From the Mountain Top of Praise to the Valley of Rebuke

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Text: Mark 8:27-33

Mark 8:29, 31-32

 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” …  And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

(ESV)

In the passage of Mark 8:29, 31-32 we see Peter making the giant leap from one praising Jesus as Christ as Messiah to Peter’s rebuke of Jesus for telling the disciples He must suffer rejection, death, and miraculous resurrection.  Peter’s rebuke of Jesus is indicative of Peter’s lack of understanding that Jesus came to save them, not defeat their Roman oppressors.  However, the rebuke also indicates a desire in Peter not to experience separation from Jesus. 

The mountain top of praise for Peter was being with Jesus in Caesarea Philippi.  This area of Israel was a Roman community where a shrine to the Roman God Pan was located, referred to as “The Gates of Hell.”  Matthew 16:13-20 records the same account of Peter’s confession of Jesus as Christ but adds Jesus response to Peter’s statement by telling him the declaration of Him as Christ is the foundation of the church.  Jesus also declares that the gates of hell would not prevail against this truth, possibly referring to the temple the shrine of pan in the side of the mountain (Matthew 16:18). 

Scripture does not reveal the amount of time that transpired between Peter’s declaration of faith and Jesus telling the Disciples of his imminent death, but the language implies it was soon after.  Peter has heard the teaching of Jesus but does not understand the purpose of His coming.  Without Jesus death and resurrection there could be no redemption from sin.  However, Jesus does not directly rebuke Peter but rebukes Satan.  Peter is guilty of setting his mind on the things of man or his desire never to suffer separation from Jesus instead of the greater things of God, his salvation. 

The application of this passage in the life of the believer is its illustration of the depth of one’s belief in Jesus as Christ.  The passage illustrates,

1)      A bold declaration of faith when on the mountain top (Mark 8:29) – Anyone following Christ for some time can most likely attest to mountain top experiences where the worship and message from the Word or something discovered in one’s personal Bible study clicked, leading to a mountain top experience.  Peter is with Jesus and feels safe in declaring his belief in Jesus as Lord.  Scripture does not give reason to doubt the sincerity in his declaration, so Peter meant what he said. 

2)      Faith will be tested (James 1:2-4) – When considering the testing of one’s faith, thoughts typically go to one experiencing some trial like sickness, loss, or financial calamity.  However, Peter’s declaration of faith is tested by the truth Jesus as Messiah must suffer rejection, die, and rise from the dead (Mark 8:31).  Faith tested by truth requires one’s surrender to the truth but if one has a lack of understanding of the truth, they may reject truth as Peter did in his rebuke of Jesus.  We see the additional rejection of this truth with Peter’s denial of Christ when seeing Jesus’ actual rejection by the elders, chief priests, and scribes (Matthew 26:69-75).  However, Peter does pass the test of his faith after seeing the resurrected Lord and receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit and boldly declaring the Gospel to a crowd, some of which previously called for Jesus’ crucifixion (Acts 2:14-41). 

3)      The truth will be tested (Mark 8:30) – The charge by Jesus to Peter not to declare Jesus as Christ seems out of place during the mountain top experience of Peter.  However, as Peter’s rebuke of the truth of Jesus death and resurrection illustrate, Peter was not ready to have the truth tested.  Had Peter immediately went around declaring the truth Jesus was the Christ, he would have suffered the same trials Jesus did that led to His crucifixion.  Peter’s rebuke of Jesus (Mark 8:32) and his denial (Matthew 26:69-75) indicate Peter needed to witness the risen Lord and receive the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:14-41) to be effective in declaring the truth of the Gospel. 

Boldness of faith in Jesus as Christ comes through encountering the risen Lord through the study of the Word and understanding through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Like Peter, it is easy to make a declaration of Jesus as the Christ on the mountain top.  However, the true test of one's faith comes either through struggle (James 1:2-4) or through encountering truth from Scripture that we may not agree with.  May we not react with rebuke when encountering uncomfortable truth but instead react with obedience.