Lent 2
Preaching
Preaching Mark's Gospel
A Narrative Approach
We will treat these texts as one. In examining them we have entered what many commentators believe is the central section of Mark's story: 8:22„10:52. The immediate context for this central section of material is the climax of the section that precedes it: Mark 6:35„8:21. We need to say a few words about 8:1-21, as it is omitted from the lectionary. Mark 8:1-9 is the story of the Gentile feeding of the multitude with bread which we have discussed in an earlier chapter. The response to Jesus' feeding of this second multitude is ironic and filled with comedy. The Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign!! Jesus has just fed a second multitude with leftovers abundant and the Pharisees ask for a sign! How blind can they be? They have eyes, but they do not seem to be able to see! Such is Mark's description of outsiders (Mark 4:11-12).
The disciples then enter the picture. Their response to Jesus' feeding the multitudes is even more ironic, filled with even greater comedy. They are with Jesus in the boat and they only have one loaf of bread. How can they all eat when there is only one loaf? They've seen Jesus do bread miracles but they have not believed what they have seen. Their eyes, too, are blind. We seem to have reached a climax here in terms of the blindness of the "rocky ground" disciples. Jesus bores in on them with his questions. "Why are you talking about having no bread?" he scolds. "Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? (Rocky ground!) Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear?" (Mark 8:17-18). It would appear that the disciples who were called insiders in Mark 4:11-12 are now outsiders. They are the ones who see and do not perceive! They are the ones who hear and do not understand!
This climactic story of hard-hearted, rocky ground disciples sets the stage for the central section of Mark's Gospel (8:22„10:52). The motif of this section is "on the way." Jesus is "on the way" to Jerusalem (Mark 8:27; 9:33-34; 10:32). While "on the way" to Jerusalem Jesus seeks to reveal the truth of his Messianic identity to the disciples. Jesus tries to open their eyes. This whole section of Mark's Gospel is framed by stories in which Jesus opens blind eyes. It begins with the story of the opening of the eyes of a blind man in Bethsaida (8:22-26) and it closes with the opening of the eyes of blind Bartimaeus (10:46-52). Bartimaeus sees and immediately follows Jesus "on the way." He is clearly a good soil man! But Jesus cannot open the blind eyes of the disciples! Jesus gives sight to blind men; he cannot, however, break through the blindness of his disciples.
We come to the text of Peter's "confession." Donald Juel says that Peter's confession is the first small sign that the disciples' eyes might be opening. From v. 1 of Mark's Gospel we as readers have known that Jesus' identity is that of Christ/Messiah. Peter's "confession" is the first time in the story that anyone seems to have grasped that identity. Mary Ann Tolbert considers this "confession" of Peter to be the turning point of Mark's story. These verses stand at the physical center of the story and they begin to move us toward a revelation of the true identity of Jesus the Messiah.
Werner Kelber states in the strongest terms, however, that Peter's "confession" is a false confession.
ƒ The correctness of Peter's so-called confession can only be maintained if one stops reading at this point ƒ Whatever Peter's concept of Christ, it is in conflict with Jesus' concept of Christ ƒ Mark sets it up in such a way that the reader almost instinctively identifies with Peter and his Christ confession. He teases the reader, as it were, into accepting Peter's confession at face value. But then Mark unfolds the drama by emphasizing increasingly the negative aspects of Peter until in the end he shatters the veracity of Peter's confession and wrecks the reader's identification with Peter. The scene culminates in the highly dramatic confrontation between Peter and Jesus, each rebuking the other and Peter in the end being exposed as Satan. In the Gospel Peter is the only human being who is identified, and identified by Jesus, as a satanic person. It is overwhelmingly clear: Peter's confession has not been the correct confession.1
Following immediately upon Peter's confession is Jesus' first "passion/resurrection" prediction. (See also 9:30-31; 10:32-34.) Jesus reveals that the Messiah must suffer many things, be killed, and be raised on the third day. This is simply too much for Peter. He obviously cannot comprehend a suffering Messiah. The tension of Mark's story lies in the reality that Jesus is simply not the kind of Messiah that people expected. Messianic expectations were expectations of glory. Dreams of glory and power must have danced in Peter's head when he made his "confession." But he had it all wrong. The Messiah is the One who suffers.
