Mark 8:27-38
Before
his death, Paul Harvey used to finish off a well told anecdote with the line,
“Now you know the rest of the story.” I
always found these little tidbits to history enlightening. Often when we read scripture, we end too soon
and fail to capture “the rest of the story”.
By doing so, we stop short of fully appreciating the gospel message.
One
of the great moments in the Gospels would appear to be Peter’s affirmation of
Jesus as Messiah. It began with Jesus
asking a simple question, “Who do people say that I am?” Much like children in the back of a car the
disciples saw this as a chance to break the monotony of their long walk to the
next town. One disciple hollered out, “I
heard a guy a couple of days ago say you were John the Baptist come back from
the dead.” Another answered, “I can top
that. I heard someone say you were
Elijah.” Then the responses got out of
hand. “A guy back in Galilee
said you were Moses”. Jesus stopped,
turned, looked them square in the eyes, and said, “But who do you think that I
am?” Peter jumped right to the front of
the line and replied, “You are the Messiah.”
Peter had gone for the jackpot. He had evoked the sacred title, once given to
King David and now reserved for the one that would restore Israel Israel
Usually
we stop with the Confession of Peter. We
praise the disciple for his insights.
While the rest of the disciples seemed to have their heads in the sand,
you could count on Peter to come up with the right answer. Or did he?
Let’s hear the rest of the story.
Once
everyone had given Peter a round of high fives, Jesus began to teach. If Peter had given the right answer, why did
there need to be additional teaching? We
all remember the way the routine goes.
The teaching takes place, the test is announced, we study the night
before and then we take the test. If we
pass the test we move on to the next lesson.
Peter submitted what we all believe was the correct answer. So why did Jesus return to square one? In this case, the correct answer opened up a
whole new can of worms.
Jesus’
lesson began with these words. “The Son
of Man must undergo great suffering, be rejected and killed and then after
three days rise again.” Peter took Jesus
aside and said, “Wait a minute. That is
not the plan. We all agreed you are the
Messiah, the Son of David. Let me tell you how this is going to work. When the time is right we will gather all the
folks in Galilee and head for Jerusalem
Jesus
looked at Peter and said, “You have it all wrong. You have human not divine things on your mind.” The gospels of Luke and Matthew spend a great
deal of time on the temptation of Jesus in wilderness. Mark barely gives it two verses. But here in chapter 8 we discover temptation is
always before Jesus and his disciples.
Peter tempts him with an ancient title, Son of David. But Jesus chooses to be called Son of Man.
Peter believes that the anointed one can avoid suffering, rejection and
death. Peter believes there can be power
without pain and glory without humiliation.
Peter had heard the stories of the Messiah all his life. No where did he remember it mentioning
suffering and death. But Jesus never claimed
to be the Jewish Messiah; he claimed to be the Son of Man. What is the difference? The Messiah, the son of David was distained to
restore the glory of Israel
Jesus
said to the disciples, “Those who want to follow me must deny themselves, take
up their cross, and follow me.” If you
are a regular at church, this is a phrase you have heard a hundred times. The
cross has become the icon of Christendom.
The cross stands as the most recognizable symbol in our sanctuary. Many wear the cross as piece of jewelry to
adorns ones neck. Taking up the cross
identifies us as followers of Christ.
But could it be that this idea of taking up the cross has become
somewhat sanitized?
When
Jesus originally spoke these words the cross had not become the universal
symbol for his movement. Quite the
contrary. The cross was the symbol of Roman
tyranny. In order to nail home a point,
often the roads of the Roman Empire would be littered with the bodies of
thieves, bandits, murderers or anyone who acted out against Roman authority. The cross symbolized fear and oppression. If one broke the Roman laws, this might be
the fate that awaits them. Crucifixion
was a not only a very efficient form of punishment, it was a very effective
form of intimidation. It reinforced the
idea that death was the most awful thing in the world and people with any common
sense should do everything in their power to avoid it. Yet Jesus wanted the
disciples to embrace their greatest fear.
When
I ten years old I encountered a very wise man who taught me a valuable life
lesson. I loved baseball and desperately
wanted to play shortstop. But at my age, I was playing in a league with players
older and faster than me. My coach took a huge leap of faith by playing me at
this critical position. But I had a
problem. I was afraid of being hit by the ball.
My coach had an answer for my fears. He would take me out onto our rock
filled practice field and hit ground ball after ground ball to me. He didn’t hit the ball hard but he refused to
let me wear a glove. I had to stop the ball
anyway possible. Now anyone who has
every played the infield knows the key to catching a ground ball is to get in
front of the ball and keep your eye on it until the ball is safely in your
grasp. I used any part of my body to stop
those erratically bouncing balls. I got
hit and occasionally bruised. But eventually,
I lost my fear of the ball. Once on a
smooth infield with my glove on my hand, I stood at my position and dared
hitters to send their best stuff my way.
Some
would insist that coach was crazy. I believe he given me a life lesson in
approaching and controlling fear. You tell me. Is there anything worse than
living in fear? Jesus knew if the
disciples let fear run their lives, then fear would become their god. Their standard for behavior would be how much
something frightened them. If the task
involved no risk, then they would do it.
But if fear ruled their lives, they would surrender before even stepping
on the field of play.
Peter…….
and most of us …..want a Messiah. We
want God to step out for us and pave the way to a life void of rocky fields and
bruises. But that is not what Jesus
offered. He said, “I cannot give you a life without pain and
heartache. But I can offer you a life
where you can face and overcome your greatest fears.” Jesus said to Peter………. and to us, “Wake
up. Stop playing it safe. Pick up that
cross, pick up whatever it is that causes you to be afraid and follow me.”
Barbara
Brown Taylor writes, “Whatever it is that scares you to death, whatever it is that
makes you do anything at all if it will go away, that is your cross. If you leave it lying there, it will kill
you. If you run away from it, then you
deny God the chance to show you the greatest mystery of all. Within the
darkness of our worst fear, we can find the door to abundant life.”
Like
Peter, we all want a Messiah. Like
Peter, we all want a life free from suffering and pain. We want church to be uncomplicated and some
how disconnected from the rest of life.
As Peter discovered, Jesus came to save us from whatever it is that
causes the fear which manipulates our lives.
Perhaps that is why God rests on the Sabbath. God is needed mostly on Monday through Saturday
when fear ruins our days and suspicion captivates our nights. Fear is timeless
and my guess is that each of us has something of which we are deathly
afraid. Jesus says to us, “Stop running,
pick it your cross up, and follow me.”
I
am not suggesting that a little fear is a good thing to have. Otherwise we
would make some very stupid choices. But no one can live in constant fear.
Jesus offers us the chance to transform our fear into hope. Imagine picking up
your cross. Imagine converting that which you fear into something you control.
Imagine living the rest of the story, through the grace of God who makes all
things possible.
Amen
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