Message from Sunday, December 28, 2025

Seeing Jesus! Knowing Jesus! Following Jesus!     Mark 8:22-38

Sometimes, you can look at a picture a hundred times and not really see it clearly until you look again. You can hear a piece of music over and over and then, hear a melody you’ve never considered before.  The beauty, the melody was there all the time, you just never noticed it before. The same may be said of Jesus. We’ve heard this passage before, we’ve asked this question before, where Jesus asks us all, “Who do men say that I am?”  

But this morning as we end the year, I ask you to join me in looking and asking the question again and anew.  In “Seeing Jesus! Knowing Jesus! Following Jesus!” we come face to face with the question for ourselves and face to face with our need for an answer. If we would see life, experience all that the Father has in store for us, we must give our lives over to the One who gave His life for us. Simply put… “To see Jesus, to know Jesus and to follow Him is to discover the way that leads to heaven, to home, and to eternal life.

· Jesus was warning them against the selfish, self-seeking, self-satisfaction teachings of the Pharisees [the religious leaders] To be “leery of the attitude” that “merely wanted to see exterior signs rather than carefully considering the message from God for their hearts.

· Healing for this blind man took place as his faith grew and strengthened. The man’s vision was at first partially restored, and then, Jesus put his hands on him a second time again. This suggests that in  receiving God’s healing, “physically…” we need to [more importantly] trust God as to the “time and manner” of that healing.

· Carefully consider this two-question: “What kind of Messiah [Savior] is Jesus” AND “What does it mean to follow Him?

· “DENY” is the same word used elsewhere to describe Peter’s  mental and emotional failure of Jesus. Remember? So to follow Jesus, to voluntarily give up control and allow Him to give direction to our lives is a “major decision on our parts.”  Do you see that?

· “Taking up one’s cross” refers to an “obedience” to God’s plan for each of our lives as revealed in His Word and to “accepting the consequences” without reservation for Jesus’ sake and that of the gospel . This is critically important to see and remember.

· Understand now… to “see Jesus,” to “know” and to “follow Jesus” is to discover the way that leads to heaven, to home, and to eternal life.