Proverbs 1:20-33; Mark 8: 27-38

This scene is the turning point in Mark's gospel. Prior to this, everything Jesus does as a rabbi, a healer, and a miracle worker attracts crowds to him wherever he goes. The deaf hear the lame walk, the blind see, the dumb speak, and Jesus is the answer to everybody's prayers. Now, however, he's getting to the real point of his 'shtick,' and it's hard for the disciples to hear, because things have been going so well so far.

Mark is the shortest of the gospels, but it's a technical masterpiece. The very last healing story before this exchange is a marvelous example of Mark's literary brilliance. Jesus heals a blind man - twice. Jesus lays hands on him once, and he can see people standing around like trees. Jesus lays hands on him a second time and he can discern the details of their features. Here, in the same way, Peter gets a glimpse of the big forest of God when he confesses Christ as Messiah, but Jesus makes him look at the single tree that will become the cross of Christ, and Peter isn't ready for the news.

Like Peter, we find such teachings tough to accept. We imagine there are more sensible and less costly ways of finding God's will and purpose in our lives. As a result, we can become complacent about the church and about our faith. In spite of all that Christ has done and said, we have a difficult time with his terms, because Christ challenges our sensible ideas.

Woman Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares, she raises her voice. At the busiest corner, she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates, she speaks: "How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you."

There are three scenes in our reading from Mark. In the first, Jesus asks the disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" Clearly, there was a lot of talk about Jesus. People were impressed with him. They said, "He has done everything well." Their attempts to understand him were diverse - he is John the Baptist, raised from the dead; he is Elijah, preparing the way of the LORD; he is a great teacher, or even one of the prophets. There was a great deal of local speculation and people had a great many ideas about him.

In the second scene, Jesus asks, "'who do you say that I am?' Peter answered, 'You are the Messiah.' And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him." Now, on the one hand, Peter has caught a glimpse of Jesus that has escaped the notice of the crowds. On the other hand, Peter has yet to realize what he has seen, or what it might mean. Again, Peter has seen the forest, but he has failed to see the tree. We know that Peter won't see the tree until after the resurrection. His vision was still cloudy, or "simple."

Jesus attempts to build on Peter's simple vision. "He began to teach them that 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. He said all this quite openly. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him." Here, we could say Peter's understanding was "foolish." Another way of understanding that would be to say that Peter was too certain of what he knew to hear what he didn't know he didn't know.

The 'Word' that Jesus speaks to him seems foreign and strange. Peter 'rebukes' the wisdom of Jesus. This is the same word used when Jesus 'rebukes' demons. Peter wants to 'exorcise' this idea from Jesus' teaching. He is relying on his own understanding. He is drawing on his experience. He is so certain of what he knows that he is unable to allow what he doesn't yet know he doesn't yet know to penetrate. He is unable to hear the 'Word.'

Now, Jesus rebukes Peter, saying, "Get behind me, Satan! You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." We learn two things from this exchange. First, Peter's own understanding has made him an adversary to the one he had just confessed as being the messiah. Once again, the word "Satan" means adversary, or accuser. Peter has accused Jesus of being wrong, and has taken an adversarial stance against him. Jesus has identified this adversarial position as rebellious, disloyal, and demonic.

Peter has a choice to make. How certain of his certainty is he? Is there room in Peter's certainty for a foreign and strange word? Is there room in Peter's certainty to hear the Word that speaks of what he doesn't know he doesn't know? He has two possible choices. He can dismiss the Word as foreign and strange and walk away. Alternatively, he can hear this reproof, accept it, and become teachable. If he walks away, he will be scornfully rejecting the Word Christ has spoken. If he stays to accept this reproof with humility, he will learn what he doesn't yet know he doesn't know.

Jesus doesn't give him any time to think about it. He escalates the importance of his choosing, now, in the third scene. Jesus immediately calls the crowds together. He's been teaching his disciples privately, and openly. Peter still stands there, wrestling with his decision, but now, Jesus says, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." Peter stands with his foolishness exposed, raw and bloody, teetering on the brink between scornfulness and 'teachableness.' Jesus ups the ante, saying, "Those who are ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." Then, in the concluding verse of this teaching, which is the first verse in chapter 9, Jesus makes it clear that the time for decision is now.

Now, when Jesus says "adulterous and sinful," he's using the image of adultery as a metaphor for unfaithfulness (just as the prophet Hosea does). Are you going to be faithful to God's teachings? Are you going to be faithful to God's family and fellowship? Are you going to be faithful to the instruction you have received. Now, we should be hearing Woman Wisdom raising her voice, "How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you."

Mark's storytelling skill has catapulted us from watching a scene acted out between Jesus and Peter into a scene between Jesus and the crowd, and for Mark, we are the crowd. It's no longer Peter on the hook - it's you and I. You and I need to make a choice. Will we be faithful to Christ's interests, or will we pursue our own interests? Will we be open to Christ's teachings, or will we hold hard and fast to our own foolish ideas? Are we willing to accept a reproof for the manner in which we have failed to live out our response in faith, hope, and love, or will we reject the word of reproof and harden our hearts? You are Peter. We are the crowd. Can we accept Christ' s reproof against our unfaithful lives? Can we again be teachable? Will we hear wisdom's voice, and answer with our lives on the altar?

John Calvin opens his momentous work, Institutes of the Christian Religion, saying, "true and sound wisdom consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves." He says again, "What man does not remain as he is - so long as he does not know himself, that is, while content with his own gifts, and either ignorant or unmindful of his own [character]?" This leads Calvin to conclude that the fear of the LORD which wisdom calls us toward is in fact, humility. Humility only results when we look beyond ourselves to seek God, and in finding God (or being found by God) opening ourselves to being "teachable." Holding this trilogy of related terms in mind, we can say that the fear of the LORD, which wisdom wants us to find, is nothing less than true humility, which is an attitude of teachableness.

Our lesson also makes the case that when an attitude of teachableness is absent in a person, it is a lack of humility and wisdom. It is "setting the mind on human rather than divine things." It treats divine things scornfully, and this is why Mark's Jesus ascribes the name "Satan" to the character of Peter, who represents us, so long as we reflect his scornful, accusing posture. Let us not be simple; let us seek instruction. Let us not be foolish; let us accept reproof. Let us not be scornful; let us learn humility. As children of God, let us learn the humility of the cross, surrendering our lives in love to God and to our neighbors as ourselves. Let us heed the voice of wisdom.

(Comments to Michael at mphillip@epix.net.)

First Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Berwick, Pennsylvania (Susquehanna North Branch)