Will we sell-out?
Matthew 16.21-28
A health farm that is set in a spacious 18th century mansion with luxury bedrooms suites, each with its own Jacuzzi, and a restaurant serviced by two cordon bleu chefs, seems to be something of a sell-out. Notions of a simple healthy lifestyle overlaid with the delights of the opulent. Is it that the one is an evident sell-out of the other?
The vast shopping centre proclaims itself as offering easy access to a huge range of products and services to all, but the need of a car to avail yourself of it, and the fact that the steel shutters you pass under to enter the complex mark this out as most definitely not open public space, seems to be something of a sell-out of the principles of open access.
Arrangements in one direct, so often amount to sell-outs in another. For us the contrasts of the market, free choice, social provision, and mutual care, come at us from all directions. The dilemmas hit us again and again.
Today’s Gospel reading takes place near the city of Caesarea-Philippi - this is the city of the sell-out. Here the Jewish faith, the Jewish way of life, the Jewish understanding of community, has sold out to the all pervading power of Greek ideas and Greek ways of doing things, and the Roman imperial structures that are the latest expression of those Greek influences. Like MacDonald’s in Moscow - the foreign has wholly displaced the local.
Caesarea-Philippi is a new town - only about 35 years old - a sign in itself of that thrusting adaptation to all that is modern. It was built by Philip Herod, son of Herod the Great, at the site of a grotto sacred to the worship of Pan, hence its first name, Paneas. Earlier still it had been associated with the worship of the Baalim. So it is a place of struggle between the old pagan gods and the one God. When Philip Herod named it Caesarea, the wining side was all too obvious. This is the place of the sell-out.
A similar struggle is going on in the hearts and minds of the disciples. They thought of themselves as faithful Jews, inheritors of the promise of Abraham, they would never compromise that faith as Philip Herod had done. I suspect they felt very uncomfortable in this place - they were at the very far north of what was considered Palestine - here the power of the pagans was all too apparent. Further south, although the Roman Empire controlled the place politically, at least they and people like them, outnumbered the imperial forces. Their Jewishness still predominated there - but not here. The threat of it is tangible. But they know where their true loyalties lie - no sell-out. To them Jesus fits their understanding of life, of power, of right relationships. How wrong can you be? They had sold-out - and Jesus is all too clear about that.
He had asked them who people considered him to be. That’s the beginning point for our passage. It is Peter, of course, who comes up with a momentous answer: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Understand this, for we take this to be a religious term, the “Jesus Christ” of our creeds and theology, a kind of religious surname. That’s how we see it, 2000 years on - but that is NOT how it was heard then. Near Caesarea-Philippi - where the roads, the buildings, the very livelihoods of the people, blaze out “Roman is all powerful,” Peter uses a term that speaks of another political power. Jesus, he is saying, is not simply a religious teacher, he is not simply a great prophet. NO, he is a royal figure who will restore the political fortunes of Israel. Peter is saying that the revolution is beginning, NOW. We will triumph because we have a leader. Peter has no idea, but this is the greatest sell-out of all - and Jesus immediately silences him and the others – “Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ” (verses20). If Caesarea-Philippi is a sell-out to imperial power, well so is Peter.
Free yourself of the cozy idea of Jesus and his disciples. A real struggle is going on here. The pattern shows the power of it -
Peter says Jesus is the Christ
Jesus silences him and the others - Don’t say that.
Jesus says he must suffer many things, even death.
Peter silences him - Don’t say that.
Jesus silences Peter - You are Satan.
Jesus presents a counter-confession, this Son of Man will come in glory but only after he has suffered these things. Peter’s refusal to acknowledge that makes him the mouthpiece of Satan.
Jesus is on the way, but are the disciples on the way with him? Remember the earlier words of Jesus in the parable of the Sower:
“When a person hears the message of the Kingdom but fails to commit himself to it, the devil comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.” (13.19)
The battle rages in the heart and souls of the ones who would be disciples. Those on the way find Satan very close and eager to diver them. The battle rages in our hearts and souls. Verse 23b makes it plain,“You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” - it’s about conviction, commitment. What he is saying is, is that there is no middle ground, you are either for the Jesus way, or you’ve sold-out. Matthew is telling us that we’ve arrived at the very heart of the conflict - and it is not “out there,” it is not someone else’s problem. No, it’s here - in our wills, in our choices, in our loyalties. And it has been like that from the start - the ones who would go on the way with Jesus are always tempted to sell-out. This is addressed to us - will we sell-out?
Everyone has their price. Peter, despite vowing self-denial, will in the moment of truth scurry to save his life. The rich man will turn away from Jesus because of his wealth. Judas will betray him for a small profit from the authorities. Everyone has their price - that’s us. Everyone has their price - except Jesus. On Golgotha, he will be reviled by his enemies for his commitment to “save” others but not his own life. Faithfulness to the Jesus way has no price - hear the economic references - verse 26, no profit, verse 26b, no return, verse 25, a dead loss. The very thought of profit and loss is a sell-out. Faith has no price.
