Sunday Music: Bach Cantata BWV 159
It is the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost. The title of today’s Bach cantata is “Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem” (Behold, let us go up to Jerusalem).
Today’s Gospel reading is Mark 8:27-38:
Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah
Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Jesus Predicts His Death
He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
The Way of the Cross
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
The text of today’s piece is available here. It contains these words:
Your Cross is already prepared for You,
where You will bleed to death;
here scourges are sought, there reeds are bound,
Your bonds await You;
Ah, don’t go there Yourself!. . . .
I follow after You
I will stay here with You,
through spitting and shame,
do not scorn me!
I will still embrace You on the Cross,
I will not leave You,
even as Your heart breaks.
I will not release You from my breast,
When Your head grows pale
at the last stroke of death,
And if You must depart at last,
Then I will hold You fast
You shall find Your grave in me.
In my arm and bosom.
Happy listening!
[Cross-posted at least The Jury Talks Back.]
Our church lesson today was Matthew 6:14-15:
That kind of struck me, that God won’t forgive your transgressions if you do not forgive the transgressions of others against you. Just to see if there was a mistranslation of Jesus’ words in the Message, I checked the NIV and it says pretty much the same:
So, as it applies to a comment thread, if you seek God’s forgiveness, then you must forgive those commenters who lie about you. I know that, for me, that’s not easy to do at times.
Paul Montagu (9dcfd2) — 9/16/2018 @ 10:17 amFinally, I hope this doesn’t touch too close to politics, but I was encouraged by what Mr. Douthat had to say.
My understanding is that God judges us the way we judge others so the less we care, understand, and forgive, then that is how we will be judged. I am no Biblical scholar so I don’t know if that is right, but I try (try!) to give others the benefit of the doubt I hope they give me.
DRJ (15874d) — 9/16/2018 @ 10:24 amReally Montagu, we question your credulity not your honesty, the golden rule applies.
Narciso (ad3ee4) — 9/16/2018 @ 1:13 pmWe?
Paul Montagu (9dcfd2) — 9/16/2018 @ 1:16 pmI’d rather keep political discussion out of these threads, as interesting and surprising as that result sounds.
Patterico (115b1f) — 9/16/2018 @ 1:54 pmGot it, Jesus wanted his deeds to be his signature, not any claim thAT could be seen as boasting. One might say he was socratic in that way.
narciso (d1f714) — 9/16/2018 @ 2:00 pmFair enuf.
Paul Montagu (9dcfd2) — 9/16/2018 @ 2:00 pm