Who is your "king"?

 

Reflection Palm Sunday 28^th March 2021

Make no mistake Jesus had everything planned for his entry into Jerusalem. It wasn’t by chance his disciples found a donkey tied up. And Jesus knew full well what his entry would mean.

He chooses to enter the city when there is a huge crowd making its way to Jerusalem for the Passover. And there is Jesus, riding on a donkey. People are singing His praises and throwing palms and cloaks before Him. The high priests and the Roman soldiers are watching. The modern church has taken the donkey as a symbol of the meekness and humility of Jesus, and so it was. Jesus said more than once that He came to serve, not to be served. But to the Jews of Jesus’ day, the donkey was also a symbol of kingship. The old Testament prophets had said that the Messiah would come riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9-10.) Jesus knew full well that by coming to Jerusalem in this way and at this time, He was using the symbolism of a king, even a Messiah. He knew full well what this symbol would mean in the super-charged atmosphere of Jerusalem.

How often is it said, "Don’t mix religion with politics," but here we see them mixed inextricably as Jesus enters Jerusalem. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said once “When people say religion and politics don’t mix, I wonder which Bible they are reading.” I agree with him entirely. And the story of Holy Week is political. 

Passover is the most political of Jewish holy days - the celebration of their liberation from Pharaoh. Here is Jesus, coming as the prophets had said He would, and here is the crowd cheering Him on.

On Monday, the day after His provocative and triumphal entry into the city, Jesus goes into the Temple and starts a riot in this most sacred of places. He picks up a whip and drives out the moneychangers: "My Father’s house shall be a house of prayer for all the nations, but you have made it a den of thieves!" (Mark 11:17). Then, because of the uproar He has caused, Jesus slips out to Bethany for the night, a few miles outside of Jerusalem.

Jesus comes back to the Temple on Tuesday and Wednesday and provokes the authorities even further. Listen to what He says: "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees! You load the people with heavy burdens, but you yourself do not lift a finger!" (Matthew 23:20. "Woe to you, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear clean and beautiful, but inside are full of the bones of the dead" (Matthew 23:27).

In four short days, Jesus has antagonized both the Roman political leaders and the Jewish religious leaders. He has united them in opposition to Him. If they feared or disliked Him before, now they want Him dead.

Jesus is the master of the tactics of nonviolent confrontation. (Ironically, as I write this, the right to nonviolent protest is currently a topic of much debate in the United Kingdom.) But by provoking the authorities as He did, Jesus is making sure that the inevitable conflict takes place, but on His terms.  It isn’t Jesus’ tactics in the Temple or His tactics against the priests and lawyers that get Him killed. No, what sends Jesus to the cross is one question, and one question only. It is the question asked by Pilate later in the week, when Jesus is on trial for His life: "Are you the king of the Jews?"

To claim oneself king of Israel is to deny the authority of Caesar; a crime of subversion that Pilate will not overlook. We think of Pilate as weak and indecisive as He faces Jesus. In fact, Pilate was a ruthless, ambitious, and blood-thirsty tyrant who made liberal use of crucifixions to put down insurrection. What Pilate is doing during the trial is manipulating the priests into saying what must be said, so he can put Jesus to death as a subversive. Pilate starts by saying he finds no fault in Jesus and claims he wants to release Him. But as the trial progresses, it gets more political. The turning point comes when Jesus finally speaks.

Pilate has said to Him, "Why do you not speak? Don’t you know I have the power of life and death over you?" And Jesus finally answers, "You would have no authority over Me unless it had been given to you from above" (cf. John 19:1-11). That’s the turning point! Jesus is putting Pilate and Caesar in their place. Rome says Caesar is a god who rules by his own divine right. Jesus says, "No, all authority comes from the God of heaven and earth. My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).

