A 40-DAY JOURNEY WITH THE KING: Lenten reflections from Mark’s Gospel (21)

 


“…who do you say that I am?” Peter answered… “You are the Messiah.”  …Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again…He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross...” (Mark 8.29-34)

     Peter makes his crucial confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the king of Israel.  This is one of the climaxes of the narrative.  Finally, the apostles have acknowledged who Jesus is.  They can now move forward with Jesus’ kingdom project.  However, immediately following upon Peter’s confession, Jesus begins to teach his disciples things that they are not ready to hear.  He tells them that the Son of Man must suffer and be rejected by the leaders of the people of God; not only that, he must be killed and rise again after three days (8.31).  Mark adds the comment that, as a contrast to telling the disciples to keep his identity a secret, Jesus said all these things about his painful fate “quite openly” (8.32). 

     Once again, Peter takes the initiative and takes Jesus aside and begins to rebuke him!  This is not what Peter expects concerning the Messiah.  Does he perhaps share the opinion of the people in Capernaum who thought that Jesus had gone out of his mind (cf. 3.21)?  On that occasion, Jesus’ family had attempted to “restrain” him.  Then, the scribes from Jerusalem had accused Jesus of being demon-possessed and of performing exorcisms through the power of Satan (3.22).  Already, this rejection had been an ominous portent of an even more violent opposition still to come.  Now, resistance to Jesus’ mission is coming from a member of his inner circle.  Upon being rebuked by Peter, Jesus turns his back on him and looks at the other disciples as he rebukes Peter in the strongest possible terms: “Get behind me, Satan!” (8.33; cf. 3.23-30).  Jesus declares that Peter is looking at things from a strictly human perspective, and not from God’s viewpoint.

     “Satan” means “adversary”, and Satan is ever the one who tries to oppose God’s plans and purposes and who accuses those who attempt to cooperate with God’s will (cf. 3.35).  Satan’s objective is to distract those who would obey God and have them act according to the laws of ordinary (fallen) human nature – even if these people act in the name of God.  Satan preys on the fears and the pride of those called to build the kingdom of God, attempting to lure them into adopting the strategies that sustain human kingdoms.  This is a recurrent theme in Mark’s narrative.  Jesus is the king.  Well and good, thinks Peter (and the other apostles); if this is the case, then it’s time to take the power back from the Romans.  The kingdom of God must prevail over the kingdom of Rome.  Let’s take back Jerusalem!

     Jesus then calls the crowd along with his disciples and begins to teach them what discipleship involves.  It will not be a triumphal march to Jerusalem to revel in the glory of military/political victory, replacing one form of earthly power with another.  Ironically, Jesus begins by telling his followers: “If anyone wants to become my follower…”  To become a disciple, one must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Jesus (to the place of crucifixion: 8.34).  This is extremely graphic language – those who carried crosses where those who had been condemned to be nailed to them (cf. 15.20-24).  Jesus paints a drastic picture of the requirements of discipleship.  It is, quite literally, a matter of life and death.  Those who want to save their life will lose it; i.e., those who act out of a desire for self-preservation will perish.  Those who lose their life for Jesus’ sake, or for the sake of the message, will save it.  That is to say, those who die in the cause of Jesus and the gospel will preserve their “life”, their eternal character and identity in the sight of God.  Possessing the whole world pales in comparison to such a reward.  One’s “life”, i.e., one’s eternal identity and destiny, is quite literally priceless (8.35-37).

     Jesus then issues a warning about those who are ashamed of him or his words; the Son of Man will be ashamed of such people when he “comes in the glory of his Father” (8.38; cf. Dn. 7.13-14).  So far in the narrative, we have been told that the Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins (2.10), is Lord of the sabbath (2.28) and “must undergo great suffering” (8.31).  So far, Jesus’ kingly role has been displayed by deeds of power (cf. 6.2, 14); from this point on, it will be displayed by increasing suffering.  We are told that the Son of Man is indeed destined for glory, but not a glory that the disciples can currently envisage, but the glory “of his Father”.  There will be a victory to celebrate, but it will be on the far side of death…

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