Jesus is the Messiah

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There are now, as there have always been, an array of people in this world who might be styled a “messiah” – a savior from this, that, or the other. Sometimes such a messiah's scope is rather limited – he will save his people from their taxes. Other times, the messiah comes to save his people from all that ails them. The particulars vary from case to case, but the general theme is nothing new. In fact, it is one of the oldest tropes in classical literature.

For an ancient example, consider Hercules. He was born of Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. His mission was to bring peace and justice to the people by accomplishing a series of seemingly impossible tasks, jobs which only he could do. By accomplishing these things, he brought freedom and peace from the tyranny of the infamously fickle gods. Finally, when Hercules was killed, it is said that he was assumed up into the company of the gods.

A more modern example, perhaps more familiar, is Harry Potter. Born of supernatural lineage, born to save his people from the dread oppressor, Lord Voldemort, Harry carries the hopes and dreams of the world on his shoulders as he journeys through the shades of darkness and deception, battling to defeat the powers of evil and free the world from tyranny.

Regardless of all the tropes and themes and figures we might find in the volumes of the world's literature, the question posed by today's Gospel lesson remains: what does it mean for us that Jesus is the Messiah? For what purpose has He come? Peter's confession is a harbinger of this, declaring for all the world the identity of Jesus as the promised Messiah, the Christ.

So who and what is the Messiah? This world teems with things tempting you to trust in them for your security and salvation. How about money, for starters? So much conversation these days revolves around money, and the lack thereof. The federal deficit, Social Security's slide toward insolvency, massive government overspending, corporate greed and waste – wherever you look, you can find some outrage being perpetrated with your money. The political polls say that for a large segment of Americans, the state of the US economy is the top issue in their minds this year.

No doubt, you watch your bottom line and see the ebb and flow of your fortunes. Last year was good, but this year may be lean. You face temptation to tighten your belt and start counting pennies. The temptation will come, as it has in the past, to trust the balance sheet and financial planner more than the Lord of the harvest, who sends the sun and the rain in their due seasons. It is all-too-easy to see money as your savior, your shield. If you get in trouble, just figure out what it costs to get back out.

Power is another false god to which many gravitate. If you only had the power to fix everything, then you could be your own messiah. If you only could get “them” out of your pocketbook, out of your personal affairs, out of your way, then you could handle yourself, and things would be grand. We just need our man in the White House, our party in the statehouse, our people in the government, and the glory of former years will be restored.

Whatever the guise, whatever the tactic, the false gods of this age are not the Messiah. The Messiah does not come according to your expectations, according to your job description. In fact, as St. Mark demonstrates, most people have no idea who Jesus is when He comes to them. He may be a powerful teacher; He certainly is a great healer and wonder-worker. But the Messiah? The promised savior of Israel? That's another story.

So, in the midst of a Gentile land, Jesus asks His disciples who they think He is.

And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

There was great confusion about who Jesus was, and just as great was the confusion about who the Messiah would be. But Peter's confession sets the record straight, and sets the program for the rest of the Gospel. The Holy Spirit had revealed to Peter that Jesus is the Christ – the Son of the Living God, as Matthew records it. This is great and wondrous news, news that should set the world atwitter. And yet Jesus strictly charged them to tell no one.

For all the truth in Peter's confession, the question yet remained – what does this mean? For what purpose, to what end has the Christ come into the world? Has He come into the world to assume the glory of the nations, to sit on the thrones of kings? Has He come to dispose of this sphere and issue in a new age of creation? Has He come to destroy us all?

None of the above. Jesus comes not in a blaze of glory, but in a normal birth from a virgin's womb. He comes not into kingly halls and princely garb, but into the home of a carpenter and the clothing of a servant. He comes not in earthly triumph over the powers of this world, but in humble submission to the will of His Father. He comes certainly not according to the expectations of any who might have been looking for Him. The Messiah will not be brought forth according to the plans and will of men, as St. John says.

Rather, the Messiah comes as the anointed one of God, to do the will of God. Jesus made this clear to the disciples: “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.”

The Christ came to suffer many things. He came to suffer hunger and thirst in the desert. He came to suffer the attacks and assaults of the devil. He came to suffer the mockery and insults of men. He came to suffer the abandonment of His Father. He came to suffer the punishment due for your sins.

The Christ came to be rejected. He came to be rejected by the chief priests and the elders because He did not seek to enhance their rigid, legalistic understanding of the Law. He came to be rejected by the governing authorities because He did not bow to kings or emperors. He came to be rejected by the people because He would not be their bread-king or their ticket out of paying taxes. He came to be rejected by His Father because He bore the sins of all mankind in His body.

The Christ came to be killed. He came to hand Himself over to the soldiers to be beaten, mocked, spit upon, and crucified. He came to die the death to sin once for all. He came to die your death. He came to be killed so that you might be made alive.

The Christ came to be resurrected. He came to run His course down to hell and free the captives from bondage to sin, death, and the devil. He came to burst forth from the tomb on the third day. He came to bring life and immortality to light. He came to destroy the record of sins and offenses that formerly stood against you. He came to be resurrected so that all might see the salvation of our God.

Therefore, in light of this glorious work of the Christ, “we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:11). Rejoice that the Lord has put your sins upon Jesus, that He has carried them to the cross, and that there they have been destroyed. Rejoice that your life is now secure in the Resurrected Lord Christ.

Since the Christ has now declared Himself to the world, since He has now fulfilled the mission for which He was sent, now He calls for you to follow Him, just as He called to His disciples in the Caesarean wilderness. He calls you to leave behind your false gods, to cast off your vain hopes for a messiah, to set down your burdens of idolatry and misplaced trust. He calls you to deny yourself and take up the cross.

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

Because the Son of Man has come into the world to bear your sin and be your Messiah, you have taken up your cross in Baptism, just as you put off your old self in the waters of your Baptism. You have been marked with the cross, so that you carry with you wherever you go the death of Jesus in your body, so that the life of Jesus is made manifest in you. You are not ashamed of the Gospel, but bear the holy cross aloft as your banner, because it is the ensign of the Christ, the Living God, who has become your life and salvation.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:10-11)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.