The question, ‘Who is Jesus?’ will be asked sooner or later. His closest disciples talked about this when they were alone. But now it is Jesus who asks the question. The people place Him within the prophetic tradition. Some identify Him as having the Spirit of Elijah and of John the Baptist. This means He is the one who is ushering in the Messianic Age. But does Jesus fit this picture? Peter is the one who calls Him Messiah. Peter has the right word, but he doesn’t have the right meaning.
The Messiah is the Son of Man. The Son of Man is one who lives in solidarity with God and Creation. This is certainly Jesus Himself, but it is also true of His disciples. They are the new humanity that His teaching will bring to birth. The new humanity, however, will not be welcomed by the religious and political elite. They will be rejected. They will suffer for it and be killed. But their efforts will not be in vain. The Father’s energy (three days) will resurrect it.
Peter is not happy with what Jesus is saying. He obviously has something different in mind when he uses the word Messiah. Although he is only a disciple, he rebukes Jesus, reversing their roles. But Jesus pulls him to a deeper understanding. One rebuke deserves another. Jesus reasserts His role and commands Peter to get back in line and follow Him. If he rejects Jesus’ teaching on the role and destiny of the Son of Man, Peter will join the ranks of those who wish to subvert God’s plan.
David Rhoads contrasts the ‘things of God’ with the ‘things of humans’. The Things of God are faith, courage, losing one’s life for the sake of the Gospel, being least, being servant and doing good. The Things of humans are lack of faith, fear, saving one’s life, being great, lording it over others and doing harm. (Reading Mark: Engaging the Gospel. p.88). It is time to be clear about what discipleship is all about. It is not about the chronic concern to save and enhance our lives at the expense of others. The larger, more valuable life flows from God’s love and follows the impulses of that love. Instead of wanting to become great, we become small. Instead of wanting to have power over others, we grow in service. This way of thinking is deeply troubling to the rich and powerful who will not just look the other way. They will want to make us suffer but we must accept this as the price of loving in a loveless world. This is the way of heaven.
Will Jesus’ straight talking dislodge one of our favourite fantasies?
We are little people. Even if we have status, it is never high enough. Even if we have money, we are never wealthy enough. Even if we command respect, there will always be someone who demeans us. We long to be important and we eagerly promote ourselves as much as we protect ourselves. We sense the utter fragility of our lives. A fall from the little Grace we have, haunts us. We fear becoming sick, and old, and dying. So, we fantasise. We become Tevye from ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ and sing of the days when we will have enough! We can even spin this fantasy into scenarios of revenge. We imagine ourselves being ‘in charge’, making decisions that impact thousands who offer us due adulation. We may be little in reality but in our dreams, we are large.
Some Messiahs will feed this fantasy, and, for a short while it looked as if Jesus would do the same. But perhaps the real reason He came was to free us from our fantasy. The Son of Man walks a different pathway and commands all who follow Him to do the same. He chooses a life of trusting in God and of service to others. He does not harm anyone to secure His own status or His own life. In fact, saving Himself is the last thing on His mind. And that is why He will not sanction our chronic concern with our own status and position. That is why He will not permit us to look the other way while others suffer so we can have a better life. In short, the True Messiah is revealed in the precise moment that He will not give us what we want.
