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Posted At: 2:27am by Brent Kuhlman
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Second Sunday in Lent Trinity Lutheran Church
12 March 2006 Murdock, NE
+ Jesu Juva +
St. Mark 8:31-38
Poor Peter. The Lord really lets him have it! In front of all the apostles too! When Jesus calls Peter "Satan" you know he's really in trouble.
What's Peter done or said that earns this apostle the name "Satan?"
The apostle takes Jesus out to the wood shed. Dresses Jesus down. Reprimands the Son of Man. Chews Him out royally. Peter's ashamed . . . OF JESUS! Offended. Hurt. He will not be seen with a Jesus who suffers many things. A rejected Jesus is out of the question. A dead Jesus who rises from the dead? Inconceivable! Peter will not carry his cross, that is, he will not a follow a Jesus who insists on dying! Why?
It's too outrageous! Too scandalous! Flat out disgraceful! The Christ cannot die! What will people think of Peter? Stuck on stupid is what people will think. So Peter will talk Jesus out of it. Peter will call the shots. Like he's infallible. The final authority. In Peter's church there WILL NOT EVER BE a Jesus who suffers, dies, and rises. In the church he bishops, Jesus will never go to the Cross! Peter demands it! Jesus will have to retract all this suffering, dying and rising preaching ASAP. Behold the church of St. Peter! It's called: St. Peter's of the Never Crucified Never Calvary-ed Never Have To Die Jesus!
The apostle is under the influence . . . of Satan. He's Satan's instrument. Satan's spokesman. Satan's mouth. "Get behind me Satan!" Jesus says to Peter. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Jesus is bullish on suffering, dying, and rising.
Are you ashamed of a Jesus like that? Revolted by a Jesus who persists on going the way of suffering and dying? Would you like to take Him out to the wood shed too? Pull a Peter on Jesus?
I doubt it. This kind of a Jesus puts most of us to sleep. Bores us. Are we heading for the doors yet? We're too busy with other things to notice this kind of Jesus? Building a life for ourselves. And the suffering, dying, and risen Jesus just doesn't fit in. We've got a good lives going. We keep them going religiously. Insuring that our lives will never have a cross. Especially . . . CHRIST'S! Lives in which we defend ourselves against the Lord's call to follow Him . . . into death.
That's Satanic too! And so Jesus tells us: "Get behind me Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." And this is a serious problem. An eternal life or death problem. A forfeiting of the soul crisis. Whether you know it or not. Whether you care or not. "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words," Jesus states "the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
So there is Christ's bidding for us to follow Him. Into His death. So that we can truly live. Not in ourselves to gain the whole world. But in Jesus who gives eternal life. "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
The only cross that counts is Calvary's. The Good Friday one. And Jesus took you into that death in your Baptism. Baptized you into His death. There you lost your life. The life you're so busy with. The life you think that will save you in the end.
So Jesus has suffered, died and rose for you. Forfeited His life for yours. He's given you His Cross. His death. His resurrection. Buried you with Him into His death at the font. Feeds you His Body. His Blood. He's saved you. Given you life: His. From His Cross.
Happy unashamedly following Jesus. Trusting only in the suffering, dying and risen Jesus. Now there's life. It's spelled F-A-I-T-H.
In the Name of Jesus.
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Comment on entry entitled "Second Sunday in Lent"
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