22 Pentecost b P.24 October 21,2018
Job 38:1-7, (34-41) Psalm 91:9-16
Hebrews 5:1-10 Mark 10:35-45
Job 38:1-7, (34-41) Psalm 91:9-16
Hebrews 5:1-10 Mark 10:35-45
Lectionary Link
I would like to tell you something about what biblical scholars call the "messianic secret." Why is Jesus often presented as saying to everyone, "Shhh, don't tell anyone about who I am and this fabulous things that just happened to you?" And why is it that the disciples are presented as people who can confess that Jesus is the Messiah but do not know what kind of Messiah he is? The meaning of the Messiah is even kept from Peter and the disciples. This is seen in the notions held by the disciples as presented in today's Gospel. Apparently, James and John once regarded the Messiah to be triumphant political and military figure who would take over the world and this Messiah would need vice presidents and cabinet members to sit next to him in his earthly administration. After all, the Caesar needed generals and administrators, surely any worthy Messiah would need right hand men. "And Jesus, can me and my brother be your top leaders in your administration?" The nature of the Christian Messiah was a secret even to the disciples who walked with him.
Now why was the Messiah a secret in the time of Jesus but not a secret to St. Paul?
The members of the early church understood the difference of the Risen Christ Messiah and how no one understood how Jesus was Messiah before his death and resurrection. Jesus of Nazareth was confessed to the "the Messiah" but his contemporary did not yet know what his Messiahship meant.
How could Jesus be a Risen Christ Messiah whose community was spreading steadily and stealthily under the radar of Roman detection to become formidable household communities in widespread cities and yet he was not recognized as truly great in his own time?
The Gospel writers used this "messianic secret" explanation to try to show why Jesus became more popular after he lived than he was in his own time.
The disciples who are presented as clueless about the messianic secret were just like all of the Jews who remained in the synagogue and could not accept Jesus as a Messiah who fit their conceptions of a Messiah, one who would be a King like David and evict the Romans and give Israel back their land.
The disciples later experienced the Risen Christ; so the essence of the Messiah for them was the resurrection. How could Jesus on the cross be understood as a Messiah? He was the suffering servant messiah written about in the prophet Isaiah.
The suffering servant Messiah was also the one who said to be great is to be the servant of all. Politicians are often called, "public servants," but only a very few actually live up to that billing.
The early churches as they grew in the cities of the Roman Empire were churches of people who knew the messianic secret. They were a "suffering servant" church. The house churches became micro-communities to integrate people arriving in the cities who were without the families and extended families of their former rural environs. The house churches were Johnny-on-the-spot for the urban immigrants. The churches gave them an identity and they received an initiation into the experience of the Risen Christ, whom they came to know as their Messiah, even though as Gentiles, they did not really have a "Messiah" tradition.
The early Christians, starting with Peter and Paul became a servant church; they saw the evidence of the Risen Christ and the Holy Spirit in the lives of Gentiles who did not even know what a Messiah was. Peter and Paul and other Jews who followed Jesus, understood Jesus as a suffering servant Messiah. They served the presence of the Risen Christ as he came to be known in the life experience of many new Christians, Gentile Christians. The early church was not a visible and powerful political organization. It did not have imposing power on society, but what it had was a faithful, silent, steady servant mentality and this was known chiefly in hospitality to new people.
The servant churches of the first century in the Roman Empire consisted of people who had discovered the messianic secret. They had learned that service made them great because it is the spirit of service which is most expressive of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Service may not be flashy but it is always winsome to the people who need to served.
The failure of the church today is that we've become too important; we often live without knowing the messianic secret: Jesus was a suffering servant messiah. We too will know the messianic secret as we discover the secret of service. Amen.
I would like to tell you something about what biblical scholars call the "messianic secret." Why is Jesus often presented as saying to everyone, "Shhh, don't tell anyone about who I am and this fabulous things that just happened to you?" And why is it that the disciples are presented as people who can confess that Jesus is the Messiah but do not know what kind of Messiah he is? The meaning of the Messiah is even kept from Peter and the disciples. This is seen in the notions held by the disciples as presented in today's Gospel. Apparently, James and John once regarded the Messiah to be triumphant political and military figure who would take over the world and this Messiah would need vice presidents and cabinet members to sit next to him in his earthly administration. After all, the Caesar needed generals and administrators, surely any worthy Messiah would need right hand men. "And Jesus, can me and my brother be your top leaders in your administration?" The nature of the Christian Messiah was a secret even to the disciples who walked with him.
Now why was the Messiah a secret in the time of Jesus but not a secret to St. Paul?
The members of the early church understood the difference of the Risen Christ Messiah and how no one understood how Jesus was Messiah before his death and resurrection. Jesus of Nazareth was confessed to the "the Messiah" but his contemporary did not yet know what his Messiahship meant.
How could Jesus be a Risen Christ Messiah whose community was spreading steadily and stealthily under the radar of Roman detection to become formidable household communities in widespread cities and yet he was not recognized as truly great in his own time?
The Gospel writers used this "messianic secret" explanation to try to show why Jesus became more popular after he lived than he was in his own time.
The disciples who are presented as clueless about the messianic secret were just like all of the Jews who remained in the synagogue and could not accept Jesus as a Messiah who fit their conceptions of a Messiah, one who would be a King like David and evict the Romans and give Israel back their land.
The disciples later experienced the Risen Christ; so the essence of the Messiah for them was the resurrection. How could Jesus on the cross be understood as a Messiah? He was the suffering servant messiah written about in the prophet Isaiah.
The suffering servant Messiah was also the one who said to be great is to be the servant of all. Politicians are often called, "public servants," but only a very few actually live up to that billing.
The early churches as they grew in the cities of the Roman Empire were churches of people who knew the messianic secret. They were a "suffering servant" church. The house churches became micro-communities to integrate people arriving in the cities who were without the families and extended families of their former rural environs. The house churches were Johnny-on-the-spot for the urban immigrants. The churches gave them an identity and they received an initiation into the experience of the Risen Christ, whom they came to know as their Messiah, even though as Gentiles, they did not really have a "Messiah" tradition.
The early Christians, starting with Peter and Paul became a servant church; they saw the evidence of the Risen Christ and the Holy Spirit in the lives of Gentiles who did not even know what a Messiah was. Peter and Paul and other Jews who followed Jesus, understood Jesus as a suffering servant Messiah. They served the presence of the Risen Christ as he came to be known in the life experience of many new Christians, Gentile Christians. The early church was not a visible and powerful political organization. It did not have imposing power on society, but what it had was a faithful, silent, steady servant mentality and this was known chiefly in hospitality to new people.
The servant churches of the first century in the Roman Empire consisted of people who had discovered the messianic secret. They had learned that service made them great because it is the spirit of service which is most expressive of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Service may not be flashy but it is always winsome to the people who need to served.
The failure of the church today is that we've become too important; we often live without knowing the messianic secret: Jesus was a suffering servant messiah. We too will know the messianic secret as we discover the secret of service. Amen.
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