Jesus holds ultimate authority. Jesus does have a kingdom, but it exists beyond the reach and power of Rome. In effect, Jesus is telling Pilate: "You have no claim on Me. My kingdom is far beyond even you or your Caesar." This is a test of wills and Jesus beats Pilate hands down.

The priests pick up on that: "If you release this Man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar." In other words, the priests are saying to Pilate, "If you release Jesus, you are committing treason against Caesar. You are jeopardizing your office, risking your career, and failing in your duty to Caesar."

Now the priests are coming close to where Pilate wants them to be. Pilate says, "Behold your king!" Then the priests utter the most fateful words imaginable; the words which convict them, not only by Jesus, but by their own sacred Scripture. They cry out to Pilate: "We have no king but Caesar!" When Pilate hears this, he is satisfied. He turns Jesus over to be crucified.

"We have no king but Caesar."

That same cry echoes down the ages, as people claim other "kings" as their first loyalty, instead of Jesus Christ. We hear that cry today and maybe even say it to ourselves. We have no king but keeping up with the Joneses! We have no king but avoiding taxes! We have no king but hating immigrants! We have no king but cutting overseas aid! We have no king but patriotism - my country, right or wrong! All other claims of love, justice, mercy, or faith must take a back seat, because we have no other king but ... Fill in your own. There are so many to choose from.

Jesus was a Man with a tough mind and a tender heart. He shows how serious the struggle is between good and evil and what a formidable force God’s Spirit must be in this fallen world. Here we see Jesus standing face to face with human authority, with the salvation of the world at stake, and Jesus wins the day. This friend we have in Jesus - make no mistake about Him! In the cosmic contest between good and evil, this kingdom and the next, this Friend of ours is tough as nails and that is the side of Jesus I have tried to show you today.

Of course, this same Jesus rides into our town and into our lives on this Palm Sunday morning and He is forcing some questions on us, as He did in Israel so long ago. As we cheer Him riding by, with palm leaves in our hands, and hosannas on our lips, are the Caesars and Pilates of this world worried? Do they worry about a church whose "kingdom is not of this world," or is the church a comfortable partner with secular authority, fitting its worldly purposes like a hand fits a glove? Does Jesus have in His church a disciplined, "underground" organization - people who are alert to His purposes and ready to put themselves on the line for Him, like the keepers of that donkey did so long ago? When Jesus sends someone to us and we hear the password, "The Lord has need of you," do we respond no matter what the cost or risk?

Or do we stand with the priests shouting, “We have no king but Caesar”? This is the most important. Who or what is your king? This is the fundamental question Jesus forces on us this morning. Today we cheer Him, but soon our true loyalties will be put to the test. Soon we will have to choose between Christ and the many Caesars of this world.

"Hosanna to the Son of David!" Jesus is riding into your heart today, and He wants to know ... who is your king?

The Cross and The System

 

Reflection Sunday 21^st March 2021 – Fifth Sunday of Lent

 

³¹ Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. John 12:31 NRSV

³¹ Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. John 12: 31 NIV

As we get closer and closer to Holy Week, in the passage from John we’re thinking about today, we see the cross casting its shadow. But for John, certainly on this occasion, Jesus’ death on the cross is not about individuals’ salvation from sin. Nor is John concerned with what theologians call “substitutionary atonement”; through which Jesus takes on the divine punishment that humans beings deserve, to relieve us of our condemnation and guilt. Rather, in John 12: 20 – 33, Jesus’ crucifixion is about judging “the world” and driving out “the ruler of the world”.

“The world” Jesus is referring to is not God’s creation. Rather it is what Charles Campbell in Feasting on the Word calls “the fallen realm that exists in estrangement from God and is organised in opposition to God’s purposes.” For John, the phrase “the world” sums up all that goes against God’s purposes. And in fact, the Greek word John uses, which is translated as “the world” is possibly better thought of as “the System”. The System is driven by a spirit or force (“the ruler of the world”) whose ways are domination, violence, and death. John uses the phrase “ruler of this world” or “prince of this world” several times in his Gospel and he clearly means the Devil or Satan.

