The Messianic Secret

 Mark 8:31-38

The Fifth Station
Ang Kiukok

Lent 2

February 25, 2024

 

Do you know about the Messianic Secret?

Throughout  the Gospel of Mark

right after Jesus does something great,

he warns everyone sternly 

not to tell anyone about it.

Ann just asked me about this a couple of weeks ago.

Bible scholars called it “The Messianic Secret”.

 

When Jesus heals a leper, Jesus tells him

not to tell anyone, but go right to the priest.

Several times Jesus tells the unclean spirits

not to make his identity known to anyone.

 

After he heals Jairus daughter, it says

“he strictly ordered that no one should know about this.”

When he heals the man who is deaf,

he orders the people there not to say anything.

When he heals a blind man, he tells him to go straight home

and not to talk to anyone.

 

Later on in chapter 9, Jesus goes up to the mountain

he’s transfigured and he appears with Elijah and Moses,

he tells the three disciples that are there, not to tell anyone -

presumably not even the other disciples -

until after he had risen from the dead.

 

It’s a curious thing about the Gospel of Mark

it shows up a bit in the other gospels,

but not half as often as it does in Mark.

There are a lot of theories about it,

But there are still debates about what it means.

The Messianic Secret.

 

In today’s reading we have another instance.

Jesus asks the disciples “Who do you say that I am?”

And Peter shares the revelation that might have

surprised the other disciples.

Maybe Peter even surprises himself -

He says, “You are the Messiah.”

Which, of course, is Jesus’ true identity.

But again, Jesus warns them, sternly, “not to tell anyone about it.”

 

But juxtapose this with the rest of today’s gospel

where Jesus is talking about his suffering and death.

And about that, the gospel makes the point to say,

“All this he said quite openly.”

 

So, he works miracles,

he was transformed on the mountain,

he talks to ancient prophets.

The demons, who live in some bad part of

an other-worldly dimension are controlled by Jesus,

The sky has opened up several times

and God has claimed Jesus as God’s own son.

Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God.

About this stuff, Jesus says to keep it a secret.

Don’t tell anyone about it. For now at least.

But then when he talks about the fact that he

must suffer and be rejected and killed by the authorities.

(And after three days rise again.)

That stuff, Jesus says quite openly.

 

No wonder Peter rebukes him.

What are you doing, Jesus?

 

Jesus is just getting notoriety, he’s getting a good following,

maybe people who want to give financially to his mission,

and then he starts talking about the fact that he’s

going to die, and then he talks about crosses.

 

As we talked about in our Wednesday night discussion,

Crucifixion was a form of capital punishment reserved for

those who rebelled against the Roman Government,

It was a public display, people could walk around and witness it,

it was made to be extremely painful and humiliating.

And it was a public display so those suffering 

could be an example of what not to do. 

Lots of people had seen crucifixions.

They knew they were horrible.

 

So everyone would have been very aware of what the cross was

and it would have had a terrible stigma.

So Jesus was saying:

 I’m glad you like me, and what I do, and what I say.

Come follow me.

But just know I’m going to get the worst death penalty.

And you should too.  Jesus was a PR disaster.

 

Why would he do this?

Why does the gospel writer Mark do this?

Like I said there’s not complete agreement from scholars,

so that means I can choose my favorite one and tell you.

 

And what I think what both of them are trying to say is:

we cannot understand the glory of Jesus

without first understanding the suffering of Jesus.

 

Jesus knew that people would naturally gravitate

towards someone who could perform miracles,

someone who was special, who could heal others.

And he did get crowds of people who were impressed 

with him and they gathered around him as long as he

was doing these special things.

 

But that’s not what Jesus wanted,

Jesus didn’t just want people who would admire him,

Jesus wanted people who would follow him.

And Jesus wanted people who would sacrifice themselves

for the sake of others and the good of the world.

Jesus knew that his true glory was

not found in his power to do miracles.

Jesus glory is found in him giving his life away for others.

So  Jesus always wanted the great and glorious things

about him to be put in the context of the cross.

So he wanted all the miracles and healing to be revealed,

only AFTER his death and resurrection.

 

So now we do know the whole story.

We know about Jesus crucifixion, resurrection,

and all the miracles and healing, and parables.

But still, we try to avoid that cross.

 

I tell this story all the time,

In my first congregation, one year we just did Palm Sunday

on Palm Sunday.  We did not read passion story,

the story of Jesus crucifixion, during Palm Sunday worship.

I think the music person wanted to do it or something.

So after worship, a delightful, happy woman came up to 

me after the Palm Sunday worship in a big, floppy, yellow, 

Easter hat and said, “I’m so glad we didn’t read that terrible story 

of Jesus death. It’s so depressing. 

This is like having two Easter Sundays in a row!”

And in my true new pastor without an editor style,

I told her “And this is why we will never do this again.”

I still thank her for the moral clarity she provided.

 

But I’m not just talking about her. She was a nice woman.

I’m glad I didn’t say, “Get behind me, Satan!”

anywhere in our conversation.

 

As humans, our tendency is to avoid pain,

we usually avoid conflict and trials, we deny our sorrow and grief.

We tend to seek out comfort, fulfillment, joy

We look away from pain and sorrow,

We try to climb the ladder up the next rung

trying somehow escape anything that might lead to suffering.

And we equate power with leading an unchallenged life,

with ease, with cleanliness, with a full dose of regular happiness.

So we expect God to be found in these places,

So we  worship God in large, ornate cathedrals,

or state of the art buildings with expensive special effects.

Or at least with good air conditioning and heating.

 

But Jesus was not found in a comfortable palace,

or a cathedral, or even in a quiet, peaceful room most of the time.

Jesus was not found on the top of the ladder.

Jesus was outside, walking the hard road.

He was with the suffering, the poor, the lame,

the hungry, the sinners and the prostitutes.

Jesus was found with the people who weren’t able

to run up the ladder of happiness.

Who could not escape their own suffering,

 

And the Jesus we know best, was found on a cross.

As my Lutheran theology professor used to say,

“This is how God wants to be seen:

on the cross with his arms stretched out,

not even able to scratch his own nose.”

In this absolutely powerless and vulnerable position,

we find Jesus true power, in giving himself for others.

And there’s no way the disciples

or anyone else would understand that until they saw it.

 

This is the way of Jesus.

Death to life. Self sacrifice and resurrection.

And it’s not just Jesus’ story,

Jesus means to take us with him too:

“Those who want to become my followers,

should deny themselves and take up their cross.”

  

We are called to suffer with other people,

to have compassion, to feel their pain and suffer with them,

To make compromises that we would rather not make.

To give up things that we want or need in order to provide

for our children and other vulnerable people.

We give our lives and time to our communities,

Our hearts break with compassion for people we don’t know.

We are drawn to places of poverty,

of loss, of sadness, grief, and illness.

We pray for people halfway around the world

We spend time in hospitals and hospices,

in addiction clinics, in homeless shelters, and food pantries,

we go to El Salvador, Haiti, Syria, Ukraine, Gaza.

We help other people carry their crosses.

 

This is the way of the Christian.

Not basking in Christ’s glory and power

and demanding it for ourselves.

But following the way of the cross.

 

This is the paradox that Jesus proclaims.

This is the meaning of the gospel.

In order to have our life, we give it away.

There is great power in giving ourselves away.

 

This is the Messianic Secret:

We never get to the true life of Jesus if we

keep trying to avoid the pain, the sacrifice,

the suffering, the cross.

 

We follow a crucified savior.

Walking with Jesus means letting our hearts be broken for others.

It means bearing the cross.

It means we save our life by losing it for others.