Text: Mark 8: 27-38 Esv

27 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" 28 And they told him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets." 29 And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ." 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." 34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."†

On the Road to  a Retreat

Jesus and his disciples are on the road from Bethsaida up to Caesarea Philippi. They’ve been looking for some time off and time away, but the crowds meet them wherever they go. So now they head up to Caesarea Philippi, where the headwaters of the Jordan River emerge from the mountain in beautiful spring.

Caesarea Philippi is a beautiful place—green, lush, with clean, clear waters and gushing cataracts. It’s a higher elevation than Galilee so it is cooler when days are hot. Caesarea Philippi was to Israel what Yosemite is to us—a gorgeous state park where you can get away and  enjoy lots of green trees and clean air. A Roman village stood nearby; it was a favorite destination for Roman soldiers.

So now, finally, Jesus, the twelve and the following crowd of other disciples climb toward the promise of beauty and relaxation up at Caesarea Philippi. You’ll remember that the chaotic crowd was recently tamed rank and file during the feeding of the 5,000. They are now his loyal army and follow him as loyal troops would follow their beloved general.

It’s kind of like this week—the walk we take together that ramps up to Christmas. For all the hectic anxiety of the Christmas crunch, it really is the most wonderful time of the year, isn’t it? We certainly all have some golden hours to look forward to, don’t we? After Christmas Eve worship there is the last push of preparations— the tricycle or doll house that needs to be assembled, the last gifts to be colorfully wrapped and put under the tree, the warm nightcap and anticipation of joy and happy peace—all depending upon how many people you have in your house. No matter what the chaos in the morning, there is love and affection to be followed by hours of quiet contentment. The kids playing with their new toys or games, the riot of smells from the kitchen, a fire in fireplace, eggnog or coffee nearby—now maybe this is nothing like your home at Christmas, even so, Christmas is a blessed holiday and certainly something to look forward to. We are like those disciples, walking with Jesus up the hill toward Caesarea Philippi.

Our text says they were still “on the way” when Jesus asks them that crucial question, Who do folks say that I am? Their answer is identical to that of the scribes and Pharisees: John the Baptist, Elijah, or a prophet like the old great ones. Jesus is checking what the polls are saying, but only as a prelude to personalizing the question for his followers:

“But who do you say that I am?”

I suspect that most of the apostles were teenagers—junior or senior high age young men—but Peter is a standout. I suspect there was something about him that made him something of a leaders or spokesperson in times like this. Perhaps he was closer to Jesus’ age—30-ish—rather than a teen or college student. In any case, it is Peter who speaks:

“You are the Christ” (which means The Messiah). 

Jesus commands them—we could even say  scolds them—that no one should know.

The Great Shift & Surprise

What we have next is a great shift and the deepest, most powerful reveal yet, and we need to do our best to hear it through the ears of the Disciples—to hear it as they might have heard it. Like a general addressing his troops (Caesarea Philippi is a military retreat, remember), Jesus “speaks plainly”—that is, no parables or metaphors—and lays down his hand for all to see. He tells them the Son of Man must:

1. Suffer

2. Be rejected

3. Be killed

He also tells them he will rise on the third day, but I doubt they noticed, for a good reason. Jesus has gathered followers—an army, if you will—and as he lays out the game plan they’ve been expecting and waiting for, he tells them that they are going to lose, lose, lose! When he plainly tells them that he will suffer, be rejected and killed, they would have been horrified! Like a Twilight Zone episode where a time traveller finds himself among the troops of General George Custer at Little Big Horn. Jesus gives his followers the most anti-pep talk in all of history. Imagine your favorite coach of choice—Vince Lombardi, John Wooden, Tom Osborne, Mark Few—gathered with an underdog team at halftime, the air smelling of sweat and ben-gay; players sighing and groaning as they hunker down on wooden benches. Our heroic coach is a genius at magically pulling victories out of nowhere, and he steps in their midst as all eyes turn to him:

“Men, we are going to lose and we are going to lose huge. Furthermore, I have information that says local fans have sabotaged our bus and plan to beat the tar out of us all after the game. And as it that weren’t enough, about a third of you are going to be expelled, and. . . it looks like this is the last year our school will be having a team.”  Would they have heard a word past this?

This is an amazing shift: Jesus is laying out for them God’s own Messianic Plan, and as usual they don’t get it.

