Reading 11—The Turning Point
Read Mark 8:27-38
Near the middle of Mark’s gospel, Jesus, far from home in Caesarea Philippi, turns to his disciples and asks them two tough questions. First, “Who do people say that I am?” to which they respond with a list of possibilities: John the Baptist; Elijah; or one of the prophets. Then Jesus says, “Never mind what the others say – who do YOU say that I am?”
This time, Peter speaks up and answers him, saying “You are the Messiah.” So far, so good. But when Jesus goes on to explain that he will suffer and die and then be raised again, Peter objects, and finds himself being soundly rebuked.
Like us, Peter sees the world through human eyes and expectations, and cannot understand why the Messiah must suffer. Like others of his time, Peter had glorious expectation for the arrival of the long-promised Messiah.
Jesus begins to explain not only what it means to be the Messiah, but also what it really means to be one of his followers. God’s plan is not what we might expect, but instead involves giving of ourselves in order to gain the life that God wants to give.
This is a turning point in the gospel, because until now, Jesus has been traveling from place to place with no discernible pattern; teaching, preaching, and healing. Now he turns in a deliberate way toward Jerusalem and the cross.
Like the disciples gathered around Jesus, we are called to follow Jesus on the way. As Tom Wright tells us in his book, Mark for Everyone, this is Mark’s definition of being a Christian “and Jesus is not leading us on a pleasant afternoon hike, but a walk into danger and risk.”1 Yet we know that we will never be alone on this journey, and that a life spent following Jesus leads into the future that God has planned for us.
How might we answer those same two questions today?
Who do others say that Jesus is? And who do we—through our words and our actions—say that Jesus is?
When have you reached a turning point in your life? What has it been like to turn and follow Jesus?
Gracious God, you have called us to follow Jesus in the way of the cross. Strengthen and sustain us in faith as we loosen our grip on the things of this life, so that we may instead reach for the fullness of life with you. Amen.
The Rev. Ruth Ann Sipe is a second career pastor serving both Mt. Zion in Richfield and St. Stephen’s Gold Hill, with one foot in Stanly County and the other in Cabarrus County. She and her husband, the Rev. Ray Sipe, will celebrate the tenth anniversary of their ordination this fall.
