Who Are You?

Mark 8: 22-38 captures a pivotal moment in the ministry of Jesus. Chapter 8 of Mark’s Gospel is roughly in the middle of the Gospel. Everything before today’s reading leads up to the question that Jesus asks Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” And everything that happens after is a consequence of the answer, as Jesus goes on to be a very different Messiah than what they’d envisioned. Instead of glory, suffering; instead of a crown, a cross. Not that glory and crowns for Jesus won’t come later, but the road to Easter Sunday inevitably runs through Good Friday.

Mark begins his Gospel, as we’ve noted several times, “the beginning of the good news of Jesus of Nazareth the Son of God.” This is followed by a series of vignettes – healings in Jewish territory, questions by the religious authorities and doubts even among his own family, missions into Gentile territory, where he heals many and is heard gladly. We get some glimpses of his preaching – parables about seeds sown on different types of soil. We get, not one, but two feeding stories – the feeding of 5,000 men (plus women and children) with five loaves and two fish, with 12 baskets left over, and the feeding of the 4,000 from 7 loaves and 2 fish, with 7 baskets left over. There is the story of Jesus calming the wind and waves. Commentators have noted that basically all of these stories are, in effect, presented as exorcisms, as forces of disease, hunger, and natural disaster are driven away by Jesus.

The narrative up until today’s reading has a number of themes – many miracles and healings, accounts of teaching in parables, skepticism from his family and his hometown, increasing opposition among the religious establishment, and increasing outreach to the surrounding Gentile community. All of this against the backdrop of John the Baptist’s proclamation, and John’s eventual beheading by Herod. So the grace from God and danger from human misunderstanding and opposition are both factors leading up to today’s reading. Today’s reading opens with an account of Jesus healing a blind man. Jesus leads the man out of the village where he had been, lays his hands upon the man, and the man says he can see – sort of – but the people to him look like tree trunks walking around. Jesus lays his hands on the man again, and his sight is completely restored. Jesus tells the man not to return to the village – not to return to what for him had been a place of blindness, but to move forward with his newly-restored vision.

Having sent the man on his way, Jesus leads into his question by asking, “Who do other people say that I am.” What’s the buzz? He gets a variety of answers – Elijah, or John the Baptist come back to life, or a prophet. All acknowledgements that Jesus was someone special, not a run of the mill religious leader. It’s likely an answer he expected, yet perhaps not quite the answer he was looking for.

“Who do you say that I am?” Peter, always one to open his mouth before engaging his brain, comes out with “You are the Messiah, the Anointed One.” Jesus cautions him to tell nobody of this. Then Jesus begins to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer and be executed. Peter takes Jesus aside and tells Jesus to stop being such a gloomy Gus. “These things will never happen to you, Jesus” But Jesus in turn rebuked Peter in front of everyone, saying “Get behind me, Satan – you’re thinking from a human viewpoint, not from God’s viewpoint."

“Who do you say that I am?” Jesus’ question is not only for Peter, but for us. In many ways, our answer will not only tell us who we think Jesus is, but who we ourselves are as well – sort of like a psychologist asking a patient to describe their response to an ink blot – our responses may say more about ourselves than about what we’re describing.

“They say you are John the Baptist, or Elijah, or one of the prophets.” This answer does two things at the same time – it gives an appearance of great respect, but it also distances us from having to make a commitment. Think of those who are admired in our day as saints – Mother Teresa, or Gandhi for example. We look up to them as wonderful people. God bless ‘em. But we don’t necessarily feel compelled to follow their example – we can just admire, from a safe distance.

“God forbid, Lord - These things will never happen to you.” Mark doesn’t tell us what Peter said when he took Jesus aside, but these words are Matthew’s version of Peter’s reaction when Jesus spoke of his impending suffering. Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah – but what kind of Messiah? One who would gloriously free Israel from Roman rule? And this is the Messiah that many in church look for today – the Messiah that will solve all our problems. The “name it and claim it”, “prosperity gospel” folks who think of Jesus as their cosmic bellhop are only some of the more egregious examples. There’s also “Fire Marshal Jesus” – pray a little prayer and Fire Marshal Jesus will give you a get out of hell free card. Conversely, we also know many who love the Jesus of the book of Revelations, the violent Jesus who will smite all their enemies. Smite on, King Jesus! They really look forward to seeing their enemies being tormented with fire and sulphur, and the smoke of their torment going up forever. This Jesus will fight all our battles for us. We’ll sit in the bleachers and cheer. I’ll observe that generally when Jesus hates the same folks we do, we may have given Jesus an extreme makeover in our own image. Or there’s therapeutic Jesus, Jesus our best friend forever, who will help us get over our low self-esteem and neurosis. He’s very accepting, and doesn’t ask much. Kinda like Barney on the kid’s show….”I love you, you love me….” Don’t misunderstand me – I firmly believe that Jesus brings healing of body, mind, and spirit. It’s why we pray for people every week. I believe – and have said so repeatedly - that Jesus ministered to those on the margins, including those – especially those - whom the religious establishment rejected. And in the life to come, God will wipe away every tear. But Jesus didn’t die on the cross just to give us warm fuzzies.

“But who do you say that I am?” Really, many of the alternatives I mentioned are partly true – Jesus was indeed a prophet, Jesus does indeed offer salvation from hell, and Jesus does indeed answer prayer – but any one of these is only part of the answer, and all are coming from a place of focusing on our own need. Who are you, Jesus – You are the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah – God the Son, the second person in the Trinity, God the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth, who calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. Those who seek to save their lives will lose it, and those who lose their lives for the sake of the Gospel will save it.

The Jesus of our Gospel reading today is an uncomfortable Jesus. He tells us things we don’t really want to hear. He makes demands. And He calls us to follow in his way.

Jesus told his disciples that those who would save their lives will lose it, but those who lose their lives will save it. These words of Jesus were not just for his disciples, but are for us. As individual disciples of Jesus and as a congregation, playing it safe is, in the long run, a loser’s game. We’ll shrivel up and die. Only by taking the risk of following Jesus will we find true life.

I’ve talked a lot about taking risks and following Jesus – but haven’t offered a lot of specifics. There are some practical opportunities to experience this type of discipleship. And fortunately, it’s only mildly risky. The Bridesburg Council of Churches needs assistance (that's an understatement!) for the expansion of its feeding program. On Mondays, there will be the need for help unloading food. On Tuesdays, mid-day and evening, there is need to help staff the food bank. Yes, there’s a sacrifice of time, and we’re all very busy. And yes, there is theoretically the risk of helping people that we may not know very well – the risk of being taken advantage of, the risk that we’ll be asked for more help than we can offer. But this is an opportunity to meet our neighbors in a new way. You may find that in giving time and assistance, you receive. In blessing others, we may be blessed. If you're interested in helping, please let me know and I'll put you in touch with those running the food cupboard.

After Jesus’ conversation with Peter, Jesus heals another blind man, Bartimaeus. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ conversation with Peter is preceded and followed by healings from blindness. I believe that in telling the story in this way, Mark was making the point that Jesus not only healed physical blindness, but also healed the spiritual blindness of his followers, opening their eyes to a clearer vision of who Jesus was, and what God was asking of Jesus and of them. May Jesus also open our eyes to a new vision of faithful discipleship for Emanuel United Church of Christ, and where Jesus leads, may we have courage to follow. Amen.

Interested in a closer relationship with Jesus? Please join us for worship on Sundays at 10 a.m. at Emanuel United Church of Christ, Fillmore Street off Thompson. www.emanuelphila.org