Solving for X, Where X = Messiah

The Cross is not an event long ago, we still are called to go with Jesus where suffering persists.

 

Jeremiah 15:15-21
Psalm 26:1-8
Romans 12:9-21
Matthew 16:21-28

©The Rev. Seth Olson 2023

Holy God, let my words be your words and when my words are not your words, let your people be wise enough to know the same. Amen.

Back in grade school, Algebra was my favorite math class. I lacked the gift of spatial imagination for Geometry. Trigonometry never quite agreed with my brain. Algebra though—that was my sweet spot! Theoretical enough to excite my inquisitive nature and straightforward enough not to make my head hurt. I still recall the strange pleasure of solving for “X” on some particularly difficult questions in the pressure moment of a final exam. You may be thinking, this guy is a nerd—and while you are quite right—algebraic thinking actually aides us in understanding today’s Gospel lesson. Stick with me, I promise I will make it easier—and maybe even a little more fun—than a math class.

Let’s start with a warmup question. 2 + X = 4. To solve this, we try to isolate the X on one side of the equation, and we do this by subtracting 2 from both sides. In this case we discover that X = 2. You probably did not need any algebraic training to tell you that that 2 + 2 = 4. Still, this way of thinking is a useful skill when we happen upon a problem like in today’s story from Matthew. It seems we have the end of an answer, but we are missing a component that leads us to that answer. To put it into the language of an algebra problem: Jesus + Suffering = X. To discover the answer we actually have to link back to last week’s Gospel lesson.

In the previous text, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you all say that I am?” Peter boldly replied, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” Ding! Ding! Ding! Peter got it right, at least at first. As we turn the page over to today’s story, which picks up soon after Peter’s affirmation, we find that this disciple is taking Jesus aside saying, “God forbid [you undergo suffering or death]! This must never happen to you.” Jesus recoiled at his disciple like a venomous viper, “Get behind me Satan. You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” You may wonder, why was Jesus so angry? The answer lies in our algebra problem.

Jesus + Suffering = X. The X is already on one side of the equation by itself, so we don’t have to move it, but Peter was trying to remove something from the equation nonetheless—he wanted to take away suffering from Jesus. Regardless of the disciple’s protestation, Jesus knew he was not only to undergo suffering, but also death and eventually after three days resurrection. Jesus + Suffering + Death + Resurrection = X. Peter already solved the problem for us last week, and I bet you also know the answer. “X” equals Messiah. The trouble is that while Peter named Jesus as the Messiah, he also wanted Jesus to be a certain type of Messiah.

On the surface, the disciple wanted what was best for his teacher—not to undergo suffering. If the world had been different, if people at that time—human beings fascinated with power, pleasure, and privilege; people not unlike us—if those back then had supported Jesus, his teachings, and his identity as the Messiah, Peter’s desire would not have conflicted with Jesus’ mission!

We may even wonder, could God have done things differently or could Jesus’ Messiahship have gone in another direction? Of course, this is God we are talking about here! And yet, something different did not happen. We are made very good in the image of God, but we do not always live into this truth. In today’s story of Jesus, we see this in the powers of that day—religious, political, social, and otherwise—not accepting who Jesus was—the Son of God, born of a woman, the Savior who came to set us free. Without acceptance of this truth, God’s plan of salvation was not so easily achieved.

Jesus healed, fed, and taught things like, “God loves you. And if God loves you, you are now called to love God, to love your neighbor, and to love yourself,” but this was not enough. Instead, the way Jesus lived into his true identity, as the Messiah—the anointed one set apart to redeem the world—lead down a dangerously challenging path.

For God to show divine love for us human beings—no matter what—something else, some other variable, had to arise. This variable was so shocking that even Peter—the person who pegged Jesus as the Messiah—could not handle it. What was this variable? It was the most audacious, most profound, and most clear sign of God’s love for us. It was what Jesus pointed to in today’s Gospel lesson—the Cross.

The Cross was a hellacious torture device, designed not only to kill, but also to humiliate the convicted in the process. And yet, undergoing crucifixion was the way that God signified divine love for us, it was a way that God showed us that nothing can separate us from God. And, before you think this was simply something that Jesus did on our behalf long ago, know this: the Cross was, is, and will be not only the Way of Christ, but also our way. As the Daily Office puts it in the Collect for Fridays, “Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace” (The Book of Common Prayer, 99).

We are called to walk in this way now and always. As we do, I invite you to notice the shape of the cross anew. This device with intersecting beams was the way that God chose to intercede at a very particular time in human history. God Incarnate crashed into the humdrum, everyday-ness of our lives trying to heal, feed, and teach. How did we respond? We reacted as a species by betraying, torturing, and killing him. Jesus willingly faced this—emphatically emphasizing that nothing, not even our worst thoughts, feelings, actions, and behaviors—no, nothing will separate us from God’s divine love. Jesus’ arms extend from the hard wood of the cross into the past and into eternity. And so, God is with us always, but especially when we are persisting through hardship.

When our lives are difficult, when we are in the midst of suffering, when we stare death in the face, we do not do so alone. Our Messiah is with us always. Jesus was crucified once for all, but the love enacted on the Cross continues eternally. Thus, Jesus reigns on the throne of the Cross still whenever and wherever suffering persists.

Jesus is on the Cross with those in the wake of Hurricane Idalia, Maui wildfires, or Californian earthquakes. Jesus is on the Cross with all those who are facing hatred based upon their skin color, creed, sexual orientation, gender, or any other defining attribute. Jesus is on the Cross with all those who bear chronic pain, addiction, abuse, violence, or isolation. Jesus is on the Cross with all those who care for those in need and those who suffer for the sake of conscious.

Jesus is on the Cross with those who put themselves in harm’s way to protect the highest virtues and values of our country and our world. Jesus is on the Cross with the outcasts, the poor, the hungry, and the homeless. Jesus is on the Cross with you and me whenever we are hurt, broken, or abandoned.

Jesus is with us always, and this is supremely good news. And, there is more! This passage is not only about recognizing Jesus’ true identity as the Messiah. For once we accept this reality, we must see with clear eyes what Jesus’ Messiahship is. It is not being a warrior king—overpowering others, reigning on a golden throne, and coercing minions to follow arbitrary rules, which may have been Peter’s hope. Instead, Jesus was to be the Crucified Messiah. Meaning that God came to be with us not for power, prestige, or riches, but so that we might experience God’s grace—that is favor, undeserved and unearned. God gave us grace when we humans killed God Incarnate. This is a hard truth to confront, but as we do, we also have an opportunity to respond to this truth.

Jesus on earth walked with those who suffered, he now invites us to do the same. This is how we live into the truth that Jesus is our Messiah. We take up our crosses and move with him—going to the places where suffering lives. Offering healing and love to the hurting and pain of this world. It may be terrifying to enter these places of suffering both within and outside us. Still, to save our lives, we must give them away. In this paradoxical exchange we find something surprising—as we give away our lives to God, we receive new life in Christ. We are called by Christ to live in this brave space.

Jesus says to us, “If you want to become my followers, deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me.” May we claim Jesus as the Crucified Messiah who is with us always. May we be like Christ going where suffering persists. May we walk the way of the Cross—giving away our life, as we experience new life in Christ.