From the last sermon (covering primarily the first half of Mark's Gospel), we considered whether or not we Christians are getting Jesus right today. The question was posed because even Jesus' own hand-picked disciples--who heard his teachings daily and saw the miraculous works that he did--got him wrong, even though Peter, representing the disciples, acknowledged correctly that that Jesus is the Messiah (Mk 8:29).
Healing in two stages?? After the disciples' most recent confounding lack of understanding, Jesus lamented about them having "eyes that fail to see and ears that fail to hear" (Mk 8:18), where their failure of perception would place them in the category of being "outsiders"--those on the outside who do not know the mystery of the kingdom of God (Mk 4:11-12). The next scene is a brief healing story (8:22-26) with a noteworthy peculiarity. Jesus heals a blind man, but the healing--unlike any other healing in the Gospels--proceeds in two stages (Mk 8:23-25).
Are the disciples "not seeing" clearly? There is a heavy emphasis placed on "not seeing" in the immediately preceding dialogue with the disciples in the boat (8:14-21). Thus, it would be rather myopic if readers fail to see the symbolic implications of this unique healing in two stages. Mark placed this odd healing episode immediately before the pivotal conversation at Caesarea Philippi (Mk 8:27) in order to show that the disciples are about to undergo the process of having their vision healed--but gradually, rather than all at once.
First stage of the healing: Peter blurts out, "You are the Messiah" when Jesus asked, "But what about you? Who do you say I am?" (Mk 8:29). Let's read carefully to see how Mark tells the story. The distinctive character of Mark's account of Peter's confession is often overlooked, because the Matthew's version of the story (Mt 16:13-20), where Peter is extolled as the rock on which Jesus would build his church (Mt 16:18). Mark, however, recounts the event quite differently. Rather than praising Peter for his divinely gifted insight (Mt 16:17), Jesus abruptly rebukes the disciples (Mk 8:30). Many translations soften the force of Mark's strong word: "warned them, sternly ordered them," while the verb in Greek is "rebuked," the same word used in Mk 3:12 where Jesus rebukes and silences the demons, who have shouted out, "You are the Son of God" (Mk 3:11). In both cases, why would Jesus sharply censure speakers who declare the truth about his identity as the Messiah, the Son of God?
Peter began to "see" Jesus, but imperfectly, like the man who saw "trees walking." In the first century context, the term "Messiah" evokes in the popular imagination the image of an anointed ruler who would overthrow Israel's enemies (the Romans) and restore the royal throne of David. With such fervent hopes in the background, Peter's designation of Jesus as "Messiah" comes with it a range of connotations that are strongly nationalistic and oriented to the exercise of power. Thus, Jesus' rebuke of the disciples, while not rejecting the title "Messiah," signals the beginning of a teaching project of massive proportions. Read Mark 8:31.
The meaning of "Messiah" must be redefined in terms of the suffering Son of Man (Mk 8:31). But Peter, not surprisingly, finds this hard teaching decidedly undesirable, even unacceptable. This triggers a mutual rebuking contest between Peter and Jesus (Mk 8:32-33). Characterizing Peter as Satan is purposeful (Mk 8:33), for Peter's apparently reasonable objection is in fact a suggestion that Jesus deny himself and his mission, thus capitulating to Satan. By uncompromisingly rejecting Peter's position, Jesus affirms that he is to be a suffering Messiah. That is what obedience to God require of him.
Being a Christian is to follow Jesus in the way of suffering, rejection and death. Though the disciples may have recognized that Jesus is the Messiah, they have yet to learn what that means. As with the blind man, their vision is only partially restored (Mk 8:24). They will not see all things clearly until much later--after the crucifixion. Only then will they see clearly that to be Jesus' disciple means to allow one's own identity to be stamped by the identity of the one who died forsaken on the cross. To accept Jesus as my Messiah--to be a Christian--is not simply a mental affirmation and acknowledgment about who Jesus is, but it is to choose my own identity as well, an identity that must be shaped by the cross.
Embracing Jesus as a man of power--whether supernatural or political--fail to see and understand him clearly. Jesus can be rightly understood only as the Son of Man who will surrender power in order to suffer and die. The cross becomes the controlling symbol for interpreting Jesus' identity. Only at the foot of the cross can any Christian correctly confess, "Truly this man was the Son of God" (Mk 15:39). Thus, after Jesus' pivotal conversation with his disciples at Caesarea Philippi (8:27-9:1), the mighty miraculous works very nearly cease with only one exorcism (9:14-29), one healing (10:46-52), and the withering of one fig tree (11:12-13, 20-21). The working of miracles seems to have become a distraction to his mission rather than an expression of it. The story now moves inexorably toward Golgotha.
The cross is also mysteriously necessary for the sake of others (Mk 10:45; 14:22-24). The tightly compressed saying of Mk 10:45 echoes the depiction of Isaiah's suffering servant figure (Isa 52:13-53:12), who was made an "offering for sin" and bore the iniquities of many. Mark's extended passion narrative is the story of a sacrificial action on Jesus' part, a giving up of his own life for the people of God.
Reference:
Hays, Richard B. The Moral Vision of the New Testament: community, cross, new creation: a contemporary introduction to New Testament ethics. Part One, 3. The Gospel of Mark: Taking Up the Cross. 1996. HarperCollins Publishers, NY.
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