Of Satans and Saviors – A Prompting

by The Reverend W. Robert Martin
March 12, 2006

The theme for this Second Sunday in Lent is “OF SATANS AND SAVIORS.” The text is from the Gospel of Mark: “So Jesus, turning around and seeing his students, reproached Peter, saying, ‘Get yourself behind me, you Satan, because you are not thinking of God’s concerns, you are thinking of human concerns!’” Let us pray . . .

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The early followers of Jesus had three names for the influences in their lives that opposed or blocked what they understood to be the will of God–Diabolos (which means to “throw across”), Baalzebub (which means “Lord of the Flies”) and the name Jesus uses in our text today, Satan (which means “adversary” or “accuser”). In the Hebrew Bible, as in mainstream Judaism to this day, Satan never appears as most of us have come to know him–the heated supernatural leader of an evil empire, the corrupt commander of hostile spirits who make continual war on God and humankind alike! For as Elaine Pagel writes in her powerful book The Origin of Satan, “In biblical sources the Hebrew term “the Satan” describes someone who plays an adversarial role. It is NOT the name of a particular character!” The “Satan” can be anyone who takes on the specific purpose of “blocking or obstructing” another person’s path. And thus whoever is fulfilling the role of “the Satan” is serving as an adversary against the will and way of God in the life of another human being. Interestingly enough, the Greek term for a Satan is “Diabolos”, later translated as Devil, which literally means “someone who throws something across the path of another.

So maybe now we can begin to explore why the author of the Gospel of Mark uses the word Satan in reference to Peter. The Lectionary is a bit messed up this week because it leaves out Peter’s dramatic confession of who he thinks Jesus truly is! Alas, what the author of Mark joined together, the Lectionary now brutally rends asunder! For just prior to our text today Jesus and his students are traveling through the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And while they are in this Gentile territory Jesus asks his students a question: “Who do folk say that I am?”

His students begin to answer him–“Some say that you are John the Baptist! Others say that you are Elijah! Still others say that you are one of the prophets returned in glory!”

“But who do YOU say that I am?” Jesus quickly responds!

And so it is that Peter–good, dedicated, rock-solid Peter– speaks up: “You are the Messiah!” Peter blurts out–believing that he is fully cognizant of who Jesus is and the role he is to follow and the path he is to take. And don’t miss this crucial detail–for the title of Messiah was not one to mess around with–for the Messiah–the Anointed of God– was to be the one who would restore the Kingdom of David with a swift and mighty sword The Messiah was to be a warrior King filling the highways and the by-ways with the blood of Roman troops while ascending the Davidic throne with amazing glory and abundant honor! This is, more than likely, the image that is rumbling around in Peter’s head as he makes his passionate statement of recognition. This is the lense through which Peter now sees Jesus–believing him to be the Mighty, Kick-Ass Savior for whom everyone was waiting!

But wait–for now we must listen to what Jesus says in our text before us today! Instructing his students, Jesus says to them that the son of humanity will have no easy ride–for he will have to undergo many hard and difficult things. The elders and the high-priests and the cannon-lawyers will not rejoice over him but rather they will reject him! Jesus will not be welcomed into a royal court but rather he will be rushed off and hung up on a criminal’s cross. There will be no mighty sword to unsheathe–for instead, in its place, Jesus will be forced to take up the burden of misery and the broken-ness of suffering. There will be no honor bestowed upon him–only harsh and hate-filled beatings. There will no be glory given unto him–only the gory hammering of nails into flesh and his slow asphyxiation unto death.

So do you see? All that doesn’t sound very Messiah-like! How could Jesus claim to be the Son of Humanity–the peoples’ Messiah–without laying claim to the Davidic throne? How could Jesus fulfill the role of Savior of the people if he was to suffer, and be humiliated, and left for dead? How could he refuse to take up the sword when he could plainly see the suffering, and the pain, and the abject poverty of people living and dying under Roman rule? An eye for an eye–right? A tooth for a tooth! Vengeance is mine–vengeance is OURS–says the Lord!

