09/13/2009 A MESSY MESSIAH
A MESSY MESSIAH
“Those who are
ashamed of me & of my words … of them the son of Man will also be
ashamed…..”
Mark 8:38 (NRSV)
By chapter 8 in Mark’s account about
Jesus, people in his day, as well as readers today, come to know a few basic
facts about him.
- We know Jesus is
baptized by John & begins his public ministry.
- He calls 12 disciples
& sends them out on a short-term mission with three goals: to teach,
heal, & defeat evil.
- Jesus, himself,
teaches controversial religious doctrine, takin on the traditions of the
religious authorities, with some risk to himself, & often using intellectually
challenging parables.
- Most of all, he’s quite the miracle-worker. With hardly any food, he feeds thousands of persons & walks on water. The majority of his miracles, though, involve healing. He heals persons from a vast array of maladies, including: physical illnesses, such as fevers, leprosy, paralysis, hemophilia, deafness, & blindness; as well as mental & emotional diseases that require the therapy of his day, exorcism. He even raises a little girl from the dead.
One can
imagine that Jesus must have had quite the reputation after all of this. Wondering what persons are saying about him,
then, Jesus asks Peter & the disciples to recount the gossip.
“Who do people say that I am?” Jesus
inquires.
“Some say that you are John the
Baptist come back to life,” they reply. “Others
say you are Elijah, who returned after being carried to heaven in a chariot of
fire. Others believe you are one of the
great prophets.”
Jesus is intrigued. The demons he encountered already offered their
opinions about him, as we learned last week.
They knew exactly who he was.
Jesus, then, knows what everyone
thinks, except his own disciples.
“So,” he queries Peter, “who do
you say that I am?”
“Why, you are the Messiah, the Christ,
the Anointed One of God!”
Jesus doesn’t disagree with his chief
disciple who answers correctly, but instead, does do two things. First, he warns the disciples not to go
around telling everyone his identity. Second, he expands upon what being Messiah
means.
Let me pause here to explain that
Messiah is a Hebrew (Jewish) word meaning, “Anointed One.” In English, it translates, “Christ.” Anointing was God’s affirmation, approval, or
endorsement of a prophet, priest, or king. The Jewish Messiah predicted by
ancient prophets, as a result of God’s anointing, had authority from God to
forgive sins, judge the nations, & restore God’s people to a heavenly
kingdom on earth in the end time. Jesus,
to Peter, represents all of this.
Peter, then, is correct in stating
that Jesus’ is the Messiah, the Christ.
Where he misses the boat (& he’s not expected to know this) is in
the timing. Jesus only takes on the full
mantle of messiahship after his suffering,
death, & resurrection. He is
Messiah, but not yet. It’s like the
medical intern who is a doctor, but not yet.
What really blows away Peter is this idea that Jesus
is a suffering messiah. That’s not in
the job description. He will have none
of that. He rudely rebukes his teacher,
thinking that the whole idea of his leader ever suffering is lunacy. Why? Because, that’s not what a messiah is
about, at least as Peter & everyone else understand the concept. Any king-like conquering hero would never suffer
& die. It’s unimaginable. It’s impossible. A suffering Messiah is like Philly politics
without pay-to-play,
But Jesus says that he is not really
the long-awaited Christ until his resurrection,
not before. One can only call him
Messiah after he’s suffered, died & risen again.
As odd as Jesus’ concept of messiah
is, it kind of makes sense when you think about the things one does know for
certain about Jesus. What do we know? He heals persons without reward. Most persons
in that honor & shame culture helped persons for selfish reasons. With Jesus, there was no personal gain, no quid pro quo. He healed persons to make their lives better
& help them see God. Their thanks
was appreciated, certainly. Telling
others what God had done for them was fitting, too. But, Jesus wanted nothing physical or
material in return. He didn’t even want
some exalted title of honor at this point in his ministry, a title like Messiah. Perhaps, Jesus being so different in how he
conducted his ministry helped Peter to realize how different a Messiah he was,
too.
The point Jesus makes about his
suffering is not merely a fact he shares with Peter, but communicates with the
crowds that are present. It’s that
important. Up to this point, Jesus
shares his teachings only with his closest friends & followers. The facts about his suffering, however, he
needs everyone to hear, including each of us.
Peter had a hard time accepting Jesus’
suffering. He wanted to follow a wise,
exalted, popular leader & miracle-worker, not some counter-cultural
loser. I mean, to have one’s mentor
beaten & nailed to an executioner’s cross, as Jesus predicted, was an
embarrassment. Why follow a leader like
that?
Let me ask you: Why follow a Messiah
like Jesus? Why give your life, your
loyalty, & all that you are about to some guy whose bloody death left him
hanging on a cross? Who wants to emulate
a man whose life is marked by this kind of sacrifice? --- Sure,
he forgives sin. We all want to get rid
of that baggage. We like Jesus for that
reason. Sure, he heals. We all want to be healthy & whole. We like Jesus for that reason, too. Sure he
is wise. Acting smarter, not harder, is
a laudable goal many of us have. We like
Jesus, again. --- But who wants a crucified man as one’s life
hero? Who wants to sacrifice, &
always put oneself last, for the sake of others? Sacrifice, suffering, & death are not fun
& glamorous.
