The Message, September 22, 2024: "Who is He?" Mark 8:27-38

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
September 24, 2024

 

“Who Is He?”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Mark 8:27-38

            Would you like to play an imagination game? Let assume that you do. So … imagine with me that Jesus was a professional wrestler.

            Now, let us imagine his introduction by the ring announcer:

            “Let’s get ready to rumble!?!”

            “In this corner … wearing brilliant raiment … weighing in at the weight of the world … Jesus “The Hammer” Christ! Jesus “The Destroyer” Messiah! He crushes nations without breaking a sweat! He smashes armies with his powerful iron fist! He will subdue the Earth!”

            “And in this corner … the Earth!”

            That was fun … right? I know, it was a bit much. But it really was not that far off from what the disciples may have been thinking if there was such a thing as professional wrestling in the first century.

            Jesus and the disciples had travelled to Caesarea Philippi. It was the northernmost point in their travels, twenty-five miles north of the Sea of Galilee, near Mount Hermon. It was an area saturated with pagans and Gentiles. It was believed to be the birthplace of the Roman God Pan. The city was built by Philip to honor the Roman Emperor Caesar. And, perhaps most important of all, it was far from the watchful eye of King Herod.

            It was in that very pagan, Gentile city that Jesus asked the disciples the question, “What is the talk on the streets? Who do people say that I am?” And as we just heard, they said, “Some say John the Baptist, and some say Elijah, and others say one of the prophets.”

            Obviously, the people, the crowds were on to something. They knew that Jesus was special. They knew that he taught and spoke powerfully. They knew that he was proclaiming a new age, a new era. They were on the right track.

            And then as we heard, Jesus asked them, “But who do YOU say that I am?”

            The disciples had been travelling with him for nearly three years. They saw him perform acts of power. They heard him teach and preach. Surely, they knew who he was. Right?

            Well … scholars and commentators when writing or speaking about the disciples in Mark’s Gospel often refer to them as the “Blind Disciples.” They struggle to understand who Jesus is. They struggle to understand what he is trying to teach them. So, when Jesus asked them, “Who do you say that I am,” he was helping them along in their understanding.

            Wonderfully impetuous Peter spoke up on behalf of the rest of them, “Jesus, You are the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One of God.”

            Now, here is where the professional wrestling illustration enters into the story. We hear the word “messiah” with our twenty-first century ears. We hear it with our advanced knowledge of who Jesus is and what He means by messiahship. But the disciples heard Peter’s declaration as if he was that imaginary ring announcer.

            In their minds, in their understanding, the messiah was the true King of Israel, the final heir to the throne, the One who would set the people free, would redeem the People of Israel. He was the One before whom Herod Antipas and the other imposters would be revealed as false “kings.”

            That understanding grew out of the History of the People of Israel. For centuries they had dreamed of the king that would defeat their enemies and set them free. But it never happened.

            Generation after generation they were conquered and occupied again and again and again. They had been conquered by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans … and so forth. The Hebrew people never really knew what it was like to live as free and independent people. So, a new dream developed.

            God would intervene on their behalf. If an earthly king would not save them … then God would. God would save the people using supernatural means.

            Prior to that there would be signs. There would be a time of terror, trials and tribulations. Tumult among the nations. Elijah would return and prepare the way for the messiah.

            The nations of the world would ally themselves against the messiah, but the powers and the rulers of the world would be defeated. All of those who were hostile to the Anointed One of God would be destroyed. The Messiah would be the most destructive conqueror in the history of the world … smashing and crushing its enemies into extinction.

            But wait … there is more. Jerusalem would be restored, and renovated, and rejuvenated. Then the Jewish people that were scattered all over the earth would return to the Holy City. Every nation in the world would kneel before the Messiah and be subject to it.

            And then there would be peace. After all of the smashing and destroying, and the crushing and conquering the Messiah would usher in a new age of peace and goodness that would last forever.

