Do You Get It?
Sermon
SERMONS ON THE GOSPEL READINGS
Series I, Cycle A
"Is that really necessary?" It's a question that we may ask when something unpleasant or disturbing has been said or done. If someone brings up a topic like capital punishment or abortion at the dinner table, you might ask rhetorically, "Is that really necessary?" In that situation it probably isn't, but there are times when such issues do have to be discussed. We can't always insist on keeping things light and comfortable.
When somebody does refuse to face some of the tough realities of the world, we might say that that he or she "just doesn't get it." The implication is that the person ought to be able to grasp whatever it is that's in question and see the necessity of dealing with it, that enough opportunity has been given, but that for some reason he or she just doesn't - or won't - understand.
In today's gospel, we could say that Peter "just doesn't get it." It seemed last week that he knew what was going on. In answer to Jesus' question about who the disciples thought he was, Peter, as their spokesman, said "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus commended him for that and told him that he was "blessed" because God had revealed that to him. Peter was on a roll and so, it would seem, are Jesus and the other disciples. To this point in Jesus' ministry all the crowds that have gathered to hear him and the people that he's healed have been very impressive. If Jesus is the long--awaited Messiah and Son of God, we can expect for those successes to continue. He'll be "Number One." Peter and the others are happy to be following him because everybody loves a winner.
But today, when Jesus immediately starts talking about being rejected by the leaders of the nation and says that he's going to suffer and die, it doesn't fit with the confession of faith that Peter had just made. Jesus' words seem to contradict what it means to be the Messiah and don't make any sense. When Jesus starts talking that way, Peter figures that he's mistaken and wants to correct him.
That's a very natural thing for Peter to do. When Peter said that Jesus was the Messiah, he meant that Jesus was the Lord's anointed, the long--awaited king who would finally liberate the people of Israel from oppression. If that were the case, it wouldn't make any sense for the Messiah himself to be crushed by the oppressive powers that enslaved Israel. If he is "the Son of the living God," how could he be killed?
The Jewish people had been waiting for a liberator, a Messiah, for a long time. They'd gone through religious and political turmoil for generations and now were suffering under the Roman occupation. The hope was that when the Messiah, God's true king, came, it would be the end of all that. They wouldn't have to be pushed around any more. The Messiah would put them back on top of the world, the way their traditions told them that it had been under David and Solomon.
Well, what would you expect an oppressed people to think? Preachers sometimes say things like, "The Jews were expecting the Messiah to be a military conqueror, not a suffering servant," as if that had been a quite unreasonable hope of theirs. Of course oppressed people want liberation. It's far too easy for comfortable Americans to criticize them for that.
We have our own ways of expressing the same feelings that Peter had - "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." We can put the cross in a corner - there's a reason why far more people come to church on Easter Sunday than on Good Friday, and it isn't just because they have to work on weekdays. We can make the cross into a shiny piece of jewelry, of course without any body hanging on it, and when Easter does come we'll cover it with lilies.
Being on top of the world? We like to say "God Bless America" - and of course there's a way we should pray that. But when we say it, do we mean, "God, keep America number one" the way some Jews of the first century looked for the restoration of the Davidic empire? Do we want America to be blessed without any corresponding sacrifice on our part, or without having any concern about being a blessing to others? If we do have that attitude, what does a crucified Messiah have to do with our hope?
Do we get it? When we hear about the cross, do we say, "Was that really necessary?" That was the reaction of a lot of people to the Mel Gibson film The Passion of the Christ. Certainly there are criticisms that can be made of that movie, but when people suggested that an intense focus on the passion was somehow inappropriate, we really have to wonder if they got it.
"From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." The statement is carefully worded: "He must go." The little Greek word that is used there, dei, means "it is necessary." In the Bible it's often used in the sense of something that God has decided upon, a "divine necessity." These verses are sometimes called a "passion prediction" but they do more than just say what is going to happen. It is something that needs to happen.
"Jesus began to show his disciples" - to reveal the plan to them, and to say "it is necessary" means that it is God's plan.
Can we see that it was necessary? Let us not imagine that we're smarter or more spiritual than Peter and the other disciples. If we've begun to grasp the necessity of the cross, it isn't because we're more insightful than they were. It's because Peter and the others eventually were brought to understand what had happened and passed the message on to us. On the Day of Pentecost Peter told the crowd in Jerusalem that Jesus had been crucified "according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God." We owe our faith and knowledge to the witness of the apostles who didn't get it to begin with. If you haven't gotten it yet, there's still hope for you.
