Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-february-6-2025
Mark 8:27-38
27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”
30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but the things of men.”
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, they must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
This strikes me as one of the most important passages in the New Testament – and maybe one of the most under-appreciated. The stories of Jesus’ death and resurrection are obviously critical, and so are the parables like the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. But in this story, Jesus is acknowledged as the Messiah for the first time, and he explains to his disciples and followers what that means—for him and for them.
If you read this passage in the NIV Bible, you’ll see that the editors have separated it into two parts. But that seems to me like a mistake. Revealing that Jesus is the Messiah and foretelling his death seem like things that belong together. And the fact that Peter wasn’t able to handle what Jesus told them about his coming death says a lot about the expectations of the Hebrews about what the Messiah would be like when he appeared.
In the story, Jesus asks the disciples who people say he is. The disciples give various answers, all of which have one thing in common – everybody seems to agree that Jesus is a very important religious figure who speaks with the authority of God. (That was the understanding of what it meant to be a prophet.)
And then Jesus asks the disciples, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” And Peter becomes the first to acknowledge that Jesus is in fact the Messiah. Our NIV Bible says “the Christ,” but that’s just the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah. The point was that Jesus was the one who had been foretold by God through the prophets centuries before.
Obviously, this reading marks a critically important moment: the first time any of the disciples identifies Jesus as the Messiah. But realizing that Jesus was the Messiah didn’t mean they actually understood what that meant. So Jesus tells them that, as the Messiah, he would be rejected and persecuted by the leaders of his own people, and that ultimately he would be killed, but then would rise again from the dead.
It’s probably hard for us to imagine what a shock this must have been to the disciples. The Jews expected the Messiah to be a mighty warrior, like his ancestor King David. The Jews thought the Messiah would drive out the Romans and restore the glory of Israel in its golden years. Nobody in ancient Israel expected the Messiah to die for the sins of the world.
That helps to explain what happens next. Peter is so shocked by what Jesus says that he tries to talk him out of allowing himself to be persecuted and killed.
That’s when Jesus utters the famous words, “Get behind me, Satan.” You might remember that when he was being tempted in the wilderness, Satan had offered Jesus shortcuts to avoid going to the cross. So when Peter started arguing with him, it seems that Jesus must have heard the echoes of that satanic temptation he had once left behind him.
And Jesus righty observes that Peter is expressing human desires and aspirations, not obedience to God’s will. Peter is speaking out of Jewish nationalism. But Jesus understands the truth: that his death on the cross would be the fulfillment of God’s plan for the salvation of humankind.
And there’s more hard news for his followers to hear. Jesus tells them that anyone who really wants to be his true follower has to be ready to join him in his suffering and death. His true followers must be ready to deny their own interests, even risk their lives, to take part in Jesus’ mission. Anyone who is more devoted to the things of the world than they are to serving Jesus can’t really claim to be one of his followers.
Most of us will never be asked to die for Jesus. But if we really want to follow Jesus faithfully, to live in imitation of him, it will mean sacrifice. We’ll need to pray for the help of the Holy Spirit to stop clinging to the things of our worldly lives, to our ego and self-interest. And we’ll need to be praying for that Spirit to come more and more into our lives to strengthen our commitment to knowing and serving Jesus. We’ll need to open our hearts to let that Spirit transform us into people who are each willing to take up our cross and follow him.
Let’s pray. Lord, we thank you for the great love for us you showed by going to the cross. By your Spirit, turn our hearts to love you more and more, so that eventually we are willing to sacrifice for the building of your kingdom, and to serve others in your name. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
Recent Comments