Title: Who Do You Say that I Am?

Scriptures: Proverbs 1:20-33, Mark 8:27-38

9/14/03 11th Sunday after Pentecost

Rev. Joy R. Haertig

In the first part of my reflection today I want to focus our attention on the different ways that Jesus is understood by those around him as is reflected in the Gospel reading from Mark.  I am relying on a wonderful commentary called New Proclamation to help me share it in a succinct manner.  In the second half of my reflection I will talk about the invitation in today's reading to “take up one's cross”.  

In the gospel reading Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”  We know that this question continues to be debated even today.  We can find six possibilities in our brief reading from Mark:

1. The first title presented is “Messiah” or “Christ”.  This title traditionally meant that Jesus was a descendant of King David and would be another human king who would be anointed and blessed by God to regain rule over Israel and unite them as one people.  This was perhaps the earliest belief in Jesus' mission.
2. The second in today's reading is “Son-of-man”.  It is not clear exactly what Jesus meant by this term.  It could mean nothing more than another word for “me”, or “a human being”.  Or it could have an apocalyptic overtone like one might find in some of the Old Testament literature such as the book of Daniel where a human-divine figure comes from the clouds to represent the majesty and will of God.
3. In verses 31 and forward Jesus begins to talk about the Son of Man as being one who will go through great suffering.  This image of the Suffering Servant is found in the Book of Isaiah in Old Testament literature.  The suffering servant is the one who is willing to suffer for what is right.
4. The fourth possibility mentioned is that people think of Jesus as another John the Baptist, an apocalyptic preacher.
5. The fifth is that he is another Elijah, a beloved miracle-worker who is able to work with the power of God, and finally -
6. A prophet, one who speaks the word of God.

Six diverse images of Jesus that were all part of the “grapevine” of Jesus' day as they sought to understand who he was.  A King like David, a divine-human one, a suffering servant, a miracle-worker, an apocalyptic preacher or a prophet -these diverse perspectives tell us that from the earliest of times, we have found “human language and religious categories inadequate to express the meaning of Jesus.”  

Even today people describe a sense of Jesus - or “the Christ” in their lives, using descriptions that echo some of these diverse, early images.

This week I read a wonderful article written by Michael Gibson.  He wrote about his experience with a dear friend who was dying of cancer and was near the end of her days.  He was absolutely exhausted and was running on only one hour of sleep and was praying for strength, wisdom and patience when all of the sudden when he looked at his friend he saw her as the presence of Christ.  Not only her inner spirit, but her suffering body as well.  He remembered Jesus' words, “I was ill, and you comforted me…EvEvery time you do this for the least of my sisters or brothers, you do it for me” (Matt. 25:36b,45).  In that moment his friend was not suddenly “saintly or perfect, (he writes) I simply saw in her ailing body the Holy before me.”  Soon after that realization he became aware of a presence in the room with them, it was the presence of the Christ and he began to pray - “Stay here.  Keep watch with us.  Watch and pray.”  And in another moment he realized that in the eyes of his friend, he was Jesus, he was the comforting Christ while she was the suffering one.

Perhaps there are so many images of Jesus in scripture because his spirit is known in so many ways, yet many of us have grown up with only one image of Jesus, and it is not among the six in today's reading.  The image I am referring to is that of Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb of God; the son that God willingly sacrificed in order for the rest of humanity to be saved.  As much as I value tradition and respect diverse beliefs, this is one perspective of Jesus that has become more and more difficult for me to be at peace with.  Through all of my studies and life-experiences or through prayer, I have not been able to reconcile an image of a loving and justice-seeking God with one that would willingly sacrifice a child in order to be appeased, or for any other reason, for that matter.  

Though the image of Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb is not specifically in today's reading from Mark, through the years it has had a huge impact on how we have understood the second half of today's reading when Jesus talks about “taking up your cross” to follow him.  We have traditionally assumed that this meant that we too must sacrifice ourselves in some way to be true followers of Jesus.  We have come to believe that there is some kind of redemptive power in suffering - that it is actually the “will of God”.  People in abusive relationships have stayed because they believed that is what Jesus would do; abused children were taught that suffering would someday lead them to Jesus or that illness was a gift in disguise for building strength and character.  We even search for a heavy burden to carry or we say that something we have learned to live with is “our cross to bear”.  We take pride in our strong back muscles as we show how we carry the weight of the world on our shoulders, just like Jesus.  

I have come to believe that that is not what Jesus is referring to when we are challenged to “take up our cross”.  

These words from Jesus have to do with identifying ourselves as people of God. In challenging us to “take up our cross”, Jesus is challenging us to not be afraid to identify our selves as followers of God's wisdom, even when it runs counter to what the world teaches us.  

This is not an invitation to join Jesus on the cross as some kind of loving sacrifice, but to join Jesus through HOW WE LIVE GOD'S WISDOM, which would have us put an END to the reality of needless suffering in the first place.  Jesus did not want more crosses lining the roadways of Jerusalem; he wanted the end of such persecutions and suffering.  

This past week we have come to the second year mark of the horrific tragedy of September 11, 2001.  I could not help but ponder what message this particular scripture might be offering us at this time of remembering.  As we have once again grieved the loss of all of those people, and have prayed for the family members, I cannot ignore the grief of all the other deaths that have occurred since then, particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq.  I can see no redemption in these crosses of despair.  As Michael Gibson saw the Christ in the ailing body of his friend who was dying, so do I see the wounded body of Christ in the face of each child who is searching for a lost parent either here or there.  

I know that there are no easy answers for how to resolve the complexity of these ongoing conflicts, but retaliation has become too easy.  I do not believe that there is some kind of redemption in the suffering we have either experienced or caused.  Martin Luther King Jr. boldly proclaimed:

“Through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder.  Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth.  Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate.  Darkness cannot put out darkness.  Only light can do that…”I”

I do not believe that God put Jesus on that cross.  God does not value suffering, nor does God cause it or will us to cause it.  I believe our ongoing challenge as people of faith as we “take up our cross” today, is to discern what we can each do to make sure no one is put on a cross again.  

Let us pray…