Why was the cross necessary? It was to deal with the problems of sin and evil in the world - really to deal with them and not simply to cover them up. It was to deal with the problem of sin for us. Sin means being out of touch with God, having our lives centered on the wrong thing, something which distorts our understanding of ourselves and our relationships with others. That is what ultimately leads to the kind of oppression that the Jews of Jesus' time experienced, to the poverty and sense of helplessness and anger of so many people in the world today, and to the fruitless searches of well--to--do people to fill their inner vacuum with chemicals or sex or toys.
If our basic problem is our relationship with God, then only God can really fix it. That's why the one who is on the way to Jerusalem is the Son of God: God isn't going to leave the job to an assistant or somebody in celestial middle management. But it is our problem, and so has to be handled from within, as part of the human race. God comes to heal us by sharing our life - including the consequences of sin and death.
"Surely he has born our infirmities and carried our diseases," the prophet said. If you're going to lift a heavy load, you have to get under it. God goes as far down as possible, taking on what was considered the most agonizing and disgraceful kind of execution, what one early Christian teacher called "the utterly vile death of the cross."
When he cried, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" he was at the very bottom of reality, where sin would eventually take all of us if God did not act to save us. But he went there - and the words, "And on the third day be raised," mean that the whole catastrophic plummeting of humanity into the depths will be reversed.
We shouldn't imagine that we're privy to all God's secrets or can say that God had to do something, but in very general terms that sort of explanation may help us to understand why the cross was necessary. It still may not answer all the questions that you have. How does it work? How does the cross save us from sin? Theologians have suggested various answers - that Christ paid our debt, or suffered our punishment, or defeated the powers of evil. But the main question isn't "How?" If you're wheeled into the emergency room with a heart attack and the doctor says that some procedure is necessary in order to save your life, you probably won't ask first for a detailed technical explanation of how all the medical instruments and technology work. That can come later if you're really interested.
What Jesus did was necessary for our salvation. More than that, it was what a mathematician would call a "necessary and sufficient condition" for salvation. Believe it, accept what God has done, and get on board. There is no need for you to add anything to it in order be one of God's people.
But be sure to listen to Jesus' words. He doesn't just speak here about what's going to happen to him, but about what it means to be a disciple - to be one of God's people. The fact that that status is given to us freely doesn't mean that it's going to be easy. "For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life. Or what will they give in return for their life?"
We will have real life if we recognize what it is and distinguish it from an illusory kind of life. Those who think that life is defined by enriching themselves at the expense of others and who cling to power and wealth will lose real life. Those who can let go of lesser goods, who put them in second place, will be able to open their hands to receive the life that Jesus promises. Those who lose life not just for anything but for his sake will find it.
Taking up the cross means to follow Christ and to be given real life. It means that we can begin to know what the world is really all about. It means that we get it.
When somebody does refuse to face some of the tough realities of the world, we might say that that he or she "just doesn't get it." The implication is that the person ought to be able to grasp whatever it is that's in question and see the necessity of dealing with it, that enough opportunity has been given, but that for some reason he or she just doesn't - or won't - understand.
In today's gospel, we could say that Peter "just doesn't get it." It seemed last week that he knew what was going on. In answer to Jesus' question about who the disciples thought he was, Peter, as their spokesman, said "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus commended him for that and told him that he was "blessed" because God had revealed that to him. Peter was on a roll and so, it would seem, are Jesus and the other disciples. To this point in Jesus' ministry all the crowds that have gathered to hear him and the people that he's healed have been very impressive. If Jesus is the long--awaited Messiah and Son of God, we can expect for those successes to continue. He'll be "Number One." Peter and the others are happy to be following him because everybody loves a winner.
But today, when Jesus immediately starts talking about being rejected by the leaders of the nation and says that he's going to suffer and die, it doesn't fit with the confession of faith that Peter had just made. Jesus' words seem to contradict what it means to be the Messiah and don't make any sense. When Jesus starts talking that way, Peter figures that he's mistaken and wants to correct him.
That's a very natural thing for Peter to do. When Peter said that Jesus was the Messiah, he meant that Jesus was the Lord's anointed, the long--awaited king who would finally liberate the people of Israel from oppression. If that were the case, it wouldn't make any sense for the Messiah himself to be crushed by the oppressive powers that enslaved Israel. If he is "the Son of the living God," how could he be killed?
The Jewish people had been waiting for a liberator, a Messiah, for a long time. They'd gone through religious and political turmoil for generations and now were suffering under the Roman occupation. The hope was that when the Messiah, God's true king, came, it would be the end of all that. They wouldn't have to be pushed around any more. The Messiah would put them back on top of the world, the way their traditions told them that it had been under David and Solomon.
Well, what would you expect an oppressed people to think? Preachers sometimes say things like, "The Jews were expecting the Messiah to be a military conqueror, not a suffering servant," as if that had been a quite unreasonable hope of theirs. Of course oppressed people want liberation. It's far too easy for comfortable Americans to criticize them for that.
