As Bob Stuenkel, one of our beloved pastors, points out, I often use cultural and media references in my preaching and teaching. And so it was to those sources that my mind went to as I prepared this reflection. I thought of the wonderful British movie from 1994, Four Weddings and a Funeral, which follows a group of friends as, in the course of a year, they attend, well… four weddings and one funeral.
My sermon title, and the heart of this week’s Gospel text, is this: Three Kings and Two Gods. This is a reference to the location of the events the text describes, and also to the answer to the burning questions of who and what Jesus is. The answer begins with three kings and two gods (the reason for the lowercase g will soon become apparent).
This encounter is located in and around the “villages of Caesarea Philippi” (vs. 27), which is to say, in its suburbs. The original city was gifted by Caesar Augustus to King Herod, when it was called Paneas after Pan, the god of the wild and of shepherds and flocks. So, if you’re counting at home, that’s two kings and one god so far. Herod the Great’s son, Philip, rebuilt the city, named it after himself and Augustus (hence its biblical name) and had a great temple constructed within it, dedicated to Augustus.
When Jesus approached the city, pausing to teach in its suburbs, he completed the ensemble of kings and deities in my sermon title. Thus, the encounter became a choice: Which king, which kingdom, and which god are you going to devote your self to? And here, “self” is used in the Greek sense which Jesus uses in this text, psyche – all that constitutes the self; one’s inner core (vs. 35f).
Peter makes a great confession: “You are the Messiah” (vs 29), but then reveals that he has no idea what kind of Messiah Jesus actually is. In fact, Peter might just as well have stuck with what others said of Jesus – that he was John the Baptist (Just as Herod Antipas thought – see 6:16), or a new Moses, or Elijah returned (minus his chariot of fire or course!). This lack of understanding leads to Jusus rebuking Peter in the same way in which he rebuked demons during an exorcism (vs. 31-33).
This is a distinct turning point in Mark’s Gospel before which was an extended buildup towards who Jesus is; and after which the meaning of his identity becomes clear. He is the Messiah (it is no longer a secret – a unique Markan hiding of his true identity in what scholars describe as the Messianic Secret). And, Jesus will suffer, be executed, and rise again (hence Peter’s confusion – he is close, but no cigar!).
Jesus teaches about discipleship (vs. 34-38) to those who wish to follow him. This is not a mere aside, for the early Christians named themselves not Christians but People of the Way. And this ‘Way’ includes a journey not unlike the one in which the Twelve find themselves: from Caesarea Phillipi (vs. 27f), to the Mount of the Transfiguration (9:2), to Capernaum (9:33), to Judea (10:1), focusing on their destination of Jerusalem (10:32), then Jericho (10:46), and then to Jerusalem itself (11:1). On their ‘way’ they learn much, think deeply, encounter the lost and the broken, are stretched spiritually and physically, and then experience the suffering of their beloved friend. All the while, the words of Jesus must have echoed in their ears and hearts (as it echoes in ours!): “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it” (vs. 34-35). And all this, in the midst of “this adulterous and sinful generation” (vs. 38). In other words, remaining faithful, even to death, in the midst of the prevailing culture, by giving the core of oneself (psyche) to the one true King and the one true God.
