FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

Jesus, the Christ

He is the Messiah, the Christ.

Mark has led us through the public ministry of Jesus. Yet we still are not sure who he is or why he is here. He has been called teacher, rabbi. He referred to himself as the Son of Man. He heard God call him beloved, son. And then he asks. He wants to know what the crowds think, but more than that he wants to know what we think. The identification of Jesus’ messiahship is for the few around him. The ones committed to his work, the ones willing to leave all to follow, they recognize him, or do they? What does it mean to name Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one?

Some will say he is king, maybe king of the Jews in the lineage of the great king David. Some will think savior, a warrior who will lead a conquering Israel as did Joshua. Others maybe dream of the whole world ruled by one who is God’s representative, God’s emperor—a world of peace and prosperity especially for those now left out of the good life. Still others may see a priest who will restore the purity of the faith and bring the people to repentance, and all of society will finally follow the law. The Messiah, some imagined, would finally restore the world to its rightful order; God’s reign would begin and all nations would know the Lord.

How would it happen? With an uprising of faithful soldiers say some; with the defeat of the secular powers and the return of rule of the godly under the banner of the Christ, thought others. But Jesus talked of suffering, of dying, of servanthood. Jesus felt called to this mission. God had chosen him to bring salvation, as messiahship suggests, but the way he described was difficult and painful. Following is hard.

How do you understand Jesus’ mission, call? Do you too have a sense of being chosen of God for particular role?

Jesus Christ, open my heart so that I too may hear and follow, may be the one God calls me to be. Amen.