We have our own ways of expressing the same feelings that Peter had - "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." We can put the cross in a corner - there's a reason why far more people come to church on Easter Sunday than on Good Friday, and it isn't just because they have to work on weekdays. We can make the cross into a shiny piece of jewelry, of course without any body hanging on it, and when Easter does come we'll cover it with lilies.
Being on top of the world? We like to say "God Bless America" - and of course there's a way we should pray that. But when we say it, do we mean, "God, keep America number one" the way some Jews of the first century looked for the restoration of the Davidic empire? Do we want America to be blessed without any corresponding sacrifice on our part, or without having any concern about being a blessing to others? If we do have that attitude, what does a crucified Messiah have to do with our hope?
Do we get it? When we hear about the cross, do we say, "Was that really necessary?" That was the reaction of a lot of people to the Mel Gibson film The Passion of the Christ. Certainly there are criticisms that can be made of that movie, but when people suggested that an intense focus on the passion was somehow inappropriate, we really have to wonder if they got it.
"From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." The statement is carefully worded: "He must go." The little Greek word that is used there, dei, means "it is necessary." In the Bible it's often used in the sense of something that God has decided upon, a "divine necessity." These verses are sometimes called a "passion prediction" but they do more than just say what is going to happen. It is something that needs to happen.
"Jesus began to show his disciples" - to reveal the plan to them, and to say "it is necessary" means that it is God's plan.
Can we see that it was necessary? Let us not imagine that we're smarter or more spiritual than Peter and the other disciples. If we've begun to grasp the necessity of the cross, it isn't because we're more insightful than they were. It's because Peter and the others eventually were brought to understand what had happened and passed the message on to us. On the Day of Pentecost Peter told the crowd in Jerusalem that Jesus had been crucified "according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God." We owe our faith and knowledge to the witness of the apostles who didn't get it to begin with. If you haven't gotten it yet, there's still hope for you.
Why was the cross necessary? It was to deal with the problems of sin and evil in the world - really to deal with them and not simply to cover them up. It was to deal with the problem of sin for us. Sin means being out of touch with God, having our lives centered on the wrong thing, something which distorts our understanding of ourselves and our relationships with others. That is what ultimately leads to the kind of oppression that the Jews of Jesus' time experienced, to the poverty and sense of helplessness and anger of so many people in the world today, and to the fruitless searches of well--to--do people to fill their inner vacuum with chemicals or sex or toys.
If our basic problem is our relationship with God, then only God can really fix it. That's why the one who is on the way to Jerusalem is the Son of God: God isn't going to leave the job to an assistant or somebody in celestial middle management. But it is our problem, and so has to be handled from within, as part of the human race. God comes to heal us by sharing our life - including the consequences of sin and death.
"Surely he has born our infirmities and carried our diseases," the prophet said. If you're going to lift a heavy load, you have to get under it. God goes as far down as possible, taking on what was considered the most agonizing and disgraceful kind of execution, what one early Christian teacher called "the utterly vile death of the cross."
When he cried, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" he was at the very bottom of reality, where sin would eventually take all of us if God did not act to save us. But he went there - and the words, "And on the third day be raised," mean that the whole catastrophic plummeting of humanity into the depths will be reversed.
We shouldn't imagine that we're privy to all God's secrets or can say that God had to do something, but in very general terms that sort of explanation may help us to understand why the cross was necessary. It still may not answer all the questions that you have. How does it work? How does the cross save us from sin? Theologians have suggested various answers - that Christ paid our debt, or suffered our punishment, or defeated the powers of evil. But the main question isn't "How?" If you're wheeled into the emergency room with a heart attack and the doctor says that some procedure is necessary in order to save your life, you probably won't ask first for a detailed technical explanation of how all the medical instruments and technology work. That can come later if you're really interested.
What Jesus did was necessary for our salvation. More than that, it was what a mathematician would call a "necessary and sufficient condition" for salvation. Believe it, accept what God has done, and get on board. There is no need for you to add anything to it in order be one of God's people.
But be sure to listen to Jesus' words. He doesn't just speak here about what's going to happen to him, but about what it means to be a disciple - to be one of God's people. The fact that that status is given to us freely doesn't mean that it's going to be easy. "For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life. Or what will they give in return for their life?"
We will have real life if we recognize what it is and distinguish it from an illusory kind of life. Those who think that life is defined by enriching themselves at the expense of others and who cling to power and wealth will lose real life. Those who can let go of lesser goods, who put them in second place, will be able to open their hands to receive the life that Jesus promises. Those who lose life not just for anything but for his sake will find it.
Taking up the cross means to follow Christ and to be given real life. It means that we can begin to know what the world is really all about. It means that we get it.
