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