Malo e lelei and Greetings to you all my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I hope each one of you, feel peace and comfort because the name of Jesus Christ. I know this time is are very difficult time because the Covid. But may our faith continue to be strengthened, and may we continue to pray for one another and our world.
MARK 8: 27-38
Our message for today is taken from the Gospel of Mark, 8: 27 – 38. In chapters 1 – 7 of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus did not tell people or his disciples directly who he was. This is because Jesus didn’t want to tell others who he is through his words, but he wanted to show them who he is through his work, his actions, and his lifestyle. He wanted his actions to speak louder than any words he could say.
In gospel of Mark, it shows us that Jesus is a servant, he is a working man, for example he preached the Kingdom of God, he healed the sick people, he cast out unclean spirits, and he raised the dead back to life, and so on. According to Mark, Jesus was a man of action, a man always working as a servant for others.
Jesus performed many wonderful works and miracles in front of people because he wanted them to recognize him for the power and authority he had.
That is why Jesus in our scripture reading of today asked the question to his disciple, “Tell me who people say I am?”. His disciple answered him, some say that you are John the Baptist and others say that you Elijah or you are the one of the prophets. Jesus here ignored the answers from the people about who he is, instead, he wanted to know what his disciples says he is.
Therefore, Jesus asked the same question to his disciples “What about you? Who do you say I am?”.
Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah”. The answer from Peter was very short but it is the correct answer because Jesus is the Messiah. The word Messiah in Hebrew is “Christ” in Greek. The meaning of the word Messiah in Hebrew is "the anointed one".
One of the biblical commentators Don Fleming said if a person was anointed by pouring of oil over his head, it is a sign that he had the right and the responsibility to perform the duties that his position required.
Consequently, Jesus is the Messiah so the prophecy from the Old Testament was fulfilled in him. He was anointed from God as a Messiah, his role and his responsibility are to reveal through in him the love of God to us.
God gives him all authorities and power to bring through him the salvation of God for mankind.
In the beginning, man had a perfect relationship with God, but this relationship became broken and disconnected because of our sins. But through God’s grace he sent his son Jesus Christ to become our Messiah and return us back to God.
I want to ask this question, who is Jesus to me or you?
I have faith that everyone who is watching today believes that Jesus is our Messiah, and we all accept that Jesus is the Son of God, and our salvation.
It is very important for us to make sure we receive our salvation through faith only in Jesus, our Lord and Messiah.
I believe we are the disciples and followers of Christ today, and our role and our duties are to demonstrate to the world that Jesus is our Messiah. Jesus wants us to witness for him to the ends of the earth.
I remember a few months ago, we were feeding the homeless people here in our church. This is one way we display and practice the love of Christ the Messiah to others in our community. We also send flowers from our church to our neighbours in K-Road, to show our love and that we want to stand together with them. It was amazing because we represent the body of Christ, and our responsibility is to portray the image of our Messiah, who is Love, to everyone.
In our community today, our society is faced with many difficult situations like the current Delta outbreak and social issues like domestic violence, drugs and alcohol, murder, suicide and so on. These kinds of problems are increasing. People in our community need our love, our help, and prayers. Many people in our world like those in Afghanistan need our prayers and our support. We have a responsibility to show Jesus the Messiah through our love, care, help and prayers for others.
We already understand from Gospel the lifestyle and character of Christ. He is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, humility and so on. These same characters should also be reflected from us as Christians, in our families, our workplace, school, church and everywhere.
I want to remind us, however, without the Holy Spirit, we cannot demonstrate Jesus the Messiah from within us. May God’s Holy Spirit to guide us, fellowship with us and empower us to carry our cross and so that we can continue to witness for Jesus Christ our Messiah. AMEN.