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Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?" So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ." Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.
And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many thins, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."
When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."
- Mark 8:27-9:1
Yesterday, we read that the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Jesus, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation?" And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread." But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up? They said to Him, "Twelve." Also when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?" And they said, "Seven." So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?" Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking." Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."
Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?" So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ." Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him. Here is the central question: "Who do you say that I am?" What we believe about Christ will fix our understanding of our relationship to God and to our faith. My study bible suggests that Jesus draws out other opinions ("Who do men say that I am?") in order to expose and identify incorrect ideas, and false teachings that my arise from them. To say that "You are the Christ" (Messiah, or Anointed One) is possible only through faith (see 1 Corinthians 12:3). We note that Peter speaks not just for himself, but for all of the disciples. The Messianic secret is so huge, and so open to misunderstanding and false expectations, that the disciples are strictly warned that they should tell no one.
And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many thins, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." Here is the revelation of the shocking true nature of Jesus' messiahship. In complete contradistinction to expectations of the time, Jesus gives an account of the Passion to come. My study bible tells us that it was expected that the Messiah would reign forever. The idea that Christ would die was perplexing to Peter, and would remain scandalous to the Jews after the Resurrection, as we know from St Paul (1 Corinthians 1:23). Peter unwittingly speaks for Satan in the sense that the devil did not want Christ to fulfill His mission, salvation and liberation of mankind through suffering and death.
When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power." Jesus does not just present the disciples with the image of Messiah as One who will suffer and die, and rise from the dead. He also gives them the instruction that they are to "follow Him." Jesus transformed the cross -- dreaded Roman instrument of death and punishment -- into a symbol of transformation, hope, and Resurrection. We imitate Christ by also taking up our individual crosses. For each of us who are faithful, He transforms our own suffering and self-denial for the sake of God and love of the Gospel into that which also transcends and gives hope and resurrection. These are not punishment, but rather means to overcome a fallen world for the sake of the Kingdom, love of God, a fuller and expanded sense of life itself, and the power of love. Everything else falls into this context and is changed and redeemed and transformed for each one of us and our own moments of challenge and acceptance. In these verses, Jesus offers us an extraordinary choice, and demands that we weigh the importance of one side or the other. Those who will see the kingdom of God present with power are thought to be the disciples who will will witness the Transfiguration (our next reading), as well as those in each generation who experience for themselves the presence of God's Kingdom.
Jesus asks us to weigh our priorities, our options. "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Tied to this central question, He speaks of shame. "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." What is shame? Shame is a public form of humiliation, assigned to us by the group, the society. It's different from guilt, in which one may feel appropriately remorseful for an act one has committed. There is also inappropriate and morbid guilt, which is frequently connected to feelings of shame we may or may not be aware of. The kind of shame Jesus tells us to bear is one that is a result of scandal, the same kind of scandal that the Cross is. There may be times in our lives when we are asked to choose between a kind of social shame for standing up for faith in the gospel of the Kingdom, making a choice, that is not compatible with the views of our "group" or society or social environment. For this we may become "scandal," and bear shame. Jesus asks us to weigh the importance when facing such questions and decisions between the precious measure of our own souls, and saving a kind of reputation that may have us "fitting in" but denying where our soul may need to go. This isn't an easy question, and it's not given in an easy or simple context. Jesus knows very well how frightening it is, what scandal is and means. No one will sacrifice more than He, nor His disciples in losing their Master in the flesh. It's not an easy statement, and it's not given to us as another way of shaming us when we weigh the choices for ourselves. It is a teaching, something we need to think about, to consider. Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross enters us into a new world of choices, where shame and scandal may become something to endure for the sake of the Gospel, and for the sake of saving our own souls. This is a hard paradox, a completely different reality than one can understand by simply following the rules and the social proprieties. Shame, in Jesus' context, becomes a part of the journey, something we have to weigh on the other side of the shame we may find in the presence of Christ in the "glory of his Father with the holy angels." The word for shame in the Greek has roots that imply a disgrace for siding with the wrong element, wrongly aligning with something, following a lie. Let us consider what Jesus is asking of us, the choices He makes and will encourage us to make in following Him. He asks us to be capable of complicated decisions, He pulls us out of our environments -- even that we may choose what is right when those all around will tell us or treat us as if we are wrong.