Goodness, we don’t even like singing
hymns that remind us of how gross the crucifixion was. How many of us list, “There Is a Fountain
Filled with Blood,” on our personal hit parade of hymns? Or, for the many who do count “The Old Rugged
Cross” among your favorites, do you really find “a wondrous beauty” in that
blood-stained cross, as verse 3 details?
Do you “it’s shame & reproach
gladly bear,” as verse 4
announces? Maybe we bear it begrudgingly,
but gladly?
Peter isn’t the only one who doesn’t
get it. There are churches whose
marketing efforts are deliberate about placing no symbols of suffering, like crosses,
in their sanctuaries. No, I’m not
referring to the Quakers or Amish who eschew symbols because they fear making
them into idols. I’m talking about
pastors & church leaders who don’t want to mention that sacrifice is a key
part of who Jesus is & what Christianity is about. These congregations know
that talk of sacrifice is a turn-off & won’t keep ‘em coming back every
Sunday. That’s why blessing, self-improvement,
& self-help messages are their standard fare. The only cross these congregations like is
the bling of silver & gold jewelry, not the one on which this messy Messiah
hangs. They’ll take their expensive
latte lounges & indoor playgrounds, for they bespeak trendiness &
worldly success, but crosses aren’t their thing. As I said, Peter isn’t alone in his dislike
of a suffering Messiah. Yet, Jesus
considered that form of denial of who he is not only wrong, but evil.[1] “Get behind me, Satan!”
Many of us don’t talk about Jesus to
others because it is so hard. Jesus had
harder conversations than that when he argued for his very life before Pilate. We find it difficult to stand up for our
faith & say, “No,” to things that are wrong because it’s so hard. Jesus directly took on the powerful Roman &
religious authorities in matters of right & wrong. We roll our eyes when the preacher talks
about tithing because it’s too hard, although Jesus, who had no more than the
clothes on his back & no pillow on which to lay his head, literally paid it
all for the sake of others. Plus, persons
far wealthier & far poorer than us & persons just like us manage to
tithe. When we do hard things, we’re
like Jesus. And isn’t he the one we want
to be like … unless it involves sacrifice!?!
We don’t want Jesus to hurt &
bleed, because we don’t want to hurt & bleed – literally or
figuratively. His pain makes us feel
guilty. He did that for me & you! He did Being wise & blest & holy
sounds great, as long as God removes all trials from our lives in order to
achieve those goals with us. I think
about the family for whom it’s easier to pray harder for their drug addicted
adolescent, than seek the strength to make changes in their lives by getting
down & dirty with that child in terms of support & proper care &
treatment.[2] We hate inconvenience & putting ourselves
out. We hate hurt & suffering. So does God.
So does the man on
The difference is that we can either despise &
deny the harsh realities of life & its sufferings, or we can seek to grow
from them, find meaning in suffering, & see a purpose to it. God redeems suffering. It’s called resurrection So can we redeem our
hard times. Granted, it’s hard. It’s so hard that many Christians don’t even
want to learn how to find meaning in suffering vicariously, by learning from
Jesus’ example. I understand that folks
don’t want to suffer, but why not see how Jesus handles suffering? That’s safer.
For example: Palm Sunday & Easter are glorious
days with banner attendance. The rest of the days of Holy Week added together,
including Maundy Thursday & especially Good Friday, don’t equal the worship
attendance of one of those days at either end of the week. Easter becomes a day of fragrant lilies &
victory music, rather than genuine resurrection -- in Christ’s life & ours.
Resur-rection Day is the best when
we’ve experienced Crucifixion Day’s worst.
We don’t want to suffer. We don’t
want to hear about suffering. Without
Jesus’ example to learn from, suffering is made all the worse when it comes our
way.
We know that everything from single cells to plants
to humans is made stronger & grows heartier after surviving hardships. Science & the Christian faith will both
tell you that fact, even though our pain-killer, risk-averse culture would have
us believe the opposite. Think about those
“helicopter parents” who hover over their children protecting them from every
potential harm & hurt. They produce
some very hurting & disturbed children exactly because they’ve not had a
skinned knee or bruised emotion or bad grade.
Scars may not be attractive to the eye, but they sure make tough skin in
a world that’s not always easy.
This is not a sermon advocating anything sadistic or
masochistic. It’s natural & normal to avoid suffering. The world teaches that those things are
bad. Christ says that physical pain
& emotional wounds are normal & predictable in a imperfect, fallen world. They make him who he is.
If we want to be like Jesus, the brokenness &
hurt that come our way can mold us in his image. Surely, suffering may not be desired, but it
can make us like Christ. And there’s
nothing better than that.
In the Name…. Copyright 2009 by G.D.Knerr at