While Jesus and his disciples set out for Caesarea Philippi he asks his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" They answered, "John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets." Then Jesus asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" The first question asked who other people thought Jesus was while the second question asked each disciple who he or she thought Jesus was. Today there are many views of Jesus throughout the world yet as a Christian I believe that Peter's answer is correct, Jesus is the Messiah. I believe Jesus is the Messiah from the evidence given through the messianic secret in the Gospel of Mark.
Mark 1:1-8:33 contains the messianic secret, or the revealing of Jesus as he preaches, heals and teaches, as the promised Messiah. In the beginning of the Gospel of Mark, Mark reveals Jesus' identity to us. "The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." For the rest of the messianic secret in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is shown to be the Messiah through his actions and highlighted again through his baptism. Jesus went to the river Jordan as many did to be baptized by John the Baptist. However, when Jesus came up from the water, the heavens tore open and the Spirit descended towards him like a dove and God said to Jesus, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." This episode in the messianic secret shows that Godis accepting and claiming Jesus as the Messiah, the Beloved and the Son of God.
As Jesus is traveling with his disciples he asks them who other people say he is. The disciples tell him that people say he is John the Baptist, Elijah or one of the other prophets. Jesus then asks his disciples who they think he is. Peter answers that Jesus is the Messiah. This episode shows how the disciples are beginning to realize and accept Jesus as the Messiah. Unlike Peter however, I understand that Jesus must suffer for others and be rejected by his people in order to be the Messiah.
The third episode of the messianic secret includes the trial narratives in which Jesus is brought to the Sanhedrin and questioned. Witnesses are called up to testify against Jesus yet none of their stories agree. The Jewish high priest then demands to know who Jesus is. Jesus answers, "I am; and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." For the first time in all of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah by proclaiming himself as the Messiah. Jesus could have remained silent and would not have been executed but he decided to show his true identity. This episode shows the self realization and proclamation of Jesus that he is the Messiah.
In the last episode of the messianic secret in Mark's Gospel, Jesus is revealed to the world as who he truly is, the Messiah. When Jesus is dying on the cross, darkness surrounds him. The darkness represents the forces of evil trying to overcome the power of Jesus and goodness. When a Roman Gentile soldier sees this he says, "Truly this man was God's Son!" The women who are also at the cross fully realize that Jesus is the Messiah through his death. The last episode reveals Jesus as the Messiah through his death, suffering and sacrifice for his people.
The messianic secret which unfolds throughout the Gospel of Mark perfectly describes who I think Jesus is and who the Church thinks Jesus is. Jesus is the Messiah. In each episode of the messianic secret, Jesus is accepted by more people as the Messiah. In the first episode Jesus is accepted by God, his Father, as the Son of God and the Messiah. In the second episode, the disciples accept Jesus as the Messiah, even though they do not understand the full meaning of Jesus' messiahship. In the third episode, Jesus accepts himself as the Messiah for the first time in front of all of his enemies. In the last episode, Jesus is revealed to the world as the Messiah. From these episodes I learn that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God who came to earth to show us how to love each other, who showed us the path to the kingdom of heaven and who sacrificed everything for his people.
