How Far Will You Follow?

Last week, we heard Peter confess that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Jesus declared that this was the truth and gave Peter and the listening disciples some heavy news: Jesus was founding a new church on solid rock—none of that shifting sand—and these people, with Peter in the spotlight, were to be its leaders. Great power, great authority, and enormous responsibility.

In today’s gospel passage, we pick up immediately where we left off last week. Following hot on the heels of this messianic confession and revelation, Jesus begins to teach the disciples about the necessity of their journey to Jerusalem and the suffering that he will endure there. He even reveals that he will be killed and, on the third day, raised.

Death on the Mind

We can imagine why the coming Passion might be on Jesus’ mind. His identity as the Messiah has been acknowledged by Peter and he has confirmed it. Despite his instructions not to share this news, Jesus understands the information will travel quickly. John the Baptist was recently executed by Herod Antipas and we’ve been told that this news is heavy on Jesus’ mind.

We are not told how many of the details of the Passion Jesus knows before it begins. This scene in today’s gospel passage is the first of three predictions that he makes about what is to come. Jesus will again anticipate his own suffering and death as he prays to the Father in Gethsemane on the night before his arrest.

This may seem like a lot of story-building on Matthew’s part, making sure that the foreshadowing for Jesus’ death and resurrection is thorough. Biblical scholars believe that the Gethsemane story, at the very least, is almost certainly true. After all, the gospel is good news; it is a story of Jesus’ victory over the powers of Death and Sin, being recorded by a community who believe wholeheartedly that this is the truth. The story of Gethsemane paints Jesus as anxious, troubled, even possibly doubtful. The disciples are of absolutely no use, promising to remain awake and comfort him, but falling asleep at every turn. It is highly unlikely that Matthew and his community would include such an embarrassing story in their gospel unless it were the truth and critical to understanding the events that surround it.

Peter, Satan, and the Fateful Stumble

Peter and the disciples are, understandably, upset when Jesus begins speaking about himself this way. None of us like to hear news of a loved one going through a difficult time. We certainly do not want to hear predictions about suffering and death, especially from a beloved friend and teacher who has a knack for prophecy.

When Peter tells Jesus that this horrible prediction should not come true, Jesus rebukes him. “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things, but on human things.” This sounds harsh, and it is, but perhaps not in the way we think. It’s important that we remember who Satan is to Jesus and the disciples. He is not the lord of a realm of torture for sinners as Dante will later depict him. To the men in today’s gospel passage, Satan is a testing figure. An adversary meant to examine one’s resolve and conviction, such as when Jesus is presented with temptations in the desert.Jesus is not dismissing Peter as an evil influence, but as a test and adversary that he does not need at this time.

Calling Peter a hindrance, or stumbling block in some translations, is probably the more hurtful of the two accusations. After all, Jesus says on two separate occasions that if your eye, hand, or foot makes you stumble, they ought to be removed and thrown away.

Take Up Your Cross

Jesus goes on to explain that persecution and the suffering that accompanies it are an unavoidable part of the path that he must walk. After rebuking Peter for being too focused on his own wants and not attentive enough to God’s will, Jesus says that those who wish to follow him must deny themselves and take up their cross to do so. As we see in the Passion narrative, carrying one’s cross from the place of sentencing to the place of execution was part of the humiliation and shaming that were core to crucifixion. This was not just a way to get rid of petty criminals, it was a way to make a public example and discourage others from imitating them.

Many have been attracted to Jesus and his teaching. He preaches about a God of great love who desires to draw all creation into reconciliation, who sees and cares for those on the fringes of their community, who is working toward freedom for all people from the forces that oppress them, and who promises eternity in the glory of the kingdom of heaven. This is good news and so exciting! How many people through the generations have wept at the nightly singing of Mary’s Song, so eager for the divine promise of freedom it renews?

Of course, those whose comfort, wealth, and power depend on the oppression of others are not pleased to hear what Jesus has to say. To preserve what they have, these tyrants and selfish rich will go to great lengths. They will collude with occupying powers, corrupt the Temple leadership, shackle the poor with inescapable debt, enslave their neighbour, execute those who speak against them, and ruin the land that sustains them.

Jesus works for the salvation of the poor, but also these rich and, for their own freedom from oppression, they must be liberated from their slavery to wealth and power. This is the path Jesus has set out on and those who would follow him, eager for a glimpse of the promised glory must know that there is a cost. Their resolve will be tested. Their conviction will be strained. There will be suffering and this commitment to God’s plan may cost them their lives. Jesus is putting it to his followers: If the path to the glory of God’s kingdom includes a waystation at the Cross, is it still a destination to which you wish to journey?

Carrying the Cross Today

In today’s gospel passage, Jesus is speaking, not only to the people gathered around him, but also to us. After all, we are Jesus’ followers in this place, today. And the question is no less important for us to consider today. Are the beliefs and values of our faith important enough to us that we would give sacrificially to achieve them? Even give up our lives for them?

How often does our faith in Christ cost us anything, great or small? It may be that, like the widow with her mite, we give sacrificially to support the work of Jesus’ community. Perhaps it has not cost us materially, but in our relationships as Jesus said might happen. Some years ago I was invited on a tour of a Hebrew primary school here in Ontario. Along the tour the architectural features of the school were highlighted for me, most of them designed to protect the children should the building be the target of religious terrorism. How many of us have ever had cause to wonder whether our Christian faith would be cause for strangers to threaten our lives and those of our children?

This is not an exhortation to go seeking or creating persecution where it does not exist. Rather, we should give thanks for the security that most of us enjoy and work to ensure that all of neighbours feel similarly. Neither is this sermon a suggestion that if you are living without persecution, you are somehow failing as a Christian. Never forget that God desire the health, safety, and flourishing of all creation.

Rather, this is a chance for some examination. We may not be at the foot of the Cross today—and we should give thanks for that. Is it because we are simply on a different leg of the journey? Or have we, somewhere along the way, set our crosses down for a moment and have yet to pick them back up?

Inspired by Rowan Williams, I would suggest that, while the Church will necessarily change over time, we must not forget the beliefs and values that inspired the martyrs to die for its sake. Would they recognize in our lives—in our Christian communities—the faith for which they were willing to die?

Our ancestors in the faith have given us a high bar for what it means to follow Christ. Though it is not easy to contemplate living up to it, for their witness and their tireless encouragement of us as we run the race set before us, let us give thanks. Amen.