Cross-Bearers

Mark 8: 27-38 (March 8, 2009)

1) The Text

27Jesus 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?” 28And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” 30And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

31Then 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. 32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But 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.”

34He 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. 35For 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. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those 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.”

2) The Context

This passage marks a turning point in the Gospel of Mark. Of the sixteen chapters in Mark’s Gospel, eight focus on Jesus’ Galilean ministry, and eight focus on His march toward the Cross. The passage at hand follows immediately after Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. Remember to listen to Mark, however, for in Mark’s Gospel the confession of Peter gets much less attention than in Matthew. In Mark, the focus, the turning point in the Gospel is Jesus’ first prediction of His death. This is Jesus’ first of three explicit predictions of His Passion. In each instance He makes it clear that He will suffer, be killed, and rise again after three days. Furthermore, in this passage He clearly states that any who would be His disciples must prepare to be cross-bearers.

From this moment on, things will never be the same. Up to this point, we have primarily been challenged to interpret the remarkable power Jesus has displayed. How does He do what He does? What is the source of His power? To whom is it extended, and why? But from this moment on, with no diminution of His power, we are forced to wrestle with His prediction that suffering and death are on His horizon. This one who has all the power of God evident in His life will suffer and die. How can that be?

3) Interpretation

This passage follows the celebrated confession of Peter, that Jesus is ‘the Christ’. It reveals just how easy it is to confuse adulation and truth. When Jesus proceeds to speak of his suffering, Peter will have none of it. Jesus must then rebuke Peter and call him, ‘Satan’, for espousing typically human values and not God’s. This does not do a lot for Peter. We might expect him to be sacked permanently, but that, too, would be to espouse typically human values! This Peter remains in leadership and will see the risen Christ.

Mark could hardly make the point more strongly that it is possible to have the words and the devotion and yet to miss what Jesus is about. Mark is doing theology, making us think about our faith. Peter had assumed the normal expectations associated with messiahship. He probably had in mind something like the messianic images which appear elsewhere in the gospel tradition. A messiah (which means ‘anointed’) is someone who will establish God’s reign, a royal figure, a ‘king of the Jews’ like David. As a figure of hope he is not a figure of failure but of success and power. When Jesus refers to himself as ‘Son of Man’ here, it is almost as though it is building a contrast between himself and the exalted royal figure. Instead of identifying himself with royalty Jesus identifies himself with the people; he is a human person. Yet this ‘Human one’, ‘Son of Man’, is someone special. He is the human one before whom all human beings must stand and give account. The passage is concerned to portray Jesus as a model for disciples. Each time Jesus speaks of himself as the suffering Son of Man in Mark, we find the disciples preoccupied with the opposite. Mark tells us that disciples are to follow the way of the Son of Man and also be prepared to deny themselves and take up a cross.

Clearly we are being offered an alternative model of being. We are being challenged to want something different. Instead of thinking only of ourselves and believing that it is to our good to gain wealth and avoid any path which leads to suffering, we are being challenged to be generous, giving of ourselves, even when it may mean suffering. The first image of ourselves and our good is to be set aside; instead we are to embrace the way of Jesus, of self giving love. Then we will find ourselves, our true selves. The merging of our will and being with God’s will and being, and therefore with love which cares for others as well as for ourselves, is the way of discipleship. It is also the way to real humanness - and the way of Jesus, and ultimately also of God!

In Mark’s context this is especially about choosing to be faithful followers of Jesus and not to renege on all that he stands for when faced with pressure (and persecution) to deny him. Being true to him, to God and to ourselves (and to others! – because it all coincides) will sometimes mean hardship, unpopularity, even death and still does. Mark, like others of his time, pictures this as happening at the last judgment. It is also a challenge to face up to it now. That, too, is an agenda for Lent.

4) Thought Exercise

How can we choose the way of Jesus in our daily lives?

What is our motivation for trying to be more like Jesus?