Mark 8:27-38
February 25, 2024
“Get behind me!”
I’ll
be honest, usually I think of those words in the context of protecting someone.
As in, get behind me because there is danger ahead. Get behind me so I can
protect you or take the full brunt of whatever it is that might hurt us. Get
behind me, so you can stay safe. Get behind me, I’ve got this.
“Get
behind me!”
These
should be words of love. If you love someone and you see them in danger, you
want them to get behind you. You want to put yourself between your loved ones
and the threat that lies ahead.
But
in our passage from Mark’s gospel, these words, “Get behind me,” convey a very
different meaning especially when the name “Satan” is added at the end. “Get
behind me, Satan,” doesn’t sound so much like words of love or protection as it
does accusation. And even though I’ve preached and read this passage many times
before, it still startles me to hear these words spoken by Jesus and spoken to
Peter.
“Get
behind me, Satan!”
Do
you remember a couple of Sundays ago when we observed Transfiguration Sunday
and read about Jesus, Peter, James, and John going up a high mountain? Do you
remember reading about Jesus being changed before them, revealing his glory in
his dazzling white clothes and shining countenance? That passage begins with
“Six days later.” Our passage today is the six days earlier Mark was referring
to.
Six
days earlier, life seems to be going as usual – or as usual as it can be when
you are a disciple with Jesus. Jesus and the disciples were visiting the
villages of Caesarea Philippi. As they traveled, Jesus asked the disciples who
the people they met believed him to be.
“Who
do people say that I am?”
The
disciples told him that some of the folks believed him to be John the Baptist.
Others thought he was Elijah. But there were others, they told him, who thought
he must be one of the prophets. Then Jesus asked them another questions.
“Who
do you say that I am?”
Maybe
this question made the other disciples pause. Maybe they hadn’t really
considered who Jesus was before. Maybe they shifted their feet and stared at
the ground hoping Jesus wouldn’t call on them individually, because they
weren’t sure how to answer. But Jesus’ question caused the other disciples to
hesitate, on Peter it had the opposite effect. Peter, in what must have been a
moment of glaring clarity, answered,
“You
are the Messiah.”
Peter
was right. And in response to his answer, Jesus told the disciples what he had
been telling others when they guessed his identity, don’t tell anyone. But this
exchange between Jesus and the disciples did not end with Jesus’ stern warning.
Jesus began to teach them what it means to be the Messiah. Jesus began to tell
them, openly and clearly, that being the Messiah meant suffering. It meant
rejection. It meant death, and then in three days’ time, resurrection.
Whatever
insight and understanding Peter had about Jesus’ identity as Messiah came to a
crashing halt. It was one thing to recognize Jesus as the Messiah; it was a
whole other net of fish to hear his explanation of what it meant to be the
Messiah. Jesus’ words to the disciples were shocking. Indeed, they were
scandalous. Peter and the other disciples probably couldn’t believe what they
were hearing. The Messiah would suffer and be rejected and die?! This just
can’t be true!
Maybe
that’s what Peter said to Jesus when he pulled him aside. Maybe Peter told
Jesus that what he was saying was ridiculous and certainly could not be true.
Maybe Peter told Jesus to just be quiet, stop talking about this, stop talking
altogether. We don’t know exactly what Peter said to Jesus, but we do know that
Peter rebuked him. And we know that a rebuke was not merely Peter telling Jesus
to “ixnay all the talk about ufferinsay.” Peter rebuking Jesus was essentially
Peter telling Jesus to shut his mouth, something a disciple was not supposed to
say to his teacher.
Not
only would Jesus not shut his mouth, but he also rebuked Peter in return. This
was more than just a disagreement between the two of them. It was an intense
and angry argument. Jesus rebuked demons. While Peter’s rebuke must have stung,
Jesus’ rebuke of Peter cut to the core.
“Get
behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on
human things.”
“Get
behind me, Satan?!”
No
matter how many times I read those words, no matter how many times I read this
story, no matter how many times I read Jesus’ words, I cannot get my mind
around how awful it must have been to be Peter in that moment. I’m guilty of
jokingly saying those words to people when they offer me some temptation or
other. But this was no joke. I don’t think Jesus was declaring that Peter
actually was Satan, but he was stating that Peter’s ideas, beliefs, and
expectations about the Messiah were not from God.
After
this scathing retort, Jesus spoke not only to the disciples, but he called the
gathered crowd around them to listen as well.
“If
any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their
cross and follow me.” For those who want to save their life will lose it, and
those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will
save it.”
If
I had been in that crowd, I would not have found that description of a follower
appealing. At all. In terms of public relations, it must have been the worst
marketing strategy ever. If you want to be my follower, you’re going to have to
deny yourself, pick up a cross and follow me. You are going to have to be
willing to suffer as I am willing to suffer. You must be prepared to die, just
as I will die.
Following
Jesus meant a cross. Following Jesus meant suffering. Following Jesus meant
death. I know that Jesus also prophesied his resurrection, but I suspect that
the people listening could barely wrap their heads around the cross and dying.
I suspect that those words of resurrection and new life were lost in the horror
of everything else he told them.
Jesus’
words were scandalous. But let’s be honest, the gospel is scandalous. The
people listening to Jesus were surely scandalized by what Jesus said, and we
should be scandalized as well. If we’re not, then we’ve stopped listening.
I
know that being a Christian, following Jesus, does not make everything all
sweetness and light. In fact, it could make life even harder. I grew up
believing that no matter how hard the following was, you just had to focus on
the end result. That’s not wrong per se, but I think that following Jesus also
involves a change in identity. Following Jesus is not just what we endure until
we get to heaven. Following Jesus means that we bear a cross of suffering just
as he did. My cross, my suffering, may look different from yours, but we each
have a cross to bear. But where does that cross take us? When Jesus told the
disciples and crowds that discipleship and following meant bearing our cross,
he was not claiming that he would lead them away from the world. Just the
opposite. When we follow Jesus, we are led into the world. We carry our
cross, and we follow Jesus into a world of crosses. Following Jesus, our
relationship with Jesus, is not a private affair, and I suspect that focusing
solely on our individual salvation misses the point.
If
following Jesus means following him into a world of crosses, then we are called
to not only be willing to suffer for our sake but suffer for the sake of
others. Following Jesus is not easy, and it is also not just about us alone.
When we answer Jesus’ call to follow, we answer the call to stand with all
those who suffer. Following Jesus is a deliberate, intentional, mindful way of
living and being. It calls us to go into the world of suffering people.
Following changes us, and we are called to follow even when it is hard, even
when it means suffering, even though the call includes carrying our cross.
This
is the scandalous good news. When we follow Jesus, we follow the One who gave
flesh to the love and grace of God. We follow the One who willingly suffered
and died – for our sake, for the sake of the world. We are called to get behind
him, to follow and to trust that no matter how difficult the path may be, we
are never alone. We are never without love.
Let
all of God’s children, all of us who are picking up our crosses and following
Jesus, say, “Amen.”
Amen.
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