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 answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. 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 said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”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 and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
(Mark 8:27-38)
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Several years ago at St. John’s University (which is a Roman Catholic university in New York City) a mischievous but anonymous sage wrote a rather lengthy piece of graffiti on the wall of a building on campus:
“And Jesus said unto the theologians, ‘Who do you say that I am?’
They replied, ‘You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the kerygma of which we find the ultimate meaning in our interpersonal relationships.’
And Jesus said ‘...What?’”
Count me onside with Jesus here. I confess to some admiration for whoever it was who wrote the thing, because I have to admit that I really don’t understand what it means. But it points out an important truth. Whoever wrote the graffiti, I think, was reflecting the fact that there is indeed a huge amount of interest in Jesus and a lot of ideas about Jesus, and was also trying to say that sometimes the church and its learned leaders make Jesus just so darned complicated. I thought about that and about this piece of graffiti written by an unknown author when I read this eighth chapter of Mark’s Gospel.
The questions Jesus asked in this passage were simple ones. They led to some tough realities, but the questions were simple. There were two of them. “Who do people say I am?” he asked his disciples. He wanted them to reflect on the world around them, to be observant of how people were responding to this movement that had started to form around Jesus. He wanted them to be listening. And then – more important - “Who do you say that I am?” A challenge! Enough of others – what about you? Maybe “people” didn’t get it yet – but the disciples had been around Jesus from the start of his ministry. What did they think? Who was he? Without becoming too complicated, those questions Jesus asked are still around. Still the world is thinking about Jesus, and still the disciples of Jesus are being asked to proclaim Jesus. There were several things I noticed in this exchange between Jesus and his disciples that seem relevant to today’s world in which there are still a lot of questions and a lot of doubts about Jesus.
The first thing that occurred to me is that – yes - Jesus expects his disciples to be aware of what’s going on in the world around them, and especially to be aware of what people think about him. We are not to seal our faith withing the walls of a church building. How can you reach people with the message of the gospel if you have no clue what people are thinking about the gospel; if you’re not out there hearing them and engaging with them? That’s one of the reasons that I included the quote from Billy Graham in our bulletin today. Billy Graham died just a few days ago, of course. I had already chosen this quote for today before he died, but it makes it seem somehow more relevant. “Christ belongs to all people. He belongs to the world,” is what Billy Graham once said. And if Christ “belongs to the world,” then we can’t just ignore what the world is saying about him; we have to engage what the world is saying about him. When Jesus asked the question, the answer was “John the Baptist [or] Elijah [or] one of the prophets.” The answers might be different today. Jesus was a good man. Jesus was a great teacher. Jesus was a fine example. Jesus was a prophet is one that would probably still be shared. Some would probably even doubt that Jesus ever really existed. But we do need to have our ear to the ground, so to speak. There’s a lot of interest in Jesus in today’s world, but if we who are disciples of Jesus aren’t paying attention, we’ll have no idea how to connect with that interest and how to turn that interest into faith and commitment.
But Jesus expects us to do more than just be aware of what other people are saying. He expects us stand up and be counted; to have our own opinion; to know Jesus rather than just be willing to discuss Jesus. For disciples of Jesus, Jesus isn’t a subject for debate or argument. And so Jesus pushed his disciples. “But who do you say that I am?” Disciples of Jesus have to be willing to take a stand. Billy Graham may well have said “Christ belongs to all people. He belongs to the world,” but we as his disciples belong to Christ, so we better have a pretty good idea of how to answer that question. Frankly, in a lot of ways, it’s easier not to answer. It’s easier to hem and haw and try to avoid the issue – but we can’t, because how we answer the question is integral to who we are. This story is told in Matthew and Luke as well as in Mark, and in all three of these Gospels, it’s interesting that this story is roughly in the middle of the Gospel. It’s almost as if this question - “who do you say that I am?” - is the hinge around which the rest of the gospel turns. It’s a challenge to us as much as it was to the twelve. “Who do you say that I am?” And Peter said, “You are the Messiah.” Not being Jewish, my first response might be to answer a little differently. “You are the Lord.” “You are the Saviour.” “You are God in the flesh.” But whatever – as disciples of Jesus we have to take a stand that says that Jesus is more than just a really good guy. And I can understand why that’s tough for a lot of people – even for a lot who think of themselves as disciples.
The passage goes on to that strange exchange between Peter and Jesus. Confronted by “who do you say that I am?” Peter made a proclamation - “You are the Messiah” - but then Jesus explains what being “the Messiah” would mean – he would suffer and be rejected and be killed, and by the time Jesus got to “rise again” it’s as if Peter had closed his ears to say “Never. I’m not going to let that happen.” And Jesus calls him “Satan.” “Get behind me, Satan.” It’s interesting that Jesus’ response to Peter basically saying that he didn’t want Jesus to suffer and die was to call him “Satan.” It seems a little harsh – but if we can stop thinking of “Satan” as a name and understand the word itself, we find out that it means basically “adversary.” By telling Jesus that he wouldn’t allow this to happen, Peter was getting in the way of Jesus’ mission. “Get behind me, Satan” was a way of saying “Wherever it leads - follow me and don’t oppose me.” And opposing Jesus may not mean actively working against him – it might just mean trying to play it safe. That’s something Jesus never did, and it’s something his disciples are always tempted to do.
Which brings us to the last part of the passage. Jesus said, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” If we want to be followers of Jesus we have to confront the question: “who do you say that I am?” And if we have the courage to answer it – there’s a sacrifice involved. We have to give of ourselves. Our lives are no longer just ours. They are committed to the service of God, Jesus, gospel – and others. If we – having answered the question – continue to live for ourselves, as if the answer makes no real difference, then in a real sense we’ve gained nothing and we’ve lost everything.
What do people say today? People say lots of things – and we need to know what’s being said about Jesus. But, really, the more important question is the second question – what about you, Jesus asked, “who do you say that I am?” How we answer, and how we live out the answer, changes our lives.
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