Second Sunday in Lent
Notes
Transcript
The Celebrity Setting -Caesarea Philippi
The Celebrity Setting -Caesarea Philippi
Caesarea- Caesar specifically in the rule of Philip the Tetarch
The starting point of the Jordan River, the site of some Baal worshippers being defeated in Judges 3, and 1 Chron 5.
Also the home of the Pagan God Pan, According to Eusebius they used to throw humans down this cave as sacrifices. You can see the Niche carved out for idols; pan was the Greco Roman God of nature & fertility.
v. 27 The question- Who do people say I am?
v. 27 The question- Who do people say I am?
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Who does the world say Jesus is? A teacher, a prophet, a great guy, a myth
In a world obsessed with celebrity, we are consumed with the idea of what other people think about us, how others identify us. Jesus isn’t asking for affirmation, He is teaching, guiding the disciples into the answer.
v.28 All prophets, all the time
v.28 All prophets, all the time
John TB, Elijah, Some of the best - what is the next thing that happens in ch 9? Transfiguration - I AM NOT THOSE GUYS!
These are the celebrities of Judaism! Greatest hits.
What’s interesting is that for the Jews of that time, they believed God had not spoken since Malachi about 430 yrs prior.
Hows does Mk 1:1 go
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Mk knows this and is revealing ‘those celebrity voices you heard, they were always the Word of God from Jesus.’
v. 29 Who do you say that I am? (All y’all)
v. 29 Who do you say that I am? (All y’all)
They (All the disciples) have already been entrusted with this knowledge:
And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables,
Peter answers for the group: You are the Christ.
Christos means Messiah or Anointed one. KINGS ARE ANOINTED
What Peter and probably many were expecting was a Kingly King!
I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
-reinforced by
For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.
Marks Gospel is unique in his particular portrayal of kingship.
v. 30 A different kind of Celebrity
v. 30 A different kind of Celebrity
Chicago mayor plaques (bus stops, statues, museums) - name repetition at the polls. Social media shares.
And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.
Marks Gospel portrays Jesus as the Suffering King.
And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.
Finally- we hear Marks profession of faith again.
And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Mark has built His gospel story to show us that true celebrity, the people we should really celebrate are not the great entertainers of the world but the great servants of the world.
Every other celebrity in our world is just a glimmering idol, a fart of a distraction, a wisp of humor. They cannot save you, often they can barely entertain you and even rarer do they serve you.
Here, in Christ we have true service, true honor, complete and total victory over what was presumed to be a total loss.
It is this realization that reframes the discourse of 8:31-38
v. 31-32 A life worth celebrating
v. 31-32 A life worth celebrating
Peter wants Jesus to be like every other celebrity
And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
Jesus, the suffering servant, says that God’s ways are not our ways. God must not be a far off celebrity He must be with us, for us, and in our stead. Our servant.
What this reading should cause you and I to do is recategorize all the things we celebrate in our lives through the filter of service.
At communion, we call it the eucharist, the true thanksgiving and the person that consecrates the meal is called the ‘celebrant’. Divine Service
Why? Because it is the Body and Blood of Christ FOR YOU! This is Paul’s point in Romans 5
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Did you catch that last part? We rejoice. It sounds like a celebration because the Blood of Christ has been used for a purpose. To bring you and I life, justice and peace.
This last week Jack- tornado Jack, has been going through a sleep regression. Nat and I take turns forgoing our hangout time to rock him and soothe him. I usually sing to him and we hit this first verse the other day:
Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
At the end of it Jack cheered, he rejoiced, he celebrated. Why? Because he saw the truth. In baptism you have been given the unique gift to recognize sacrificial love when you see it. Jack heard of this in the promise that God abides with him
He lived this promise through his parents sacrificially abiding with him.
Do you want to be a celebrity, do you want to join in the celebration? Pick up your cross. Do work. Lose your life in service to your God.
He has already lost His life that you may take it up.
Friends, its very un-lenty to say this. But this week Celebrate. Celebrate that your God has Come not only to be worshipped and adored but also to serve you and make you His own. Amen.