The Path of the Cross

February 25^th, 2018                 “The Path of the Cross”                Rev. Heather Jepsen

Mark 8:31-38

         This morning we continue our Lenten journey in the gospel of Mark.  Last week we mused on Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness and wondered what it might mean that Jesus was among the wild beasts.  We dared to examine the wild beasts within our midst and even within our own hearts.  This week we continue our inward journey, pondering whether or not we have the strength to take up our crosses and follow Mark’s Jesus into death.

         This is one of those Scripture readings where the lectionary, or selected verses for the day, really does us a disservice.  We can hardly discuss what is happening in verses 31-33 without talking about what happened just before that in the story that Mark is telling.  So let’s back up.  Starting at verse 27 we read “Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”  And they answered him, “John the Baptist, and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”  He 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 we read verse 31 “Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering . . . “
         We need to understand the setting of this story before we can begin to understand what was going on with Peter.  After telling everyone to keep the fact that he is the Messiah a secret, Jesus turns around and openly discusses what is going to happen to this Messiah.  The Son of Man will undergo suffering, he will be rejected by the elders, he will be killed, and after three days will rise again.  Peter is upset by this teaching that he takes Jesus aside and begins to tell him so.  The text says Peter rebukes Jesus, which isn’t very nice.  Remember Jesus rebukes the storm, rebukes the demons, and rebukes the money changers, so this isn’t really an appropriate role for Peter to take with his Lord. 

         Peter is obviously upset, and every time I’ve seen this scripture interpreted I have heard that Peter is upset for himself.  Peter is upset that Jesus isn’t living up to the Jewish expectations of what a Messiah would be.  The Messiah was supposed to be a military leader, the Messiah was supposed to help the Jews overthrow the Roman Empire.  The Messiah wasn’t supposed to die like the over 2,000 a year other Jews who were executed by the government for insurrection.

         Peter’s rebuke makes sense in those terms, and initially I am sure he didn’t sign on to follow a suffering Messiah.  But while I was thinking of this passage this week I came up with another idea.  I began to wonder if Peter isn’t so upset because he loves Jesus so much.  Instead of rebuking him because he is disappointed in the abandonment of the traditional messiahship plan, maybe Peter is rebuking Jesus because he is afraid to see Jesus suffer. 

         Go with me here.  Imagine how you feel when a loved one is suffering.  When a husband or wife is ill, imagine how you suffer to watch them suffer.  When a good friend is diagnosed with cancer, imagine how your heart breaks.  Parents, imagine with me how it feels when our children suffer.  When my children suffer I want to tear my clothes and yell “No, no, no!”  I am going to rebuke anyone who tells me suffering is necessary for my children.  Would not Peter’s love of Jesus cause him to rebuke Jesus in this way?  Maybe Peter is not heartbroken when he contemplates losing the dream of the Jewish Messiah.  Maybe Peter is heartbroken when he contemplates his friend Jesus suffering and dying.  That sure makes sense to me.

         No matter his motivation, Peter is rebuked for his rebuking.  “Get behind me Satan!” Jesus yells at him.  What is happening here?  Is Peter Satan?  Or is Jesus tempted to avoid suffering and so he sees Satan in Peter’s words?  I’m going to guess that is the case.  As much as we don’t want to witness the suffering of a loved one, we don’t want to suffer ourselves either.  Though he knows it’s the plan, Jesus is not totally into the path of the cross.  That is evidenced later in the story when he prays in the garden that God might find another way.  Jesus doesn’t want to go to the cross anymore than we do.

         Jesus follows up his confrontation with Peter’s love with some of the most powerful teaching in the gospel of Mark.  Jesus makes it clear that the path of discipleship is the path of the cross.  It is the path of suffering and self-denial.  It is only when we are willing to give up our lives that we will truly gain them for ourselves and for all of eternity.

         This is as hard for us to hear as it was for Peter.  Who wants to embrace a path marked by suffering?  But at the same time, this is perhaps the core teaching of our faith.  All of us are born to be selfish, all of us are made to put our own needs first.  Call it original sin, or call it a survival instinct, we are hard wired to put our own needs front and center.  The path of faith is the gradual shifting of that center.  Through years of prayer, study, and worship we are trained to bypass that hard wiring.  We are formed into new creations that are able to put the needs of others before our own.  “Love your neighbor as yourself” is to put the other in the position of most value.  This is what it means to lose your life for the sake of the gospel.  We are called to abandon our self-centeredness, for an other-centered mode of living.  This is the path of the cross.

         For many of us, we first truly understand this when we have kids.  That is when our hearts are broken open in such a way that we automatically put others ahead of ourselves.  I would gladly suffer and die to protect my children from harm, and other parents I know would do the same.  We can understand sacrificial love when we put it in those terms. 

         But the circle is far greater than this.  We can find this behavior between some doctors and patients, and good pastors and their churches.  We also see teachers deny self for students.  Was that not the case in Florida a week ago?  All around this country, teachers are beginning to realize that not only are they giving up lucrative careers to teach our children, they are now called to give up their very lives to stand between our children and bullets.  That is some pretty serious “taking up your cross” behavior.

           There are other hard paths to walk here as well, things that are more nebulous.  One way we are called to shift our center from self to other is recognizing injustices in the world.  To deny oneself and take up a cross is to recognize the reality of white privilege and systemic racism in America.  To deny oneself and take up a cross is to recognize our position as the rich that are so often preached against in the gospels.  To deny oneself and take up a cross is to acknowledge that America looks a lot more like Babylon then like the Christian nation everyone seems to talk about.  All of these stances involve a shift, a movement of our center from self to other.  If we are to deny ourselves and take up our crosses, then we need to give up our comforts including our denials of injustices within our midst.

         Peter didn’t want to hear that he had to suffer any more than he wanted to contemplate the suffering of Jesus.  And the truth is, as much as we don’t want our loved ones to suffer; we really don’t want to suffer ourselves either.  The temptation is that we want to live an authentic life of faith without suffering.  Jesus reminds us that that is simply not possible.  “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed.”  And so shall those that follow this Son of Man.

         This Lenten season we are called to journey with Jesus to the cross.  Part of that calling is taking a look at what resides within our own hearts.  Have we been able to bypass our self-centered hard wiring, or are we still looking out for number one?  Are we able to model the path of discipleship with other-centered living?  Are we ready to call out the injustices in our world, many of which benefit us personally? 

         The path of the cross is hard for everyone.  It was hard for Jesus, hard for Peter, and it is hard for us.  And yet it is a journey we must take.  For the more we cling to our self-centered way of living, the less value our lives have.  The more we are able to give up our lives for others, the more we truly live authentic lives of faith.  May God be with us this Lent as we continue on the path of the cross.  Amen.