Mark 8:3-38
“Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly.”

One of the commentaries I read pointed out something that I had never noticed before. What does it mean when Jesus says that the Son of Man “must” do these things? He didn’t say “will” or “should” but “must”. Is he saying that his suffering and death are not a part of God’s plan but instead the way he understood his personal call? Is he saying he’d rather not but God is pretty insistent about it?

In this sense, this isn’t a prediction at all, even though this is commonly referred to as Jesus’ first passion prediction. He’s describing his role, just as he describes ours later: you must take up a cross and follow me. It’s not a prediction but the first part of a commandment. Do as I do. This is how it must be, if you are going to follow me.

“And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.”

Once again Mark’s sparse prose forces us to wonder why Peter might rebuke Jesus. We are free to read our own follies into Peter’s actions. Many of the commentaries I read suggested that he did it because he loved Jesus so much he couldn’t see past his ultimately selfish desire to preserve the life of one he loves at the expense of God’s mission.

I read this differently. I see Peter as smug and self-righteous. I see him telling Jesus that this isn’t necessary, that surely he (Peter) can think of a better way. I think I read it this way because that’s my temptation. To be the hero, to solve problems, to point out the flaws in others’ plans. I love challenging people to be true to their own mission statement. And this isn’t necessarily a bad thing; I see as a large part of my ministry, as it is for all clergy in the contemporary U.S., to remind churches who it is they have already said they are. But, like Peter, I can so often slip into smugness and (NSFW language warning) assholery. While this tendency may be a gift to ministry, I have to remember that it is only righteous as long as I am doing it in God’s service and not just to be a gadfly, which can be fun. (I love baiting trolls in internet forums, for instance.) I am grateful for Mark’s lack of details, which allows me to see my sin exposed in peter’s actions.

“But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’”

This ties in so well with last week’s discussion of temptation. Satan doesn’t present himself as a red monster with horns and a pitchfork. If so, temptation would be too easy to resist. Temptation often presents itself in our closest friends. People we love can be the worst source of temptation. My wife can get me to do anything by saying, “But you’ve been working so hard lately. You deserve a night out.” Sometimes I know that what I really need to do is continue with my work, and my wife seriously is concerned about me and my stress level. But that temptation to blow off sermon prep or a hospital visit is there, and even if it is rooted in my wife’s love, it is still the voice of the satan speaking in my ear.

“He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them 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 good news, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in glory of his Father with the holy angels.’”

I am most interested in the evangelistic implications of this passage, but I want to make one note about “taking up a cross.” If suffering in itself were the point, Jesus would never have fed the hungry or healed the sick. Instead, this is about sacrifice in the service of God. So many people seem to think of religious life as a trade off, giving up some pleasures now for the ultimate pleasure to come. But that isn’t sacrifice; that’s investing. A desire for a post-earthly reward is selfishness, pure and simple. Selfishness can’t lead us to God. Like Peter, we fail to think of the consequences of our faith for all of creation. We should live as Jesus lived and love as Jesus loved not because we will get good things in return; that’s wanting to save our lives. We should do so because God desires mishpat and shalom, and by taking up a cross and following Jesus we can bring about the kingdom, which will benefit all creation, even if we find ourselves on a cross first.

How many of our churches use this passage as a model for evangelism? At least in the communities I have served, the biggest churches talk about service to God resulting in happiness and prosperity. Life with God means a life with no problems. A Christian is always smiling. Our outreach materials show smiling people delivering meals on wheels, our brochures talk about what this church can do for you, our congregants talk about whether or not a pastors’ sermons help us deal with the problems of every day life.

Jesus tells the crowd just the opposite. If you want to follow him, expect blood and death. Not of your enemies, but your own blood and death. This is the wisdom of God, but it is foolishness to the world. Churches that offer easy answers and happy thoughts grow–no, they increase in number. But people who follow Jesus grow. We grow into the sacrifices God asks of us. Sometimes, we grow into our crosses. But a church that promises anything else has ceased to be the Church of Christ.