“There is no way that Jesus would ever want me to have anything to do with my sister!” the woman tried to convince me. “She deserves all the loneliness that she gets. She is a rotten, horrible person. Jesus wants us to be righteous people. There is no way Jesus would want anyone hanging around with a sinner like her!”
The woman was very sure of herself. The woman was convinced that the Jesus who walked around in her head, who was telling her to remain pure and stay separated from the sinner, was the same Jesus who lived and breathed and walked among us.
But, the Jesus who walked among us did spend time with sinners and the despised tax collectors; all the time. He ate with them, justifying his actions by saying, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners” (NRSV, Matthew 9:12-13).
The Jesus who healed and took away the sin of the world did forgive rotten, horrible people. Just think about the criminal hanging next to him on the cross, who did deserve his punishment, but was forgiven none-the-less. Instead of condemning, Jesus insisted, “Today, you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
In fact, that same Jesus took up his cross and lost his life for our sake. Paul tries to convince us that, “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Arguing against the Apostle Paul and Jesus himself, the woman was wrong, of course. The holy life is not all about making sure you remain pure by staying away from everyone who is sinful. But, there was no convincing her. She was forcing Jesus to follow her and conform to her desires rather than the other way around.
To the woman and to us Jesus says, “You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things…If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8:33-34).
We should not be too harsh on the woman though. She is simply joining the Apostle Peter as he too failed to set his mind on “divine things” rather than “human things” (Mark 8:33b). Peter too disagreed with the way that Jesus went about loving and saving the world. Jesus had just told Peter that he, the Son of Man, must “undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31).
But, Peter was having none of it. Peter knew that the Messiah was supposed to be a great political leader. Peter knew that the Son of Man was supposed to save his people by defeating real enemies through very real political acts and on very real military fronts. Messiahs take up national flags. Messiahs rally people to their political side. Messiahs align people against common enemies. Messiahs do not choose to march toward death; they march to victory.
Jesus was headed in the wrong direction, and Peter was convinced that Jesus must start listening to him. Jesus must start seeing reality for what it is; which Peter understood very well. Jesus needed to follow the ways of Peter.
But, to Peter, and to us, Jesus says, “You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things…If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8:33-34).
Back when I was in High School there was a fad among Christian youth to wear these cloth bracelets that had the letters, “WWJD” woven in. Perhaps, you remember what WWJD stood for? “What Would Jesus Do?” Later, the silicone version came out in bright neon colors with WWJD, “What Would Jesus Do,” engraved into the top. There was a question mark at the end of the WWJD statement. So, the thought was that when we teens ran into a situation that was tough, all we had to do was look down at our wrists and ask ourselves, “‘What would Jesus do’ in this situation”?
I thought it seemed like a good idea. I even sported a neon pink bracelet myself. I know what you are thinking. “That Pastor Jira has always been a fashion trend setter.”
But, one day my pastor spotted the bracelet on my wrist and said in an off handed sort of way, “I don’t like those things.”
Now, I knew that my pastor could do heretical things like change the font in the bulletin, or suggest that the color of the narthex carpet might not be the most important thing on Jesus’ mind, but being against “What Would Jesus Do” bracelets?
The confusion on my face must have been obvious because the pastor immediately said, “It should be WDJD, not WWJD.”
The confusion on my face must have continued because the pastor explained:
“It should read ‘What Did Jesus Do,’ WDJD, not ‘What Would Jesus Do,’ WWJD, because we don’t necessarily know what Jesus would have done. When I ask myself, ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ I try to answer with my best guess. But, the answer I come up with will probably be what I wanted to do anyway. The truth is that I don’t know how Jesus would answer modern problems and modern questions! But, if I ask, ‘What Did Jesus Do,’ then I am forced to search God’s Holy Scriptures and search for what Jesus did do in similar situations. ‘What Did Jesus Do,’ brings me closer to Jesus, and closer to following Jesus. I am less likely to be following myself. That is why I do not like the WWJD bracelet.”
I kind of had to agree. And, you know what? I had just purchased the stupid thing. Thanks a lot, Pastor!
Now, my pastor may have been a heretic, but at least my pastor was a faithful heretic. My pastor wanted us teens to be setting our minds on divine things, searching divine scripture, and did not want us to be setting our minds on human things as we went about our everyday lives.
