never said he

was the Savior, oh yeah he did, when he used

the term Son of Man. He's referring back to Daniel.

And so that's why Jesus said what Jesus says

next is so shocking that the Son of Man must

suffer many things because everyone is seeing

it as an everlasting kingdom where he is going

to set everything right the angels are gonna

come down and all things are gonna be made To

lay waste that are evil and Israel will be set

a new kingdom And notice that he says must not

might not probably will but he must that Jesus

must die He says, I have to die. His suffering

is not an accident and it's not a tragic twist

in the story. It's a divine necessity. So which

raises the question that drives the entire passage.

Why must the Messiah suffer? Have you ever thought

about that? Have you ever thought about the fact

that Jesus had to suffer like why? That's the

that's the answer that are the question that

we're going to answer. So. Here we go. If you're

taking notes, the personal necessity is the first

one. There's a personal necessity of why Jesus

must suffer. So, there is a theologian The book

is now out of print, but his name is William

Vanderbent. And he talked about, he argued that

every human instinctively knows the difference

between authentic love and counterfeit love.

Would you agree with that? That we know the difference

between a counterfeit love and an authentic love?

Yeah, I think so too. Counterfeit love says,

I love you because of what you do for me. As

long as you're meeting my needs and affirming

me, making me happy, I'll stay. But if it costs

something too great, I can always walk away.

So it's a love that is very transactional. But

true love is different. True love says your joy,

you can write this down. I'm sorry, you could

have counterfeit love says, I love you because

of what you do for me. And then true love you

can write down says your joy is my joy. Your

good is my good. True love spins itself for another

person. It gives without keeping score. It makes

itself vulnerable. It holds nothing back and

then Vanstone makes a devastating observation.

What do you think that observation is? Do you

think that you give true love authentic love?

Hearing those definitions, do you think that

you offer true authentic love? He says, no. We

all long for that kind of love, but none of us

can consistently give it. We love, but our love

is often mixed with self -interest. We serve,

but also we want something in return. We sacrifice,

but usually only to a point. And in the end,

we're all searching for perfect love while being

incapable of producing it ourself," is what he

said. I think that's true. Even in my own marriage,

Want to believe that I have a true authentic

love for my wife But then it's very easy that

when the dishes start to stack up and I want

to just lay in bed Where does that does does

my authentic love kick in? No Like we we immediately

think about ourselves first even when it comes

to love but we expect others to love us unconditionally

Because why because we desire it and we need

it Because that's the way God hardwired us, but

it's because of sin we cannot give true authentic

love all the time. Can we sometimes? Sure. But

it doesn't always last. And so what's the solution?

If we're all searching for perfect love while

being incapable of producing it ourselves, what

is the solution? The solution is this. We need

someone to love us who doesn't need us. Someone

who loves us not because we add something to

Him, but simply for our own good. Someone who

loves us unconditionally, sacrificially, and

completely, and that brings us to Jesus. Do you

guys remember when we first started the Book

of Mark? I talked about the Trinity, and I talked

about the dance that the Trinity has together,

and that from the very beginning, they have been

in perfect love and in perfect unity together.

Always pointing to the other from all eternity

God has never been lonely and he has never been

needy and he has never lacked affection fulfillment

or joy So he creates us in order to share that

God does not need us to love him He wants to

just share his love with us He loves us because

he chose he chooses to and the cross is the ultimate

demonstration of that love write this down for

me Jesus suffers because true love suffers Jesus

gives himself because true love gives itself

away Jesus goes to the cross because true love

holds nothing back and Peter wanted a Messiah

with the crown but not a cross But a messiah

without a cross could never show us that kind

of love a Messiah without suffering could never

display or could display power But he could not

display sacrificial love and that's why Jesus

says he must suffer The cross was not merely

necessary to satisfy justice it was necessary

to reveal the very heart of God and What happens

when that love finally sinks in? What happens

when you finally meet true authentic love that

does not use you? What does it do to you? well

The need to constantly impress people begins

to fade the desperate need for approval starts

to loosen its grip the fear of rejection Loses

some of its power why? Because when you know

you're perfectly loved by Christ you stop demanding

that everyone else fill the role that only Jesus

can fill And so your cup becomes full. And when

your cup is full, you're finally free to stop

using people and start loving people. And so

do you see what Jesus is doing? His suffering

was personally necessary because only through

the cross could we experience a kind of love

our hearts have been searching for all along.

So the cross was necessary. The suffering was

necessary, one, from a personal necessity. Point

number two, from a legal necessity. The cross

is not only personally necessary, it's legally

necessary as I said. And so what do I mean by

that? So I'm gonna pick on somebody. Who could

I pick on? I'm gonna pick on Scott, he's easy.

