GOOD WRITERS—HELP US SEE

THURSDAY AFTER THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 8:1-30 with Bishop Wright focusing on verses 22-30.

In the past Mark’s Gospel was seen to be one of the less elegant Gospels. Apparently the Greek leads people to that conclusion, but then they noticed something—the story lines. Good writers construct their stories in a way so as to have one story illuminate another. Before we unpack a small bit of chapter 8 there is a question we might ask, “What are the storylines in Mark?” Now you might say, “Duh, it is that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, he rose from the dead, etc.” And of course you would be right. But there is another story line in these Gospels…it is the story line of the disciples…and it is the story line of our lives, “That the kind of a God, the kind of a savior we want, often clouds our vision, and requires time for us to see.”

Over and over in the Gospels we see the disciples “not get it.” Peter, apparently the self-appointed spokesperson for the group, most frequently puts their feet in his mouth (you see, I just think he said what most of them were thinking). They were thinking that Jesus was the Messiah, they would follow, and he would raise an army, kick out the Romans, and establish a new Jewish kingdom…heaven on earth you might say. But here is the deal…he is not a military leader…he keeps feeding and healing people…they cannot “see” what he is doing and what God’s plan looks like. Why can they not see? Because they have an idea of what the Messiah will do—a powerful idea of what their world should look like if God were in their midst.

So Mark presents us with a man who cannot physically see. Jesus takes him out of the village, gets him to see a little, and then gets him to see fully. Look next at what Jesus does. He takes his disciples out of their village. He takes them away to a Roman stronghold. Asks them who people “see him as”—they say John the Baptist, or a prophet, etc. Then he asks them, “If they see him more clearly.” They do! They see him as the Messiah. The parallels between the two stories are remarkable and if you look at it again I trust you will see more of them. What happens next is Jesus telling them what the Messiah will do and Peter saying “No!”

Which brings me back around to what kind of a Messiah do they want? They have preconceived notions about it, and the Gospels show us the journey not only of God come to earth, but of the disciples—and what it will take for them to “see Jesus clearly.” It will take them going to the Cross with Jesus. It will take them staring in disbelief at the Empty Tomb. It will take the in-filling of the Holy Spirit—it takes that for all who come to him. I have my “wishes” and my “pre-conceived notions” about what a “God in the midst of my world” would look like…we all do…and  many just cannot buy into this Jesus guy…it takes walking the path of the disciples…all the way to the Cross…and the Tomb…and to the Holy Spirit.