The CounterIntutive Christ—Three Questions
Intro—Working in the bookstore coffee shop, I learned that some dark
roasts have less caffeine than lighter roasts if measured by volume (i.e., by
the scoop). This seems CounterIntuitive.
Definition—Contrary to
expectations; Not in accordance with what would naturally be assumed or
expected. When I was learning to drive, I was told that if the car began to
skid then I should turn in the direction of the skid. That seems wrong. Most of
us would naturally expect to turn away from the skid. If you do, however, you
will crash. Counterintuitive things run
counter to what we would naturally expect.
Jesus’ entire ministry may be
considered as counterintuitive in some sense. He was born of a Virgin (the
Romans and some Jews would make light of his “illegitimacy”). He was born of
low estate. Yet in spite of his bad “pedigree,” he was declared a King, even
the Messiah! Jesus even had a habit of
doing and saying things that ran counter to what was expected—the Wedding in
Cana (John 2)—instead of buying wine, he made wine. The lame man at the Pool of
Bethesda (John 5)—Jesus commands the man to get up and carry his bed on the
Sabbath. That got both men in trouble!
Raising Lazarus—waited until Lazarus died instead of healing him on his sick
bed.
Mark’s Gospel includes similar
stories. Mark 2—man on a pallet lowered by his friends, Jesus extends
forgiveness as a way to heal. Mark 3—healed a withered hand on the Sabbath at the synagogue. Claimed his family was made up of folks who did what God wanted, NOT
flesh and blood. Mark 4—slept in the boat during the storm.
Mark 8 is no exception. Jesus has
been teaching and doing miracles among the people. Now he and his disciples arrive at Caesarea
Phillipi. This is a city known for its
devotion to Caesar and Rome. It is a very political place. And here Jesus
engages in a conversation with his disciples that at first sounds political,
but the disciples are about to receive something they did not expect. Jesus’ counterintuitive ministry raised a lot
of questions, in our passage today I want us to consider three questions
brought up by our text. We will see that
Jesus’ responses to these questions are indeed unexpected.
Mark 8:27-38
Mark 8:27-30 Question 1—Who is Jesus?
The fundamental definition of a
person is wrapped up in the question “Who are you?” or “Who am I”? Jesus begins the discussion with a question.
Who do people say that I am? This was an
opportunity for the people around him to show what they thought of him; what
were their expectations. To ask that question in a political environment like
Caesara Phillipi (the center of power politics) transforms the query from an
idle question of curiosity into a loaded question bristling with implications.
He asks what seems to be a political question in the center of adoration of
Roman occupation! Jesus seems curious about the opinions of others.
What does the world say about
Jesus today? He is a fine
teacher, he is a fiction, he is one way to God, etc. People will always try to
identify Jesus or God on their own terms, and often they will make him in their
own image. Are we guilty of the same crime?
But after the responses are
listed, Jesus digs deeper—Who
do YOU say I am? Jesus goes beyond the opinions of those outside of his
circle and asks his own people how they define him.
Peter’s response—You ARE
the Christ. Peter’s answer reveals a bit of political zeal here. Given where
they were, that confession was like going to Washington D.C., standing outside
the White House, and hoisting up a placard that declared, "Impeach the
President!"
Jesus responds: “Don’t
tell anyone.” Jesus didn’t want to play politics as usual. You see, there were differing views of Messiah out there—Jews expected a
conquering figure who would run the Romans out of office. Yet the Counterintuitive
Christ refused to even campaign for the office. In spite of the support, Jesus
refused to participate in the popular way to do things. “Keep it quiet!”
Who is Jesus?
He is the Counterintuitive Christ—a Messiah not made in the image of
human heroes. When we think he should shout his presence, he is sometimes
almost mute in his response! He does not operate on our definitions or our time
table. He is who he defines himself to be. He will soon define his mission, but
his lack of enthusiasm for being a political hero is counterintuitive. Jesus is not a Messiah who does things the
way we expect. Jesus isn’t what the disciples think, is he what we think? This leads to our second question, a question of mission.
