“Choosing a Cross” was the title of Rev. David Diller’s sermon based on Mark 8:31-38.   When Peter makes his great confession of Jesus as “the Messiah” or “the Christ” in the previous paragraph, he means three things: Jesus will display God’s power; Jesus will help our religious group get ahead; Jesus will defeat our enemies & put them in their proper place.   The Passion Prediction in today’s text is a point by point refutation of Peter’s “blessed hope.” (Titus 2:13)  Rather than be “Jesus the Great,” a mighty conqueror, Jesus will “suffer the loss of all things.” (Philippians 3:8)  Rather than help religious believers get ahead, Jesus will be rejected & persecuted by religious authorities & establishments.   Finally, rather than destroy & damn outsiders to a place apart from God, Jesus identifies with rejects & enemies by welcoming nonconformists to his table.  (Matthew 5:44)

Jesus says “Yes & No” to Peter & all religious institutions & theological systems.  Yes, I am the Messiah, but No, your ideas of a coming glorious Messiah are delusions.   Yes, I am the ultimate Word of God, but No, I do not give believers an advantage over non-believers.  Yes, I come to usher in God’s reign & realm on earth, but No, I make no place for myself by displacing others.