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Columba Comments...
Short reflections written by members of our
congregation
13 September 2009
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Scripture: Mark 8: 27-38
Exploration
This passage has a
very important place in Mark’s Gospel. Up to now, Jesus’ ministry
has seemed like an aimless wandering around Galilee, but now he
takes a definite direction: south, to Jerusalem. From this point on,
Jesus is heading for the Cross.
The story takes place near Caesarea Philippi, 40 kms north of Lake
Galilee, a town recently rebuilt in Roman style (in honour of
Caesar) by Herod Philip, a son of Herod the Great. The names of Rome
and Herod both suggest danger (see what Philip’s brother, Herod
Antipas did to John the Baptist, Mark 6: 17-29). Yet the scene
itself is peaceful, like a retreat away from the crowds, where Jesus
can give his disciples a tutorial: ‘Who do people say that I am?’
What are the crowds saying, and why? Which answer gets nearest to
the truth?
And then he challenges them to get off the fence: ‘Who do you say
that I am?’ It is a crucial moment, a turning point in the Gospel,
when Peter speaks on behalf of all, and says, ‘You are the Messiah!’
(or ‘the Christ’, in Greek) (Messiah is Hebrew and means ‘anointed
one’; Christ has the same meaning. Presumably Peter was talking to
Jesus in Aramaic, so he would use the traditional form, but Mark was
writing it down many years later in Greek, for a Greek-speaking
audience.) If you know Matthew's version of this scene (Matt 16:
16-19) you may find Jesus’ response, as Mark records it, puzzling.
Why did he bind them all to silence? Was Peter right, or wrong?
There were different ideas about who the Messiah was and how he
would operate, but they all involve the use of force to establish
God’s reign. Although ‘Christ’ was the name by which Mark and his
readers called themselves, as Jesus’ followers, he knew that Jesus
himself did not use it. Jesus preferred to call himself by the
mysterious title, ‘the Son of the man’. The phrase simply means ‘the
human being’ – no wonder the disciples were confused! But for Jesus
it suggests something very specific: the suffering laid down by God
as his destiny (‘the Son of man must suffer many things’). Perhaps
for him it carried overtones of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah
53:1-6, one despised and rejected. Why this should be God’s plan he
does not ask, but now he unveils this future. This is too much for
Peter, who ‘rebukes’ him (a very strong word) for saying so, and is
in turn ‘rebuked’ by Jesus. Whatever he thinks about this plan, God
thinks otherwise.
Questions for Reflection
- Compare vv. 27-30 with the story of the blind man at Bethsaida
(vv. 22-26). Is there any reason why Mark chose to tell this story
here?
- A few weeks ago we read John 6: 66-69. What connections do you
find between this scene and today’s? What differences?
- Look up Isaiah 53: 1-6. Is this at all like the Jesus we meet
in Mark’s Gospel? Now look up Daniel 7: 13-14, where there is a
dream vision of a figure called ‘one like a son of man’ or ‘a
human one’. Is this figure at all like the Jesus we meet in Mark’s
Gospel?
- Jesus calls himself ‘Son of man’ ten times (Mark 2: 10; 2: 28;
8: 31; 8: 39; 9: 31; 10: 32; 10: 45; 13: 26; 14: 21; 14: 62). Look
some up. How many suggest suffering? Are some of them connected to
Daniel 7: 13-14? Taking them together, what meaning or meanings
does ‘Son of man’ have in Mark’s Gospel?
- Why does Peter ‘rebuke’ Jesus for his teaching ? When in the
Gospel was Peter ‘ashamed of me and my words’ (v. 38)? (And who
else?)
- What picture of Christian discipleship do we get in verses
34-38? How does it compare with your own experience?
- ‘Who do people say that I am?’ What half-right answers do
people give about Jesus today? Which of them are close to the
truth? What if Jesus asked you, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ – what
answer would you give?
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