Truth and sacrifice
Commentary
The closing sentences in the gospel lesson read like a collection of proverbs. We can see even secular truth in them. Since there have been people who have put all they could into getting the most out of life for themselves, we know how they can fail and how they might have fared better by sharing with others. We know how people may accumulate worldly satisfactions at the expense of integrity or meaningfullness. There are stories about the original John D. Rockefeller, who gained a monopoly over the oil business, only to become so severely ill as to be threatened by death. Then he turned to philanthropy.
Of course, the verses do not present a secular ethic. Rather, they follow the same theological emphasis as Philippians 2:5, "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who ... emptied himself, taking the form of a slave ..." Denying ourselves, as our text suggests, runs counter to so much in worldly life that we have little to wonder why some Christians would feel the need for monastic withdrawal or a lifestyle akin to it. The degree of individual freedom in our society increases the need for personal initiative, development, competitiveness. Yet it also increases the opportunity for social group activity to benefit the disadvantaged by both ameliorative assistance and improvement of the social systems.
If we recognize the variety of legitimate interpretations for a servant song, such as the Old Testament lesson this week, we may understand the breadth of possibilities for taking up the cross. Perhaps the poet is the servant, a prophet who, like Jeremiah, suffered and wrote laments about it. Since poetry provides imagery adaptable to many specific equivalents, however, Jesus is a fulfillment of the teacher who is tortured but who lives to lead. His followers, too, have shared the experience. Most provocative is the realization that Israel is clearly identified as the servant in Isaiah 40-55, including one of the servant's songs, 49:3.
So the church, as a community of faith like Israel, may be the servant. "Take up his cross" has a relationship to the ancient custom of marking persons with the cross at baptism. Such was the mark of repentance and of identification with Christ for a life of witness in the world. The cross to be borne is not just a Christian's own faults and troubles, but what these become through Christ. The crucified Christ is God taking human suffering into himself.
OUTLINE I
God's servant
Isaiah 50:4-10
A. vv. 4-5. God's servant (See v. 10) begins by taking orders. The thought of obedience is reinforced by recalling occasions when turning away in rebellion had been a temptation. The servant's assignment is very specific. Since speaking is required, perhaps NRSV is correct in translating "teacher," where the Hebrew has "those who are taught." Yet the servant's job calls even more particularly for sustaining the weary. Indeed, lest the servant should give up in weariness, fresh stimulus and instruction from God are required every day.
B. v. 6. God's servant suffers torture. Not a cruel master, but others engage in beatings and worse. In Isaiah 53, another servant song, the suffering is more fully described. These songs became a help in understanding that God was sending a different kind of messiah than the popularly expected earthly king.
C. vv. 7-9. The servant receives God's support. Since God can be trusted to preserve the servant from disgrace, he is able to stand firm in the face of accusations. In court language, the Hebrew speaks of the "one who makes me righteous," that is, "justifies me" or as the NRSV says, "vindicates me." God's presence for the defense removes the possibility of sustaining any charge of guilt. Rather, the accusers are like tattered clothes, ruined by moths, which may be their own evil.
D. v. 10. God's servant leads through darkness. "Who?" he cries. He is seeking followers who are ready to rely upon his God.
OUTLINE II
Christian wholeness
James 2:1-5, 8-10, 14-18
A. vv. 1-5. Wholeness in Christian community. With the style of the ancient Greek diatribe, the author raises questions as though in a debate or discussion. Often the question is rhetorical, with the answer clearly implied. Theoretical illustrations elucidate the question. For the topic of favoritism among persons in a congregation, the illustration deals with seating in a manner reminiscent of Jesus' teaching (Matthew 23:6 and parallels). The reference to the poor in the kingdom of God also reminds us of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20). The Christian community is expected to avoid the divisions in worldly society.
B. vv. 8-10. Wholeness of the Law for Christians. The assertion that breaking part of the Law breaks all of it resembles Matthew 5:19. In view of the complexity of Old Testament law, the summary from Leviticus 19:18 becomes essential, as it sees human relations governed bythe single principle: love of neighbor (see Matthew 22:39; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:14). Both Matthew and James were probably addressed originally to Jewish Christians, who were concerned about the Law.
C. vv. 14-18. Wholeness of a Christian's life. The best known part of James is here in the insistence that faith and works belong together. When faith will not save, it is a formal subscription to abstract poropositions, rather than a living relationship with Christ. What are opposed are not faith and works, but a dead faith and a living faith.
OUTLINE III
What kind of Messiah?
Mark 8:27-38
A. vv. 27-30. In the course of Jesus' ministry, the time had come for a clear understanding among his disciples about his messiahship. He did not suddenly tell them. He did not even ask their view directly. He asked what others were saying. The review of opinion illustrated the variety in popular expectations. Then the question became second person plural, direct, personal. The effect was dramatic, psychologically powerful. A reader can still sense the climax in the narrative, as Peter blurts his confession in terms of the long hoped restoration of Davidic monarchy. Jesus still did not want the truth discussed outside the inner circle. People were not ready for it. In fact, neither were the disciples.
B. vv. 31-33. Jesus launched a new direction in his teaching. "Son of Man" was used for the first time ever to identify a suffering Messiah, not a heavenly being coming in clouds. Peter did not blurt out again, but he did object privately. Jesus had to denounce the common understanding of the Messiah and Son of Man, which Peter still held. Perhaps such a view posed a temptation to Jesus; hence his reference to Satan.