It is Jesus’ intention that his death (“when I am lifted up”) will bring about reconciliation for the world with God. And through the reconciliation, the Systems of the world will be overthrown, as the ruler of the world is overthrown. It is almost as if John interprets the crucifixion as an exorcism, in which the System is judged and its driving force, “the ruler of this world”, is cast out by means of the cross. Consequently, because of Jesus’ death (and resurrection) all people from the earth will be drawn to Jesus.

Throughout Holy Week Jesus will demonstrate how he challenges the System. Specifically how he challenges the System of violence. Jesus challenges the idea that the way to defeat violence is through violence.  The writer Walter Wink called it “the myth of redemptive violence.” According to this myth, the way to bring order out of chaos is through violently defeating “the other”. Violence is all too often the way of “the world”, the way of the System. On a personal level and on a global level violence is often seen as a means to resolve conflict.

During Holy Week Jesus refuses to use violence against the violence that will be shown to him. He does not stir up an armed mob during his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. He does not call down a host of angels to defend him. And in fact, in John 18: 10 – 11 in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus chides Peter when Peter drew a sword to defend Jesus.

Jesus will provide an explanation to Pilate in John 18:36 NIV

³⁶ Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.’

Or think of it this way

³⁶ Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this System. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.’

Jesus’ rejection of violence, is precisely what distinguished his way, from the way of the System and from the way of Satan.

Yet despite this, despite Jesus’ death on the cross, and his conquering the sin of death (which is the ultimate defeat of Satan) we know that the Systems of this world still run contrary to Jesus. We know there is violence for example in Yemen. The System allows that violence to continue. The System allows that violence to be carried out by a powerful country (Saudi Arabia) against a weak one. And the System provides (British and American made) weapons to do so whilst at the same time cutting financial aid to people in Yemen who are starving due to the war / violence perpetuated against them.

Such things pose huge theological questions. Questions such as “If Jesus’ crucifixion drove out the ruler of the world, why is there still evil in the System?” Questions that have been debated for hundreds of years by people far more learned than me. People have written whole books on the subject rather than having space for a Reflection.

But for Jesus’ death to bring about reconciliation to God, one must make the decision to believe in Jesus and all Jesus means. That is, Jesus’ death offers reconciliation to all people, but one must decide to accept the offer.

²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12: 20 – 36

I am currently reading a book about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and theologian murdered by the Nazis three weeks before the end of the war. We all know that Nazism was perhaps the most evil regime human history has ever known. “The System” at its worst. Yet Bonhoeffer was not broken by it. The Nazi System did not break his faith. He confronted evil and paid the price. He once said this:

“When a madman is tearing through the streets in a car, I can, as a pastor who happens to be on the scene, do more than merely console, or bury those who have been run over. I must jump in front of the car and stop it”

As followers of Christ, with Christ in our hearts and souls, it is incumbent upon us to confront the Systems, to challenge evil and injustice, to speak out against the ruler of this world. We cannot be bystanders, to use Bonhoeffer’s analogy, watching the car crash occurring. We should be trying our utmost to prevent it.

If you find Bonhoeffer a bit daunting, John Wesley wrote to his "people called Methodist" the following Rule of Conduct:

Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.

Wesley's Rule of Conduct is a way of challenging "The System". The crucifixion of Jesus is God's Rule of Conduct; it is the rule for our lives as long as we shall live. This is the meaning of the Passion. This is the way of the Cross. 

 

Only a face a mother can love

 

Reflection Sunday 14^th March 2021 Mothering Sunday

 

I always find preparing a service for Mothering Sunday a bit of a challenge. The reason being,  knowing how to pitch it, because it is a complicated subject and can stir up all kinds of emotions for different people.

