The meaning of a believer

Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus proclaims that he has come to suffer, die and rise, and by implication calls his followers to suffer and die as well...with promise of eternal life.

Bible study outline

We have our good moments in life, and our bad. And sometimes, we have a really great moment followed by one that is so painful it cuts right to our heart. Does anyone have an example from their life of where a high point was quickly followed by a crash? Would you be willing to share it with us in just a sentence or two? (Read the passage.) There are two individuals in focus in this passage—Jesus and Peter. Of Jesus, we learn glorious things regarding who he is. For Peter, we find both one of the best and one of the worst moments of his life, one right after the other. Together, this text paints a picture for us of the believer. Peter is the example, and Jesus is the object of his faith. Let us consider what we can learn about being believers in Christ, noting Peter's early faith at this point as well as his mature faith represented in the books of 1 and 2 Peter. A believer knows who Jesus is. In the text before us, Peter testifies to Jesus being the Messiah (Christ). He will go on to learn much more about him. Person of the Trinity (1Pet 1:1-2) Lord (1Pet 1:3) Messiah (1Pet 1:3) Son of God (1Pet 1:3) Righteous (1Pet 3:18) Redeemer (1Pet 3:18) Chief Shepherd (1Pet 5:3-4) God (2Pet 1:1) Savior (2Pet 1:1) Eternal King (2Pet 1:11) The Bearer of eternal glory (2Pet 3:18) Are you unsure about or unfamiliar with any of these characteristics of Jesus? (If so, take a few minutes to talk about them.) With regard to Peter, perhaps we can see why Mark would include these stories one after another. For as we have said, that is how life sometimes is—we are up and then we are down. But this text is not ultimately about Peter. It is more so about Jesus. Given that, why do you think Jesus turned to teach on suffering after asking his disciples who they say he is? A believer receives the whole Jesus (including the suffering Jesus). Peter did. 1Pet 1:2, 11-12, 18-19, 2:21-25, 3:18, 4:1, 13, 5:1, 2Pet 2:1 Is there anything you know about Jesus which you presently push away? (If so, be like Peter. Hear Jesus' firm rebuke and repent!) A believer is a follower. This includes following Jesus into suffering. 1Pet 2:19-21, 3:14-16, 4:1-2, 12-16, 5:8-10 Where might following Jesus take us today? Are you ready to follow? A believer trusts Jesus' word and hopes in his promises. 1Pet 1:3-9, 13 Is Jesus the object of your faith?

Arc

Mark 8:27-38

esv

o 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?”

ideaexplanation

And they told him,

p “John the Baptist;

and others say, q Elijah;

and others, one of the prophets.”

alternative

questionanswer

And he asked them,

“But who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered him,

r “You are s the Christ.”

progression

t And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

concessive

locative

u And he began to teach them that

v the Son of Man must w suffer many things

and x be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes

actionresult

and be killed,

and y after three days rise again.

And he said this z plainly.

actionmanner

And Peter took him aside

and began to rebuke him.

actionpurpose

situationresponse

But turning and seeing his disciples,

he rebuked Peter

and said,

a “Get behind me, Satan!

For you b are not setting your mind on the things of God,

but on the things of man.”

negativepositive

ground

inference

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples,

he said to them,

“If anyone would come after me,

let him c deny himself

and d take up his cross

and follow me.

conditional

For d whoever would save his life 1

will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for my sake e and the gospel’s

will save it.

f For what does it profit a man

to gain the whole world

and forfeit his soul?

For g what can a man give in return for his soul?

For h whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this i adulterous and sinful generation,

of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed

j when he comes in the glory of his Father with k the holy angels.”

temporal

Bilateral Series

coord

blS

series

Is this giving a basis for why Peter should "get behind" Jesus, or why Jesus calls him Satan?

discourse

Comments

Andrey Vasilyev

Hi Andy!

Thank you for your work at Biblearc. It is very helpful, blessing and valuable for me as Christian to dig for gold in biblical text.
I am from Russia and serve in a local church doing youth group. Currently I take Arcing course and would like to ask you -could you help me to figure out what kind of software and hardware (like tablet may be) desiringod uses for "Look at the book" podcast? After proficiency badge I would love to share Arcing at my church partly in a way like "Look at the book". I wrote few email to the stuff but haven't received answer yet. So I thought may be you could help.
May God bless you!
Thank you!

Alex Mbemba

Hi Andy, I understand that the main sub-point of 27-30 is about knowing who Jesus is. Nonetheless, when I studied this passage with my bible study group, we could not escape discussing why Jesus strictly charged them to tell no one about him ... Did you choose to not ask a question about v30, because it just supports the main sub-point (i.e. questions are only for main sub-point)? if you were to ask a question on that v30, what would it be ? thanks for your answer.

Andy Hubert

There is certainly a question to be asked about verse 30. I did not intentionally avoid it—it just was beyond the particular observations I was making in the text. But the question of why Jesus "strictly charges" them in this way is a good question, and relates to other places where we are told Jesus instructed people to keep what he was doing quiet.

What are you thoughts on why this may be?

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