It's Time to Follow
Posted on Sep 16, 2018 by David Whetter
Three weeks ago we heard John’s Gospel’s version of Peter’s confession of faith. This week we hear Mark’s version, when Peter says, “You are the Messiah.” If you remember in John, Jesus’ words about eating his flesh and his blood offended many of his followers, and so many of them left, but when Jesus asked the twelve if they, too, wanted to leave, “Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.' ” (John 6:68-69). But here in Mark’s Gospel, we get a slightly different confession.
Here, Peter’s confession comes as a response to a question that Jesus has asked. As Jesus is preparing to head to Jerusalem, he pauses with his disciples in Caesarea Philippi, where he asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”. This is a relatively straightforward question, and the disciples simply report on the “buzz” they have heard among the crowds —some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others, one of the prophets. Jesus’ preaching, teaching, and healing has indeed born resemblance to that of the great prophets of Israel, and these understandings of who Jesus might be are not that far off from the truth. But they're not quite complete, so Jesus asks one more question,“But who do you say that I am?”. In response to this question, Peter, the one who usually speaks first, says, “You are the Messiah” (8:29). Finally, someone has said it, and Jesus does not disagree with Peter’s response, but he does “sternly warn” them not to tell anyone.
But, as right as Peter was, we need to wonder about his response. You see, the title "Messiah" in Hebrew or "Christ" in Greek was associated in Jewish tradition with an anointed king, a royal figure from the line of David expected to come and free Israel from their gentile oppressors, purify the people, and restore Israel’s independence and glory. In Jewish tradition, the popular understanding of “messiah” was that the Messiah would be a mighty military ruler, like David, who would free the Jews. But nothing in Jesus' career up to now has given any indication of claims to royalty or political ambitions. Up until now, Jesus has made no claim to be the Messiah, and he certainly has shown no sign of taking on Rome. Perhaps Peter hopes that when they go to Jerusalem, Jesus will finally take on this messianic role.
But, this image of the Messiah that Peter has is quickly shot down by Jesus. As soon as Peter made his confession Jesus began to speak of what was to come in his career as Messiah — rejection, suffering, and death. And as soon as Peter hears this, he was quick to try to set Jesus straight. He takes Jesus aside and rebukes him. Can’t you hear him saying to Jesus, “No, no, Jesus, this is not the way it is supposed to go. The Messiah is supposed to conquer the Romans, not get killed by them. What good is a dead Messiah?”. With this, it would appear we have two images of the Messiah on the table now — the mighty warrior that Peter and the disciples are expecting and the Messiah Jesus knows he is.
But who can blame Peter for rebuking Jesus. Don’t we, too, still want that Messiah who is strong and powerful, someone who will rescue us from all our troubles and defeat our enemies? Too often in popular evangelism, Jesus is presented in this way, isn’t he? I mean, too often we hear Jesus described like a superhero who solves every problem for us, or the guarantor of prosperity and success. But nothing could be further from the real Jesus.
In response to Peter’s rebuke, and ours today, Jesus offers a harsh rebuke himself. He says to Peter, and us, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (Mark 8:33). This is one of those moments in scripture that highlights the vast distance between us and God. Though Jesus is God with us, we cannot tame him or make him over into our image. We want a savior who is a winner, and one who makes us winners, but Jesus insists on identifying with the losers. He will allow himself to be judged and condemned as a blasphemer by Jewish religious leaders. He will allow himself to be mocked, tortured, and executed as a criminal by the Romans, and not only that, but Jesus then says that he expects his disciples will follow him into the same way of living when he says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (8:34).
Now, as I have said many times, it is important for us to be clear about what Jesus means by taking up our cross. He is not talking about the suffering that is simply part of life in a broken world. Nor is he telling us to seek out suffering or martyrdom. No, Jesus was inviting his followers then, and now, to be willing to suffer the consequences of following Jesus faithfully. In other words, Jesus invites us into lives where we will use our time, resources, gifts, and energy so that others might experience God’s love made known in Jesus Christ through us. But, as we know, living like this is hard. In fact, how can we possibly do this? Our instinct for self-preservation fights it at every step. We can’t imagine giving what we have up so that others might experience Christ. What makes the most sense to us, as it did to the disciples some 2,000 years ago, is to preserve who we are, what we are, and what we have for our good, not for the good of others. After all, that is the way of the world. And so, we, like Peter as we will see, continue to deny Jesus and turn away from him and his ways. We continue to seek to make him into some kind of superhero who eventually will make the world just as we want it, and, yet, the invitation to discipleship is for us to be willing to seek to make the world into the place God intended it.
You see, our cross, is about Jesus, not us. Being willing to pick up our cross is about being willing to do whatever it takes to share the gospel, not just today, but tomorrow, as well. Our cross is being willing to give up our own comfort, our own security, our own desires, so that others might be able to come and know the love and mercy of Christ.
Let me give you a very real example of what I mean as it pertains to us as a faith community. As you know, a company called Narthex has offered to buy this facility for $1,000,000, do about $400,000 worth of renovations, and then rent it back to us for $10,000/month. Now, financially, this would mean an increase in annual expenses for us of about $39,000, but it would also eliminate the several hundreds of thousands of dollars in facility expenses that we are currently facing. The main question I have heard has to do with can we afford this? Well, I will let you attend a financial meeting in two weeks on Sept. 30 to answer that question, but to be honest, I think that is the wrong question. That question has to do with us and our needs and our desires.
We ought to be asking questions like, “If we were to do this, how would we use the proceeds to offer better ministry? If we were to do this, how would we be better prepared to spread the gospel to people and places we haven’t been able to reach? If we were to do this, how would making this change free us to carry our cross for the sake of the gospel?”. You see, picking up our cross is not about money; no, it is about God’s call for our lives and sharing the gospel.
So, what do we do? Well, in the words of Jesus, it is time for us to follow. Brothers and sisters, it is time to follow Jesus and Jesus’ way. Amen