This morning’
passage comes from the middle/hinge part of the gospel it starts with two
questions from Jesus to the disciples:
“What
do people say about me?”
“who do you
say I am?”
What do people
say about Jesus today?
Anything?
Some say nothing
Some think
he has some good teaching
In the Islamic
faith Jesus is a prophet
I think what
others might say about Jesus is an interesting question for us, but a more important
question is who do you say Jesus is?
Who or what
is Jesus for you?
· judge
· friend
· healer
· teacher
· saviour
· messiah
· life giver
· hope bearer
· forgiveness
· …..
We all have
words for Jesus that we use when we pray and when we name Jesus for ourselves
or others.
I am going
to give you a moment now to think of a favourite word about Jesus.
[20 seconds]
Now I invite
you to tell someone sitting near you.
………
After the
who am I questions from Jesus, he tells the disciples he will die. This is what
being the Messiah is, it isn’t getting a crown and an army or a palace, but injustice
and death and rising to new life.
And Peter,
being Peter, says – oh no, that isn’t how this works. Peter is looking the
Messiah who will overthrow the Romans and not just Peter, that was the expectation
of many at that time.
Peter says –
oh no, that isn’t how this works.
Jesus says
to him: “Satan,
get away from me! You are thinking like everyone else and not like God.”
That phrase
stood out to me: You are thinking like everyone else and not like God.
How often do
we do that?
How often do
we choose money, or our own safety over helping someone in need?
How often do
we choose to stay quiet when we are called to speak out?
In what ways
do we allow poverty and homelessness and injustice to continue because the
remedy will impact us in ways that are uncomfortable.
……
Then
the crowd and disciples hear how followers of Jesus need to realise it isn’t an
easy way to live. Being a follower of Jesus means giving up your life for God.
What would
you be prepared to give up?
Maybe the
question is what will you not give up for God?
I encourage
you to think this week about what it means for you to be a disciple of the one
who was crucified. The way who gave everything. The one who calls us to follow
and to live in obedience to him.
Next week as
we meet together on the first Sunday in Lent, you will have the opportunity to
consider your covenant with God.
After telling
the disciples that he will be arrested and killed, Jesus takes Peter, James and
John up the mountain with him. We have the story of Moses and Elijah and Jesus
shining brightly and the voice from heaven, again. In chapter 1, as Jesus was coming
out of the water after being baptised by John a voice form heaven said: “You are
my own dear Son, and I am pleased with you.”
Here on the
mountain a voice from heaven says: “This is my Son, and I love him. Listen to
what he says!”
It is likely
the first time was for Jesus, the second time for the disciples who were with him.
In this
section, where Jesus is on the mountain there is lots of symbolism.
·
Firstly,
they are on a mountain, so something amazing is likely to happen.
·
Then Moses and Elijah appear. Moses, the one who received
the law from God and Elijah, one of the prophets. Moses and Elijah are themselves
evoke “the law and the prophets,” the biblical name for the Hebrew Bible.
·
Both have experiences on mountains, Moses when the
law was given to him for the people of Israel, and Elijah, when he heard the
voice of God in the silence.
And amidst
the symbols, Peter wants to build something. I get this. When I have had strong
God experiences, I want to mark it somehow. Sometimes sitting there is so
intense it is really difficult.
I wonder if
it is also because we live in a world that values
doing/making/building
more than
being/breathing/reflecting.
……..
The Gospel of
Mark starts with who is Jesus, then looks at what it means to be the Messiah,
then the final week of the life of Jesus.
The part of
the reading this morning I find many people have trouble with is: If any of you
want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your
cross and follow me.
Carrying our
cross is not about accepting abuse or suffering as if it is somehow a way to salvation.
The first half of the Gospel of Mark has Jesus healing and freeing people. This is not abuse or suffering for its own sake.
This is
about being persecuted for following Jesus. This is not as common in Australia as
it is in some places, and certainly the early followers of Jesus did risk their
lives just by being a disciple.[i]
People at
this time were defined by the people he belonged with, generally the family.[ii]
I still hear today – what can you expect, she or he is from that family,
the idea of being a chip of the old block. I have heard it said of people who
are wealthy, or in prison, or who are shady in their business dealings, or known
for their community mindedness.
Here Jesus
is saying if you want to follow me, you risk rejection and isolation from
family and friends. You risk people not accepting you. You give up defining yourself.
Amongst my
parent’s friends I was known as Ross Banister’s daughter. Jesus asks will you
give up being known as that to follow me. I did, and it wasn’t always easy
being Patty, trying to follow Jesus instead of Ross Bannister’s daughter. Being
Ross Bannister’s daughter opened doors at folk festivals and canoe gatherings
and guaranteed a place for me at any of those social events. Being Patty, a follower
of Jesus meant moving less and less in those circles, not because they did anything
wrong, but because Jesus wanted me to be me.
Early in
Mark’s gospel we heard Jesus say to the disciples: Come and Follow me. This
morning we heard some of the reality of that following. The risk of persecution;
being laughed at; being isolated or rejected; being killed; giving up our life,
to be given life.
Who do you
say Jesus is?
Can you remember
the word from earlier that you told someone?
In what ways
does that show in your life and words and choices and actions.
Jesus calls
us to follow,
to risk everything
to live.
[i]
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1383&fbclid=IwAR3mKICieVwMM5PQOxoeSh1zOft7QrFVgv1TuJ7w3RdYmBoPkXEwDkNmd3I
[ii]
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1383&fbclid=IwAR3mKICieVwMM5PQOxoeSh1zOft7QrFVgv1TuJ7w3RdYmBoPkXEwDkNmd3I