This contrast between glory and suffering is played out in Mark's Gospel in a very systematic way. In 8:31 Jesus announces for the first time that he must suffer. This earns Jesus a rebuke from Peter which, in turn, earns Peter a rebuke from Jesus. "Get behind me, Satan!" What a powerful rebuke this is! Peter has clearly not understood what it means to be Messiah. Peter dreams of glory. When it's time to go the mountain of Transfiguration with Jesus, Peter basks in the glory and pleads that it might continue. Peter says to Jesus: " 'Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.' He did not know what to say, for they were terrified" (Mark 9:5-6). Terrified. Afraid. Once again the disciples appear as men of fear rather than faith. In their fear-filled lack of faith they long for glory.
"On the way" to Jerusalem Jesus makes a second "passion/resurrection" prediction. "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again" (Mark 9:31. Mark 9:30-37 is appointed for Pentecost 19). Once again the disciples are afraid. They do not understand. They have eyes but they do not see. They move on to Capernaum and their minds are on glory, not cross! After arriving in Capernaum Jesus asks his disciples what they were arguing about along the way. They are silent. They don't want to admit that they were talking about which of them was the greatest. They have ears to hear but they do not hear! Jesus speaks of cross; they speak of glory.
Once more, this time approaching Jerusalem, Jesus reveals his identity. "ƒ The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again" (Mark 10:33-34). Jesus speaks of the cross. The disciples stay fixed on glory. James and John ask him if they can sit one at his right hand and one at his left, in glory. (They did not know that the right and left hand were reserved for a couple of criminals and that the place for such honor was the cross [Mark 15:27].) Jesus speaks of the cross. The disciples dream of glory. How difficult it is to grasp the reality that Israel's long-awaited Messiah is to be a suffering Messiah.
Not surprisingly, the call to follow "on the way" with Jesus is a call to a cruciform life (Mark 8:34-38). Kelber explicates this very well:
It may be the single most important message the author wishes to convey: there is no life without death, and no Easter without crucifixion. The Markan emphasis lies heavily on the period of suffering and the crucifixion. He does not focus on Easter itself ƒ The resurrected Jesus, we shall see, never makes an appearance in the Gospel of Mark ƒ Discipleship is not derived from the glorified Jesus ƒ For Mark, to be a Christian means to follow Jesus on his way; to drink the cup of suffering; to be concerned with the salvation of others, and less „ if at all „ with one's own life and well-being.2
Homiletical Directions
There are a great many preaching possibilities for these two Sundays. During Lent it would be well to put the emphasis on Jesus' revelation of his Messianic identity as an identity of suffering. Such a sermon might well begin with the story of Peter's "confession." Peter has it right in principle. Truly Jesus is the Christ. But he has it wrong in content. Peter thinks of messianic glory. Peter's "confession" sets the stage for Jesus' self-revelation.
Tell next the three stories in which Jesus reveals his true identity: Mark 8:31; 9:30-31; 10:32-34. The focus of these stories will be on the necessity of Jesus as a suffering Christ. This is who Jesus is! Revealed to us through these stories is a God who says in effect: "I am God revealed in Jesus. I am a God who must suffer. I suffer in order to share in your sufferings. I identify with you when you suffer. I will walk with you when you suffer and raise you on the third day. I will walk with you in your trials and bring you to new life. I will die with you when you die and bring you with me to eternal life."
A second possibility is to use the entire section of Mark 8:21„10:52 as a source for stories. Story One would briefly give the context of the blindness of the disciples (Mark 8:14-21) leading to the two healings of blind men: Mark 8:22-26; 10:46-52. Jesus Christ has come to open our eyes!
The disciples, however, have eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. Tell the story of the three "passion/resurrection" predictions this time from the point of view of the blindness of the disciples. They hear but they do not understand. They hear Jesus speak of cross and they return to glory again and again. The key glory verses are: Mark 9:5; 9:33-37; 10:35-45.
Glory thinking is a fundamental hallmark of much of American Christianity. The American "gospel" is that if you truly believe in Jesus, then all of your needs will be met. Nothing can stand in your way. To be a Christian is to be bound for glory. This American glory thinking stands in stark contrast to Mark's cross thinking. Our eyes still seem blind to the heart of Jesus' message.
