Son of Man

Today’s Gospel

Mark 8:27-38 King James Version (KJV)

27 And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? 28 And they answered, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.

29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. 30 And  he charged them that they should tell no man of him.

31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.32 And he spake that saying openly. 

And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. 33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. 36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

We have a powerful and memorable gospel reading this morning, centering on Peter’s confession that Jesus is the messiah long awaited by the Jews, in Mark’s Greek, ο χριστος, the Christ. They still don’t quite get it, though (it’s in Matthew’s gospel, written perhaps as much as a generation later, that Simon Peter says “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (MT 16:16)). Every written document has a message to tell, and an agenda, and part of Mark’s agenda is that even those around Jesus didn’t realize who he was (the Son of God). And as we know, the messiah was expected to be a political figure who would restore the throne of David. So, Peter’s shock that Jesus goes on to say that he is about to be killed and rise again, is understandable.

This gospel reading has interesting elements, including Mark’s repetitive, almost annoying, use of “and” to connect thought after thought after thought. And there’s the “Markan secret” of Jesus constantly saying, “Don’t tell anybody,” after which of course the word about him usually was spread like wildfire.

Jesus proclamation about us carrying our own cross is memorable enough and has inspired many hymns in the Church; but perhaps the most powerful and stunning thing in today’s reading is what he says at verse 38, about those who are ashamed to confess him, and especially about his coming again in the glory of the Father with the holy angels.

A bit subtle in the reading, perhaps because we are used to it and pass on over it, is Jesus’ use of the term Son of man. He does this variously in the gospels, to mean a human being, to refer to himself a bit obliquely instead of saying “I” or “me,” but here to link himself to the cosmic figure whom Daniel prophesied (Daniel 7:13-14),

“13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”

The allusion seems quite clear.

TW+