The Word on the Street

Mark 8:27-38

We are in the midst of campaigning for the Federal elections. Party candidates are on the road, doing their best to win the support of voters. As they seek to get their message out, it is evident that they are also paying attention to the “word on the street” - what people are saying about the various issues that affect them, about the candidates themselves, and the party which they represent. Whether that word is coming from their own constituents – their support base, or from people that they hope to win over, they know that they have to pay attention to what people are saying; either to embrace or to rebut what is being said. Either way, they know that they cannot just ignore the people whose vote they hope to win. That’s why politicians pay so much attention to opinion polls because it gives them a sense of what the word is on the street” – what people are saying.

At the beginning of our Gospel reading, Jesus and his disciples are in the “villages of Caesarea Philippi,” and they have a discussion as they are “on the way”. It is worth noting that “Discipleship most often happens “on the way”, as Jesus’ followers mingle, listen, observe and gain greater insight and understanding.” It’s in that context of teaching and learning, that Jesus decided to poll his disciples on what the word on the street was concerning him. “Who do people say that I am?” he asked.

Not surprisingly, they reported that people had different opinions. Some say, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

We see that then, as it is now, attitudes and beliefs about Jesus ranged widely. Many Christians and Communities of Faith have deep assumptions that their language and ideas of God are universal, and that there’s is the only right way to see and understand God, without realizing that their language and ideas of God bear the weight and stamp of culture and history and is coloured by personal experiences and expectations.

We come to God with our own experiences – good or bad. We come to God with our expectations of what should be and how God should act. And when we are introduced to God, the God to whom we are introduced is presented to us clothed in the culture and the values of those who are speaking to us about God.

We mix the Scriptures with our hopes and dreams and ambitions, and we fashion a God that is acceptable us; one who meets our needs. But when it comes to our understanding of God, there are times when we need a reality check and a good dose of humility. I think that’s what the disciples of Jesus were experiencing here.

Jesus wanted to know what the word on the street was concerning him. Who do people say that I am? The word was that some were saying, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” But Jesus seems to expect a different answer from his disciples, so he asked, “But who do you say that I am?" And Peter provided the answer, "You are the Messiah.”

It was a moment of revelation. Peter’s answer was correct, but the expectations that flowed from that answer were not. And it did not take long for that to be exposed. When Jesus went on to inform his disciples that he must “undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed”, he upended their expectations of what it means for him to be the Messiah. That did not sit comfortably with Peter at all, so he took Jesus aside and rebuked him. He tries to impose his own expectations on Jesus, “No, Lord, that cannot possibly be right!” Peter attempted to correct Jesus’ understanding of himself because that understanding clashed with Peter’s understanding of the Messiah.

The truth is that we, without voicing it as openly as Peter did, at times attempt to correct Jesus when he says or does things that make us uncomfortable. Sometimes without realizing it, we seek to impose our own expectations on Jesus.

I have no doubt that Peter was genuinely concerned for Jesus, but that equally, he was concerned for himself. Jesus recognized that, hence his response to Peter. In his response, Jesus lays out the conditions and expectations of discipleship.

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.”

Peter understood that discipleship meant following Jesus. “Where he leads me, I will follow, I’ll go with him all the way”, as the songs says. Peter understood that. But here Jesus is saying of himself that the road he must travel would involve great suffering, rejection, and death.

That must have been deeply troubling for Peter on a personal level. If he’s to follow Jesus, and the path that Jesus was taking involved suffering, rejection, and death, what does that mean for him? It must have been deeply troubling for Peter, as I am sure it must be for many of us.

There’s no question in my mind that Peter believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but he was mistaken as to what that meant.

We may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the Saviour, but we may be similarly mistaken about what that actually means for us. Some of us see Jesus only or primarily as our personal saviour – our get out of hell card. For such persons, God prospering and rescuing us is the most important thing about the Christian faith. Some of us see God only or primarily as the champion and patron of our favourite cause or political ideology, someone who legitimizes our actions and beliefs, even if they are selfish and harmful.

In every age and community, people have their “favourite Jesus,” but such favourites can be idolatrous or even demonic. John Calvin once famously observed that the human heart is a “factory of Idols”; we even make an idol of our preferred Christ. We would rather write Jesus’ job description for our convenience than follow him when he calls. (Connection Year A, Vol 2)

That in essence is what Peter was attempting do when he took Jesus aside and rebuked him for suggesting that he, the Messiah, would suffer and die. After Jesus decisively corrects Peter, he goes on to set out the requirements of true discipleship.

"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.”

Walking along with Jesus does not make one his follower. Talking about the grand ideas and having the right answers doesn’t fulfill the call to discipleship either. What does, is obeying Jesus’ command to love one another. Jesus says “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Matthew 13: 34, 35)

It is that love for Jesus and for one another that will make us deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow.
It is that love that will make us go where we don’t want to go and do that with which is not convenient or comfortable.
It is that love that steers us to those in need and in pain and moves us to give joyfully and sacrificially as Jesus the Christ would.

It is interesting to note that after Peter’s grand revelation that Jesus is the Messiah, Mark writes that Jesus sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
Why not? Would he not want them to go and correct the word on the street; the word that he is John the Baptist or Elijah, or one of the prophets, when he clearly was not?

I don’t think that Jesus was uninterested in correcting any mistaken understandings that people may have. I believe that Jesus wanted his disciples to know that the best way to communicate the truth is not by preaching it at people, but by living it. The best way to lift up what is right and good is not by talking about it, its by practicing it.

The way to change the word on the street and point people to God who loves them and can transform their lives and our world for the better, is not only or even primarily by what we say, but by the extent to which we follow in the way of Jesus. The way of self-giving love. God is Love. It is our calling to help people to see that, believe it, and understand what that means for how they live.

Let’s live that word on the street.