Jesus the Messiah

Text:  Mark 8:27-38 

And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”  And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”  And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”  And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.  And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.  And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.  But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”  And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul?  For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Introduction

            Now you may have already noticed, from my Facebook page or perhaps my obsession with the color orange, but I am a Tennessean.  Like many of you, I am quite proud of the land of my birth, and I thoroughly enjoy hearing stories and reading about the heritage and culture of my home state.  Did you know that the sport of NASCAR was invented in the hills of Tennessee?  Or that Tennessee has been the home of two U.S. Presidents?  There is so much history and so much heritage.  I love it.  But one of my favorite products of my home state would have to be Thomas Williams III.  You may know him by his nickname, “Tennessee Williams”.  You see Williams was a playwright, and he has penned such classics as “The Glass Menagerie” and “Cat On a Hot Tin Roof”.  Still, my all time favorite is the classic, “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

            Williams writes about a certain Blanche Debois, a self proclaimed southern belle who makes her way to New Orleans, Louisiana to check up on her baby sister after taking a sabbatical from work.  Alas, the pretense upon which Blanch makes her visit is simply a guise.  It is a delusion.  In reality, Blanch is masking her alcoholism, searching for some meaning to life, and has made the trip at a time most convenient, as she has been dismissed from her position as schoolteacher for allegations of misconduct with a student.  As these dynamics are revealed throughout the play, the audience learns that Blanch is not at all who we initially though she was.  By the plays end, we know the true Blanch, and her true character has been unmasked.

Who Is Jesus

            I tell you this story this morning, because in many ways, the sort of character revelation that we witness in the play is also present in the Gospel of Luke.  As a genre, gospel narratives have several characteristics.  For one, gospel narratives attempt to bear witness to the historical context of a particular religious movement.   Similarly, gospel narratives recall and recount the theological root of certain religious groups.  But gospel narratives also attempt to capture the essence of a religious leader, in our case, Jesus of Nazareth.

            Throughout Luke’s gospel we have been learning who Jesus is, and with the question He poses in verse 27, we find ourselves forced to come up with an answer.  One possible answer might be that Jesus is a sort of healer.  We remember the stories of the daughter of Jairus and the hemorrhaging woman, and we conclude that healing must have a great deal to do with who Jesus is.  That would be a good answer I think.  Another might be, as we discussed a few weeks ago, that Jesus is a certain religious figure who likes to socialize with the outcastes.  That seems an appropriate response.  And the disciples have their answers as well.  “John the Baptist”, some say.  “No, no, He is Elijah”, we hear from others.  “One of the prophets perhaps?”  These are all good guesses, and in some ways have a great deal of truth, but it is Simon Peter who really hits the nail on the head.  “You are the Messiah”, he says.  Bingo!  And though Jesus, in His own mysterious way, commands Simon Peter to tell no one, the reader knows that Peter’s answer is correct.  The code has been cracked, and we come face to face with whom Jesus really is.

            Now I wasn’t there, but I imagine Peter must have felt pretty confident about his answer.  “John the Baptist?  Ha!  Good one James.  And you, John, did you really think Elijah was the answer Jesus was looking for?”  Yes, I imagine Peter was quite pleased with his ability to recognize who Jesus really was.  That is until he is faced with the truth about what this Messianic status is going to require of Jesus, and what it is going to require of those who come after Him.

What Messiah Means For Jesus

            No sooner has Peter cracked the code of who Jesus is, than Jesus begins telling the disciples what this must mean.  “I must suffer”, He says.  “My ministry will require rejection and death.”  Now Peter has a problem.  We see him take Jesus aside and begin to scold him, and though we are not told his exact words, we can imagine what the conversation would have been like.  Peter could not accept such a way for Jesus.  “No Jesus, we won’t let them.  We have a large following.  We will defend you from such attacks.”  And to this Jesus employs the strongest rebuke in all of scripture, “Get behind me Satan.”   Satan, the great tempter.  That is whom Peter is embodying with his insistence upon defending Jesus life.  “Don’t you get it Peter?  It has to be this way.  That is what the Messiah must undergo.”  You see Peter understood who Jesus was, but what he didn’t understand was what exactly God’s Messiah must do.

What Messiah Means For Jesus’ Followers

            But there’s more.  Not only must suffering and death be the fate of Jesus, but Peter also learns that it will be his own fate as well, for all who wish to follow Jesus must lose their life.  With rhetoric sharp enough to pierce the souls of His disciples, Jesus informs the twelve that if they are going to buy into this whole Kingdom of God thing, suffering is going to be required.  And we know that it was.  Indeed, Jesus will go forth to Calvary, and His disciples, and the apostles that follow, will each walk a similar path.  Suffering, persecution, death… such is the life of those early Christians.  We read their stories in the history books, and we know that Jesus was right all along.

Suffering Seminarian

            But the story doesn’t end there.  No, suffering will be an ever-present reality for all those who come after Jesus, both then and now.  In many parts of the world our Christian brothers and sisters suffer physical persecution every bit as aggressive and violent as the early apostles.  Here in our own country, we experience the ostracization that goes along with the genuine Christian life.  As seminarians, we are aware of the burdens of preparation.  We are aware of the cultural opposition to our cause.  We know that there may very well be times of financial instability, the rejection of friends and family, and perhaps mental, emotional, or even physical suffering for the cause of Christ.  That is the bad news.

            Jesus is never one to leave us without hope however.  There is suffering, there is pain, but there is also that glorious Easter morning.  Jesus will experience the worst that humanity has to offer, and He beats it.  On the third day, we finally understand the full story.  One the third day, we finally recognize who Jesus really is.

            And this is our story as well.  There will be seasons of suffering, pain, and loss, but there will come the day when “the Son of Man comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”  On that day, the suffering of which Jesus prophecies here will subside, and those who have dared to follow His Way will “hear the applause of nail scarred hands”, as we are welcomed into the Kingdom of God to the sound of “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

            You have embarked upon a most holy journey.  The office to which you aspire is the noblest of human endeavors, and I applaud you for daring such a feat.  Do not be surprised when the suffering comes, for if you follow His Way, suffering is a certainty.  And in those moments, when the world would urge you to abandon ship, to turn from the Way and pursue the comforts and luxuries of the broader path, remember His words.  “Get behind me Satan.”  Suffering was demanded of Jesus.  Suffering was demanded of Peter.  And suffering will be demanded of us.  But we endure such suffering, knowing that the Kingdom of God belongs to those who give their lives for the One who gave us His.