My pastor’s thoughts remind me of that bumper sticker that reads, “Jesus is my copilot, and he thinks you are driving like an idiot too.”
Now, if I were the pastor of a fancy, rich church I would plaster that sticker across the huge video screens in the sanctuary. And, then I would contrast that bumper sticker with the one that you all know much better. It is the one that reads: “If Jesus is your copilot, switch seats.” Now, I personally wonder if that is a good idea…letting Jesus drive…because our creed states that Jesus was fully human and, therefore, never learned how to drive. But aside from that; I would show both of those bumper stickers side-by-side on our huge, expensive screens so that we could see exactly what Jesus is getting at when he confronts Peter.
Peter wants the first bumper sticker to be true; the one where Jesus, the passenger, agrees with the driver. “All of you on the road are idiots! ” But, the second bumper sticker is the one that Jesus wants Peter, and us, to understand. He is the driver. He is the pilot. Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6).
Jesus rebukes Peter saying, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (Mark 8:33b). If your remember, “the Satan” can also translate to “the adversary,” or “the obstacle.” Peter might be the great rock of the church, but he can also be a rock that gets in the way. He is a rock that is trying to cause Jesus to stumble. But, Jesus will not stumble. Jesus will not falter. Jesus is on the way to the cross to love and save a whole bunch of sinners, and he wants Peter, and us, to follow.
“Get behind me,” Jesus says to Peter. I think he means that literally. Jesus actually wants Peter to get behind him and start following. Peter is to stop being a road block to Jesus’ mission, and we need to stop being road blocks as well.
“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” (NRSV, Mark 8:34-35).
I cannot tell you the amount of times that I have seen this idea of “following” play out in the movies. It usually goes something like this: the hero and companions get into some sort of impossible or frightening situation, and the hero looks at the scared companions and confidently says, “Follow me.”
If it is a horror movie, there will always be the one guy, and it is always a guy, who says, “I know what I am doing,” and he will go out on his own and immediately get eaten by a huge worm, or wander over the edge of a cliff. Am I right? I am so that guy at times. But, those who follow the hero, even if it is a hard journey, make it safely to the end.
The Message Bible translates Jesus’ words this way, “Calling the crowd to join his disciples, [Jesus] said, ‘Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?’” (MSG, Mark 8:34-37).
The path of self-sacrifice and self-giving love might look like a rough path. It might actually be a rough path. There might be other paths that seem easier and nicer, but if Jesus is truly, “the way and the truth and the life,” then we will follow our hero down that rough path.
The world will want us to follow big brands, or big names, or big influencers, or even small influencers such as members of our own family who may try to lull us into following them. But, Jesus is our true hero. Jesus is the one who knows the way to the good news. Jesus is the one who will make certain we will walk the right path and not fall off the edge of a cliff.
Speaking of cliffs, every good movie has the moment when one of the followers slips on some rock and almost plunges to their death, but the hero is right there to pull them up. Well, I am here to tell you that, in reality, you have your hero also. Jesus pulls you up with him, out of sin, out of death, out of the grave, and into a new life. Follow the one who makes sacrifices for the sake of love. Follow the one who gives himself to the cross in order to rise on the third day and save. Follow the one who cares about you.
Once when I was visiting a more “seasoned” woman’s house, (I didn’t want to say “old,” but now she sounds like a steak…anyway) I noticed that she was making a huge supper while we talked. I asked if she had plans to have visitors that evening, and she said, “No, I never learned how to cook for one, so I just keep cooking a family sized meal.” After I gave her a quizzical look she said, “I give the rest of the food to my neighbors around here who need it. They know to come and get the supper, or if they can’t get out I will take a stroll to their house. Most of them appreciate it. One of them never says, ‘Thank you.’ He just grunts. He’s grumpy. But, I do it anyway. It is my nightly routine now.”
Understand that this woman had little money and could have used that money for her own needs. But, she followed someone who gave of himself, and so she did the same. She followed Jesus, who gave of himself to feed the hungry and care for the lowly and even help the grumpy; the sinner. She followed the one who loved and saved a sinner like her.
She would remind us to set our minds on Jesus. She would remind us, as did Jesus, to set our minds on diving things, not human things, because, Jesus will allow us to hear and see some very good news.
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