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March 08, 2009
“On What Is Your Mind Set?”
Mark 8: 31-38
Sunday, March 8, 2009
How do you refer to yourself? How do you sign your letters and e-mails? A friend of mine once made fun of me for the way I sign my e-mails. I either sign Dave Horner or my initials DLH. My friend said that people know who my e-mails are from because of the e-mail address so I really didn’t need to sign my last name. But I identify myself as Dave Horner, so that is how I sign. St Paul often referred to himself as the chief of sinners or as an Apostle by the Grace of God. The Apostle John referred to himself as the Beloved one or the one whom Jesus loved.
Jesus’ favorite term for himself was the enigmatic term “the Son of Man”. Now at first it might seem to us that that term was confusing and might imply just the opposite of what we claim about Jesus. Those of us who believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus might find it awkward to call him the Son of Man. After all, we believe that he was the son of a woman and the Holy Spirit. He was strictly speaking not the son of a man. Of course the term Son of Man could be used to refer to him as being the son of a human, which he was.
But when Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man he was not speaking of his human origins at all. He was using a term which came from the Old Testament. More specifically, it came from the Old Testament scripture we read as our first lesson this morning.
This lesson from Daniel 7 is obviously a description of God’s presence. Some might say it is a description of God in his throne room. It is also a depiction of Judgment day. In verse 10 we read that books were opened before God. We have read passages like that before and we know that the book contains names and deeds that are to be judged by God.
This judgment seems to be upon beasts. There is one preeminent beast that has been mentioned in Daniel’s prophecies and this one beast is slain and its body thrown into a blazing fire. Other beasts are also mentioned and they are stripped of their authority but allowed to live for a while longer.
Then into this scene of judgment comes another splendid person. Let me read to you once again what Daniel wrote about Him in verse 13 & 14. He was “coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before Him. To Him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.”
This everlasting king is given a title in the beginning of verse 13. This title is impossible to find in the English translation we are reading this morning because of what you might call a generic translation. In our translation Daniel writes “As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven.” but the Hebrew text that is here translated “One like a Human being” would be better translated into English as “one like a Son of Man”. In Israel the phrase Son of Man had become one of the lesser-known terms for the long-expected Messiah.
When Jesus spoke of himself as the Son of Man he was saying to those who knew the term that he was the one described in this passage of Daniel, the Everlasting King who was to come. The Apostles understood who he was claiming to be. And that is why Peter was so confused by what Jesus said in our Second Lesson.
Mark wrote that Jesus began to teach them 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.” Peter was stunned. For Jesus to speak of the Son of Man, the glorious everlasting king who would judge and rule over all nations and people forever as suffering and being rejected and killed was inconceivable to Peter. It was totally against all that he had come to understand about the coming Messiah.
Peter was right to expect the Messiah to come. He was right in believing that Jesus was that Messiah. He was wrong in thinking that the role of Messiah would always be glorious, that there would be no degradation and suffering before the glorious reign.
So Peter attempted to take Jesus aside to explain to him that If Jesus was the Messiah he ought not to speak of himself as suffering and being killed. He was, after all the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the great and eternal judge.
As Peter began to rebuke Jesus in that manner, Jesus said to Peter in front of the rest of the 12 “Get behind me, Satan! That seems pretty harsh doesn’t it? But Jesus recognized in Peters rebuke the temptation that came from Satan that we read about last week.
I hope you remember that Satan came to Jesus in the wilderness to tempt Him. One of the temptations involved Satan suggesting that Jesus throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple so that the angels could fly in and save him in full view of the people so they would immediately recognize him and revere him as the Messiah. That would allow Jesus to be honored as the Messiah without the suffering which God had ordained for him.
Jesus recognized in Peter’s rebuke the same temptation that Satan had presented. Last Sunday we saw that in the temptation in the wilderness, Satan took Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple and tempted him to throw himself down. Satan argued that God it was predicted in Scriptures that God would send his angels to rescue the Messiah so he would not strike his foot against a stone. All the people seeing the angels rescue Jesus would easily believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
Both Satan and Peter wanted Jesus to be promoted to Glory without any suffering. Satan desired it as a way of ruining God’s plan for Jesus and defeating him. Peter had more pure motives, he just wanted Jesus to be glorified without the suffering. Surely this would be best for all concerned.
But Jesus told Peter that he was “setting his mind not on divine things, but on human things.” Now when I read Jesus response to Peter, I am reminded of certain battles between the genders that I have been involved in. Sometimes the comment is made that one is “such a man” or that one is “Thinking just like a man”. Well, those of us who are men don’t consider that to be a fault. We are men and are for the most part pleased that we think like men.
So those of us who are human (which would include all beings in this room who are occupying space), fail to see the insult here. Of course Peter is setting his mind on Human things. And so, for the most part, do we. And a part of the human way of life is to avoid suffering. We take pills to alleviate major and minor pains. We pay extra for appliances that remove the most labor from us or provide more instantaneous service for us.
So, according to the human way of thinking, surely God would not send his Messiah, the Son of Glory, the everlasting king of kings, to suffer. The problem is that He did send the Messiah to suffer. And to die.
And, to make matters even more difficult, he wants those who follow his Son to think more like God. He wants us to be humble, he wants us see that it is sometimes in God’s plan to bring glory out of suffering and pain. And he wants us to be willing to suffer to help others.
After Jesus rebuked Peter, he turned to the crowd and called them to suffer. He called them to take up crosses and follow him. In those days a cross was not a piece of jewelry or a decoration on the pastor’s robe. It was only an instrument of death. It was the electric chair or the wall in front of a firing squad. Except that it exacted much more pain and suffering in death than those other instruments of death.
Jesus invited his followers to follow him in being willing to suffer and die for others. He invited them to place other considerations above their living pleasant, luxurious, and pain free lives.
We are not to be embarrassed of Jesus or of his words or of his people or of his demands that we be willing to suffer.
Now please do not misunderstand Jesus or me. Please do not go out those doors determined to suffer for Jesus. Please do not figure out how to increase your suffering or how to cause yourself to suffer more. There is no reward simply for suffering. The reward is in doing God’s will, even if it requires suffering. Just be willing to suffer for him. Recognize that suffering for Jesus is not bad, that God’s glorious plan is often revealed to sufferers and that God sometimes turns us into much better people through our suffering.
Jesus accused Peter of setting his mind on human thoughts rather than on divine thoughts. What kind of thoughts is your mind set on? Do you have the mind of Peter or the mind of Christ? Are you primarily seeking to keep or raise your standard of living, or are you seeking to do God’s will in all things even if doing His will involves suffering in some way?
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at March 8, 2009 02:49 PM