Some of you reading this will have, or will have had, a loving, caring relationship with your mother. But immediately, I’m conscious that those words “will have had” are significant. Maybe you are mourning the loss of your mother. Maybe Mothering Sunday becomes painful for that reason. Then there will be those who didn’t know their mothers. Or didn’t get on with their mothers. Those who didn’t know their birth mothers and were adopted or fostered in some way. Maybe the foster parent become your “mother” or maybe this was hurtful experience.

I have no idea of knowing what is going through your minds currently. For some people I know well I will have some idea. But for most of you, how you are feeling today is beyond me.

Do you begin to see what I mean when I say I find preparing for Mothering Sunday a challenge?

(And I should say, that although we are thinking of “mothers” today. Much of what follows, if not all of what follows, applied to parents in general, those who act as parents or carers.)

In the back of our Methodist Worship Book you can find a list of suggested Bible readings for each Sunday of the year. And these run over a three-year cycle. (We are currently in Year B.) There is no obligation on a preacher to use the suggested readings, but I mostly do. If you were to look at the readings suggested for today you will see there are eight possibilities. You’ll see in the Order of Service I have mentioned them all. I feel the eight readings are helpful as they give a suggestion of how human relationships are mixed and how child and “mother” relationships can differ.

I think it was the now thankfully defunct “News of the World” that used as a slogan for a while “All human life is here”. I’d suggest that the eight Bible passages give a flavour of all human life, or certainly in respect of parent and child relationships.

Starting with the two Old Testament passages (Exodus 2: 1 – 10 and 1 Samuel 1: 20 – 28)

In Exodus we have the start of the story of Moses. His mother was aware that Pharaoh had decreed that all Jewish boys were to be murdered. So, she arranged for Moses to be hidden and Moses’ mother placed one of Moses sisters to keep an eye on him. Pharaoh’s daughter appears and finds the baby. “She feels sorry for him”. Moses’ sister then arranges for Moses’ own birth mother to look after the baby for a while before Pharaoh’s daughter takes him “when the child grew older”.

Does this mean perhaps that Pharaoh’s daughter cannot have children herself so (forcibly) adopts Moses as her own after Moses own mother has nursed him? And then, what of the role of Moses’ older sister? Maybe, as can happen perhaps in a large family, she was used to acting as a surrogate mother to younger siblings?

Then we have the passage in 1 Samuel. We have Hannah who has been childless for many years and she eventually become pregnant after speaking to the priest Eli who had told her “May the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him” 1 Sam 1:17. But after she had given birth to her longed-for son, she handed the boy over to Eli

²⁷ I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. ²⁸ So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he shall be given over to the Lord.’ 1 Sam 1: 27 – 28

A story of childlessness that turns to joy through a longed for and unexpected pregnancy. But (perhaps to our eyes) the strangeness of the longed-for child being given away, as it were, to train to become a servant of God. And what of those who have prayed fervently for a child, but they don’t have one?

The two suggested Psalms (Ps 34: 11 – 20 and Ps 127: 1 – 4) are at odds with one another. Psalm 127 talks about children being “a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him”. What of those who don’t have / can’t have children? How does this make them feel? But then Psalm 34 tells us:

¹⁸ The Lord is close to the broken-hearted
    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ The righteous person may have many troubles,
    but the Lord delivers him from them all;

 

The two suggested Gospel readings (Luke 2: 33 – 35 and John 19: 25 – 27) are interesting. The Luke passage foretells the pain Mary will experience in years to come when she sees her son executed on a cross and his side pierced with a spear (see John 19:34). On the face of it the John passage seems an odd inclusion for this day. But for me Peter’s denial of Jesus conjurers up the pain a mother / parent / carer feels when they see their child do something that is hurtful.

