We talk a lot about Jesus—the Christian faith is built upon his story—we pray to him—we name schools
and hospitals after him—and yet, just, Who is this Jesus?
We know that Jesus certainly
is big business these days. From Mel Gibson’s move “The Passion of Christ,” to the “DaVinci Code,”
to the hundreds of books that are published each year that range from the “Left Behind” series to Marcus Borg’s
efforts to discover the real Jesus behind the gospels. In addition, there have been countless others.
Each of these producers and
writers has sought to shape Jesus into their own idealized image of him. However, in the end, their images of Jesus have said
more about themselves and their particular social and political causes than it has about Jesus.
In the gospel story before
us today, Peter likewise was trying to make Jesus fit within his own image of what he wanted Jesus to be. Yet, Jesus refused to be managed by Peter or anyone else.
The incident took place in
Caesarea Philippi, which was a Roman colony in northern Israel near Mount Hermon.
Much earlier the city has been called “Panias,” in honor of the Greek
nature god “Pan.” In that middle-eastern hot arid climate, “Panias”
was a pleasant place to visit with lush grass and plentiful water. People traveled there in order to picnic on the grass and
enjoy the cooling waters. Later, Phillip the Roman governor would rebuild the city and rename it “Caesarea Philippi,”
in honor of Caesar Augustus. Soon, other religions started building temples to
their respective gods.
Therefore, when Jesus asked
his disciples the simple question, “Who do people say that I am?—he was asking that question against the backdrop
of the surrounding shrines, statues, and temples.
“Who do people say
that I am?” asked Jesus. The disciples then began ticking off the comparisons
that others had made about Jesus. Some person have been saying that you are John
the Baptist come back from the dead, others have been saying that you are the Prophet Elijah who did not die but disappeared
into the heavens in a fiery chariot. Still others have been saying that you are one of several well-known prophets. When Jesus
heard these comparisons, he knew that for those people to see him in the footsteps of any one of these renowned Biblical figures,
it was a sign of great respect, awe, and love.
But Jesus was far more than
simply the reappearing of these renowned Biblical figures. Therefore, he asked a second question, “But who do you say that I am?” This second question was a much more profound question. It was not a question about
rumor, or opinion. Rather, this second question was a question of faith.
The Apostle Peter with his
typical boldness spoke right up, “You are the Messiah!” Peter had
gotten the answer right. But with government spies everywhere trying to ferry out any potential insurrections, such words
were dangerous words to utter. Such words could lead to a speedy trial and crucifixion. And already there were plenty of Messiah’s
hanging from Roman crosses, to serve as a warning to others.
Jesus in time would face
a Roman cross—but this time was not that time. He still had much work to do before Good Friday. Therefore, he told Peter
to “hush-up”—to not use such revolutionary talk again in public.
Then Jesus began to define
for Peter and the other disciples what it would mean for him to be the Messiah. But, in doing so, Jesus did not use the term
“Messiah.” Instead, he used the term “Son of Man.” Now,
“Son of Man” could vary in its meaning, from meaning the same as the word “I” or “myself”
(I am the son of a man)—to referring to the apocalyptic figure described in the Book of Daniel.
Regardless, what the term
meant to Jesus, Jesus began to define for his disciples what he was to be about in his life’s work. “The Son of Man must suffer much, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers
of the law. He will be put to death, and after three days rise to life.”
This was too much for Peter.
He had staked his life on Jesus being the Messiah. He had been Jesus’ first
disciple, and he had been the first one sent out to preach. He had seen how the
crowds had flocked about Jesus and adored him. He knew that Jesus had great political potential! Therefore, he refused to accept that Jesus was going to have his political career cut short by being put
to death by the religious leaders.
So, he took Jesus aside.
He wanted to manage Jesus, so that Jesus could fulfill Peter’s agenda for
him. Peter then began to “rebuke” Jesus. It is worth noting that
the word “rebuke” is the same word that was used for silencing demons. Perhaps Peter thought that Jesus had to
be out of his mind in making such a ridiculous statement. The only reasonable
explanation to Peter was that Jesus was possessed by a demon. Peter therefore
was going to exorcise the demon out of Jesus.
Jesus had known these temptations
before. After he had been baptized by John the Baptizer in the Jordan River, Jesus had gone out into the wilderness
to discern his future ministry. During those 40 days in the wilderness, he had
been tempted by Satan with power and glory. But this time, those same temptations
were veiled through the expectations of his disciples.
At the same time, Jesus turned,
and he saw the faces of his disciples. He knew that they too were in agreement with Peter. They too wanted to see Jesus to
be a successful Messiah—to do what no other messiah had been able to do. Therefore,
Jesus turned back to Peter, and he scolded Peter saying, “Get behind me, Satan! For
you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
Jesus also knew that the
crowds likewise were looking for a successful messiah. Therefore, he called the crowds over to him, and told them, “If
any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me...”
Those who heard Jesus that
day knew what it meant to “take up their cross.” They had seen hundreds
of Jews bearing the heavy wooden cross-beams on their way to execution. And,
40 years later when Mark’s gospel was being written, that persecuted Church in Syria or Italy likewise knew what it
meant to “take up their cross.”
They knew that taking up
one’s cross certainly did not mean that one has to struggle with a rebellious teenager, or a troubled marriage, or suffer
from a serious illness.
Rather, bearing ones cross
meant that one embraced suffering on behalf of others. It meant that one chooses to step up to the plate and stand up for
that person, regardless of what the rest of the crowd thinks.
Friday night on the CBS Evening
News there was the story of a Phoenix cab driver, Tom Chappell. It seems that a few months ago he was late picking up a customer. When
he got there she was very frustrated with him being 30 minutes late, and in turn she did not tip him. In fact, she hoped that she would never see him again.
But life had other plans.
Over the next two months, it seemed like every time Rita Van Loenen needed a
cab ride to her kidney dialysis appointment, Tom was assigned that fare. After
giving Rita a ride a few times to the kidney dialysis treatment center, Tom wanted to find out more about kidney dialysis.
So he went to the library and learned how draining dialysis can be. He also began to understand why Rita seemed so irritable on her trip to her dialysis.
Over time, Tom also learned
that she needed a kidney transplant, but none of her family or friends were suitable donors. For
some reason Tom volunteered to be tested to be a donor. To Rita and Tom’s
surprise, he was almost a perfect match. Tom later told a reporter, “I
try to be as good to people as I can. In fact, I’ve always said I’ve
give someone the shirt off my back if they asked me for it, but I never thought about giving somebody a part of me.” The surgery is planned for later this year.
Tom is modest about it all—he
said he just had a talk with God and God thought it was a good idea. He never
expected there to be anything in it for him—but there was. He got back a part of his heart. It seems that 30 years before, when he and his wife divorced, she took their daughter and disappeared. He tried to contact his daughter over the years, but he did not know where to start.
The daughter saw the story about Tom giving his kidney to Rita in her local Kentucky newspaper. She
called him. They talked a long time.
Tom recently told Rita that
previously he didn’t have much to live for. Then, he said, “This has given you a new life. It’s given me
another life.” If all goes well, both of them will be experiencing those new lives by Christmas. Further, Tom’s boss has agreed not only to keep paying Tom while he recovering from surgery, but also
to pay his airplane ticket to visit his daughter in Kentucky.
In reading this article,
Tom’s words struck me, “I’ve give someone the shirt off my back if they asked me for it, but I never thought
about giving somebody a part of me.”
SUCH IS DISCIPLESHIP.
