Christs of Our Own Making: A Reflection on Mark 8.27-38

“Who do you say that I am?” This is the question Jesus poses in today’s Gospel reading, and it’s a question that confronts every Christian every day.

The context of the question then and today is quite different, of course. Peter’s ultimate answer here, “You are the Messiah,” is obvious to those of us who call ourselves Christians now. But it was far from an obvious answer then. When he first posed the question it was in the third person rather than second person: “Who do people say that I am?” The answers were varied, but generally a resurrected prophet, whether Elijah. who was taken up into heaven rather than dying and thereby became the source of apocalyptic expectation, or John the Baptist, who had only recently been killed, and whose ministry Jesus built upon, or someone else. These answers show both just how common apocalyptic expectation was in Judaism at the turn of the first century, and how varied that expectation was. Even Peter’s correct answer, “You are the Messiah,” isn’t ultimately helpful, as there were many kinds of messianic expectation at the time. For some, he would be a heavenly mediator or a prophet; for others he would be a great priest who would purify the nation’s ritual life and thereby create a great religious revival; for still others he would be a king who would restore Israel’s political fortunes.

We see this at play in the scene that follows. Even though Peter “gets it right” he still gets it wrong. For when Jesus explains the nature of his messianic vocation, Peter tells him he’s mistaken:

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. (Mark 8.31-32)

The Messiah could do many things according to the first-century imagination, but what the Messiah categorically did not do was suffer, be rejected by his people, and die. Jesus was the Messiah, but redefined what that meant. It wasn’t Samson’s ravaging enemy armies, David’s uniting the country, Solomon’s wise rise rule, Elijah’s calling down fire from heaven, or Ezra’s zealous passion for the Temple. It was Isaiah’s Suffering Servant:

He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.
Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53.3-6)

But the thing is, this Messiah Jesus is talking about and whom Jesus embodied, remains shockingly controversial today, even and especially among Christians. To some Christians today, he’s your best buddy and a great hang, to others he’s a social justice warrior, and to others he’s a gun-wielding patriot. The question “Who do you say that I am?” is as relevant and challenging as ever. And it’s challenging to everyone, across the social and political spectrum. Jesus refuses to be confined by our political and social divisions. Rather the transcends them, demanding we look to a different horizon, which yes has clear implications for our politics, but is “aimed towards eternity,” as Fr. Alexander Men put it. This Messiah asks us not to make the world right (as we would define that) but to turn our hearts and minds on end to seek instead a world where rich become poor and poor become rich, where it is the meek, the mourners, the seekers, the peacemakers, and the poor who are blessed, a world that reflects neither our political right, left, or centre, but the open, loving, compassionate heart of God.

The thing about Jesus’ question is that it’s not about getting the right answer. It’s about what that answer means. Jesus’ identity as the Messiah is not about getting a checkmark in some heavenly test. Neither is it about a mascot for our team. It’s a call to action, to live out our own lives in light of his own. Imitating him, not in the details, but in his orientation to God, his sensitivity to his calling, and his willingness to see it through to the end. As I’ve written so often here, the very name Christian means ‘Christ-ling’ and that is our calling. If Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, then we are called to be christs to the world in him through the power of the Holy Spirit. The point is, as Jesus asks us “Why do you say that I am?” our answer is in the life we lead, or at least are trying to lead.

So, as we go about our business this week, may we remember this question, treasure the answer in our hearts, and live it out to our fullest.