A Word From Joel - September 18, 2024
“[Jesus] asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’ And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.”
Mark 8:29-32
We are in the middle of Mark, which makes Jesus’ question the disciples’ midterm exam. Peter answers, “You are the Messiah.” In other words, you are more than a prophet, Jesus. You are the one who’s come to deliver us and bring us home. Initially, Peter aces the midterm. The word for “Messiah” is the same word for “Christ” and it means the anointed one. A variety of people and things are anointed in the scriptures. Priests are anointed. The Temple is anointed, and of course, kings are anointed. Ceremonial anointing is used to mark a person or a place as a bridge between heaven and earth. What does it look like to be the bridge between heaven and earth? Jesus reveals that by feeding hungry people, making sick people well, and widening the circle of belonging. But now he says the most unexpected thing possible. For Jesus, to be the Messiah looks like suffering, rejection, and death, and three days later resurrection. Peter didn’t understand that then, and I don’t think we do now.
The Messiah is the bridge between heaven and earth. When heaven comes to earth, it looks like blessing, healing, and everyone being fed. We all love that part of the story. But bridges go both ways, which means earth also affects heaven. Life on earth involves suffering, rejection, and death. That’s the reality we all want to avoid. What Peter wants is what we all want: to win without losing, to rejoice without suffering, to live without dying. That’s our vision of our best life, but it’s a fantasy. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you, whether that person is a self-help guru, a preacher, or a politician. Loss, suffering, and death are a part of life, and you can’t avoid them. We aren’t one election away from all our problems being solved. This is why no one would ever vote for Jesus. His platform is: let’s all die together! Nobody wants that, but he’s telling us the truth.
The Messiah is the one who brings us home, though the road is long and perilous. Along the way you will know great joy and deepest sorrow. God has given us many gifts for the journey, not least the gift of each other, so that when suffering, rejection, and death come our way, we need not face them alone. We are all in this together. In the times we feel utterly abandoned, God is with us still, having crossed the bridge from heaven to earth. Through it all God is with you, and on the far side of death lies the promise of new life. In the meantime, we are all just walking each other home.
Mark 8:29-32
We are in the middle of Mark, which makes Jesus’ question the disciples’ midterm exam. Peter answers, “You are the Messiah.” In other words, you are more than a prophet, Jesus. You are the one who’s come to deliver us and bring us home. Initially, Peter aces the midterm. The word for “Messiah” is the same word for “Christ” and it means the anointed one. A variety of people and things are anointed in the scriptures. Priests are anointed. The Temple is anointed, and of course, kings are anointed. Ceremonial anointing is used to mark a person or a place as a bridge between heaven and earth. What does it look like to be the bridge between heaven and earth? Jesus reveals that by feeding hungry people, making sick people well, and widening the circle of belonging. But now he says the most unexpected thing possible. For Jesus, to be the Messiah looks like suffering, rejection, and death, and three days later resurrection. Peter didn’t understand that then, and I don’t think we do now.
The Messiah is the bridge between heaven and earth. When heaven comes to earth, it looks like blessing, healing, and everyone being fed. We all love that part of the story. But bridges go both ways, which means earth also affects heaven. Life on earth involves suffering, rejection, and death. That’s the reality we all want to avoid. What Peter wants is what we all want: to win without losing, to rejoice without suffering, to live without dying. That’s our vision of our best life, but it’s a fantasy. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you, whether that person is a self-help guru, a preacher, or a politician. Loss, suffering, and death are a part of life, and you can’t avoid them. We aren’t one election away from all our problems being solved. This is why no one would ever vote for Jesus. His platform is: let’s all die together! Nobody wants that, but he’s telling us the truth.
The Messiah is the one who brings us home, though the road is long and perilous. Along the way you will know great joy and deepest sorrow. God has given us many gifts for the journey, not least the gift of each other, so that when suffering, rejection, and death come our way, we need not face them alone. We are all in this together. In the times we feel utterly abandoned, God is with us still, having crossed the bridge from heaven to earth. Through it all God is with you, and on the far side of death lies the promise of new life. In the meantime, we are all just walking each other home.
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