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We're
taking a break today from our series on 1 Samuel, so the 10 o'clockers don't
miss out, since they'll be in Wattle Park today. So today we're using the
readings for the 2nd Sunday in Lent and we'll be looking at Mark 8, at the
turning point of the gospel account of the life of Jesus. |
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Mark's
gospel begins with Jesus coming into Galilee announcing that the kingdom
of God has come near and calling on people to repent, to turn away from
their rebellion against God and to believe the gospel; to believe that Jesus
was the one sent by God to rescue his people from their captivity to sin.
And as he begins to minister, the people at first are amazed by the authority
with which he teaches and by his power to heal and cast out demons. And
they begin to believe in him. |
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But
as time goes on, his demands became too much for them. The leaders of the
people begin to object to what he's saying. The people, particularly in
his own part of the country start to have doubts. What gives him the right
to say these things? How could he just come in here and undermine their
religious beliefs? And so they stop moving towards faith. They in fact began
to move the other way: to reject his claims to have come from God. |
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Mark
has cleverly shaped his gospel so that the first half poses the question
"Who is Jesus?", and the second half asks the question, "Why has he come?"
Placed in the middle is this section that we're looking at today, Mark 8:27-9:1.
This is the turning point of the gospel. Here we see the disciples taking
the first step in acknowledging who Jesus is. Yet it's only a first step.
As we read on we find that they're still only part way down the path. They
still have a way to go before they get to the end, to a full realisation
of who Jesus is. |
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But before we look at the passage we need to notice the short account that
comes before (8:22-26). Jesus and his disciples have come to Bethsaida,
a village on the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee. While he's there,
some people bring a blind man to him to be healed and he does a strange
thing. Instead of healing him there and then, he takes him by the hand and
leads him out of the village. Now why does he do that? Why does he take
him out of the village, away from the crowds? |
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Well,
it may be that this is a symbolic action. Symbolic of God's judgement on
the city, or more particularly on the unbelief of the people. Matthew records
Jesus' condemnation of Bethsaida along with a couple of other cities in
Matt 11. So it may be that Jesus takes the man out of the city because of
the general atmosphere of unbelief he experiences there. It might also be
that this is a sign that the gospel is being removed from the realm of the
establishment and being delivered to ordinary men and women like Jesus'
followers. |
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In
any case, Jesus takes the man out of the city and then something even stranger
happens. Jesus spits and lays his hands on him, but it doesn't work. He
isn't healed! This is the only incident we have where Jesus didn't succeed
in healing someone first time. Yet it's almost as though Jesus expects it.
He asks him whether he can see anything, and he says he can see shadowy
figures, but not clearly. |
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Well,
why wasn't he healed? If it were you or I doing the healing we wouldn't
be so surprised, but this is Jesus! What was it that stopped him? Was it
perhaps the unbelief of the crowds who had followed them out of the village?
Well, we can only guess, since we're not told. But in any case it's an encouragement
to us, I guess, to persevere when we pray for healing. Sometimes we have
to pray over and over again before we see the answer we're looking for.
Sometimes there's some sort of improvement, but more prayer is required
to complete the healing. In any case, Jesus lays his hands on him again
and this time the man is healed. Perhaps the man needed the encouragement
of the initial improvement to strengthen his faith. |
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So
the first half of Mark's gospel ends. This final incident is both a warning
and a pointer. To reject Jesus is a dangerous thing, because in the end
you'll miss out on his presence with you: a message that's reinforced at
the end of the chapter. And his healing of the blind man, following so closely
on his healing of the deaf mute in ch. 7 is a pointer to the true nature
of Jesus. It's a pointer that we discover the disciples haven't missed. |
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Jesus
and his disciples move on from Bethsaida to Caesarea Philippi. This is significant,
because it's the northernmost outpost of Israel. From here Jesus' path will
lead inevitably to Jerusalem and death. So it's fitting that here Jesus
stops to see how far his disciples have come. To see whether they're ready
for this final journey. He asks them "Who do people say I am?" "Some say
John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others, one of the prophets." "But
who do you say that I am?" This is it. This is the moment we've all been
waiting for as we've read through the gospel. This is the question that
Mark in fact poses to all his readers: "Who do you say that I am?" |
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Ask
someone today who do they think Jesus was, and you'll get similar answers
to those the disciples reported. They may not be exactly the same. No-one's
going to mention Elijah, or John the Baptist. But they will suggest he was
a great teacher; a revolutionary thinker; the ultimate radical; even a great
prophet. But none of those answers are sufficient are they? None of them
account for the full story. None of them explain the things Jesus said about
himself, the claims he made. None of them go close to taking into account
his death and resurrection. No, only the answer that Peter gives will suffice,
"You are the Christ." That is, the Messiah, God's anointed one, who was
promised centuries before: who would come to bring salvation for God's people;
who would rescue them from their slavery. How did Peter come to this conclusion?
