Mark 8:31-9:1 What Good Is It?
5/27/01 D. Marion Clark
Introduction
In the movie The Matrix, Keanu Reeves must make a quick, but irrevocable decision – whether to swallow a pill that will let him live a normal life in a world of illusion or to swallow another pill that will make him able to know the truth, i.e. reality. Choosing the pill of truth, he soon afterwards is told “the truth” of reality, which fills him with horror, and he at first tries to deny that the revelation is real.
Peter faces the same experience in our story. He, on behalf of the other disciples, has made the confession that Jesus is the Christ. He knows that his confession of faith is also a confession of allegiance, that he also has made an irrevocable decision. Then, to his horror, Jesus begins to reveal clearly the reality of what being the Messiah means, as well as to follow him.
The Reality of Being the Messiah
29 “But what about you?” [Jesus] asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”
And so Peter makes the great confession. He gets it right. Jesus is the Christ. The mystery is made clear and the disciples have cast their lots with their Lord. They must have been excited. What millions of Jews have anxiously hoped for over the centuries, this small band of men are now experiencing – the revealing of the Messiah. And they know what to expect – the revealing of God’s kingdom. God’s Deliverer stands before them, and they are about to follow him into glory as he slays Israel’s enemies and restores to her the kingdom.
With great anticipation they listen to what Jesus has to say. 31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this…
The excitement on their faces fade; they look perplexed, then horrified. They can’t be hearing Jesus right. Their glorious vision of leading troops into battle against Israel’s and God’s enemies is turning into a terrible nightmare.
Jesus uses the term, the Son of Man. Yes, that’s right. That is a term for the Messiah. They knew Daniel 7:13,14: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
What then is this business about suffering? What do you mean, Jesus, that you will be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law? How can they reject God’s King? Killed? What are you talking about? We don’t want to hear some crazy stuff about rising; it is awful to think that the Messiah would be killed by his own people. That is sick!
Finally, Peter has to stop the talk: and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. That is nice of Peter to take Jesus aside and not rebuke him in front of the disciples. I’m sure Jesus appreciated that gesture! Peter realizes that he must act. This kind of talk is upsetting the disciples. They’ve just made a profession of allegiance to him and he responds by prophesying doom. If Jesus is going to be a leader, he can’t talk like that. Perhaps the Messiah ministry has not started off as it could have. The religious leaders are not responding very nicely, to be sure; but really, Jesus can’t let opposition get him down like that. He needs to be positive, at least in front of his followers.
Peter hoped for a good response from Jesus. “Yes, Peter, thanks. I don’t know what came over me. Those hateful religious leaders just won’t leave me alone, and I just get so tired of it all. When you professed me to be the Christ, it just released the mounting frustration in me that I can’t get those guys to accept me. Thanks for the admonition. I don’t know what I’d do without someone like you to stand up to me sometimes.”
Maybe it looked like Jesus would actually say something like that. He turns and looks at his disciples. He sees the dismay on their faces. Maybe Peter has gotten through to him.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
Whoa! I bet I know what each disciple was thinking: “Am I glad I wasn’t the one to speak up!” Get behind me, Satan! Do you think Peter touched a nerve? Isn’t Jesus being a bit too harsh? Does he really need to resort to name-calling? And particularly “Satan”?
The truth is that Jesus is not throwing a temper tantrum and simply lashing out at Peter for hurting his feelings. Jesus is angry, to be sure, but it is over the dangerous position that Peter and the disciples have taken, both for themselves and for him. This position is that they have made the right confession, but imbued it with wrong expectation. It is bad to not confess Jesus as the Christ, but it is worse to confess him to be the Christ and have the wrong understanding of what that means.
Consider the danger of the disciples. They are upbeat. They are expecting Jesus to march into Jerusalem as a victorious leader to whom all the Jews will rally around. They are setting themselves up for a hard fall. They are expecting Jesus to be crowned as King, not crucified as a criminal. If they are not given at least a glimpse of reality, they will certainly be overwhelmed when it hits them full face.
Consider the danger to Jesus. His closest companions are trying to lead him away from the very task that he has come to do. To be the Christ is to die on the cross. Forgo the cross and he fails to do the work of the Messiah. And it is this danger that he especially is exposing. It is this action of Peter – to dissuade him from the suffering that is his mission – that causes Jesus to label him as the Adversary, which is what the term “Satan” means.
Indeed, it is Satan who is influencing Peter to rebuke Jesus. Luke tells us that after Satan tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, he left him until an opportune time. This is a great time to take up the effort. Jesus and his disciples are having their mountaintop experience. His closest companions have proclaimed him to be the Christ. Now is just the right time to use them to lure him away from the suffering before him that leads to his true victory.
But Jesus is ever alert for his adversary who prowls like a roaring lion seeking to devour him (cf. 1 Peter 5:8). He speaks to Peter, alerting him of how he is being used of Satan to do the very thing that would have appalled him – to give up being the Christ. Peter thinks he is looking out for Jesus, that he is helping him keep focused on being the Messiah. “Don’t talk as if you are defeated. You’re the Messiah. Be positive.” All along he is serving as the pawn for the Messiah’s adversary.
