The shadow of Cross on the way of discipleship

I thank God for this privilege to share His word with you. As you know, when we share in congregation, there are lot of people with differences from age to experiences. Even in UBS, final year mind set is different from the first years. But it is great opportunity to share with our class since we all share same subjects, thinking, struggling and experiences etc.

For today's preaching I studied my text using some of the elements of Redaction critical approach especially the sitz-im-leben of author. This is the first time I’m trying to do so, so please help me with your corrections, comments and suggestions in this regard. I adopted two key words from Edward H Pruden’s terminology, who is a Baptist preacher in the last century.

We all can testify that from our experiences to academic levels, discipleship is not an easy task, both here in Bible College and the outside of the campus. Gospel of Mark is the oldest gospel in NT and clearly explains the Jesus' 'school of discipleship'. Traditional, and modern critical studies also found internal and external evidences for Peter's hand behind Mark's gospel. So what's going on there in his mind while he is sharing or dictating or whatever he did with the content about discipleship in this gospel is my main consern behind this massage.

Chs.8-11 is the core of the gospel narrative and has very famous 'three predictions of Jesus’ death' with sandwiching the teachings about discipleship. From this same pulpit Dr. Sam Kamalesan once pointed out that these passages are in-between the stories of healing of 'blind person' which implies that this is the 'process of giving sight to the blind disciples about the discipleship'.

Now, I am reading Mk. 8:27-33 from literal translation by Dr. Graham Simpson

8:27 And Jesus and his disciples went out to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road he asked his disciples, saying to them, ‘Whom do men say that I am?’ And they said to him, saying, “(They say that you are) John the Baptist, and others (say that you are) Elijah, and others that (you are) one of the prophets.’ And he asked them, ‘But you, whom do you say that I am?’ Peter said to him in reply, ‘You are the Christ.’ And he rebuked them that they should tell (to) no one about him.

8:31 And he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise. And he was speaking the word openly. And Peter taking him aside began to rebuke him. But he turning and seeing his disciples rebuked Peter and said, ‘Go behind me, Satan, because you do not think the thoughts of God but the thoughts of men.’

Here in this pericope, Jesus and His disciples going to some villages towards north of Galilee. And the shadow of the cross is already falling upon Jesus’ path. At this time, Jesus was showing them the existence of the crucified experience in the process of discipleship. So I entitled my sermon ‘The shadow of Cross on the way of discipleship’. There are two basic areas where the shadow of cross always stays.

1. Accepting the person of Christ

On the way, Jesus asked his disciples, 'whom do men say that I am?’ We need to notice that Jesus' identity is the main issue in Mark as well as in John. Disciples were very much in touch with people' ideas. They told him the different opinions those are formulated by people about him- 'for some Elijah, for some John the Baptist, and for some he is the one of the prophets'.

See, here is a person and people want to know very much who he is, and formulated him accorsing to their conveniences, they mould their ideas about him into their own perceptions. For the Jewish leaders, he was a sinner, for some he was a prophet and etc, but nobody seems to recognize him as he wants to be.

Is it not true today my friends? We want to categorize him to ethics, mere human, mere divine, or just as a myth.

In 1960, Morton smith, a scholar announced in a meeting of Society of Biblical Literature announced about his historic discovery at Mar Saba Monastery in Judean wilderness. He found there in the back of a 1646 book which had two and a half pages of a letter of Clement of Alexandria who lived in 2^nd C AD. In that letter he mentioned about Secret version of gospel of Mark. It explains about youth comes to Jesus ‘wearing a linen cloth over his naked body’ and remained with him that night, and so on. Then Morton Smith wrote two books analyzing it, one 450 page scholarly treatment published by Harvard University Press. Now he was no more, but after these 50 years, his discovery is still under disputes. This ‘Jesus Seminar’ people as usually, make lot of confusion in society announced Jesus as Homosexual and so on. Dec 2009 copy of Archaeological Review published lot of articles in it. It’s in our library. Many scholars are accepting that that letter is a hoax and Smith forged it and wrote books on it. We all knew these things. But do you know why he did it? Now Scholars found that he lived secret homosexual life. He wanted to make Jesus a gay in order to please himself and support his views.