C. vv. 34-38. Now there was teaching for the crowd. In Mark's time and since, this teaching is directed to the people of the church. They have a chance to identify with Jesus in suffering and persecution. This is the time to hope for the Son of Man coming in glory. Ours is the eschatological age.
Of course, the verses do not present a secular ethic. Rather, they follow the same theological emphasis as Philippians 2:5, "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who ... emptied himself, taking the form of a slave ..." Denying ourselves, as our text suggests, runs counter to so much in worldly life that we have little to wonder why some Christians would feel the need for monastic withdrawal or a lifestyle akin to it. The degree of individual freedom in our society increases the need for personal initiative, development, competitiveness. Yet it also increases the opportunity for social group activity to benefit the disadvantaged by both ameliorative assistance and improvement of the social systems.
If we recognize the variety of legitimate interpretations for a servant song, such as the Old Testament lesson this week, we may understand the breadth of possibilities for taking up the cross. Perhaps the poet is the servant, a prophet who, like Jeremiah, suffered and wrote laments about it. Since poetry provides imagery adaptable to many specific equivalents, however, Jesus is a fulfillment of the teacher who is tortured but who lives to lead. His followers, too, have shared the experience. Most provocative is the realization that Israel is clearly identified as the servant in Isaiah 40-55, including one of the servant's songs, 49:3.
So the church, as a community of faith like Israel, may be the servant. "Take up his cross" has a relationship to the ancient custom of marking persons with the cross at baptism. Such was the mark of repentance and of identification with Christ for a life of witness in the world. The cross to be borne is not just a Christian's own faults and troubles, but what these become through Christ. The crucified Christ is God taking human suffering into himself.
OUTLINE I
God's servant
Isaiah 50:4-10
A. vv. 4-5. God's servant (See v. 10) begins by taking orders. The thought of obedience is reinforced by recalling occasions when turning away in rebellion had been a temptation. The servant's assignment is very specific. Since speaking is required, perhaps NRSV is correct in translating "teacher," where the Hebrew has "those who are taught." Yet the servant's job calls even more particularly for sustaining the weary. Indeed, lest the servant should give up in weariness, fresh stimulus and instruction from God are required every day.
B. v. 6. God's servant suffers torture. Not a cruel master, but others engage in beatings and worse. In Isaiah 53, another servant song, the suffering is more fully described. These songs became a help in understanding that God was sending a different kind of messiah than the popularly expected earthly king.
C. vv. 7-9. The servant receives God's support. Since God can be trusted to preserve the servant from disgrace, he is able to stand firm in the face of accusations. In court language, the Hebrew speaks of the "one who makes me righteous," that is, "justifies me" or as the NRSV says, "vindicates me." God's presence for the defense removes the possibility of sustaining any charge of guilt. Rather, the accusers are like tattered clothes, ruined by moths, which may be their own evil.
D. v. 10. God's servant leads through darkness. "Who?" he cries. He is seeking followers who are ready to rely upon his God.
OUTLINE II
Christian wholeness
James 2:1-5, 8-10, 14-18
A. vv. 1-5. Wholeness in Christian community. With the style of the ancient Greek diatribe, the author raises questions as though in a debate or discussion. Often the question is rhetorical, with the answer clearly implied. Theoretical illustrations elucidate the question. For the topic of favoritism among persons in a congregation, the illustration deals with seating in a manner reminiscent of Jesus' teaching (Matthew 23:6 and parallels). The reference to the poor in the kingdom of God also reminds us of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20). The Christian community is expected to avoid the divisions in worldly society.
B. vv. 8-10. Wholeness of the Law for Christians. The assertion that breaking part of the Law breaks all of it resembles Matthew 5:19. In view of the complexity of Old Testament law, the summary from Leviticus 19:18 becomes essential, as it sees human relations governed bythe single principle: love of neighbor (see Matthew 22:39; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:14). Both Matthew and James were probably addressed originally to Jewish Christians, who were concerned about the Law.
C. vv. 14-18. Wholeness of a Christian's life. The best known part of James is here in the insistence that faith and works belong together. When faith will not save, it is a formal subscription to abstract poropositions, rather than a living relationship with Christ. What are opposed are not faith and works, but a dead faith and a living faith.
OUTLINE III
What kind of Messiah?
Mark 8:27-38
A. vv. 27-30. In the course of Jesus' ministry, the time had come for a clear understanding among his disciples about his messiahship. He did not suddenly tell them. He did not even ask their view directly. He asked what others were saying. The review of opinion illustrated the variety in popular expectations. Then the question became second person plural, direct, personal. The effect was dramatic, psychologically powerful. A reader can still sense the climax in the narrative, as Peter blurts his confession in terms of the long hoped restoration of Davidic monarchy. Jesus still did not want the truth discussed outside the inner circle. People were not ready for it. In fact, neither were the disciples.
B. vv. 31-33. Jesus launched a new direction in his teaching. "Son of Man" was used for the first time ever to identify a suffering Messiah, not a heavenly being coming in clouds. Peter did not blurt out again, but he did object privately. Jesus had to denounce the common understanding of the Messiah and Son of Man, which Peter still held. Perhaps such a view posed a temptation to Jesus; hence his reference to Satan.
C. vv. 34-38. Now there was teaching for the crowd. In Mark's time and since, this teaching is directed to the people of the church. They have a chance to identify with Jesus in suffering and persecution. This is the time to hope for the Son of Man coming in glory. Ours is the eschatological age.
