“AND HE SAID THIS PLAINLY”
Mark 8:27-35

There are a number of things in the Bible that are difficult to understand. Take today's Epistle reading, for instance. There, we hear those familiar, but sometimes controversial words, of St. James who poses the question, “ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?”

That question is often misunderstood. It seems as though St. James is saying that, in order to be saved, we need not only faith but also good works. In other words, it's not enough to simply believe in Christ; if you really want to be sure of salvation, then you also have to do good things to please God in order to make your salvation secure.

But a careful reading of the rest of the text helps to clear things up; for St. James goes on to say, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” By that, he means that it is impossible to separate faith from good works. If you have one, then you will necessarily have the other.

For not only the gift of faith flows from God, but the gift of good works comes from God as well. The Bible says, “ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” (Eph. 2:8). Faith is a gift. Likewise, the Bible also says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them,” (Ephes. 2:10).

The good works in our lives have been prepared by God for us to do. Through the indwelling of God's Spirit, we are able to do those things which God wants. The good works, therefore, flow out of faith just as heat pours forth from fire. Good works are the fruit of faith. In fact, it's impossible to speak of faith apart from good works, and vice versa. The two go hand in hand.

But, in the end, it is our faith in what Jesus Christ has done for us that assures us of complete and total salvation. The good works that we do are simply the way that we show our love and gratitude for what God has done for us; they are the evidence that genuine faith is truly there.

As was mentioned at the outset, the things that we read in the Bible are not always that easy to understand. That's why we must always depend upon the clearer portions of the Scripture to explain the less than clear portions. And there most certainly are passages of the Bible whose meaning is crystal clear.

Take today's Gospel reading for instance. Jesus began to teach His disciples 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 the text makes a special point to note, “And he said this plainly.”

So plainly—that Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him for talking in such a matter-of-fact manner. Peter had no trouble in understanding what Jesus was saying. He even heard the Lord's assurance that He would rise three days later. But, the rest of the cold, hard facts about suffering, rejection, and death were too plain, too clear, too brutal for his liking.

The modern-day Christian is no less sensitive to such plain talk. When we hear about our total dependence upon God, so that we can take no credit whatsoever for any of our blessings, we easily can be put off by such frank language. Or, we hear about the simplicity of God's work in our lives through His Word and Baptism and the Lord's Supper, rather than through some spectacular spiritual encounters and emotionally-stirring worship experiences, and we can become impatient for something more. Because, the simple fact of the matter is that that brand of Christianity is plain—just too plain—for personal tastes.

But thank God that He knows better than we do, as to how we must be spoken to; how we must be reached. For, far from being the kinds of clever religious people we imagine ourselves to be, whose tastes yearn for the more exotic rather than the more essential, God can see how vital it is that He speaks to us and reaches us by that which is most simple, most plain, most easily grasped.

And so we hear the Lord ask the simple, fundamental question , “Who do people say that I am?" And the disciples report the various ideas that the people have. Some think that Jesus is Elijah, or one of the Old Testament prophets, or even the martyred John the Baptist come back to life again. Those were profound, religious speculations, to be sure. But none of them were correct.

And so He put the question to the disciples themselves: "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ." And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

He strictly charged them not to tell anyone about His identity. Why not? Because those who didn't understand Christ's true identity weren't about to comprehend Christ's true purpose either—including, it turns out, His own disciples!

“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 .”

But His own disciples, including the spokesman for the group, Peter, could not tolerate the plain, simple truth.

Once again, people, we are all susceptible to the same dissatisfaction. For, each and every week we listen to the same message in the sermon of sin and grace, sin and grace, sin and grace. It is proclaimed plainly.

And each and every week, we make confession in the same words, that we are poor, miserable sinners. We state it plainly.

And each and every week, Christ offers us the full and complete forgiveness of all our sins and the assurance of life everlasting—it is presented very plainly in, with, and under the elements of bread and wine.

And each and every week, we still battle with our human reason which would rebuke Christ, rebuke His method of granting us His grace, which would rebuke the Church for remaining so conventional and plain in its determination not to stray from the basics.

Peter wanted something different. He wanted something more. And in his own fierce determination for something other than what God wanted for him and for His only-begotten Son, the Lord Jesus put him in his place , "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."

Jesus Himself knew the importance of relying upon nothing else other than what God desired to give Him, plainly spoken of in His Word. It is about Jesus Himself that even the words of today's Old Testament reading speak. Listen to Christ's own willingness to rely upon the elementary wisdom of the Word:

“The Lord G od has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord G od has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.” To put it simply, if the Lord could rely upon the plain truths of Scripture, then we most certainly can as well. “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.”

Christ invites us to cling to Him alone; not to grow discontent with the plain message that we are sinners and that He is our Savior; not to strike out on our own to walk our own, glorious, self-made path but, rather, to take up our cross and to lose our life, our pride, our superior attitudes which think that we know better than God what we really need. “Who among you fears the L ord and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the L ord and rely on his God.”

There are a number of things in the Bible that are difficult to understand. But there is no uncertainty over the fact that Christ speaks to us in His Word. And, that, in that Word He assures us that through His suffering, death, and resurrection, we have the gift of eternal life. He told it to us plainly so that we can trust Him absolutely. May God's Spirit move us to love that Word more deeply each day.

Isaiah 50:4-10

The Lord G od has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord G od has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. But the Lord G od helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord G od helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up. Who among you fears the L ord and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the L ord and rely on his God.

James 2:1-18

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "You sit here in a good place," while you say to the poor man, "You stand over there," or, "Sit down at my feet," have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? …If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. ...What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Mark 8:27-35

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