The two epistles say something of how mothers provide love and comfort to their children but how mothers draw their own comfort and love from the love Jesus Christ shows them. (2 Cor: 3 – 7, Col 3: 12 – 17) The Colossians passage also serves as a reminder to mothers (and each of us) of the many other qualities mothers show – compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience and forgiveness. “Forgive as the Lord forgave you” Col 3:13

I’ve rattled through 8 passages of scripture and given you some things to reflect upon in relation to each of them. The pairs of passages have connections (albeit some are “compare and contrast”.) But what links them collectively? For that I’d like to go back to the Colossians passage:

¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Col 3:14

What runs through all the passages is love and love in its various forms.

My dear grandma Phyllis had many wonderful turns of phrase. She had a great love for children (she saw several of her own children die as infants before raising two daughters; she was a Sunday School teacher for over 50 years) and took delight in cooing over babies. But occasionally at home she’d say about a baby she’d seen “God love him, he has a face only a mother could love” (She’d probably say that of me now!)

But in that funny little saying, there is a great truth. For how often can only a mother love a child? How often can only a mother love a child who has done wrong? How often can a mother forgive a child even though others would reject him or her? Mother’s love is like no other.

Let me give you one further Bible passage to think about. Luke 15: 11 – 32 – the Parable of the Prodigal Son. It is of course the father that welcomes the wayward son’s return. But in many ways that is irrelevant. The love demonstrated by the father (God in other words) is the love we are  really thinking of today. The unconditional love, the non-judgmental love, the sacrificial love. The love only a mother can give. The love given by God our heavenly Father and Mother.

Spring cleaning the faith community

 

Reflection Sunday 7^th March 2021 – Third Sunday of Lent

 

We are thinking this morning about the passage in John 2: 13 – 22. A passage we all think we know well, where Jesus takes up his whip and drives the money changers out of the temple. It is a story found in all four Gospels, although unlike in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) John includes his version at the start of Jesus’ ministry, whereas the others include it during Holy Week.

It is a story those of us with a heart for social justice and Christian action relish. Here is Jesus rolling his sleeves up and getting stuck in. Showing us how we should deal with injustice. And Jesus’ actions place him squarely in the great tradition of the Old Testament prophets, whose words and visions thrill and empower us when the weak are exploited by the powerful. It’s no coincidence that during the protests that took place in the City of London in October 2011, with protestors camped outside St Paul’s cathedral, this passage of scripture was often cited as a way of dealing with greedy bankers.

When we think of the story in this way it is a real temptation to go searching in the cupboards for our whips, join a protest march and to storm the barricades!

These actions can all have a place and I do believe that it is right at times for Christians to be prepared to stand up and be counted. But today I want us to look at the story from a different angle.

In the story Jesus drives out the money lenders and those selling sheep, cattle, and doves. These traders hadn’t set up business within the Temple courts on their own initiative, they had been permitted to do this, in fact positively encouraged to do this, by the Temple authorities. As you probably know, worship in the Temple required various kinds of sacrifices to be made and for certain payments to be made. What better thing to do than offer animals available for sacrifice and provide a way of exchanging everyday money for the special coinage used inside the Temple.

Jesus is a complete outsider to the power structure of the Temple. He is not a priest. Yet he issues a challenge to the authority of the Temple that quite literally shakes its foundations. Jesus throws the mechanics of temple worship into chaos, disrupting the Temple system during one of the most significant feasts of the year (Passover). By driving out the money changers and the animal sellers neither sacrifices nor tithes could be offered that day. No wonder Jesus was asked

‘What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?’ John 2:18

Of course, Jesus has the authority to challenge the Temple authorities because he has God’s power. Jesus is God’s presence on earth. And Jesus is making the point that as such Jesus should be the focus of people’s attention not the Temple.

Jesus’ anger was not directed at the traders – though they may well have exploited their position. Jesus’ anger was at the authorities who had allowed this to happen and who should have known better. It was not something that happened overnight. It had been allowed to develop over time by those who made a career of studying the word of God and no doubt these things were allowed initially with the best of intentions. After all the Jewish scriptures spoke of sacrifice as part of worship. But Jesus identified that the authorities had allowed things to get out of hand and move from the good intentions as set out in Jewish scripture.

