Mark 8.31

Of all the gospels, Mark’s is the most radical, and the most demanding, it’s a manual for revolution. In Mark 8 we are now forced to choose sides, we are either for Jesus or a
sell-out. We cannot be fence sitters with splinters in our buttocks. Notice the pattern in the reading as ABCBA, kind of like a ham in a sandwich.

Peter: Jesus is Messiah

Jesus silences Peter

Jesus: Jesus is the Human One who must suffer.

Peter silences Jesus.

Jesus: Peter is Satan.

Jesus says who do you say that I am? Peter says you are the Messiah. Jesus swears him to silence. Jesus then says that he is the Son of Man, the supremely human one, and that for his vision of humanity shaped by love he will suffer and die. The religious people will not respond to the love Jesus has unveiled but will rather be disgusted at it. Jesus’s inclusive welcome is a threat to their position, prestige, and power. This is the opposite of what everyone expects, so Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes him. Jesus then rebukes Peter. Verse 33: “You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” The centre of the conflict is not outside of us, it is within, it is about the strength of our choice and commitment. Will we go the way of Jesus or will we sell out?