Story telling touching these realities can conclude with a reference to the fact that it is Jesus' intention to open our blind eyes in order that we might see him as the suffering, crucified Messiah. This story telling route can end in one of two ways. We can conclude by "speaking for God." Jesus' word to us today through these stories is, "I have come to open blind eyes. I have come to open your eyes. Hear me proclaim to you the necessity of my suffering. Hear me proclaim to you the inevitability of my death on the cross. Hear my story again and again. When you hear this story told I will be there to open your blind eyes. When you hear this story I will be there to call you to faith in my way of the cross. When you hear this story I will invite you to take up your cross and follow me."
Or this series of stories focused on the blindness of the disciples could end in prayer. Fashion a closing prayer that invites Jesus to open our blind eyes.
Still another route for a sermon on today's texts would focus on Jesus' call to take up his cross and follow (Mark 8:34-38). Here, too, we might tell the stories of Jesus' three "passion/resurrection" predictions along with the disciples' response: they choose the glory road. The structure for this sermon might be as follows: tell the entire text as a story. Make it clear in the telling that you want to highlight Jesus' call to self-denial and cross-bearing. Contrast Peter's confidence in his confession and Jesus' rebuke. Secondly, tell the stories of each "passion/resurrection" prediction along with the disciples' responses of glory thinking. Let Peter's response to Jesus' self-revelation be his wish to build booths on the mountain of transfiguration. Such is Peter's response to Jesus. At this point use as a refrain Jesus' word about taking up the cross. It would go like this. Peter says: "Let's build three booths and stay here." Jesus responds: "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
Move then to the second story of the disciples' response. The disciples say: "Which one of us is the greatest?" Jesus says: "If any want to become my followers ƒ."
Finally, tell the third story of the disciples' response. The disciples say: "Can we sit on your right and left hand in glory?" Jesus says: "If any want to become my followers ƒ."
You can end your sermon with these challenging words of Jesus ringing in the ears of your hearers. You may determine, however, that the eyes and ears of the disciples you preach to are no better than the eyes and ears of Jesus' disciples. In that case, ending your sermon with an open challenge won't get you or your hearers very far. It will be better to end the sermon with a prayer or a proclamation that calls forth the power of Jesus to lead us from fear to faith, from glory to cross. Open our eyes, Lord. Let us see!
____________
1. Werner H. Kelber, Mark's Story of Jesus (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979), pp. 47-48.
2. Ibid., p. 52.
The disciples then enter the picture. Their response to Jesus' feeding the multitudes is even more ironic, filled with even greater comedy. They are with Jesus in the boat and they only have one loaf of bread. How can they all eat when there is only one loaf? They've seen Jesus do bread miracles but they have not believed what they have seen. Their eyes, too, are blind. We seem to have reached a climax here in terms of the blindness of the "rocky ground" disciples. Jesus bores in on them with his questions. "Why are you talking about having no bread?" he scolds. "Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? (Rocky ground!) Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear?" (Mark 8:17-18). It would appear that the disciples who were called insiders in Mark 4:11-12 are now outsiders. They are the ones who see and do not perceive! They are the ones who hear and do not understand!
This climactic story of hard-hearted, rocky ground disciples sets the stage for the central section of Mark's Gospel (8:22„10:52). The motif of this section is "on the way." Jesus is "on the way" to Jerusalem (Mark 8:27; 9:33-34; 10:32). While "on the way" to Jerusalem Jesus seeks to reveal the truth of his Messianic identity to the disciples. Jesus tries to open their eyes. This whole section of Mark's Gospel is framed by stories in which Jesus opens blind eyes. It begins with the story of the opening of the eyes of a blind man in Bethsaida (8:22-26) and it closes with the opening of the eyes of blind Bartimaeus (10:46-52). Bartimaeus sees and immediately follows Jesus "on the way." He is clearly a good soil man! But Jesus cannot open the blind eyes of the disciples! Jesus gives sight to blind men; he cannot, however, break through the blindness of his disciples.