It’s worth remembering that Jesus is not being “anti-Jewish”. Jesus is challenging the authorities because they have developed customs and practices and rules that are no longer open to a fresh revelation from God. A temptation that exists for contemporary Christianity as well as for the Judaism of Jesus’ day.

This is what has spoken to me in preparing this Reflection. What would Jesus’ reaction be to the way the Church universal, or the Methodist Church or indeed our own church, does things now? Has the Church, the Methodist Church, our church become complacent, cosy and comfortable rather than really proclaiming the Gospel, making new disciples, developing existing disciples and watching for signs of God at work and following Him?

Christian faith communities must be willing to ask where and when the status quo of religious practices and institutions have become absolute; that is free from a willingness to be changed or challenged. Closed to the possibility of reformation, change and renewal. In other words, where the “we’ve always done it this way” mindset rules.

At the time of writing this Reflection (23^rd February) we’ve just received Boris Johnson’s “roadmap” for bringing us out of lockdown. So far there has been nothing specific about opening churches. I anticipate in the next couple of weeks I will receive some guidance about this and will share it. It will be good to be able to worship together once again of course.

But I believe that Covid has provided a wakeup call to Churches, church leaders and church members. God has been speaking through Covid and challenging us. God has been asking us all to look at what we’ve been doing before Covid and to consider whether what we were doing before will work after.

These are big issues to consider. And I wouldn’t claim to know the answers. But I do feel that as a church leader God is prompting me to voice these thoughts. And God is telling me to say to all of you to pray and think about this yourselves.

When Jesus entered the temple that day, he found a faith that was stale and downright dirty. People were taking advantage of others and ritual had become more important than the condition of the heart. What Jesus did, I believe, was challenge a smug, hypocritical religious system that desperately needed to change. Therefore, a little demolition was necessary, not to mention an all-out assault to clean things up.

The faith community at that time was so wrapped up in rules and ritual the fresh revelation of God could not get through. It was impossible for them to "see" because they were blinded by obstacles that hindered their ability.

In this story we get an image of Jesus as a one-man wrecking crew, swinging a sledgehammer. There is no way to make improvements in an old house without making a mess. There is plaster dust, dirt, nails, and smelly carpet. It is hard work.  It is impossible to paint without getting paint on yourself. I am sure that Jesus absorbed a few skinned knuckles that day, not to mention getting his garment dirty.

The faith community needed a good spring clean and Jesus took it upon himself to do just that with zeal and determination.

Is that what the faith community of 21^st century needs? A good spring clean? Do we see it or are we blinded by obstacles that hindered our ability?

Lord of Lent, come to your Church and ask us your hard questions. Are we faithfully proclaiming your gospel? Are we demonstrating in our life together the justice of your Kingdom? Have we welcomed the weak and given prominence to the poor? Come to your Church to spring clean our ways of life, our structures, our priorities. Point out to us the cobwebs, the dirt, the extravagance, and the waste. Create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us. John Pritchard Intercessions Handbook © SPCK 1997

 

Reflection – Sunday 28^th February 2021 Second Sunday of Lent

 

Hanging in the window of my study I have three pieces of stained glass. One depicts a Celtic knot, symbolising the Trinity. The other two are crosses. A large, blue coloured Celtic cross bought on Iona. The other is a circular one. Red with a plain glass cross in the middle (the Methodist orb – though I’ve heard it called the hot cross bun!)  Last summer, when Anne was working in the front garden, a lady stopped and said that she thought these three things were very pretty and that she looked at them every time she walked by our home.

I’ve no idea what the lady thinks of when she looks at these three symbols. But does she think of what the cross really means I wonder? For that matter, do I? Do any of us?

In his book The Victory of the Cross, Erskine White relates the following story:

“In the rolling hills of northern New Jersey stands a small church with a large, stone cross, cut into an inside wall. Now, it happened that one of the church’s wealthier members didn’t like the cross there and said it was an eyesore. He offered to give a huge donation to the church to take the cross out of the wall and replace it with a stained-glass window.