When you are tempted to say “That’s not fair.” Faith has no price. When you say, “I can’t do that. I won’t do that” - never thinking that discipleship applies to the whole of your living - the simplest things of your behaviour. Faith has no price. When you say, “that’s nothing to do with me.” Faith has no price. When you fall for the easy shams of corruptive possessiveness. Faith has no price. In a million and one ways we stand with Peter and against Jesus. “At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said to him … and he broke down and wept.” Satan’s mouthpiece turned to the rock of the church’s foundation. This choice has got to move our hearts and our heads, be of actions, turn on its head the way we look at living - in getting it and fixing it in his soul, Peter is changed. It is no coincidence that tradition has Peter being crucified upside down - his discipleship literally turns the way he sees things upside down, and the cross of Jesus is the lens that enables this new vision.
There is no confusion about what cross means to those who are listening to Jesus. It has but one association in the Roman Empire - it was the way dissidents were executed. There’s no getting away from the political ramifications of it. 2000 years of piety pushes the cross safely into religious experience alone, but when Jesus used the word he was talking about a political and military punishment. It was inflicted on slaves, violent criminals, and unruly elements in rebellious provinces - not least Palestine - those who had no rights, those who had to be suppressed to maintain the empire, those who were expendable to safeguard law and order. Jesus asks his followers to face the consequences of daring to challenge the all-encompassing power of imperial Rome. Not to sell-out to it, the self-denial is that required of the one standing accused in the courtroom making the choice for Jesus and knowing the likely consequences. Ched Myers explains it this way:
The threat to punish by death is the bottom line of the power of the state; fear of this threat keeps the dominant order intact. By resisting this fear and pursuing kingdom practice even at the cost of death, the disciple contributes to shattering the powers’ reign of death in history. (Binding the Strong Man page 247)
Pursuing kingdom practice shatters the power of death, overturns all those things that allows greedy, violent power to have its way. Pursuing kingdom practice allows us to engage in the struggle against all those things that stop the reign of God in-breaking human experience and society. It simply asks us to resist always putting our self-interest first. It is tender with our rights, our self-understanding, our needs, and our experiences, but requires of us that those things don’t become the centre of the universe. Pursuing kingdom practice always means political, physical, social things - yes, and my soul and God, but NEVER just my soul and God.
Jesus calls us together, calls us to take up the cross, calls is to choose true life - that is the kingdom. Pursuing kingdom practice means overturning the forces of death wherever they show themselves. Anything less is a sell-out.
[With acknowledgement to the work of Ched Myers referenced above. His commentary on Mark has been adapted here to this parallel passage in Matthew.]
The vast shopping centre proclaims itself as offering easy access to a huge range of products and services to all, but the need of a car to avail yourself of it, and the fact that the steel shutters you pass under to enter the complex mark this out as most definitely not open public space, seems to be something of a sell-out of the principles of open access.
Arrangements in one direct, so often amount to sell-outs in another. For us the contrasts of the market, free choice, social provision, and mutual care, come at us from all directions. The dilemmas hit us again and again.
Today’s Gospel reading takes place near the city of Caesarea-Philippi - this is the city of the sell-out. Here the Jewish faith, the Jewish way of life, the Jewish understanding of community, has sold out to the all pervading power of Greek ideas and Greek ways of doing things, and the Roman imperial structures that are the latest expression of those Greek influences. Like MacDonald’s in Moscow - the foreign has wholly displaced the local.
Caesarea-Philippi is a new town - only about 35 years old - a sign in itself of that thrusting adaptation to all that is modern. It was built by Philip Herod, son of Herod the Great, at the site of a grotto sacred to the worship of Pan, hence its first name, Paneas. Earlier still it had been associated with the worship of the Baalim. So it is a place of struggle between the old pagan gods and the one God. When Philip Herod named it Caesarea, the wining side was all too obvious. This is the place of the sell-out.
A similar struggle is going on in the hearts and minds of the disciples. They thought of themselves as faithful Jews, inheritors of the promise of Abraham, they would never compromise that faith as Philip Herod had done. I suspect they felt very uncomfortable in this place - they were at the very far north of what was considered Palestine - here the power of the pagans was all too apparent. Further south, although the Roman Empire controlled the place politically, at least they and people like them, outnumbered the imperial forces. Their Jewishness still predominated there - but not here. The threat of it is tangible. But they know where their true loyalties lie - no sell-out. To them Jesus fits their understanding of life, of power, of right relationships. How wrong can you be? They had sold-out - and Jesus is all too clear about that.
