‘Who do you say that I am’ …
and what difference has it made in your life?
Proverbs 1:20-33 Psalm 19 James 3:1-12 Mark 8:27-38
Today (11th September or 9/11) is one of those landmark days in history as the world paused to reflect on the 20th Anniversary of the huge loss of life at the World Trade Centre in New York City. It is still a moment of a world gone mad, and which makes no sense alongside a cursory reading of Proverbs 1:33 … those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease without dread of disaster.
However, The Today Programme (Radio 4, Tuesday 7th September 2021) had an interview with Joseph Pfiefer, the first fire chief on the scene. It described how this devastating act caused the loss of many of there emergency service personnel, including his own brother. The interviewer asked did he feel traumatised at all, to which Pfiefer responded that it was more a question of ‘how can we be resilient in the face of such devastation?’ His answer came from his observation: first of all, we connect to each other, so as not to experience it alone; we reflect on the past and remember by telling the stories. Finally, we can begin to envision the future, learning how to make things better, get a new sense of purpose, and work to enhance the present.
It is a deeply profound insight, which perhaps may help to better understand how to read Proverbs with greater understanding. For whilst it is not possible always to avoid disaster, it is possible to not dread disaster, but live in security; the deep shalom of resting in God.
Resting in God’s shalom is a major theme both of Proverbs and the Psalms (Proverbs 9:10 & Psalm 111:10)
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction (1:7)
The wise look to the ways of the Lord, and fools despise instruction, so says the writer of Proverbs. By using personification of wisdom and foolishness in the first nine chapters as Lady Wisdom and Mistress Folly, the writer reminds us that we all share this human condition. For Wisdom and Folly accurately describe the ability of humankind to vacillate between acts of selfless devotion and utter selfish stupidity. You only have to read of the ‘egregious failings’ highlighting the hypocrisy of religions found by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, to understand this affects the church as well as anywhere. Worse still, is that such abuse has largely been covered up because of ignorance, disbelief and fear of upsetting the self-righteous.
Identity
The Jesus we meet in the Gospel never shies away from ‘speaking truth to power’, or mixing with the undesirable elements, as well as polite society, and of offering fresh insights. And so the perception of the writer of the book of Proverbs is deeply significant:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. (9:10)
The conversation between Jesus and the disciples on the way to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, deals with a question of identity, of what they know about who he really is. And the answers to this question are revealing – some people seem to have a grasp on the issues, others have a vague or hazy notion, and some clearly don’t see anything much at all.
The question is asked by Jesus, “who do people say that I am?” On the face of it, it may sound as though he is seeking to understanding public opinion from those who may help shape policy, but put the story in its context and you will find a very different motive.
Although St Mark’s Gospel looks a little short compared with other accounts, and doesn’t seem to have too much style, this deceptively short account of the life of Jesus is actually well crafted and carefully put together. So, if you were to count the verses in St Mark, this little account of the discussion with the disciples is exactly at the centre of the book. This pivotal point begins the Journey to Jerusalem, which as we know, ends with the passion, death and resurrection of Christ.
One of the downsides of bite-sized scripture readings, means we really need to widen the reading, in order to put this story in its wider context. Immediately before it is the story of the healing of the blind man at Bethsaida; the delightful tale where Jesus anoints the man’s eyes with spittle! And a little later, after the discussion and transfiguration, the disciples have reached Jericho where Jesus heals blind Bartimaeus (10:46).
So the whole episode could be described as one framed by healing of sight. Physical sight is a blessing, but spiritual insight is required in order to answer this deceptively simple question: who do you say that I am?
To answer this question properly involves not just intellectual assent, but a change of outlook and allegiance. Eyes need to be opened; minds must grasp just who Jesus is, which means looking beyond the popular miracle worker, or a renowned teacher offering good advice. Where knowledge of both the Jesus of Nazareth and of the Jesus the Christ come together, it informs worship and mission.
The crowds described Jesus as another Elijah or a kind of John the Baptist. But it is impetuous Peter who blurts out the truth. It would take Peter a good while to move from formulating a creed, to the place where it has become embedded as a life-style – which is really comforting when we too realise that it is easy to say what we believe, and harder to put it into practice.
Practice
We may feel we have lived through difficult days, but life in first century Palestine was no golden age. Look closely at the location of this gospel story: the conversation happened on the way to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Historically, it was here that the cult of the worship of Baal took place, and later on, according to Greek mythology, the cavern on the hillside was the birthplace of Pan. A deeply spiritual place, one might conclude. But for the disciples Jesus is just about to tease out the real differences between the local gods and the Son of the living God.
Starting from what may be relatively easy to describe with the question ‘what are people saying about me? Jesus skilfully moves from public opinion to the challenging and life-changing by delivering the direct and unavoidable question: Who do you say I am?
“This direct, unavoidable question, suddenly turns theology, from an arm-chair discussion, into uncomfortable dialogue between God and humankind. It focuses for the disciples the lesson which Jesus had been building and was to provide a basis for yet further understanding. In replying as he did, Peter highlights one of the essential themes of Scripture – God’s promised One had arrived.” (With apologies – I cannot find the source of this quote.)
In other words, the Christian faith is not just about good moral teaching. For the nature of discipleship is a process of coming to see, to perceive and understand who God is, who Jesus is as the anointed one and who we are in the light of his self-disclosure. It’s a process because very encounter we have with Christ seems to bring deepening understanding; the blind man could see a little but very hazily at first but then his sight became clearer.
And just in case anyone had begun to think that being a disciple of Jesus is a soft option, the way ahead is spelled out very clearly. While it it true that the gospel really is good news, the cost of discipleship is described in stark language, with no small print. It is about cross-bearing and losing life – and coming to terms with it. But it is also about grace, and receiving abundant life.
So, it was in Caesarea Philippi with its strange spiritual history rather than in the Temple or some other glorious place that Peter recognises in the itinerant, Galilean carpenter as the true master-builder: the Son of God. It is often in the most unlikely places that Christ is revealed; we catch tantalising glimpses of the Son of God and are drawn ever closer. Because it is in the multi-faceted and sometimes confusing brew of everyday life that discipleship must be lived out and worked out. Yet the God who gives sight to the blind and opens the eyes of the trusting to see him, offers himself through the name “Immanuel” – God with us
Worship at home 