Readings: Isaiah 50:5-9a; Psalm 116; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35
Who do you say Jesus is? Our answer to this question, posed by Jesus to his disciples, may say more about who we are than it says about Jesus. On its face, it seems like a straightforward question, but as we hear in this Sunday’s Gospel, there was a great deal of confusion about His identity. At least the crowds saw him as a prophet – someone who speaks God’s truth, but they did not recognize him as the Christ.
For those who saw him as the anointed one, the Christ, they saw in him a king who would rescue them from the Roman oppressors. As it turns out he is not the benevolent monarch of this world, rather he is the Christ who came to save them from their sins. Some saw Jesus more as a liberator, who would free them from the tyranny of their religious leaders. In the end, Jesus came to reconcile everyone to the Father.
When Jesus poses the question of his identity to his disciples, Peter responds in a way that shows a deeper understanding of his prophetic mission. However, when Jesus begins to explain the cost of being the prophet, one who speaks the truth to power, Peter expresses his strong disapproval of Jesus’ plan to travel to Jerusalem. As is often the case, Peter is speaking out of his fear, belying an immature faith. He is, in a way, speaking for all of us, whose fear often knocks us off the path of faith. Again we are caught between the dichotomy of fight or flight. Do we want Jesus to be king of this world and depose the “evil power” by force, or do we, as does Peter, prefer to run away from our destiny and shrink from our prophetic role.
Jesus is not limited to the dualistic mindset of fight or flight – he has the courage to see a third way. He doesn’t abandon his prophetic mission to a lukewarm pacifism, nor does he make the mistake of waging a violent war with what we judge as evil. The problem with making war and killing those we call evil is that in the process we become the evil that we seek to destroy. Neither is the solution to become a pacifist.
There is a big difference between being a pacifist and being non-violent. This important distinction was made clear for me some years ago, by God’s grace. I had experienced a shift from my past (as an Air Force colonel) to one who could no longer rationalize the assertion to go to war. I struggled with this because I am not one to acquiesce with what I strongly reject. I did not understand that the prophetic call to peace is not capitulation; it is directly confronting that which is wrong. We best confront evil by speaking the truth and acting for justice in nonviolent ways. As challenging as this approach is, it is something that I feel we are called to grow into. It is getting behind Jesus, denying oneself, taking up one’s cross, and following His way, His truth, and His light.
As I have said before “Jesus could have capitulated before the wicked power, but he didn’t. He traveled to Jerusalem and spoke truth to power.” And here is where salvation breaks in. When the powers had decided to put him to death, and while he was hanging on the cross, he said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” They, like us, do not come to salvation by getting everything right; we come to the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of our sins. (Cf. Luke 1:77)
Who do you say Jesus is? Is he the Christ? Are we ready to pick up our cross and follow him to Jerusalem? Perhaps we can start by asking ourselves, who do I believe Jesus is? And what does this say about who we are and what is our calling, and how we are to live out our prophetic non-violent calling in a violent world? This is the call to build the Kingdom of God, a peaceful kingdom of love and justice. BE STRONG, FEAR NOT!
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