Is it any wonder, then, that Peter, as Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message, “grabs Jesus in protest”–grabs him so as to shake some sense into the one whom he thought was a Savior, the one whom he thought was the peoples’ Messiah?

But Jesus’ response to Peter and his protest is swift and direct! “Get yourself behind me, you Satan–you who would block my path, you who would be my adversary as I follow on my journey, you who would have me take on a role that is radically different from the role I am called to live out and fulfill!”

And seeing his students wavering ,the author of Mark tells us, wondering what to believe, Jesus turns to them and says, “Peter, you have no idea how God works! Anyone who wants to come with me must now be willing to wash their hands and take up their own cross. All of you must refuse to run from suffering–for instead you must be willing to embrace it. So follow me now and I will show you how! Self-help is not help at all–for self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self! For what good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you, the God-given you? For what could you ever trade for your soul–although many of you have tried!”

“So here it is–up front and simple! If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I am leading you when you get around fickle and unfocused friends, if you feel self-conscious when I speak about my role as a different kind of Messiah, then know this well! You will be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Humanity when he arrives in all the splendor of God!”

“Get yourself behind me, you Satan! For you are not thinking of God’s concerns, rather you are thinking of concerns that are human!”

So there is our text today in context. There is our text today in contemporary terms. And I hope that by debunking both our understanding of Satan and our understanding of what Peter perceived to be the Savior’s role, we too might find some access to this text, some association with its meaning and its message. For how many of us here today are Satans–people who serve as adversaries against the will and way of God in the lives of other human beings. And let me be blunt about this! We are Satans when we buy products that are produced by folk who are paid minimally and who are preyed upon continually by corrupt corporate interests. We are Satans when we , as a nation, impose our will and way upon other countries–throwing stumbling blocks across their ability to self-govern while tenaciously blocking opportunities for them to self-determine their own futures. We are Satans when we allow some to live in luxury while others are forced to live in abject poverty–a reality as close to us as the over-pass to East Palo Alto! We are Satans when we intentionally throw stumbling blocks across the future of our faith community–locked in to what we believe is the right way, the liberal way, the only way, for our community to function and formulate its future yet to be.

“Get yourself behind me, you Satan!”–Jesus says to all of us this day! “For you are not thinking of God’s concerns–rather you are thinking of concerns that are human!”

But we must also acknowledge this day those things, those situations, those people, who are serving as Satans in the midst of our own life and living–those who are serving as our adversaries or as those who are blocking or obstructing our own life paths and journeys. Our Satans may be an employer, or a life-partner, or a situation toward which we cannot give voice. Our Satans may be an abusive parent, or an abusive spouse, or an abusive sibling–situations where we desperately need healing, and health, and wholeness. Our Satan may be someone who deals only in hate-filled gossip, or in in-house lies, or the manipulation of the truth for their own benefit–but still Jesus cries out to them, in support of us, “Get behind me, you Satans–for you are not thinking of God’s concerns–rather you are thinking of things that are human!”

It is Bishop Spong who writes, “No barriers could block the path that Jesus was taking! No obstacles could destroy the love of God that was seen in the life of Jesus. It was a love that swept over every human pain and pretension. It was a love that transcended the religious definitions of what was thought to be clean and unclean, holy and unholy. Such a love called for profound changes in the human psyche. Such love called for openness, for the death of prejudice, and for the end of any human isolation. Such love pushed every personal and political Satan aside—allowing people to journey freely on God’s path of grace, and tolerance, and trust!

It is that path—the path of grace, and tolerance and trust—that we are called to journey on this Lenten season. But to undertake such a journey we must be willing to acknowledge those Satans that are blocking our own path. So too, we must acknowledge if we ourselves are standing as Satans for others—throwing obstacles across their journey to wholeness and joy-filled living.

Today, at the Prayers of the People, you will be given the opportunity to come forward and to give name to those Satans that are blocking your path or those ways in which you are standing as a Satan for others. You then will given the gift of having your hands washed so that you can begin your Lenten journey anew—refreshed and released from all that binds and blocks your way! Thanks be to God! AMEN

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