We come to the text of Peter's "confession." Donald Juel says that Peter's confession is the first small sign that the disciples' eyes might be opening. From v. 1 of Mark's Gospel we as readers have known that Jesus' identity is that of Christ/Messiah. Peter's "confession" is the first time in the story that anyone seems to have grasped that identity. Mary Ann Tolbert considers this "confession" of Peter to be the turning point of Mark's story. These verses stand at the physical center of the story and they begin to move us toward a revelation of the true identity of Jesus the Messiah.
Werner Kelber states in the strongest terms, however, that Peter's "confession" is a false confession.
ƒ The correctness of Peter's so-called confession can only be maintained if one stops reading at this point ƒ Whatever Peter's concept of Christ, it is in conflict with Jesus' concept of Christ ƒ Mark sets it up in such a way that the reader almost instinctively identifies with Peter and his Christ confession. He teases the reader, as it were, into accepting Peter's confession at face value. But then Mark unfolds the drama by emphasizing increasingly the negative aspects of Peter until in the end he shatters the veracity of Peter's confession and wrecks the reader's identification with Peter. The scene culminates in the highly dramatic confrontation between Peter and Jesus, each rebuking the other and Peter in the end being exposed as Satan. In the Gospel Peter is the only human being who is identified, and identified by Jesus, as a satanic person. It is overwhelmingly clear: Peter's confession has not been the correct confession.1
Following immediately upon Peter's confession is Jesus' first "passion/resurrection" prediction. (See also 9:30-31; 10:32-34.) Jesus reveals that the Messiah must suffer many things, be killed, and be raised on the third day. This is simply too much for Peter. He obviously cannot comprehend a suffering Messiah. The tension of Mark's story lies in the reality that Jesus is simply not the kind of Messiah that people expected. Messianic expectations were expectations of glory. Dreams of glory and power must have danced in Peter's head when he made his "confession." But he had it all wrong. The Messiah is the One who suffers.
This contrast between glory and suffering is played out in Mark's Gospel in a very systematic way. In 8:31 Jesus announces for the first time that he must suffer. This earns Jesus a rebuke from Peter which, in turn, earns Peter a rebuke from Jesus. "Get behind me, Satan!" What a powerful rebuke this is! Peter has clearly not understood what it means to be Messiah. Peter dreams of glory. When it's time to go the mountain of Transfiguration with Jesus, Peter basks in the glory and pleads that it might continue. Peter says to Jesus: " 'Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.' He did not know what to say, for they were terrified" (Mark 9:5-6). Terrified. Afraid. Once again the disciples appear as men of fear rather than faith. In their fear-filled lack of faith they long for glory.
"On the way" to Jerusalem Jesus makes a second "passion/resurrection" prediction. "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again" (Mark 9:31. Mark 9:30-37 is appointed for Pentecost 19). Once again the disciples are afraid. They do not understand. They have eyes but they do not see. They move on to Capernaum and their minds are on glory, not cross! After arriving in Capernaum Jesus asks his disciples what they were arguing about along the way. They are silent. They don't want to admit that they were talking about which of them was the greatest. They have ears to hear but they do not hear! Jesus speaks of cross; they speak of glory.
Once more, this time approaching Jerusalem, Jesus reveals his identity. "ƒ The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again" (Mark 10:33-34). Jesus speaks of the cross. The disciples stay fixed on glory. James and John ask him if they can sit one at his right hand and one at his left, in glory. (They did not know that the right and left hand were reserved for a couple of criminals and that the place for such honor was the cross [Mark 15:27].) Jesus speaks of the cross. The disciples dream of glory. How difficult it is to grasp the reality that Israel's long-awaited Messiah is to be a suffering Messiah.
Not surprisingly, the call to follow "on the way" with Jesus is a call to a cruciform life (Mark 8:34-38). Kelber explicates this very well:
It may be the single most important message the author wishes to convey: there is no life without death, and no Easter without crucifixion. The Markan emphasis lies heavily on the period of suffering and the crucifixion. He does not focus on Easter itself ƒ The resurrected Jesus, we shall see, never makes an appearance in the Gospel of Mark ƒ Discipleship is not derived from the glorified Jesus ƒ For Mark, to be a Christian means to follow Jesus on his way; to drink the cup of suffering; to be concerned with the salvation of others, and less „ if at all „ with one's own life and well-being.2
Homiletical Directions
There are a great many preaching possibilities for these two Sundays. During Lent it would be well to put the emphasis on Jesus' revelation of his Messianic identity as an identity of suffering. Such a sermon might well begin with the story of Peter's "confession." Peter has it right in principle. Truly Jesus is the Christ. But he has it wrong in content. Peter thinks of messianic glory. Peter's "confession" sets the stage for Jesus' self-revelation.
