September 15, 2024

Pentecost 17 (Lectionary 24) , Year B

Mark 8:27-38

Epiphany, Winnipeg

Jesus has been walking with his disciples for a long time now. They’ve criss-crossed the region for months, going place to place, meeting people, seeing wonders, being inspired, and being confused. The disciples, along with huge crowds or small gatherings, have seen Jesus heal all kinds of illness, and he’s opened up ears that couldn’t hear and mouths that could not speak. He raised up to life a girl they all thought was dead. And people said “Who is this who can do such things!”

There was that time that Jesus made a storm at sea stop just by telling it to stop, and then there was that other time that Jesus walked on water. The disciples were there for all that, and they couldn’t figure it out but there were other people who saw and said, “Who is this? The wind and the sea obey him!” And sometimes the people said nothing or didn’t understand. Sometimes Jesus told them to say nothing. But they did anyway.

He’s told strange and funny and baffling stories that have left people scratching their heads and wondering. He fed a crowd of five thousand people with just a bit of bread and fish, and he did it again a few days later, but that it was only four thousand people. The crowds have seen Jesus cast out demons, and they’ve heard religious teachers say that Jesus himself is an ally of the demons. People said he was a wonder, or a problem, or they said nothing at all.

So much has happened in a short time, and now as they’re walking along the road to the next place, Jesus does sort of a mid-term check-in and asks, “OK, so we’ve been at this for awhile. Tell me what you’ve heard. What are people saying about me? Who do they say that I am?” The disciples have answers and they tell Jesus what they’ve heard people saying, but then Jesus turns around and says, “OK. Thanks for the feedback. But who do you say that I am?”

“Who do you say that I am?”

I’ve been a pastor now for close to thirty-two years, and when I add up the time I spent studying to prepare for that it’s been closer to forty. I’ve become pretty good at saying who people say that Jesus is, and it’s really interesting and sometimes even exciting to read and hear and begin to understand who everyone says Jesus is; To hear what other Christians and then Jews and Muslims and Hindus and Buddhists and atheist friends say about who Jesus is. It’s mostly all really positive, what they say. I’m glad to hear it. I learn from what they all say.

But then Jesus says, “OK Paul… Now who do you say that I am?” You know, that’s not always an easy question for me. I’ve read those stacks of books and I’ve heard so many people and I’ve listened to so many of you say who Jesus is to you. Those voices, your voices, have taught me and inspired me and helped my faith to grow. But it’s still a tough question: “Paul, who do you say that I am?” Then I wonder when I answer: Am I being honest, or just saying what I think the right answer should be? Am I just repeating who I’m supposed to say Jesus is?

What do you do when Jesus asks you? “Who do you say that I am?”

Try it right now, and think about your answer. Don’t say it out loud for now, just sit with the question for a minute. Jesus asks us, all of us here in this room – and this bigger room, wherever you are – “Who do you say that I am?”….

I’d invite you to sit with that question now and then during the coming…well, during the coming lifetime. Don’t think about what the right answer is supposed to be. Don’t worry if it’s hard to put it into words, or if it’s an answer that’s sort of like trying to hold water in your hands, and it just drips through the cracks and you can’t quite hold on to it. You might feel warm inside when you answer the question, you might feel angry or afraid or challenged, you might feel comforted or confused, or encouraged. Maybe all at the same time. You might just feel like you’re still waiting for an answer to come. You might answer one way this afternoon and another way tomorrow. That’s OK. Maybe ask someone else what their answer might be. Tell them yours. Not in a preaching on the street corner kind of way but just in a “having a conversation with a friend or a partner or someone you trust” kind of way.

Here’s the answer Peter gives when Jesus asks: “You are the Christ.” Or if you prefer the Hebrew or Aramaic word for Christ, “You are the Messiah.” It’s a fancy word, and it might mean all kinds of things, but at its simplest it just means “You are the chosen one.” So Peter or anyone listening might mean “You are the one God has chosen to lead your people back to being faithful.” Or he might mean “You are the one chosen by God to free this nation from the Romans or from anyone else who tries to oppress us,” or maybe “You are the one God has chosen to be a just and righteous King, just like David was.” Or simply, “You are the one who will free us from whatever binds us.”

And then Jesus says that this chosen one of God will not be a strong ruler or be rich or have the biggest rallies or raise the most money. Instead, the chosen one of God will have to suffer great suffering, and be rejected by all the most powerful and respected religious leaders and teachers, and will be killed, and will rise up again on the third day.

Now Peter hears that and pulls Jesus aside and says, “No.” The Messiah should be strong, not weak; the chosen one should succeed, not fail; you can’t suffer and die. And nobody can rise up after three days in the grave. That just doesn’t happen and people will think you’re crazy if you say it.” And in harsher words than these Jesus says, “Stop it Peter. You’re seeing things like humans see things. You’re not seeing like God sees.”

Maybe the next time this text comes up, in three years, we could have a closer look at that conversation. But for now, hear the question from Jesus again: “Who do you say that I am?” And then hear again what Jesus says: “The chosen one of God will suffer, and be rejected, and be killed, and on the third day will rise.” That’s Jesus’ answer to his own question. “I will suffer, just like anyone will suffer, just like those of you who follow me will suffer. You can’t avoid suffering. I’ll be rejected, just like anyone who has been rejected or bullied or beaten or pushed down or pushed around or bought and sold by the ones who have power over them and power over others. I won’t even be protected from dying, just like, really, none of us will be protected from dying. And on the third day I will rise. Because God is in the business of raising the dead, and all that dying has no power. Because what God does is give life, and raise the dead.”

That’s all Jesus’ answer to his own question.

“Who do you say that I am?” I’ve spoken one thousand, two hundred and ninety eight words about this now, and I’m not sure I’m any closer to an answer. But I think I can say this: I’ve learned who Jesus is from the people around me as I’ve grown up in this faith. I still learn from them…from you. When someone is encouraging or offers comfort or speaks a kind word or gives the gift of friendship I learn somehow that Jesus is one who does all those things. When someone, and I’ve learned this all along and still do, and I’ve learned it from some of you and that’s good, says something that pokes or prods or prickles or annoys me or makes me see where I’ve gone wrong…I learn somehow that Jesus is also someone who will say and do things that I might not like, and will sometimes be a little too honest with me about what I’ve done or where I’ve gone wrong. And I've learned that Jesus is the one who will keep loving me even when I’m not quite loveable.

Jesus asks us who we say he is, and we discover what our own answer is as we live our lives with the people around us. We learn from the Body of Christ who Jesus is to us.

Who do you say that I am? Jesus asks us all. So we’ve sat with the question and now in a few minutes we’ll shuffle up to the front here to receive communion – some of us for the two or three or four thousandth time, and some of us for the very first time – and Jesus will answer his own question for us. He will say “I am life, given for you because I just can’t stop loving you.” Jesus will speak what seems like a strange word but is really such a gracious word: "This is my body, this is my blood, given for you; this is all of my life given for you.” Jesus will say, “I am bread of life, just as I said so many times for those five Sundays this summer. Here I am in your hand, bread of life given for you.” “I am wine, I am drink, I am refreshment for you; I will gladden your heart, my life will fill you with life, overflowing from this cup.”

Jesus asks “Who do you say that I am?” And Jesus says “Come and see. Taste and see.”