Lectionary Reflection—03 September 2017
From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and legal experts, and that he had to be killed and raised on the third day. 22Then Peter took hold of Jesus and, scolding him, began to correct him: “God forbid, Lord! This won’t happen to you.” 23But Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You’re a stone that could make me stumble, for you’re not thinking God’s thoughts but human thoughts.”
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “All who want to come after me must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. 25All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will find them. 26Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives? What will people give in exchange for their lives? 27For the Human One is about to come with the majesty of his Father with his angels. And then he’ll repay each one for what that person has done. 28I assure you that some standing here won’t die before they see the Human One coming in his kingdom.”
I can remember the exact moment I read this passage. I was sitting in a friend’s house and we were talking about the Second Coming of Jesus. He took me to this passage and had me read it out loud.
“What do you think that means,” he asked me.
I didn’t have an answer other than some of the disciples wouldn’t die until they saw Jesus return.
“Right. And how many of them are still living?”
Blank stare from me.
“Exactly,” he said.
Notice again, “Then Jesus said to his disciples…For the Human One is about to come with the majesty of his Father with his angels. And then he’ll repay each one for what that person has done. I assure you that some standing here won’t die before they see the Human One coming in his kingdom.” Those are very bold statements. So bold, in fact, that some people believe Jesus was either wrong or a madman.
But I don’t think either. I think there’s a third option.
I think he was spot on.
But what could he mean? How could we think that Jesus was “about to” come “in his kingdom,” repaying people for what they’ve done, before some of those people standing with him died?
There are a bunch of theories about this. Some say it was the “transfiguration” that occurred just a few days after this (Matthew 17). Some say it was the resurrection (Matthew 28). And still others say it was Pentecost (Acts 2). The biggest problem with all of these theories is that most everyone was still alive. Sure, Judas was dead before the resurrection and Pentecost, but his lone death could not be considered “some” of those people standing with Jesus. In other words, Judas lone death could not be enough to warrant any of those theories mentioned (I mean, he wasn’t even dead before the Transfiguration).
So what event could have taken place within that generation that would constitute a coming of Jesus, rewarding people for what they’ve done, and the deaths of some of the people standing with Jesus that day?
The fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
By the time the war broke out in the summer of 66, most of the disciples had died (tradition tells us that only John the Beloved was still alive). And that event would fulfill the understanding of a “coming” of Christ with his angels. Leading up to the war, Jesus (and writers of what became the New Testament) warned his generation of the soon coming judgement (see Matthew 23-24; Mark 13; Luke 13; Luke 21; etc.). Notice again verse 27: “For the Human One is about to come with the majesty of his Father with his angels. And then he’ll repay each one for what that person has done.” This is exactly what Jesus said in Revelation 22, “Look! I’m coming soon. My reward is with me, to repay all people as their actions deserve” (verse 12). The only event in the first century that contains all of these things is the war between the Jews and the Romans.
But let’s go back a little further.
Leading up to this announcement, Jesus was talking about denying oneself, taking up one’s cross, and following him. What could this mean?
In the context of a first century fulfillment, Jesus was talking with his disciples, as we see from verses 21 and 24. And while I think it had specific meaning for them, I believe it can still apply for us today. But, again, what could it mean?
For some people, this means anything that’s “worldly.” You know, gambling, dancing, watching movies or television, eating certain foods, drinking alcoholic drinks or anything caffeinated, smoking a pipe, celebrating birthdays or holidays, etc. Basically, anything that might be deemed as “pleasurable” is seen as some people as “worldly.” But I don’t think that’s what Jesus, nor the writers of the New Testament, meant.
To understand what denying oneself and taking up one’s cross means, we turn to other places in the New Testament where this idea is fleshed out a little more (forgive the pun). Saint Paul has several things to say about this:
Romans 6.6: This is what we know: the person that we used to be was crucified with Christ in order to get rid of the corpse that had been controlled by sin. That way we wouldn’t be slaves to sin anymore…
Galatians 5.24: Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the self with its passions and desires.
Ephesians 4.21-22: Since you really listened to him and you were taught how the truth is in Jesus, 22change the former way of life that was part of the person you once were, corrupted by deceitful desires.
Galatians 3.5: So put to death the parts of your life that belong to the earth, such as sexual immorality, moral corruption, lust, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry).
In each of the passages, Paul talks about putting to death the parts of ourselves that were “controlled by sin.” While some people suggest that this is our complete selves, I disagree. Paul’s not suggesting that those people commit mass suicide. He’s talking about what the ancient Celtic Christians called the “false self.” The false self has buried the true self, the self that is made in God’s image (Genesis 1.26-27), but has never destroyed it (John 1.4-5).
It is this false self that Christ says we must deny. It is this false self that we must crucify daily. And we do that by following Jesus. When we follow Jesus, we see that he continually denied himself for the sake of others, even to the point of death on a cross (Philippians 2.8). When we deny our false self, we are denying selfishness and greed, power and lust. When we deny ourselves, we care more about the plight of others than we do about our own selves (Philippians 2.3). When we live this way, Christ said, we will lose our false selves and find our true selves.
~~~
In the Love of the Three in One,
Br. Jack+, LC
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