Presumably from listening and watching what Jesus said and did. But more
importantly he came to this conclusion because God's Holy Spirit opened
his eyes to see the truth: showed him that the things Jesus did could only
be done by one who was sent by God; and that the things he did were the
same things predicted for the Messiah all those years before. |
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It's
possible to read about the things Jesus did and said and not recognise him
for who he is. There are plenty of people around who know the Bible well
and yet have never acknowledged Jesus as King. Our previous Prime Minister,
Bob Hawke was a prime example. He was the son of a minister, he'd been raised
in the church, he'd been to Sunday School and learnt all the Bible stories
and yet he had no faith in Jesus. I don't think he even believed in God
any more. So it takes more than just hearing and seeing, it takes God's
Spirit to convince us. In fact that's what the parallel passage in Matthew's
gospel tells us. (Mat 16:17 NRSV) "And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are
you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,
but my Father in heaven." |
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If
you know someone who's having trouble accepting the claims of Jesus, ask
God to show them the truth about them. Ask his Spirit to come and convince
them of the truth of Jesus claims. That's the only way they'll ever see
it. |
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As
we read on though, we discover that Peter's and the other disciples' understanding
still wasn't complete. At this stage they were still only half way along
the path, They were heading in the right direction, but they still had some
way to go. From now on they needed to learn what it meant for Jesus
to come as the Messiah. They needed to discover the sort of salvation he
was bringing; the nature of the slavery that he'd come to free them from.
That meant they had to learn about the cross. |
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The
salvation he'd come to bring involved his suffering and death. It involved
being rejected by the leaders of the people, and being put to death. But
it also involved him rising from death after 3 days. The salvation he brought
was a salvation from the power of sin and death. His was to be a victory
that could only be won by him suffering death in order to overcome it. And
that was a problem. Peter just couldn't handle the thought that Jesus would
countenance death as an option. It was as though he had a death wish. As
though he was willing to give up and go to death willingly. Peter wasn't
going to stand by and let that happen! He was ready to fight, to support
Jesus all the way. But Peter had spoken too soon. He still didn't understand,
and his objection wasn't helpful, it was harmful. So much so in fact that
Jesus rebukes him in the harshest manner possible: (Mark 8:33 NRSV) "Get
behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but
on human things." Our answers aren't always God's answers. In the case of
Jesus' coming it was the opposite of what they expected. It was foolishness,
a stumbling block. Who could have thought that the Messiah would come to
die in order to conquer? |
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But
in fact that's the case isn't it? The way of the Kingdom is the way of the
cross. For Jesus, but also for us. And so Jesus turns to the crowds that
are following him and begins to warn them of the demands of the Kingdom.
"If you've been following me because of the miracles I do" he says, "then
forget it. The only way to follow me is with a cross slung over your shoulder,
because that's why I've come." Remember that the cross was a sign of shame.
To the Jew it was the sign that you were cursed. To a gentile it was a sign
that you were a criminal. And most of all it was a sign that you were on
your way to death. So Jesus was saying "If you're coming to me to save your
life, then realise that first you have to lose it. The coming of Jesus ushers
in God's Kingdom, where only God can rule. That means that your rule over
your own life has to end. It's as though you first have to die in order
to live in God's kingdom. And if the thought of carrying a cross over your
shoulder is offensive to you as it surely was to Jesus' hearers, then be
warned. "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 8:38 NRSV)."
It's not that Jesus is saying he'll take revenge on us. No, when we stand
before the judgement seat of God, and we cry to God for mercy, Jesus will
be bound by the truth of what's happened in this life. The only thing he'll
be able to say then is, "Yes, while they lived they praised my name," or
"No, while they lived they rejected my claims over them." And we'll have
no answer. |
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How
do you respond to the claims of Jesus? Are you uneasy with his claim to
be the Son of God? Perhaps you're uneasy with his claim to be the way, the
truth and the life? With his claim that no-one comes to the Father except
by him? Are you prepared to follow the way of the cross, to give up all
your claims on life, all your claims on comfort and security, in order to
be one of his followers? If you are then Jesus promises that by doing so,
you'll save your life. |
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The
final verse of our reading is an encouragement to us. (Mark 9:1 NRSV) "And
he said to them, 'Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will
not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.'"
The kingdom coming with power refers as far as I can see to the day of Pentecost,
when the things Jesus was talking about became real for his followers; when
the Holy Spirit came on them and they too began the walk along the way of
the cross. When they began to stand up for Jesus, to proclaim him to a world
that was opposed to him. And when they saw God's power revealed in people's
response to the preaching of the gospel. |
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Someone
once said that God is no-one's debtor. When we willingly take up the cross
to follow him he helps us along the way. When we willingly give up our life
for his sake, he gives it back with interest. I want to pray in a moment
that we would all give our lives over to God for him to take control of,
and it would be great if you joined me in that prayer in committing or recommitting
your life to God. If you've done it before, that's OK, you can do it again.
In my experience I need to continually recommit my life to God. If you've
never really done it then let this be the first time. Ask Jesus to make
out of your life something great, great in his eyes that is, something that
he can use. |
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Let's pray: Lord Jesus we pray that you would take our lives and use them
for your Kingdom. Lord we give up our right to say what happens to us, and
we hand that right over to you. Lord, give us the life you promise, life
with your Father in heaven for time everlasting. Keep us from ever being
ashamed of you or of your gospel. Make us worthy ambassadors for you. Give
us your Spirit to empower us and strengthen us for your service. We pray
this in your powerful name. Amen. |