He had asked them who people considered him to be. That’s the beginning point for our passage. It is Peter, of course, who comes up with a momentous answer: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Understand this, for we take this to be a religious term, the “Jesus Christ” of our creeds and theology, a kind of religious surname. That’s how we see it, 2000 years on - but that is NOT how it was heard then. Near Caesarea-Philippi - where the roads, the buildings, the very livelihoods of the people, blaze out “Roman is all powerful,” Peter uses a term that speaks of another political power. Jesus, he is saying, is not simply a religious teacher, he is not simply a great prophet. NO, he is a royal figure who will restore the political fortunes of Israel. Peter is saying that the revolution is beginning, NOW. We will triumph because we have a leader. Peter has no idea, but this is the greatest sell-out of all - and Jesus immediately silences him and the others – “Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ” (verses20). If Caesarea-Philippi is a sell-out to imperial power, well so is Peter.
Free yourself of the cozy idea of Jesus and his disciples. A real struggle is going on here. The pattern shows the power of it -
Peter says Jesus is the Christ
Jesus silences him and the others - Don’t say that.
Jesus says he must suffer many things, even death.
Peter silences him - Don’t say that.
Jesus silences Peter - You are Satan.
Jesus presents a counter-confession, this Son of Man will come in glory but only after he has suffered these things. Peter’s refusal to acknowledge that makes him the mouthpiece of Satan.
Jesus is on the way, but are the disciples on the way with him? Remember the earlier words of Jesus in the parable of the Sower:
“When a person hears the message of the Kingdom but fails to commit himself to it, the devil comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.” (13.19)
The battle rages in the heart and souls of the ones who would be disciples. Those on the way find Satan very close and eager to diver them. The battle rages in our hearts and souls. Verse 23b makes it plain,“You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” - it’s about conviction, commitment. What he is saying is, is that there is no middle ground, you are either for the Jesus way, or you’ve sold-out. Matthew is telling us that we’ve arrived at the very heart of the conflict - and it is not “out there,” it is not someone else’s problem. No, it’s here - in our wills, in our choices, in our loyalties. And it has been like that from the start - the ones who would go on the way with Jesus are always tempted to sell-out. This is addressed to us - will we sell-out?
Everyone has their price. Peter, despite vowing self-denial, will in the moment of truth scurry to save his life. The rich man will turn away from Jesus because of his wealth. Judas will betray him for a small profit from the authorities. Everyone has their price - that’s us. Everyone has their price - except Jesus. On Golgotha, he will be reviled by his enemies for his commitment to “save” others but not his own life. Faithfulness to the Jesus way has no price - hear the economic references - verse 26, no profit, verse 26b, no return, verse 25, a dead loss. The very thought of profit and loss is a sell-out. Faith has no price.
When you are tempted to say “That’s not fair.” Faith has no price. When you say, “I can’t do that. I won’t do that” - never thinking that discipleship applies to the whole of your living - the simplest things of your behaviour. Faith has no price. When you say, “that’s nothing to do with me.” Faith has no price. When you fall for the easy shams of corruptive possessiveness. Faith has no price. In a million and one ways we stand with Peter and against Jesus. “At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said to him … and he broke down and wept.” Satan’s mouthpiece turned to the rock of the church’s foundation. This choice has got to move our hearts and our heads, be of actions, turn on its head the way we look at living - in getting it and fixing it in his soul, Peter is changed. It is no coincidence that tradition has Peter being crucified upside down - his discipleship literally turns the way he sees things upside down, and the cross of Jesus is the lens that enables this new vision.
There is no confusion about what cross means to those who are listening to Jesus. It has but one association in the Roman Empire - it was the way dissidents were executed. There’s no getting away from the political ramifications of it. 2000 years of piety pushes the cross safely into religious experience alone, but when Jesus used the word he was talking about a political and military punishment. It was inflicted on slaves, violent criminals, and unruly elements in rebellious provinces - not least Palestine - those who had no rights, those who had to be suppressed to maintain the empire, those who were expendable to safeguard law and order. Jesus asks his followers to face the consequences of daring to challenge the all-encompassing power of imperial Rome. Not to sell-out to it, the self-denial is that required of the one standing accused in the courtroom making the choice for Jesus and knowing the likely consequences. Ched Myers explains it this way:
The threat to punish by death is the bottom line of the power of the state; fear of this threat keeps the dominant order intact. By resisting this fear and pursuing kingdom practice even at the cost of death, the disciple contributes to shattering the powers’ reign of death in history. (Binding the Strong Man page 247)
Pursuing kingdom practice shatters the power of death, overturns all those things that allows greedy, violent power to have its way. Pursuing kingdom practice allows us to engage in the struggle against all those things that stop the reign of God in-breaking human experience and society. It simply asks us to resist always putting our self-interest first. It is tender with our rights, our self-understanding, our needs, and our experiences, but requires of us that those things don’t become the centre of the universe. Pursuing kingdom practice always means political, physical, social things - yes, and my soul and God, but NEVER just my soul and God.
Jesus calls us together, calls us to take up the cross, calls is to choose true life - that is the kingdom. Pursuing kingdom practice means overturning the forces of death wherever they show themselves. Anything less is a sell-out.
[With acknowledgement to the work of Ched Myers referenced above. His commentary on Mark has been adapted here to this parallel passage in Matthew.]