We often create our own Jesus, especially in theological circles. We don’t want to evangelize so we just make Jesus as mere heavenly ‘witness’ so our duty is to witness not evangelize. So we focus on ethics, like Ram Mohan Roy, and satisfying with little bit social work. Here also same story!

But Jesus then asked them, ‘But you, whom do you say that I am?’ Now the emphasis is on ‘you’. Others may think differently, but what about you? Peter answered him- ‘You are the Christ’. We know from the parallel of this portion in Mt. 16:13-20, Jesus blessed him and gave some promises and all that stuff. But Mark concluded with Jesus’ order not to tell anyone about that. Why Peter did not add that blessing stuff here? Why concluding with negative remark alone? You see my friends, we may think Peter gave correct answer and became hero, but that’s not the story there. Peter may be right in his answer but he failed in answering partially if not utterly. Jesus never allowed evil possessed people, patients, or anybody and now his disciples not to tell to anyone about him as the Christ. Why? In Markan narrative we found that there is an element of ‘Messianic secret’. In the end of the gospel only he permitted them to tell to everyone. You know, he never want to be recognized in others own agendas. Peter may say ‘You are Christ’ but in his mind he had different Christ, a political figure. Jesus wants even the usage of the word with full understanding. If we accept Him we must accept him in his own terms, not in our terms. There is no other way!

You see, when there are many theories about Jesus in society, when revelation also there, when reason and experience stands in opposite poles, and individual presuppositions guarding all thinking, it’s not an easy job either for Peter not for us to accepting the person of Christ in his terms. Accepting the person of Christ includes knowing him. That’s why Paul once told- ‘that I may know him and his resurrection’.

Our principal Dr.P.S.Jacob reminded us in the open session of ‘CMS consultation’ this year, ‘we distorted Christ’s image. Now, we need to connect these pieces’. Sitting and listening to reading others view of Christ and then challenging our own images to know our lord more is not an easy task. It’s the experience of crucifixion. Whatever we may accept about the person of Christ; it must be coherent with what is Jesus’ own personality. Anything else is rubbish!

We are all involved in this serious business especially from academic point of view; I hope u r understanding what I am saying. In these chapters, Jesus tried to teach them how painful it is in discipleship. I believe, when Peter telling these things, surely his heart concentrated on cross in the discipleship rather than Jesus’ promises concerning his confession. That’s why, in the closing chapter, Jesus’ emphasis about telling to Peter about His resurrection. There are lot of struggles and difficulties in accepting the person of Christ in his own terms. Its crucifixion!

2. Adapting the program of Christ

After Peter’s confession, in v.31, we come to know about Jesus’ first of the three predictions concerning His death. Their chief priests and officials are going to reject, and they will kill him but he will rise again within three days! Peter was shocked! Our Bibles tells us ‘Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him’. See how immediately his response changed. Just before he confessed ‘you are the Christ’ now he is saying, I don’t want that type of Christ!

Halford E Luccock explained this in the interpreter’s Bible in 1951, and I think this is true even after almost 60 years.

“Centuries of Christian history have made us familiar with the idea of a suffering saviour. We accept it. We sing readily ‘in the cross of Christ I glory’ and ‘Jesus, I my cross have taken’. Yet often in the deep set of our minds, in our attitudes and actions we rebuke him. We prefer a conception of discipleship which leaves the cross out of it. Multitudes of Christians prefer a cheerful, moderate, sensible religion. We shut out necessity of any painful sacrifice. We don’t say in words, ‘look here, Jesus, don’t forget extreme of fanatical. After all, we live in a practical world, and a cross is a very impractical thing’. But our actions, out desires, out shrinking say it. How common it is for us to rebuke Jesus, rebuke him by the things we do, for his claim to undivided allegiance, for his refusal of violence and his choice of the way of love, for his insistence on the denial of self.”

