Was Jesus Just Cranky?
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...