Life in the Shadow of the Cross: From Denial to Reality. Mark 8:31-38. 02/25/2024
Life in the Shadow of the Cross: From Denial to Reality
Mark 8:31-38
Rev. Dr. Rhonda Abbott Blevins
February 25, 2024
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be
rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days
rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan!
For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” He called the
crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them
deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their
life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will
save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed,
what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words
in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when
he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
______
A young man went golfing with his grandfather. They were on the 12th hole and the young
man hit his tee shot a bit to the left. When they got to his ball, there was a big, 40 foot tree
right in his way. He was going to hit around the tree when his grandpa chimed in:
“Ya know, when I was your age, I could hit it right up and over that tree.”
Well the young man’s ego kicked into overdrive, not to be outdone by his grandfather. So the
young man took out his 9 iron to hit the ball right over that tree. He took his shot and
THWACK! The ball hit dead center of the tree and bounced back 30 yards behind him. Then
the young man’s grandfather chimed in again:
“Of course when I was your age, that tree was only 2 feet tall!”
Poor young fellow! He let his ego get the best of him.
Kind of like Peter.
In our scripture lesson from the Gospel of Mark, we read about this fascinating interaction
between Peter and Jesus. We’re in the eighth chapter of Mark’s Gospel, which means that
we’re in a later-stage part of the Jesus narrative. Just to set this story in context:
Mark chapter 1 records the events preceding Jesus’ public ministry, including his
baptism and 40 days of temptation in the wilderness.
In Chapters 2-5 we read about Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, preaching and healing and
being rejected in his hometown.
Then the story moves beyond Galilee in Chapters 6-8 as Jesus broadens the scope of
his ministry.
And by the end of Chapter 8, Jesus sets his sights on Jerusalem, which brings us to
today’s pericope in verses 31-38.
I gave you this brief synopsis to drive home the fact that we’re nearing the end of the story.
And Jesus starts talking about, how the Son of Man (the Human One) “must undergo great
suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and
after three days rise again.” I like Mark’s interjection of “He said all this quite openly.”
The disciples didn’t want to hear about the Human One undergoing great suffering.
The disciples didn’t want to hear about the Human One being rejected by the elders,
the chief priests, and the scribes.
And the disciples certainly didn’t want to hear about the Human One being killed.
I mean, can you blame them? This notion of suffering, rejection, and death—I mean, this
isn’t a great way to “sell” this movement to the world. “Hey guys, come join our movement
where you’ll get to suffer and die! It’ll be great!”
Jesus’ marketing technique here reminds me of some pharmaceutical commercials I’ve
heard—the commercials that list all the potential side effects:
The side effects are fifty times worse than what the medicine cures. It’s like, “Try new Flor-o-
flor. For itchy, watery eyes, it’s Flor-o-flor. Side effects may include nausea, vomiting, water
weight gain, lower back pain, receding hairline, eczema, septoria, psoriasis, itching, chaffing
clothing, liver spots, blood clots, ringworm, excessive body odor, uneven tire wear, pyorrhea,
gonorrhea, diarrhea, halitosis, scoliosis, loss of bladder control, hammertoe, the shanks, low
sperm count, warped floors, cluttered drawers, hunchback, heart attack, low resale value on
your home, feline leukemia, athlete’s foot, head lice, clubfoot, MS, MD, VD, fleas, anxiety,
sleeplessness, drowsiness, poor gas mileage, tooth decay, parvo, warts, unibrow, lazy eye, fruit
flies, chest pains, clogged drains, hemorrhoids, dry heaving and sexual dysfunction.” I’m
watching it going, “You know what, I’ll just have itchy, watery eyes.”
My thanks to Jeff Foxworthy for that material; you might be a redneck if you quote Jeff
Foxworthy in a sermon.
If Jesus is trying to “sell” this movement he’s built, he’s not doing a very good job by talking
about suffering and rejection and death. Who could blame the disciples for wanting Jesus to
stop talking this way? I mean, would you want our ad on the Jolley Trolley to read:
“Experience suffering, rejection, and death at Chapel by the Sea!”? No way!
So it seems to me (reading between the lines), that the disciples get together and appoint
Peter to be the one to confront Jesus about all this suffering, rejection, and death talk. Peter,
their leader, is the natural choice.
So Peter waits for the opportune moment, pulls Jesus aside, and tells him to stop all this
suffering, rejection, and death talk.
I wonder what Peter thought would happen next?
Did he think Jesus would say, “Oh, my bad. You’re right. That’s probably not the best
marketing strategy. From now on instead of ‘suffering, rejection, and death’ we’ll market
our movement with candy and butterflies and free beer.” Yeah, probably not.
How do you think Peter thought Jesus would respond to this confrontation? I’m guessing
that Peter had no idea what was about to happen next . . .
“GET THEE BEHIND ME SATAN!”
Whoa! Jesus called Peter, “Satan.” That seems, well, severe. This coming from the one who
famously spent 40 days in the desert with Satan, who tempted him in three archetypal
ways—representing all three ways that humans can be tempted. And now Jesus is calling
Peter, “Satan.”