            Here ends the ancient history lesson. But I think that it is important to understand what the disciples heard when Peter said, “You are the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One of God.” That is what they heard. That is what they understood the word to mean.

            The new age of goodness and peace sounds great to our ears … but all of the smashing, crushing and destroying first is a little hard to wrap our heads and our hearts around.

            This is where the ministry of Jesus pivoted. Jesus began to teach them about true messiahship. He had not been assembling a divine army. He HAD been travelling around speaking powerfully about God’s agenda, God’s plan for a new world. Jesus was the complete opposite of what the People of Israel and the disciples understood the Messiah to be. They were likely shocked by Peter’s declaration, and they were likely even MORE shocked by Jesus’ response.

            Messiahs do not get handed over to human hands. Messiahs do not get killed. Messiahs crush and kill; they do not GET killed. They were probably so caught up in the handed over and killed part that they did not even hear Jesus say that he would rise again in three days.

            From our vantage point two thousand years later, we get it. We have seen how the story unfolds. We have seen how the seeds of the Kingdom have been planted. But for those first disciples, this was an earth-shattering revelation. Their whole world view was called into question. Jesus was a powerful teacher, preacher and healer, but was he truly the Messiah?

            As I said a few moments ago, this was a pivotal moment in Jesus’ ministry. Not only did he embark on the journey to redefine what it means to be the Messiah, he also began the journey to help the disciples understand what it means to be disciples. Over the last couple of years, since that time when Jesus had invited them to drop their nets and follow him, they had been witnesses to the work of God’s Kingdom. Jesus had shown them what the Kingdom of God is to look like.

            And now, Jesus was going to show them what a disciple is asked to do in that Kingdom life. As they made the turn in their physical journey, as they made the turn from Caesarea Philippi toward Jerusalem, Jesus began to teach them what it means to be a disciple. He turned to them, and brought the crowd close and said, “Do you really want to follow me? Now is the time to decide. And if the answer is ‘yes,’ then this is what you must be willing to do.”

            As it turns out, the question that Jesus posed, “Who do YOU say that I am?” led the disciples and other followers to Jesus’ implied question of them, “Who are you?”

            How we answer the first question asks us to consider the second. Who is he?

            Is he Messiah to us? Or just someone that we like to pal around with every once and a while?
            Is he Messiah to us? Or just a super cool guy? Or a good teacher? Or a prophet that offers us profound insights into God?
            Is he Messiah to us? Is he someone who will usher in a new age of peace and goodness. Someone who will love with an unimaginable depth and breadth. Someone who will welcome the unwelcome, stand with the powerless, feed the hungry and clothe the naked.
            Who is he?

            And if we answer, “Yes, he is Messiah to us, the Christ, the Anointed One of God,” what does that mean for us? Who are we?

            The answer may intimidate us. It might terrify us. We may think that Jesus is asking a lot of us. Taking up our cross is no small thing. It IS a serious commitment, not one to be taken lightly. But I should say that although it is a serious commitment, Jesus is not asking us to become martyrs for the Kingdom. He is asking us to surrender that which may get between us and God. He is asking us to deny the grasping and clutching self in order to liberate the greater self … the self that God created us to be.

            And Jesus understands that not all of his followers will be giants of the faith. In fact, MOST of them … most of us … will be ordinary folk.

            The faithful disciple will be …

            The person who cares for hungry children, or children in need of a home or a family.
            The person who cares for an ailing spouse or an aging parent.
            The person who faithfully serves at the food pantry, the soup kitchen, the shelter or the diaper bank.
            The person who stands up for justice. The person who stands up for what is right and righteous.

            Who is he?

            Who are we? Are we a true follower? Are we disciples? Learners? Are we willing to commit ourselves to walking with Jesus and talking with Jesus? Are we people who are trying as best as we are able to learn the Way of Christ?
Are we willing to do everything that we can to usher in an age of peace and goodness?

            Who is he? Who are we? Amen.

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