Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 2/25/18 at St. Timothy. Lutheran Church.  The text was  Mark 8:31-38.  Immediately before today’s gospel reading, Jesus had asked his disciples who people say that he is. This is where the light went on for Peter and he made the confession, “You are the Messiah” (Mark 8:29). Peter certainly gave the right answer and was likely thinking of the attributes given to whoever would be the Messiah. The Messiah, people thought, would deliver them from the crushing rule of the Romans. The Messiah would fight their enemies. Basically, the Messiah was a strong king-like figure. But, now Jesus fleshes out for Peter and others what that is going to look like. They were completely unprepared for the reality. “Jesus began to teach them” (v. 31). Hadn’t he been teaching the disciples all along? Maybe, but this was different. This wasn’t teaching about miracles and healing. This is the turning point in Mark’s gospel, marking a ne...

This is what I preached Sunday at St Timothy , Bemus Point and St. Mark , Mayville. The gospel text is Mark 8:31-38 . What is your first impression of the exchange between Peter and Jesus? Peter rebukes Jesus and then Jesus rebukes Peter. This is a very puzzling text, a real head scratcher. One might say that Jesus was having a bad day and was really mean and cranky with Peter. After all, Jesus did have a lot on his plate, especially with everyone's expectations of him as their messiah. What was so wrong about Peter's response to Jesus' news about suffering, being killed and rising?After all, Peter loved Jesus and cared about what would happen to him. Put yourself in Peter's shoes. Peter could not imagine his messiah and friend being subjected to such horror.  Wasn't  Peter responding in a way any loving friend would? Let's be honest with each other. Do any of you wonder why Jesus is talking like this?  Let's see what we can discover tog...