Peter's Confession and Jesus' Prediction
Mark begins the second half of his book with Jesus and the disciples traveling to Caesarea Philippi. Jesus asks them who people think he is. John or Elijah, they reply. Jesus asks them what they think. Peter says he thinks Jesus is "the Christ", the Anointed One. Jesus tells them to keep it a secret.
Jesus tells them that he must be persecuted by the priests and teachers and killed and after three days rise again. Peter rebukes him but Jesus replies "'Get behind me, Satan!...You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.'" (33) Peter has just said that Jesus is the Anointed One and then Jesus tells him that he has to die, which Peter can't believe. Mark then states that Jesus called a crowd to listen to him, which assumes they had arrived at the city, or it may show that Jesus' reply to Peter applies to everyone else, including the reader, as well. He says:
- If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life (or soul) will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels. (34-38)
Peter's rebuke of Jesus and Jesus' answer brings up the issue of a reader's belief or disbelief in Jesus' death and divinity. Mark records Jesus as saying that anyone who loses his life for Jesus or the "gospel" will be saved. Jesus, after Peter has said he is the Messiah, calls himself the Son of Man, probably a quote from Daniel 7:13. This is from a purported prophetic dream that is used elsewhere, such as the Book of Revelation 1:13 and 14:14. Mark is trying to show to the reader that even though they are about to read about Jesus' death, he is still the Messiah and that the Old Testament had foreseen this as well as their own possible suffering as Christians. To "take up one's cross" has been a common idea of Christianity over the centuries. Jesus' claim of divinity is addressed immediately in the following chapter 9 with the Transfiguration.
Matthew has the same sequence of stories as this chapter in chapters 15 and 16.
Read more about this topic: Mark 8
Famous quotes containing the words peter, confession and/or prediction:
“Different rules apply when it gets this late. You know what I mean? It’s, like, after hours.”
—Joseph Minion, U.S. screenwriter, and Martin Scorsese. Peter (Rocco Sisto)
“Modesty is the lowest of the virtues, and is a real confession of the deficiency it indicates. He who undervalues himself is justly undervalued by others.”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)
“Recent studies that have investigated maternal satisfaction have found this to be a better prediction of mother-child interaction than work status alone. More important for the overall quality of interaction with their children than simply whether the mother works or not, these studies suggest, is how satisfied the mother is with her role as worker or homemaker. Satisfied women are consistently more warm, involved, playful, stimulating and effective with their children than unsatisfied women.”
—Alison Clarke-Stewart (20th century)