On Line Bible Study - for the week June 22-28, 2009

Lesson 393

Mark 8:29 Peter answered, "You are the Christ."

As dense as the disciples of Jesus have been up until now, Peter acknowledges Jesus as the "Christ" - a moment of lucidity and faith that is dramatic both for its insight and for it coming from one who, just several verses earlier, is part of the group that Jesus accuses of "having eyes" but "failing to see".

But as amazing as this statement of faith is, it is immediately followed by proof that Peter - and the other disciples - still have a long way to go to understand what Jesus means by "messiah".

Mark 8: ³¹He 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. ³²He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

³³But 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."

When I was in Music School my piano teacher was always assigning me pieces to learn that pushed me beyond the level of my current technical ability. Before I could learn the piece, I had to master new techniques. Jesus, always the teacher, takes the "progress" Peter has made, and now pushes it to the next level.

But Peter is not the only problem here - he is not the only "student" who might not fully understand what this lesson is all about. And, in truth, he and the other disciples have a valid excuse. No where in the Hebrew Bible is the "Son of Man" (a term used frequently in Ezekiel and Daniel; there are numerous references beginning in Ezekiel 11, and two references in Daniel - 7:13 and 8:17) said to have to suffer. So Jesus is putting new content to an already-existing term - re-defining an already existing set of assumptions.

But us - So many of us who read the Bible do so as "believers". Do we fully understand how Jesus is defining his role? And do we truly accept that his role is to be our role as well? The mutual "rebuking" that is going on between Jesus and Peter - Peter trying to dissuade Jesus from the suffering, and Jesus trying to set Peter right in his understanding of what it means for Jesus to be the "Christ" - it is put differently in Eugene Peterson's paraphrase from The Message:

Mark 8: ^32-33But Peter grabbed him in protest. Turning and seeing his disciples wavering, wondering what to believe, Jesus confronted Peter. "Peter, get out of my way! Satan, get lost! You have no idea how God works."

The methodology of Jesus' ministry, especially as it draws to its conclusion on the cross, is not up for debate. At this point, "protests" only result in confusion, and Jesus wants Peter, the other disciples - and all of us - to understand what it means to follow him. From Peter's standpoint in the text he does not have access to "resurrection". If he had, would his reaction have been any different? While we don't try to convince Jesus not to go through with this because of our vantage point, the issue for us is more centered around our own behavior.

Do I believe that with death comes resurrection? Look at the next verses, as paraphrased by Peterson:

Mark 8: ^34-37Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?

"Calling the crowd ..." That would be us! For St. Mark, he uses his gospel as a way for Jesus to teach the Twelve - and all the rest of us, too.

The mastery of the Gospel of Mark becomes even more obvious with what happens next ...

(Thanks to the Sacra Pagina Series Commentary on Mark by John Donahue and Daniel Harrington; also, thanks this week to Theodore Weeden's book: Mark - Traditions in Conflict.)