Follow the Leader

Follow the Leader

September 15, 2024    24th Sunday of Ordinary Time - B
by Dcn. Bob Bonomi

“Who do you say that I am?”  

With these seven words, Jesus puts his disciples on the spot.  

Picture yourself as one of the disciples.  Or better yet, picture yourself as Peter.  How would you answer?  You have been a follower of Jesus for some time now, and up to this point, through the first 7 chapters of Mark’s Gospel, you would have seen Jesus in action as he:

• Cured many people including YOUR (Peter's) mother-in-law, a leper, a paralytic, a man with a withered hand, a woman with hemorrhages, a Syro-Phoenician woman’s daughter, a deaf man who also couldn't speak, and a blind man
• Freed men who were possessed by evil spirits
• Preached many parables and then explained them to you
• Rebuked the wind and calmed the violent sea - twice
• Walked on water
• Fed 5000 men with five loaves and two fish, then later fed another 4000 men with seven loaves and a few fish
• Raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead
• Selected you and 11 others to be his Apostles

Pretty impressive, don’t you think?  Now, after all of these signs, Jesus turns to YOU, and asks, “Who do people say that I am?”

I try to imagine how he might have asked that question.  I mean, you’re all walking along the road, right? Headed for another town, kind of chatting among yourselves. No cell phones or other electronics to distract you. 

So, would he have asked the question in a casual sort of way?  “Hey guys, what do you think – who do people say that I am?  Or, would he have been more direct: “OK, tell me – who do people say that I am?”

In either case, the answers your fellow disciples give echo the same answers given to King Herod when he asked about Jesus earlier in Mark’s Gospel, shortly after he had John the Baptist executed.  His counselors tell him that Jesus might be John raised up from the dead, or he was Elijah, or he was just another prophet.  (Herod’s choice – Jesus was John whom he beheaded come back from the dead. From a guilty conscience, no doubt.)

But then, Jesus stops and puts you on the spot.
“But who do YOU say that I am?”

As Peter, in your usual brash and impulsive way, you jump right in.  “You are the CHRIST!”  Boldly!  With a sense of pride, maybe?  That sense of privilege that comes from being part of the elite inner circle? In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus even blesses you and promises you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. You’re probably feeling pretty smug about now, right?  You are Peter.  The Apostle.  The Rock.

But NOW, after all you’ve seen and heard, Jesus begins to teach you about how he has to suffer and die.  He’s being brutally honest with you, not hiding anything or pulling any punches.  He will rise again but he will be murdered. You refuse to believe it.

Who would blame you?  After all, think of all the wonderful signs that you’ve seen Jesus do, what you have heard him say. How could anything happen to him?  He’s the CHRIST!  He can do ANYTHING!

I think Peter may even be a little bit condescending.  He REBUKES Jesus!  And, isn’t there times in our own lives when we are so sure that we know more than those around us, especially to those closest to us, we presume we need to help them, correct them?

But Jesus is swift to turn on Peter and condemn his attitude of arrogance.  “You are thinking like a creature of earth, not of heaven.  Not as God does.”  Ouch.

Often, we don’t want to think like God.  We tend to develop a false sense of security and confidence when everything is going so well that we believe that it won’t change, and we refuse to believe that anything could possibly go wrong.  We would rather live in denial than admit that something tragic could happen to someone we know. To someone we love.  To US.  Jesus senses this in his followers and so he knows he must prepare them for the reality that is coming – His Passion and their own future crosses.  Not a future of earthly kingdoms and treasures, but a future of heavenly promises and an eternity with God.

Jesus turned from his disciples and called the rest of the crowd to him.  He challenged them - just as he challenges us – with a tough command:  Whoever wishes to follow me must deny himself and take up his own cross, and bring it to me. It sometimes reminds me of the old children’s game, “Follow the Leader”, where we may not know where the leader is going, but we must do whatever the leader does, or risk losing the game.

THAT’S who Jesus is.  He is our leader, and where he goes, we must follow.

One final point.  When we think about what is “our cross”, we may have a tendency to assume that Jesus only means our own personal problems.  That would be thinking as human beings do, but not as God does.  In God’s eyes, the cross we must pick up is often the cross of another, as Jesus points out in the parable of the sheep and the goats: “Whatever you do for the least, you do for me.”

And in his message today, St. James is blunt.  You cannot have faith in God if you do not act when you see someone in distress and you have the ability to do so. If we profess to be Christians - and to be a Christian is to follow Jesus our Leader - then when we see someone in distress, we must act according to our abilities.  That is our Cross, and we must embrace it willingly.  That is the only sure way to save our lives for eternity.

So, what is the correct answer to the question: “Who is Jesus?”  

The Messiah?  Our King?  God?  

All of the above.  He is our leader.  Follow Him.