But when he presented his idea to the church’s leaders, they said to him, ‘We cannot do what you ask. The architect designed the church to have this cross; it gives strength to the wall. If you take away the cross, you will destroy the church.’”

This story is a perfect illustration for our faith. If we remove the cross – and it’s real meaning – from our faith, then everything collapses. God the architect of our salvation designed the Church to have the cross. The cross gives strength to the Church. Take away the cross and you do not have a Church.

We are thinking about the Bible passage in Mark today Mark 8: 31 – 38. But we need to go back a few verses to set the scene. In Mark 8: 27 – 30, Jesus asks the disciples who people said he was. And Peter says, “You are the Messiah” (v29)

Peter was correct. Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. (Christ being the Greek word for Messiah.) But Peter, the disciples and most if not all of Jesus’ followers, had a different understanding of what this meant. For Peter & co the Messiah meant a revolutionary leader who would overthrow Israel’s enemies. Someone like King David of old perhaps. Therefore, when Jesus in Mark 8: 31 – 38 explains what it will mean for him to be Messiah, Peter is horrified. And Jesus famously says to Peter “Get behind me Satan” v33.

Jesus knows even then, months, years, before the events of Good Friday that he will die and rise again. Jesus knows that this must happen for the sin of humankind to be atoned for. This is all part of God’s plan for saving humankind from sin and death. If Jesus’ hadn’t died on the cross, death would be final for us.

It has been said that Methodists sing our theology. In other words, the hymns we sing reflect our understanding of our faith. And certainly, none other than Charles Wesley, recognised that Jesus’ death and resurrection were the methods by which we are saved:

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Saviour’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

The stained-glass crosses hanging in my window are symptomatic of how it is easy to overlook the true meaning and significance of the cross. They are symptomatic of how we don’t like to dwell on what truly happened on Good Friday and all it means. To prettify the cross, to remove the cross, or to obscure the cross, is to remove the very foundation work of God in His Church, as well as removing the primary source of salvation and healing to people in need.

Mark wanted the Roman Christians (the first readers of his Gospel) to know that. Therefore, he related to them the story we are thinking about today. It is the story of how Peter tried to remove the cross from the Church – even before the event happened. But it is also the story of how Jesus said, “No. Nothing must remove the cross. In fact, the cross is the way of life for Me and My disciples.”

There are many things I could go on to say. Keeping to two sides of papers means I can’t do so. But it’s worth thinking about those words of Jesus:

‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Mark 8:34

This is not a call to persecution, suffering or martyrdom (though for some it may be.) But it is a reminder to all who seek to follow Jesus Christ for us to practice self-sacrifice. To deny self. We do not have to invent some form of persecution complex. There are many ways in which the gospel calls us to deny self to be more like Christ.  You may remember the film Chariots of Fire telling the story of Eric Liddell. Liddell refused to run in 100m at the 1924 Paris Olympics as the race was being run on a Sunday. Liddell probably would have won the race, but his faith meant he refused to take part. An act of self-sacrifice. An act of carrying the cross. Liddell said:

“As Christians I challenge you. Have a great aim, have a high standard, make Jesus our ideal. Not merely an ideal to be admired but also to be followed.”

An American businessman travelled to Europe to see the famous Oberammergau Passion Play. Following the performance, the businessman had the opportunity to meet and talk with Anton Lang who portrayed Christ in the play that year. Seeing the cross that was used in the play, the businessman wanted his wife to take his picture holding it. He attempted to lift the cross to his shoulder. To his surprise he could hardly budge it from the floor.

He said to Mr. Lang, "I don't understand. I figured the cross would be hollow. Why do you carry such a heavy cross?" Mr. Lang replied, "If I did not feel the weight of His cross, I could not play the part."

And neither can we.