When Peter rejected the idea of cross Jesus rebuked him, and it is better to read here from J.B. Phillips’ translation for clear meaning: “out of my way, Satan!” he said. “Peter, you are not looking at things from God’s point of view, but from man’s!”

Friends, not only ‘accepting the person of Christ’ is difficult, but also ‘adopting the program of Christ’. It may be difficult to say a loud Amen to God’s will, but we must accept it. That’s why in the following verses he demanded, “If anyone wishes to follow behind me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me”.

Max Lucado wrote in his ‘In the Gripe of Grace’ – “Test this question: What if God’s only gift to you were his grace to save you. Would you be content? You beg him to save the life of your child. You plead with him to keep your business afloat. You implore him to remove the cancer from your body. What if his answer is, ‘My grace is enough!’. Would you be content?”

Adopting the program of Christ into our system is difficult and we know how we are struggling in our daily experiences! I am thinking of this again and again these days when I saw some of us are going through these experiences intensively. “I studied hard, but oops, my name is not there but somebody else’s! Almost finishing the race, but I’m not going to write my exams or getting my graduation. All my dreams are collapsing just before they are getting their real form. My future became dark before me”. How much we struggle to adopt His program in those movements! It’s painful, and that’s why, discipleship calls to carry our crosses!

I can remember many of our Spiritual giants who showed the path less people used - Graham Stains wife, Francy Crosby and many more. I still remember how our former principal Dr. Samson Parak’s wife reacted when their son passed away! Her words to campus youth, i still remember ‘r u ready to see him in heaven?’ Yes, they are all knew what is it to adopt the program of Christ!

In April, the Sunday school teacher asked all eight children in her class to hide within an empty container a small object that represented life in the spring.

Stephen is one in her class, eight-year-old, whose mental retardation was becoming more manifest. Everybody knew he is in life and death situation. That was the hard time for Stephen to accepting God’s program. Not wanting to embarrass Stephen, the teacher suggested that the children all place their unlabeled containers on her desk. Since she feared that Stephen might not have caught on, she decided that she should open them.

The first had a tiny flower. “What a lovely sign of new life!” “I brought that one!” the donor exclaimed. Next came a rock. “That must be Stephen’s,” the teacher thought, since rocks do not symbolize new life. But Billy shouted that his rock had moss on it, and moss was new life. The teacher agreed. A butterfly flew from the third container, and another child bragged that her choice was best of all.

The fourth container was empty. “That has to be Stephen’s,” thought the teacher, quickly reaching for the fifth. “Please, don’t skip mine!’ Stephen interjected. “But it’s empty.” “That’s right,” said Stephen. “The tomb was empty, and that is new life for everyone.”

Later that summer, Stephen’s condition grew worse, and he died. On his casket at the funeral, mourners found eight containers. They were all empty.

Conclusion:

Mark’s gospel tells these two things in discipleship in different forms- accepting the person of Christ, and adopting the program of Christ. Both bring the cross in to the discipleship in everyday life. Yes, through accepting the person of Christ and adopting the program of Christ we are experiencing the cross in our discipleship. The greatest thing we can encourage each other is our savior also went through these experiences. Remember that night in the Gethsemane, when he prayed-“Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want”(Mk 14:36), filled with pain and agony he was not only accepting the person of God, but also the program of God. Ironically, while he was teaching these discipleship principles, the shadow of the cross is already falling upon his path! So looking at him, let’s follow him!

When we are facing the moments of shadow of the cross on our way to discipleship, we may not say the words of the hymn writer William R Fealtherstor, but we can feel the same like Peter!

My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine

For thee all follies of sin I resign;

My gracious redeemer, my savior art thou

If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now!