Peter, who has just scored head of the class points for his “You are the Christ” answer, clearly sees how the troops are demoralized, so he takes Jesus aside and “rebukes” or scolds him. We don’t have the content of that conversation, but it is not hard to imagine. Peter telling Jesus, in effect, that it doesn’t have to be that way and that there are still other options to consider. He may have added something like, “You know, Jesus, I will always follow you, but keep up this kind of talk and I’ll probably be the only disciple you have left!”

While Peter is scolding Jesus, the Disciples creep up behind him because, well, they’re very concerned and want to know what’s going on. The text says Jesus turns around and sees them, and having seen them, scolds Peter:

"Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."

In the simplest terms, Jesus is putting Peter in his proper place. In rebuking Jesus, it is as though Peter momentarily thinks he outranks Jesus. “Get behind me” means get back in line, Soldier! Jesus does not follow Peter, but Peter must follow Jesus. Jesus leads; disciples follow, no exceptions.

Much has been made of Jesus calling Peter “Satan,” but this is not necessary. Jesus doesn’t mean that Satan possessed Peter, but just that Peter was trying to redirect the Messianic plan of God. Peter, like the other disciples, just didn’t get it.

Discipleship = Crucifixion

Now Jesus unveils the true nature of discipleship:

"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Remember, Jesus was not the first one the people of Israel called Messiah. Movements against Rome and coordinated assaults arose nearly every decade. No Jew living in Jesus’ day would have been unfamiliar with the hundreds—perhaps thousands—of Jews crucified along the roads leading into Jerusalem as a message to all Jews. The message was “Do not mess with Rome!” Crucifixion was the greatest terror, the greatest humiliation, and the greatest personal loss imaginable in their day. Jesus is giving them their worst nightmare as the necessary way forward!

The Disciples’ jaws must have been hanging open. Can we imagine how they felt?

“So much for vacation!”

“I was just getting comfortable following Jesus, but who expected this?”

Sidelong glances among the crowd as people likely wondered if they’d been misled.

“It was all feeling like a nice church, but now it feels like Jim Jones or David Koresh.”

The followers were expecting to win. They expected a worldly kingdom and the biggest, best Christmas imaginable, and now Jesus is offering them a cross, the most feared symbol in the world, instead.

If there ever were a clearer stake in the heart of so-called “prosperity preaching” or the “health and wealth gospel” this is it. For anyone that follows Jesus for blessings in this life and this world, the road ends here.

Want to follow Jesus? You get a cross. You want this world and this life to become your Utopia? No chance. Want to follow Jesus? You must die to yourself and every promise of this world: every sales pitch; every plastic promise; every SuperBowl commercial denied; every human scheme of hope, faith and love left behind; every gain, advance or success sacrificed; every seductive scheme to root your heart, life or soul here in this. world must be utterly renounced and abandoned; you must choose a cross instead. That is discipleship; anything less is counterfeit, because if it comes from this world, it is going nowhere. Every plan other than a cross is a sham, a Satanic Ponzi scheme baited with promises of security and comfort.

Jesus says:

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

And this is the line in the sand of true faith. We either cross that line with everything, willing to lose it all, or else we die in its embrace.

Disciples then and now would like an option plan—an escape hatch or exit strategy. I’m sure many in that crowd were looking at each other with that look that says, “Uh-oh, what have we gotten ourselves into now!?” Others look back over their shoulders toward Bethsaida wondering whether they should make a break for it. Soon they could be back in their home planning nothing more than to go fishing again.

Those who seek to save their own lives lose them, those who lose their lives for Jesus’ sake will save them. It’s a double-bind: if you leave, you’re dead; if you stay, you get a cross and are dead.

And here we are in the same position. One week out from Christmas we were expecting this cheery journey—a happy retreat—up to our favorite holiday when the gospel comes in to give us all this death and horror? To our first-time visitors today I would say I’m sorry if you were expecting a nice, upbeat message about the warmth of the season—Christmas cookies and eggnog sipped by roaring fireplaces—but we too are on that same road. Jesus’ call to discipleship comes to each one of us with the same terrifying either/or proposition: serve yourself and your own delusions of comfort and security, or abandon all to follow Jesus.

Either/Or And. . .

The good news is that we, unlike the Disciples, can hear Jesus saying “and will rise again on the third day.” We know that the world of the flesh does not have the final word. This world is not all there is! This world crucifies the good, and those who seek their own safety, empowerment, and preservation here will die as well. But in the Lord’s Kingdom, there is life eternal. Jesus’ entire witness points beyond the limited material world to a truer kingdom beyond death, decay, sin and separation. Our souls are not won or lost for this life alone, but for an eternity either with God or infinitely separated from him.

This is true Christmas, and we welcome you to respond here and now  †