The Second Sunday of Lent
March 4, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline
March 4, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 Romans 5:1-11 Mark 8:27-38
Grace, mercy and
peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text today is from the Gospel lesson just read, especially these
words, “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous
and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he
comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Thus far our text today.
Dear friends in Christ. Jesus asks two questions in our text
today. First – Who do people say that I am? Second – Who do you say that I am? Who am I?
What is my identity? And if you
get this question right, that you are blessed beyond all belief, but if you get
it wrong, you belong to Satan, you are setting your mind on the things of man,
and Jesus will be ashamed of you on the day he comes with angels in the glory
of the Father.
So… who do people
say that Jesus is? We have heard all the
answers. Jesus is a good teacher, he
shows us how to live a life worthy of God.
He shows us how to have our very best life now, and how to get along
with our neighbors. Jesus is my rich
uncle who wants me to be rich as well, so long as I follow him correctly. Jesus is a role model who shows us how to
organize our community to accomplish things that benefit the greater good. Jesus is a great prophet who gave us the 40
steps to live a purposeful life. Jesus
is an idea, a person we use to defend our own beliefs to people and places he
is the person we can make say whatever we want.
Jesus has been defined as all sorts of things to all sorts of people.
Dear friends, it
is the same in our text. When Jesus asks
the disciples “Who do people think that I am?” they respond, “Some say John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah;
and others, one of the prophets.”
Everyone had a different opinion.
And none of them are completely right.
Yes, there is some truth to it, but only half truths. Jesus is a prophet, in that he proclaims the
very word of God, but he is also more than a prophet. Jesus is like Elijah in that he performs
miracles, but he is more than that as well.
Jesus is a teacher, he is a role-model, he does want to share his riches
with us – but it is impossible to peg Jesus by using one of these terms
alone. There is something more about
Jesus, and we have to know and understand that first.
So Jesus asks the
disciples “Who do you, you twelve,
you followers, who do you say that I am?” And Peter answers right away, “You are the Christ”. He hit the nail on the head. Jesus must of smiled! You’re right Peter, you got it! You understand! I’m the Christ! You win the prize! And when we hear it, we join the chorus right
along with Peter! “Duh Pastor! Of course Jesus is the Christ, everyone knows
that.” But I ask you, what does that
mean? Who is the Christ? What exactly does that mean?
Peter didn’t know
either, so Jesus starts to explain it. “And he began to teach them that the
Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and
the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise
again. And he said this plainly.” Wait a minute, that’s not the Jesus I
want. That’s not my friend, that’s not
my role-model, that’s not my idea of who Jesus is. What’s the deal with the death and dying
business? That’s not who I want for my
Christ! Cool down your talk Jesus, lay
off your rhetoric!
Or so Peter
says. And dear friends, so too do
we. “Cool down this death of Jesus
business. Don’t talk about bloody deaths
and all that baloney. Just leave be
quiet and tell me how to make my family get along better, and tell me how to
live my life in a worthy way. Tell me
what I must do to be saved, because that’s the Christ I want. Tell me, so that I can do it all by
myself. That’s the Savior I want.”
Dear friends,
Jesus only has one answer for this kind of talk, only one response to us who
would reshape the Christ into who we want him to be – “Get thee behind me Satan!”
Get out of the way because the Christ must die. He must suffer many things at the hands of
unbelievers. He can’t leave your sin
behind for you to do what you wish with, he must take it upon himself, set his
eyes on Calvary and bleed, ooze, thirst and die for your sins. That’s what the Christ does. That’s his job. That’s why he comes, and the first and
primary reason. To save you from
sin.
People hear this,
and they laugh at us. People hear this,
and they criticize us Christians, they call us hypocrites and religious
fanatics. They say we are lunatics for
believing in all this Jesus and resurrection stuff, but friends that’s who your
Christ is – not just a teacher or role model, but a savior who saves by dying
in your place.
Any “Jesus” that
avoids the cross is not the true Jesus.
Any Jesus who doesn’t suffer is just a shadow of the true Jesus. Any Jesus who is just a regular guy, or only
a friends fails to fulfill the roll of Christ. Your Jesus, the Jesus of
scripture – not of popular opinion – wants to teach you about his death. He wants to make you rich, not with the
things of the world, but with the things of heaven where moth and mold cannot
destroy. He wants to be your role model
so that you follow him to the cross in your baptism, and rise with Him into eternity
apart from sin.
So, dear friends
in Christ, “Who do you say that Jesus is?”
Is he just a teacher? Is he just a role model? Is he just a man? No, He is the Christ – the sacrifice for your
sin. He is the one to take you from this
world to the next. He is the one… who
dies to save you from sin. Amen.
