Do you Get It? 6 March 2008

Mark 8:27-9:1
Thursday, 6 March 2008

On the airplane, I like to do the crossword puzzles in the airline's magazine. I prefer them to the puzzles in the newspaper because with the newspaper puzzles, I have to wait until the next day (or solve the whole puzzle) to see whether my guess was correct, rather than just flipping to the answer at the back of the magazine. I guess I am not known for my patience. I have to know sooner whether I got it.

As evinced in the earlier part of the chapter through the gradual healing of the blind man, Jesus is giving his disciples multiple opportunities to come to the right conclusion. The answer is before them. The question is whether they've got it or not. "Who do people say that I am?" Jesus asks. That's an easy question; one only has to repeat what one has heard. Here comes the hard ball: "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answers, "You're the Messiah." At first glance, it seems that Peter has it. Jesus begins to reveal the rest of the plan to the disciples: great suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection. At this point, Peter's certainty gets the better of him, as he takes Jesus aside to explain to him what his Messiahship does and does not mean. Peter doesn't get it after all. His mind is on the wrong thing.

Today, I get the sense that we should be careful lest we rush ahead too quickly with our answers. Like Peter, we may grasp the most significant information without understanding all of the details about what that knowledge requires of us. Just knowing who Jesus is is not enough. Following him means laying aside all of our preconceived notions and plans and taking up our cross. Suffering, rejection, and death lead to resurrection and eternal life. Do you get it?

Sing, "Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone"

Let us pray:
Crucified One, it is so easy to rush forward to Easter without accounting for the suffering, rejection, and death of Good Friday. It is so easy to leap forward with the knowledge of discipleship and eternal life without responding to the call of taking up our cross. Reminds us today, Lord, that there can be no resurrection without the cross; no victory without suffering. Help us to deny ourselves and therefore to embrace and follow you. Amen.