Sermon 15th September 2024 – 17th Sunday after Pentecost
Text:
Mark 8:27-38 – Who do YOU say that I am?
Fairly
soon VCE students are going to prepare for their final exams. It will be a stressful time knowing that their
year’s work, and in fact the past 12 years work comes to a head. Likewise, the
disciples are about to begin an intensive examination on discipleship. It was time to study up for the final exam. Perhaps
Jesus feels a sense of urgency running out of time before he hands over the
reins to the twelve disciples. The
students will become the teachers.
But
before that happens he needs to know what they understood and what they didn’t.
Were they able to see what was hidden in the signs that he had performed to see
the deeper, richer message? When he
healed the physically blind did they realize he was also healing spiritual
blindness? Did they understand that they
are sometimes blind – as we will seen in Peter’s later response to Jesus? Jesus began by asking a fairly passive
question. “Who do people say that I am?”
They answered that some are still a bit confused – their eyes are not quite
opened from their spiritual blindness. Some thought he was John the Baptist;
others, that he was Elijah. Others thought that he was one of the other
prophets of old.
But
now the examination gets personal. And there are no multiple-choice answers“ Which
of these do you think I am – a,b or c. No. It was personal. Who do YOU say that
I am?” Peter answered as he has in the past on their behalf - that Jesus is the
Messiah. Interestingly Jesus then ordered them to tell no one. Maybe because
they would not be able to understand while they were still spiritually
immature.
Now
Jesus takes them to the next level of their learning. Jesus first asks “Who do
you say that I am?” Peter answered
correctly. But what Peter didn’t understand was what being the Messiah of God
really meant. He held the common belief that the Messiah would be king over
Israel and lead a revolt against their oppressors. But Jesus talked of a whole
different understanding of what would be the Messiah’s life and ministry when
he spoke of suffering and being killed, and after three days rising from the
dead. And this is when Peter’s spiritual blindness crept back in. He took Jesus
aside and tried to re-educate Jesus. But
Peter’s mind was not on divine things, heavenly things, kingdom things; He was instead looking at the meaning of
Messiah from a purely human point of view. Peter meant well. He didn’t want his beloved
teacher to suffer and die. But Peter was
putting his own feelings and fears ahead of the mission of God.
And
this is where Satan enters – which is why Jesus’ rebuke names Satan. Satan was
focusing Peter’s mind on the suffering and death and tempting him to divert his
thinking away from Jesus – like when he walked on the water and panicked
causing him to sink.Satan tried the same temptation on Jesus – focus on your
hunger and turn rocks into bread. That’s why Paul says in Colossians 3 – keep
your mind focused on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of
God and not on earthly things. Peter missed the heavenly things – rising on the
3rd day - while focusing on the earthly things – arrested, suffered, died.And
now it’s time to educate all the disciples and the crowds following him about
what it exactly means to confess Jesus Christ as Lord – as YOUR Lord.
Jesus
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. 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.” And this is also OUR education: These are hard and
challenging words for us to hear. Deny yourself. Take up your cross. To save your life you must
lose it. And if we are ashamed of him
and of his words Jesus will be ashamed of us when he returns. I can see the
look on the faces of the disciples and the crowd. And the look is probably not
much different to our own.
Those
wanting to continue following Jesus had some decisions to make. The people in the crowd had to ask themselves
if continuing to follow Jesus was worth it and if they were willing to
sacrifice it all to continue on this path. As we heard a few weeks ago, some
did find it difficult and made the decision to stop following him.
When
the 12 disciples were given the option to leave too, Peter, again, spoke on
their behalf. Lord to whom shall we go – you have the words of eternal life. You
have heard the words of Jesus just like the disciples and the crowd did. We too
are daily faced with that decision – to keep following Jesus or to give up. Satan
will tempt us to look at the state of world and question whether God really
loves the world – whether God really can save the world. Satan will have you
think of yourself – like he did with Peter – like he did with Adam and Eve. But
ask yourself, what are you giving up. Jesus is NOT John the Baptist – Elijah,
Jeremiah or one of the Prophets. He is the Messiah, the son of the living God.
And
what does that mean? Well, it’s that last part of his educating that we must
take serious: When he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. And
when Christ is revealed in his glory so too will you. Jesus himself says that
following him is not an easy journey but the reward makes the journey worth it.
To be there when Jesus returns and have him proud to bring us home and not
ashamed of us. So the question Jesus asked his disciples is the question Jesus
continues to ask us today: Who do you say that I am. And the reason he asks
that is because that is the question that will be asked of us when Jesus
returns in his glory. Who do you say that I am. You are our Lord Jesus – and
all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
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