How many of us have tried to dissuade others from their calling, because we did not want them to suffer? We parents are notoriously bad about this. We admire missionaries and people who clearly have committed their lives to serving Christ in some sacrificial way, but we’d just assume that our children not get the same inspiration. “Are you sure” is our reaction to friends who are considering a path that will be difficult to follow.
Jesus hits the nail on the head about Peter’s and the disciples’ problem: You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. Jesus is talking about suffering and dying, not to be morbid or defeatist, but simply to lay forth his real work. Suffering and death is God’s plan for the Messiah. That is how redemption is to come. Jesus understood this before his incarnation. He willingly has come to do God’s will; indeed, he delights in carrying out this plan, both for the love of the Father and for the love of his people. The disciples stumble because they think like the world, not God. They think victory comes through victory. Defeat is not a good strategy for victory, especially a humiliating and painful defeat.
It is this way of thinking that is in direct opposition to the path of the Messiah and for his followers and it must be corrected. That is why Jesus moves on to what else he says.
The Reality of Following the Messiah
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Jesus wants everyone to hear this message. If anyone would come after me, i.e. would be identified with me. Such a person must deny himself. He must do what Jesus did.
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant (Philippians 2:6,7).
Jesus’ attitude was not what I will, but what you [God] will (14:36). Being a servant, being gladly obedient to God is what self-denial entails. A servant does not say to his master or his boss, “I don’t feel like carrying out your orders just now; I need to have time for myself.” Whether the order is convenient or inconvenient, the servant carries it out, denying to himself his own comfort and preference. We have to have that attitude in serving Jesus.
To be identified with Jesus one must take up his cross. Again, he must be like Jesus who resolutely marched to suffering and death to win the victory of redemption and glory. He must take up his calling to follow in the steps of Jesus for the cause of the kingdom. This is not an admonition to be stoic through life’s trials. Everyone goes through trials simply as a reality of life. This is a call to march into the trials reserved for each Christian who identifies with Jesus. Picture a group of soldiers who are told to pick up the gear assigned for them according to their particular duty and then march into the battle before them. Jesus is telling Christians to pick up their particular crosses and head into the battle for God’s kingdom.
To be identified with Jesus, one must follow Jesus. Being a Christian is not a spectator sport. We don’t sit in the stands and watch Jesus run the race. We run behind him, whether he keeps to the track or he runs out of the stadium into the streets. We follow him.
The Exchange
Jesus states clearly what he is called to do. He then states clearly what is expected of anyone who would belong to him. Next he states the reasoning or the principle that is involved.
35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Good question! What can one give? For that matter, who is aware of the exchange? Many people do consider the cost involved in following Christ; that is why they don’t do it. The cost is too great; they don’t want to give up their pleasurable sin; they certainly don’t want to give up control of their lives. Fair enough. It is a foolish decision, but theirs to make. What they lose is their eternal salvation. That is what is meant by the phrase whoever wants to save his life will lose it. Making a decision to follow Jesus is not the same as making a decision to join the army or some other career. One is not simply making a decision about this life. He is making a decision about his eternal life.
There are only two choices for eternity: to follow Jesus or not. That’s it. There is no third alternative. Either you deny yourself to follow Jesus, or you lose everything, despite what temporary gain you may have in this temporary lifespan.
Jesus is the line in the sand. Cross over to him and eternal life waits. Hold back and you lose it all. But if you do cross over, that means you must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow him. 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
The next verse (9:1) has caused many to scratch their heads. And he said to them, “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.” Is Jesus speaking of his return? Is he referring to an event to take place years later? Is he referring to his resurrection and ascension and sending the Holy Spirit at Pentecost? Is he referring to the transfiguration to take place next? My own leaning is the transfiguration. I don’t care to dwell on the interpretation now, but will take up Christ’s return in chapter 13.
Application
How many of us follow Jesus as the Christ with the wrong expectation? We confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior, but we have a fairly comfortable idea of what following him means. A good question to ask ourselves is whether there would be any real difference in our lives if we were not Christians.
Maybe we would not be as concerned about ethics and morals. Perhaps, but most likely we would be still be fairly good people like many people whom we know are good, but not Christians. We would not attend church. That’s true. We might sleep in on Sundays or find some form of entertainment. But is church attendance all that marks us as different from other morally good people?
What should mark us is that we are a people committed to a cause, which is to serve Jesus Christ. The comments of our neighbors should be, “They are nice folks, but they seem too caught up with this Jesus person.”
We should seem like a people with a mission. We go through our lives asking Jesus to help us along the way, when we should be asking Jesus for his marching orders. What is his agenda for us?
What is Jesus’ agenda for you today? Have you prayed to him today asking what he wants you to do? Are you following him today or is he following you around?
On the Sunday I preached this sermon I asked, What would your day be like today if you sought his orders for you? Do you think you might be visiting a shut-in, perhaps going to to a nursing home? Perhaps you would be having someone over for a visit? Do you think you might be doing something with your family? Do you think you might take the time to say hello to someone you don’t know well?
I challenge you now to ask Jesus for your marching orders today, everyday.