But let’s consider this word, “Satan,” for a moment. Somewhere along the way in Christian
history, we began to think of “Satan” as being some form of external, personified evil.
Think: red guy with a pitchfork. But the word “Satan” literally means “adversary” the way
that it’s used in the Hebrew Bible. Jesus sees Peter as his adversary, tempting him, the way
he was tempted in the desert.
So if “Satan” isn’t some guy in a red jumpsuit with a pitchfork, and if “Satan” isn’t Peter (in a
literal reading of scripture, one could interpret that Peter was literally, “Satan”), then who
or what is Satan?
Some say that our modern word for “Satan” is “ego.” It makes sense to me. Think about it.
What is it that gets in the way of following God? Ego.
What is it that tempts us to think or behave in ways that run counter to God’s ideal?
Ego.
What is it that wants to avoid suffering, rejection, and death at all costs? Ego.
We were talking about ego the other day in my Enneagram class when Kathy Shea shared
an acronym to help us think about what ego is: Edging God Out.
When Jesus was alone in the desert for 40 days, it wasn’t some red jumpsuit guy tempting
him in all three archetypal ways. It was . . . ego.
When Peter urges Jesus to drop all this suffering, rejection, and death talk, once again, Jesus
finds himself tempted to do exactly what Peter is suggesting. Because the absolute worst
thing to ego is the idea of suffering, rejection, and death.
And yet, that’s what following Jesus will look like.
So Jesus rebukes Peter, saying, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on
divine things but on human things.” Human, ego, things.
Seeing this as a teachable moment, Jesus summons the crowd with the disciples and gives
them a three-part formula for followers of this way. With this three-part formula, Jesus
double-downs on the suffering, rejection, and death rubric:
“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves
and take up their cross and follow me.”
Still not a great marketing strategy.
Deny self. Take up your cross. Follow Jesus. Let’s consider each part of this schema for a
moment:
What does it mean to deny self? It means putting aside our own desires, our own
ambitions, our own self-centeredness in order to follow Jesus and live according to his
teachings. It means surrendering our own will in favor of living in alignment with God’s
purposes. It means telling our egos to take a hike so that we won’t be “edging God out.” It’s
not self-masochism, rather, it’s a rewiring—a reorientation of our priorities and the way
we view the world, striving to live in accordance with God’s values and priorities. Step one
for followers of the way is to deny ourselves.
What does it mean to take up our cross? In Jesus’ time, this was a clear reference to the
Roman method of execution. Instead of stepping in line with the status quo, we must be
ready to endure rejection and even death. We accept suffering as a part of the Way. We
hoist suffering up on our shoulders and we carry it with us, recognizing that challenges and
difficulties are an unavoidable side effect of life. Followers of the way recognize that the
only way to glory is by way of the cross.
What does it mean to follow Jesus? This is the culmination of the 3-part formula. Now, it’s
not just about denying self and carrying our cross, it’s committing ourselves to following
Jesus as the central focus of our lives. Following Jesus doesn’t just mean coming to church
on Sunday mornings but living out our Mondays through Saturdays in alignment with the
love and compassion that Jesus both taught and lived. It involves a continuous journey of
growth, learning, and transformation as one seeks to become more like Christ in all aspects
of life.
This three-part rubric for following Jesus—this is the heart of discipleship.
Deny self/ego.
Embrace suffering.
Follow Jesus.
This is a radical, countercultural way to live, and so few give themselves to this lifestyle. In
the words of G.K. Chesterson:
The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting.
It has been found difficult; and left untried.
Peter found the way that Jesus described as difficult, and wanted Jesus to deny suffering, he
wanted Jesus to deny rejection, he wanted Jesus to deny death. Jesus gave Peter a reality
check. “Wake up, Peter. This IS the way. You wanna follow me? You better get on board.”
(My paraphrase, duh.)
Life in the shadow of the cross is moving from denial to reality.
It’s not easy, this reality, starting with step one: denying self and ego. I mean, I don’t like to
brag, but my therapist says I have the biggest ego she’s ever seen!
So if this is the rubric, and we want to follow Christ, then the question becomes, “How?”
That’s where Lenten fasting comes in. Changing some rhythm, some habit, some selfish
compulsion, to reorient one simple area of our lives around the way of Christ. It’s not about
changing everything all at once but taking up our cross daily. And if you take up your cross
daily, for 365 days, in a year you will be so much further along the Way of Christ. That’s life
in the shadow of the cross. That’s discipleship.
So today, I challenge you to commit to one sacrificial act each day this week, perhaps
following the “75 Acts of Service” prompts in your bulletin. And when you’re tempted to
slack off, say to yourself, “Get thee behind me, ego!” One sacrificial act each day this week
will find you squarely in the rubric of denying self, taking up your cross, and following
Jesus. One sacrificial act each day this week.
Will you decide to follow Jesus?