Scott, I come over to see you and Mary Lynn and

while I'm over there. You guys have have a nice

lamp and I'm not paying any attention And I accidentally

knocked the lamp over and I bust it. Okay, you

tell me that this lamp Cost a hundred bucks and

I'm like, oh man, so we have two options, right?

Option number one would be what? Me replace it

right me me being the one who pays the hundred

dollars The second one would be forgiveness,

right? But there still has to be a cost that's

absorbed to that, right? What I mean by that

is, even if you forgive me, that doesn't replace

the lamp, right? So Mary Lynn's like, this is

my reading corner. I need a lamp, Scott. and

you wouldn't let him pay the hundred bucks, so

now we gotta pay the hundred bucks to go get

a new lamp, right? So you've forgiven me, but

it's not replaced the lamp, right? So there's

still a cost that needs to be absorbed. Does

that make sense? Does everybody roll in what

I'm throwing down? It's been a while since I've

said that one. Aria's gonna let me know that.

And so the only question becomes who is going

to absorb the debt? Either I pay the debt or

you absorb the debt as we talked about but there's

not just an economical way that we understand

this. There's another way that we understand

a debt. When someone damages your reputation

or steals an opportunity from you or betrays

your trust or wounds you deeply, a debt is created,

yes? We have terms for this, right? We have debt

language. You owe me, right? They should pay

for what they did, right? We hear that in movies

a lot, right? Or we say things like they can't

just get away with that, right? So we have this

debt language that's already built in when it

comes to emotional damages. And so once a debt

exists, there are only two options. Either they

pay or you do, right? So if When it comes to

emotional damages, how can you make someone pay?

Most people would choose the first option of,

I want you to pay. What do I mean by that? Well,

we replay the offense in our minds over and over,

and we fantasize about a thing called revenge,

right? And so we want to see them suffer. We

want them to feel the pain of what they have

caused us. But here's the problem though. If

you want them to pay and you want them to suffer.

What does that do to you? Yeah, it makes you

just like the perpetrator, right? Makes you bitter.

and bitter hardens us, resentment consumes us,

and the evil done to us only begins to reproducing

itself in us, and then ultimately evil wins.

So what's the alternative? Forgiveness, right?

Forgiveness would be the alternative of not getting

revenge, right? Now I'm gonna ask you something,

and I want you to be completely honest. Does

forgiveness cost you something? Absolutely it

does. Not all forgiveness is equal, right? And

some forgiveness is very painful. Real forgiveness

is costly. When every part of you wants revenge

but you refuse it, when you want to strike back

but choose mercy instead, when you absorb the

pain rather than returning it, that actually

hurts. Why? Write this down. Because forgiveness

always involves suffering. The debt doesn't disappear,

someone absorbs it. And in forgiveness, that

someone is you. And now take that principle and

apply it to your relationship with God. Every

sin creates a debt, every act of rebellion creates

guilt, every violation of God's law demands justice,

and the debt is very real. And God cannot simply

just act like it does not exist. So what are

the options? Either we pay the debt or he does.

So God absorbs the debt that cost himself. And

that's why Jesus says the son of man must suffer.

The cross is where God absorbs into himself the

penalty of our sin. The judge steps down from

the bench and takes the judgment upon himself.

And the one we sinned against pays the debt that

we owed. And the only way God can forgive sinners

without ignoring justice is through the suffering

of Christ. And that's why Jesus says again, he

must suffer. not because he lacks power, not

because things got out of control, not because

Rome was stronger than he was, but because forgiveness

always costs someone something. And at the cross,

God chose to bear that cost himself. Does that

make sense? Third point. It was a cosmic necessity.

It was a cosmic necessity. So Jesus had to die,

but why this kind of death have you ever thought

about that? I Mean these are things I've legitimately

like asked myself like or why didn't you just?

Come as a human being and then the Lord shows

me why or you know come as a grown man not a

human being came as a human being Why did you

you know, why didn't you just come as an old

guy? Why couldn't you just die of old age if

you had to die? Like why did it have to be this

brutal? Wicked death Why a cross why blood and

Hebrew tells us that and in the book of Hebrews

tells us this Without the shedding of blood there

is no forgiveness of sins Okay, that's for Logan

so you're saying that blood is magical nope not

saying the blood is magical you can write this

down right here In scripture, blood represents

life violently poured out. It represents a life

given before its natural end. And Jesus came

to give his life. The cross was the ultimate

payment for sin because it was the ultimate gift.

But the cross was not only a payment, it was

victory. And you see, Jesus did not merely come

to forgive sinners. He came to defeat the enemies

that held humanity captive. Those enemies are

sin, death, and Satan. The powers of darkness.

Throughout history, death has been humanity's

greatest tyrant. Every kingdom eventually falls

before it. Every ruler eventually bows to it.

And everyone knows that unless Christ returns,

death is coming for us too. Yesterday, it was

very. I can appreciate funerals for one thing

and one thing only. They're very uncomfortable,

but the thing I can appreciate of them. Is this?