Mark 8:31-33—What is Jesus' mission? Peter acts like he thinks he is Jesus’ political handler or PR
man. After the rousing announcement of
Jesus’ candidacy for Messiah, Jesus refuses to run and then offers a definition
of the mission of Messiah that causes some problems for Peter. Jesus’ Messiah will suffer
before he will reign. He will die at the hands of the current rulers. And Jesus
said these things in plain language so that folks would get it. I am Messiah,
but I will die instead of kill. I will rule by resurrection and not by sheer
power.
Peter “rebukes” Jesus (the same word used in “rebuking” demons elsewhere in the New Testament) for his
negative take on the campaign. Jesus sees the other disciples around (in that
moment, did he entertain the idea that Peter may be right, that an alternative
was possible? No, that alternative was
not God’s way). Jesus says that Peter represents Satan’s approach and not
God’s. Here in a political environment, Jesus rejects a purely political
solution. He knows that the way to win is to lose. The way to victory is to
die. The way up is down. He knew his mission was to die.
Fully 1/3 of the
Gospel of Mark is focused on the last week of Jesus’ life. The Passion. One
theologian of the early church said that the Gospels are passion narratives
with extended introductions. Jesus’ mission is to die. The CounterIntuitive Christ comes not to rule
(politically), but to serve and to die and to rise again. Jesus often comes to
us in unexpected ways. If his own life ran counter to human expectations, how
much more should our lives run counter to the expectations of those around us? What would Jesus demand of his followers?
Mark 8:34=38—What does he demand of his followers? He calls us to
follow him into this counterintuitive life of his. What does it mean to follow? When I go to a
restaurant and the hostess says “follow me,” then I will follow her to the
table if I want to eat. Jesus calls us to follow.
To be his disciple is to
learn from him. Discipleship is not optional, it is not possible to be a
Christian without making progress toward becoming a disciple. Can you imagine what would happen if everyone
here took seriously this call to be a disciple?
To be a disciple means to live a
cross shaped life. It means to do like
Christ and learn that the way up is down, humble service leads to useful
service, to die is to live, to follow is to lead, etc. To be a disciple is a call to die, to do that
which is counter-intuitive, against common sense.
This flies in the face of conventional
wisdom. Jesus reveals a secret so counter-intuitive that only the mind of God
could have come up with it. Jesus says we need to sink deeper into the number
one problem that plagues this world: death itself. It turns out that the
redemptive escape hatch out of this world and its enslavement to decay is down,
not up; it's in the depths of Sheol not up in some false paradise that could be
constructed through human ingenuity and the exercise of raw political power. "Take up your cross," Jesus says. In other words, "Live under
the sentence of death." Somehow, in so doing, we travel a path that leads
to life precisely because it passes through death.
Philippians 2:5-8—Jesus emptied
himself to become a servant faithful unto death and in so doing not only made
the universe turn the corner from darkness into light, he left us an example by
which now to live as his disciples. But it's a hard lesson to learn. It's even more
difficult actually to put it into practice. It is this kind of conundrum that
has long vexed Christians. The problem is learning to live in the world but not
being of the world, about having things as though having them not.
Jesus wants all of us. We must give all we
have to be his. His demand on us is total, and our response must be total
surrender. The only response to the CounterIntuitive Christ is reckless
abandon, the willingness to lose it all to gain him. If humility was right for
Jesus, it must be right for us (To paraphrase Dr. Gary Habermas—How can we expect to be treated
differently than Jesus?) C. T. Studd—"If
Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me
to make for him."
Now What? (James 2:14-17) These questions did not lose their
strength or relevance after Jesus’ experience with the disciples sometime in
the early first century. They are still relevant today. We all must ask
today—Who is Jesus? Who do we say that
he is? Jesus’ mission
was to die for you so that you might live.
His mission was to become poor so that you may be rich, to become sin so that you might become the righteousness of God in him, etc.
We must also ask—what does he
demand of us? We must live cross shaped
lives.
Ways to die—stop thinking of
those things that will benefit you and look for things that will benefit others
even (or maybe, especially) at your own expense. Take someone in, be kind to others, give
money to those in need, even money you’ve set aside for your own
pleasures. Help those who can’t help
themselves. Be counterintuitive in responding to Jesus—die that you may live.
Thanks for reading!
