Amidst a long day of traveling, Jesus turns to his disciples and asks, “Who do you say that I am?”
Jesus is in the heyday of his ministry. In the chapter leading up to this passage, he has been feeding the thousands, healing people left and right, and teaching his disciples with every word and action. He and his entourage are headed to Caesarea Philippi, and, as they walk, he asks the disciples who the people say he is. For that matter, who do his disciples say he is?
Maybe Jesus is taking a moment to evaluate whether his ministry is having the desired effect on the people he meets. Or maybe he is trying to figure out how ready the disciples are to continue without him. We can imagine a long silence just after Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?”
It’s like when the teacher says, “Everyone put away your books, this is a pop quiz.” I kind of know the answer to this, but my mind just went blank. What if I give the wrong answer? Is there a right answer? If I pretend I’m vegetation, will I be invisible?
Peter, never one to hesitate, follows his instincts. Just like when he jumped out of the boat and walked on the water (momentarily) to meet Jesus. Maybe he’s going with his gut. Maybe he wants to reassure Jesus. Maybe he’s been thinking about how to explain who Jesus is for weeks. He jumps right in, “You are the Messiah.” There. It’s out.
Messiah or Christ means ‘Anointed One.” The Messiah is the long awaited Savior of Israel, the one who will be the king anointed by God. According to Jewish teaching, this Messiah will restore God’s holy and chosen people to their place of favor in the world. For Peter to call Jesus the Christ is HUGE!
With Peter’s proclamation, two things happen.
Peter, and, by their silent assent, the other disciples openly acknowledge Jesus as the Christ. Having traveled and watched and learned with him, they have witnessed healings and miracles that could only be done by someone with power granted by God.
Jesus begins to talk openly about what will happen to the Messiah. For the first time in Mark, he gives details about his arrest, trial, execution, AND resurrection.
Having proclaimed Jesus as the Christ, Peter is understandably upset when Jesus talks about the discrimination, hate, and violence leading to his death. When Peter challenges Jesus, Jesus in turn acknowledges the temptation of fear. Fear that holds us back from trusting one another, and from trusting in God.
Jesus goes on to tell the entire gathered crowd how to follow him, how to be disciples of the living God. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Mk 8:34)
Following Jesus means letting go of the fear that defines us, and taking up the cross of love as our guiding principle for all of life. Letting go of our fear of uncertainty, of losing ourselves and our accomplishments, of not getting enough love. Instead, choosing to pick up the weighty lens of God’s love to view ourselves, every person, and all creation.
In yesterday’s sermon at the bishop consecration, the preacher quoted Bishop Barbara C Harris as saying, “A cross is a burden you voluntarily pick up on behalf of another for the love of Jesus Christ.” [1]
The preacher went on to share that Bishop Harris says a cross is something we can put down any time. It is not something we are born with, nor is it a weight someone else puts on us that we cannot escape. We choose to pick up a cross because we know Jesus and we want to proclaim his love with our actions.
We each choose a different cross, because our different life experiences and wisdom inform the way we know Jesus and his healing, welcoming, forgiving love. And sometimes the burden we carry for the sake of that love changes - because how we understand the importance of our faithful action in the world changes.
To free our hands, spirits, bodies to pick up our cross, we must lay down the tempter’s fear, doubt, and manipulation. Finding words to proclaim Jesus’ love and how it changes our lives strengthens us to make that spiritual deep knee bend and lift our cross.
It’s hard to explain Jesus in words that make sense in our everyday lives, which, for most of us, are filled with grocery lists and 280 character social media posts rather than theological words and ideas.
It takes Peter-like courage to name our deepest convictions about Jesus and how our faith in God changes our lives. So here’s a way to think about it. How would you describe Jesus to someone who had never heard of him before? To a child, or a friend, or a stranger?
I’ve had a little time to think about this, so here’s my try:
Jesus is God’s way of showing us how deeply God loves us, all people and creation. Jesus reveals God’s heart to us.
God’s heart aches with all who suffer with depression and addiction, abuse and bullying. God’s heart is upset and angry when human beings fail to recognize the reflection of the Holy in one another and resort to violence. God’s heart is torn up in grief at the suffering of thousands who fear for their lives and homes because of guns, war, famine and natural disasters. That same heart loves us like an adoring parent, wanting the very best for us and always eager to embrace us with grace, forgiveness and love. And God’s heart loves every person and all of creation, whether they believe in God or Jesus or not.
I think Jesus came to show us what’s possible when we surrender ourselves to God’s love. Rather than give in to the threat of disease, Jesus healed. Rather than surrender people to demons, Jesus showed compassion. Rather than let people starve because there wasn’t enough to go around, Jesus fed everyone who was hungry. Knowing the infinite power of love, Jesus refused to be satisfied or limited by the status quo, and invites us to do the same. If Jesus’ life and death show us how much God loves us, then Jesus’ resurrection shows us that love is more powerful than hate and fear and even death.
Taking up my cross means loving God’s people, even when it’s hard and I do it imperfectly. Taking up my cross means putting God’s vision of justice for people and creation above my own desires. It means sacrificing my ego-driven goals to pay attention to God’s slow and steady revelation of herself in the world and community around me.
Like I said, I’ve had a little time to think about it.
Our answer doesn’t need to be long: Peter proclaimed his faith in just 4 words.
This isn’t a test. There’s no wrong answer. The first answer we give doesn’t have to be our only or final answer. We simply need to be sure we can answer authentically for ourselves.
Jesus doesn’t ask us to confess who he is for his sake. He asks us for ours, that we might be caught up in, transformed, and filled with courage by the power of his love and life.
Who do you say Jesus is?
[1] The Very Rev Pamela Werntz, relating a personal conversation with the Rt. Rev. Barbara C. Harris, preaching at the consecration of the Rt. Rev. Phil LaBelle on 14 September 2024 at Bellevue, WA.