Tell next the three stories in which Jesus reveals his true identity: Mark 8:31; 9:30-31; 10:32-34. The focus of these stories will be on the necessity of Jesus as a suffering Christ. This is who Jesus is! Revealed to us through these stories is a God who says in effect: "I am God revealed in Jesus. I am a God who must suffer. I suffer in order to share in your sufferings. I identify with you when you suffer. I will walk with you when you suffer and raise you on the third day. I will walk with you in your trials and bring you to new life. I will die with you when you die and bring you with me to eternal life."
A second possibility is to use the entire section of Mark 8:21„10:52 as a source for stories. Story One would briefly give the context of the blindness of the disciples (Mark 8:14-21) leading to the two healings of blind men: Mark 8:22-26; 10:46-52. Jesus Christ has come to open our eyes!
The disciples, however, have eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. Tell the story of the three "passion/resurrection" predictions this time from the point of view of the blindness of the disciples. They hear but they do not understand. They hear Jesus speak of cross and they return to glory again and again. The key glory verses are: Mark 9:5; 9:33-37; 10:35-45.
Glory thinking is a fundamental hallmark of much of American Christianity. The American "gospel" is that if you truly believe in Jesus, then all of your needs will be met. Nothing can stand in your way. To be a Christian is to be bound for glory. This American glory thinking stands in stark contrast to Mark's cross thinking. Our eyes still seem blind to the heart of Jesus' message.
Story telling touching these realities can conclude with a reference to the fact that it is Jesus' intention to open our blind eyes in order that we might see him as the suffering, crucified Messiah. This story telling route can end in one of two ways. We can conclude by "speaking for God." Jesus' word to us today through these stories is, "I have come to open blind eyes. I have come to open your eyes. Hear me proclaim to you the necessity of my suffering. Hear me proclaim to you the inevitability of my death on the cross. Hear my story again and again. When you hear this story told I will be there to open your blind eyes. When you hear this story I will be there to call you to faith in my way of the cross. When you hear this story I will invite you to take up your cross and follow me."
Or this series of stories focused on the blindness of the disciples could end in prayer. Fashion a closing prayer that invites Jesus to open our blind eyes.
Still another route for a sermon on today's texts would focus on Jesus' call to take up his cross and follow (Mark 8:34-38). Here, too, we might tell the stories of Jesus' three "passion/resurrection" predictions along with the disciples' response: they choose the glory road. The structure for this sermon might be as follows: tell the entire text as a story. Make it clear in the telling that you want to highlight Jesus' call to self-denial and cross-bearing. Contrast Peter's confidence in his confession and Jesus' rebuke. Secondly, tell the stories of each "passion/resurrection" prediction along with the disciples' responses of glory thinking. Let Peter's response to Jesus' self-revelation be his wish to build booths on the mountain of transfiguration. Such is Peter's response to Jesus. At this point use as a refrain Jesus' word about taking up the cross. It would go like this. Peter says: "Let's build three booths and stay here." Jesus responds: "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
Move then to the second story of the disciples' response. The disciples say: "Which one of us is the greatest?" Jesus says: "If any want to become my followers ƒ."
Finally, tell the third story of the disciples' response. The disciples say: "Can we sit on your right and left hand in glory?" Jesus says: "If any want to become my followers ƒ."
You can end your sermon with these challenging words of Jesus ringing in the ears of your hearers. You may determine, however, that the eyes and ears of the disciples you preach to are no better than the eyes and ears of Jesus' disciples. In that case, ending your sermon with an open challenge won't get you or your hearers very far. It will be better to end the sermon with a prayer or a proclamation that calls forth the power of Jesus to lead us from fear to faith, from glory to cross. Open our eyes, Lord. Let us see!
____________
1. Werner H. Kelber, Mark's Story of Jesus (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979), pp. 47-48.
2. Ibid., p. 52.
