Are We There Yet?

The Second Sunday in Lent

February 25, 2024

Mark 8:27-38

 “Journey to Joy: Are We There Yet?”

Anyone who has ever taken a road trip with young children knows how it works. It feels like you’ve got most of your house packed up and loaded in your vehicle for the big drive. Snacks, games, activities are all prepped and ready to go, along with all the other necessities needed for the trip. Finally, the kids themselves are strapped in, you back out of the driveway, and away you go! And before long, it happens – much sooner than you think it should. A little voice pipes up from the backseat: “Are we there yet?” For many years, my wife and I went through this when our girls were little, driving out to see family in Iowa each summer. Been there, done that! It’s only the Second Sunday in Lent, but we might hear that little voice inside us already asking: “Are we there yet?” Lent can sometimes seem like a really long journey over the course of these forty days. Sometimes we might feel like that youngster stuck in the backseat on a long drive, staring out the window, just doing what you need to do in order to get through it. But we are on a “Journey to Joy” – that’s the theme for preaching in this Lenten season. And so we want to lay claim to that joy as we journey with Jesus to the cross and to resurrection victory on Easter Sunday. Based on today’s Gospel lesson, the message for today is entitled “Are We There Yet?” May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

Jesus and his disciples went on road trip in today’s Gospel lesson. In the three years of Jesus’ ministry, they actually went on quite a few road trips, walking all over Galilee and Judea. And now they were way up north in the area of Caesarea Philippi. Did they get tired and cranky along the way? Maybe they were “hangry” at times. Maybe they even said something like, “Are we there yet?” Scripture doesn’t tell us this, of course, but the disciples were people just like you and me, subject to all the ups and downs that go with this life. There at Caesarea Philippi was a large grotto dedicated to the worship of the Greek god, Pan. Its walls were carved with many niches where many images were placed, and it’s here that Jesus asked the disciples that probing question: “Who do people say that I am?” (Mark 8:27). Answers vary: John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets. But then Jesus zeroes in: “But who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29). No one can answer for us when Jesus asks us that same question. We must all answer it for ourselves. Is Jesus just another god in the pantheon of many gods, ancient and modern? Is he merely a great teacher? A good moral example for the ages? If that’s all Jesus is, then we’re in trouble. In behalf of all the disciples, Peter answered: “You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29b). That’s a true statement, of course, but a bold one. Popular opinion held that the Christ, the promised Messiah, would be a conquering warrior who would throw out the foreign occupiers and restore the glory days of David. But that’s not who Jesus was or is. His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). Are we there yet? Not by a long shot! Peter’s confession of Jesus will lead Jesus to reveal what being the Christ means, and it’s not at all what Peter thought it would be.

“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. And he said this plainly” (Mark 8:31-32a). There it is – that’s what being the Christ, the Messiah, looks like. It’s not a theology of glory, but a theology of the cross. Jesus’ crown would not made of gold, but of thorns. His throne would be the wood of the cross. This is the first of Jesus’ three Passion predictions in Mark’s Gospel (Mark 8:31-32; 9:30-32; 10:32-34). Jesus makes clear to his disciples what the journey ahead is going to entail, but they don’t understand. It’s so radically different from anything they had been taught or expected, it’s just mind-blowing. Each of the three Passion predictions is met with confusion on the part of the disciples, which is then followed up by clarification from Jesus. So we see this 3-part pattern three times: prediction, confusion, clarification. The journey to joy for Jesus will only be through his suffering and death. Peter proceeds to rebuke Jesus for this because it’s not supposed to be like this for the Messiah. But how many times have we done what Peter did? We don’t understand what’s happening in our life; it doesn’t make sense. Why is God allowing this to happen? To be sure, that kind of questioning can come from a place of faith and trust, but it can also come from a place of unfaith and distrust. When it’s the latter, we want a detour around God’s plan. We want God to do things our way. It’s not “Thy will be done,” but “my will be done.” Jesus’ sharp words sting: “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Mark 8:33). Like Peter, Jesus needs to set us straight. Jesus’ mission must take him to suffering and death upon the cross. That is God’s plan of salvation: to redeem and restore all things in Christ (Luke 24:25-26). The crib of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem will lead him to the cross of Calvary, all for us and for our salvation. Without this, the joy of Easter is emptied of its meaning.

Jesus called his disciples, and he calls each one of us today, to take up our cross and follow him. We do so only because Jesus first bore the cross for us, giving his life for us upon that cross. It all flows out from what Paul the apostle writes in today’s Epistle lesson (Romans 5:1-11): “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). In thanksgiving, we respond to all that God in Christ has done for us by seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33). This is where our journey of joy takes us – to a new identity, a new life, a new purpose and meaning. Even when we get impatient along the way, even when we cry out in frustration from the backseat, “Are we there yet?”, Jesus is still in the front seat. He’s still in the driver’s seat of our lives. He’s leading us day by day, loving us as no one and nothing else can. In this joyful confidence, we take up our cross to follow Jesus, trusting that “nothing in all of creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

 Are we there yet? Nope – we’ve still got many days ahead of us in this Lenten season. But with Jesus walking at our side to strengthen and sustain us, this journey really is a journey to joy. It already is a journey of joy. May the Lord who has begun this good work among us bring it to completion in the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6). Amen.