It makes everybody think about death. Everybody

in that room begins to go. This is real like

I'm never Bob. I'm never going to see him again

Not not here anyway And so when Linda said to

me I want you to do the funeral, but here's the

thing everyone knows Bob That's why they're there,

but not everyone in that room knows Jesus, and

I want you to share the gospel and So that's

what I tried to do was share the gospel Because

one thing we can all agree on whether you're

a believer or not a believer There's two things

that make that show us that we have something

in common and I said this yesterday One we're

all born to we all die The question is is what

happens after death And so death is a scary thing

and because death is so terrifying it becomes

a tool for control Governments use it for good

and for bad, right? The powers of darkness use

it. Fear of death causes people to compromise

convictions, abandon truth, and live in bondage.

But Jesus walked directly into death's domain.

And by dying and rising again, he shattered its

power. Death swallowed everyone else, and instead,

Jesus swallowed death. Yes? That's why Paul can

later say death has been swallowed up in victory

The resurrection announces that death is no longer

the final word for the Christian The worst thing

that can happen to you is no longer the worst

thing That's why yesterday Being able to sit

and stand here as as Bob's coffin is before me

I can look at Linda who's sitting right in front

of me, and with tears in her eyes, we both know

that we will see Bob again. Because death had

already been defeated. Yes, Bob's physical body

lay here, but he is very much alive. Death has

become just a doorway, a defeated enemy. a servant

that ushers us into the presence of Christ. And

that, brothers and sisters, is freedom. That

is why, you guys have heard me make the joke

when we went through Philippians, why Paul could

look at the guards and they'd say, Paul, stop

preaching the gospel or we're gonna kill you.

And he's like, fantastic, I get to go be with

Jesus. And they're like, fine, then we're just

going to put you in jail. And he's like, great,

I'm just gonna convert your guards. It's freedom,

right? When you're no longer afraid of death

and it cannot hold you, it frees you up to truly

be born again. And so when death loses its sting,

when fear loses its grip, when the fear, when

fear loses its grip, you become free to love,

free to serve. free to sacrifice, free to obey

Christ, no matter the cost, because the powers

of this world can take many things from you.

They can take your possessions. They can take

your reputation. They can take your comfort.

They can take your life. But because of Jesus,

who conquered the grave, they cannot take your

future. They cannot take your inheritance, and

they cannot take you from your Savior. So the

son of man must suffer because he came not only

to forgive sinners, but to defeat death So it

was a cosmic necessity and the tomb is empty

So in closing and I got through this way faster

I thought So for those reasons Jesus says he

must suffer But Peter doesn't like it right Says

he rebukes Jesus. Why? Again, we said because

he's partially blind. He's like the blind man

in Bethesda. You can see people walking around

like trees. Peter sees that Jesus is the Messiah.

He's starting to put things together. He's like,

okay, you're doing all these crazy miracles,

but he's still not getting it. He just doesn't

understand what the Messiah is about. Peter wants

a king who conquers. And Jesus says, I'm the

king who will suffer. Peter wants a throne and

Jesus says, I'm taking a cross. Peter wants glory

and Jesus talks about sacrifice. Peter wants

Jesus to fit his expectation and Jesus refuses

to do that. And if we're honest, How many times

have you done that too? We don't mind the Jesus

who blesses us. We don't mind the Jesus who helps

us. We don't mind the Jesus who solves all our

problems. But a suffering Messiah who calls us

to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow

him, that's not fun. That's much harder. Then

Jesus asked the question that cuts through all

the excuses What does it profit a man to gain

the whole world and forfeit his soul? He's looking

at Peter and he's going Peter You you think that

you want this but what will it ultimately do

for you for eternity? What does me being a king

on this earth as a man who does not die for your

sins and you get to stand at my throne, what

does that do for you in the next life? Nothing.

You can write this down. In other words, what

good is it to build your identity on things that

cannot save you? You hear me say all the time,

money can't save you, success can't save you,

politics can't save you, popularity can't save

you, your career can't save you, your possessions

can't save you. The things of this world will

gladly ask you to give your life for them, but

they will never give their life for you. Only

Jesus did that. Peter wanted Jesus to serve his

agenda, but Jesus didn't come to advance Peter's

kingdom. He came to establish his own, and that

kingdom runs through what? The cross. The son

of man must suffer. The son of man must die.

and the Son of Man must rise again. And everyone

who follows him must follow him on the same path

of surrender and trust. The question this passage

leaves us with is very simple. Do we see Jesus

clearly? Not the Jesus we've imagined, not the

Jesus we prefer, not the Jesus we've remade in

our own image, but the Jesus who actually stands

before us in Mark 8, the suffering Messiah, the

crucified King. The Savior who gave everything

for us and now calls us to follow Him. Because

true sight begins when we finally see Jesus for

who He really is. Let's pray.