Mistaken Identity

In tomorrow's Gospel reading Matthew says that

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

The Apostle Peter is horrified to hear Jesus talk like this. He says, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you."

Jesus is trying to teach his disciples in the clearest of terms about what is going to happen, but they can't hear it. They can't see who Jesus is and what he must do, because they still see him not as the Messiah he must be, but the Messiah as they want him to be. It is a case of mistaken identity.

Many seem to want Jesus to be a priest and king in the sense of King David, who will lead them to overthrow the Roman's and to purify Judaism. Jesus is instead the Son of God come to set all humans free from their bondage to sin and to connect them to a new life lived more fully in a relationship with God.

How do we mistake Jesus' identity and mission still? In what ways do we miss who Jesus is because of who we want him to be? For some of us, this comes in seeing Him as a divine vending machine dispensing the miracles we want as we want them. For others it comes in a savior so non-judgmental that we can live as we will and just call it Holy. Or for others, He is a big meany Hell-bent on seeing us burn for our sins. With these false images of who Jesus is and how he wants to be involved in our lives, we can still fall into the trap of mistaken identity.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor