Jesus’
disciples understanding of Him develops during the Gospel story. They did not
understood the full meaning of some
of the titles until after Jesus’ resurrection.
Used in the first sentence of the gospel, this is the Mark’s title
for Jesus. ‘Son of …’ could just mean ‘someone like’. It could be used
to describe any holy person, such as a prophet. It could be taken to mean Son of
God in the sense of God’s only son.
As the Gospel continues the meaning of this title becaomes clearer
and clearer.
1.
As Jesus is baptised God shows
his approval of Jesus by the vision of the Holy Spirit and declaring that Jesus
is his Son. Jesus is shown to be the nost
holy person - the one approved by God.
2.
In the Transfiguration God
again confirms that Jesus is his Son. The words are similar to those at Jesus
baptism, but now the voice says ‘Listen
to him’. Jesus is seen in all his
glory – he is seen to be who he really is.
3.
The Trial before the High Priest. makes this very clear when Jesus
says ‘Yes’ to the High Priest’s question if he is the Son of God.
4.
Then finally as Jesus hangs on the
cross, the centurion calls him ‘Son of God’. Now Jesus is fully seen to
be God’s Son.
Christians
believe that
Jesus is the Son of God – God the Son, God himself come to earth, the second
person of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). God takes human form in
Jesus – this is called the Incarnation.
The term Son of Man can mean
a)
an ordinary human being,
b)
an indirect way of saying "I"
c)
a Messiah figure. In Daniel (chapter 7) the prophet sees a vision of God,
and coming on the clouds of heaven there is ‘one
like a son of man’.
Jesus used the term Son of Man very often to describe himself –
especially his authority over evil and his suffering. Jesus prefers it to
Messiah, which had a political meaning. Using the term Son of Man avoided
trouble and bought him extra time to preach and to teach his disciples.
Christians
believe
that this title shows that Jesus is truly a human being, and that in Jesus God
becomes fully human so that he can save human beings, sharing their pain and
sufferings.
The title ‘saviour’ is not used in Mark, but Jesus is often seen
as one who saves.
1.
The apostles are caught in a severe storm, from which Jesus saves them by commanding the winds and the
sea.
2.
In the feeding of the five
thousand Jesus has such power over nature that he can provide for people in
need and rescue them from hunger.
3.
Jesus often casts out demons.
This is a sign that he can defeat the forces of evil.
In many ways, the word Saviour describes Jesus' life.
Christians
believe
that Jesus saves mankind from sin and death. The Christian faith is that by
dying he saved us by carrying our sins, and by rising from the dead he offers us
the chance of eternal life, which we receive by being joined to him in baptism.
Most Jews at the time of Jesus hoped that God would one day send a
great ruler, the Messiah. The word means the Anointed One, specially chosen. Kings were (and still are) Anointed.
The Greek for Messiah is Christos, from which we get the word Christ. The Jews
believed that the Messiah would be a descendent of David and would become king
of the Jews. So the Messiah could be called Son of David, and this was a
well-known Messianic title. He was a religious figure, but also a political
leader.
Jesus was a very different kind of Messiah from the kind many were
hoping for. He wanted to be a peaceful messiah who would establish a kingdom of
love and forgiveness. He made friends with Romans. Jesus would have preferred
converting the Romans to defeating them. Many Jews saw the messiah as a glorious
ruler, Jesus saw him as a suffering servant.
When people called Jesus Messiah or Son of David, he usually avoided
the title or told them to be quiet.
At Caesarea Philippi
Peter came to believe in Jesus as Messiah. Jesus allowed himself to be called
Son of David when he came to Jerusalem (Blind
Bartimaeus and Entry into Jerusalem).
At his trial before the Sanhedrin he
fully accepted the title. This gave the Jewish leaders the chance to get the
Romans to execute him.
Christians
believe
that Jesus was the Messiah who the Jews were waiting for – the one who
fulfilled all the promises made by God. The Jews, though, still look forward to
the coming of the Messiah.
Son of God
The Baptism
1:9-11
The Transfiguration
9: 2-8
at The Trial before the High Priest
14:61-62
at The Crucifixion
15:39
The paralysed man
2: 1-12
The prediction of the Passion
8: 31-33
The request of James and John
10: 35-45
at The Trial before the High Priest
14:61-62
Jesus/Saviour
The Calming of the Storm
4: 35- 41
The feeding of the 5000
6:30-44
The
Syro-Phoenician woman's
daughter
7: 24-30
Christ/Messiah/Son of David:
Caesarea Philippi
8:27-30
Blind Bartimaeus
10: 46-52
Entry into Jerusalem
11: 1-11
·
Design a table with the following
headings: Title, Passages, Meaning then, Meaning for Christians today. Complete
the table for all each title and each passage.
·
Summarise each of the key passages –
try to do each one in five bullet points.
·
Design a logo and motto which sums up the
meaning of each group of titles