Beware... elders, chief priests, teachers of the Law

In the weekly Bible study it was Mark 8:27 that started the discussion and train of thoughts with reflections by the handful of men on Zoom and in-person. For some reason the part about Jesus predicting his suffering and death by the hands (or mouths) of elders, chief priests, and teachers of the Laws [Pharisees] stood out. Stopping to consider the status or foundation of authority in each class of person categorized here, 'elders' take authority by genealogy entitlement, 'chief priests' by title held, and 'teachers of the Law' by virtue of intellectual merit. As the passage continues, Jesus communicates that none of these automatically confer righteousness or holiness. While it is possible such a ranked person can be pleasing to God, it is not a given; in fact, the baggage of perceived self-image can be a burden that gets in the way of such a person being able to see or hear God's will.

Stepping back a little further, this pattern continues in which Jesus is showing and telling that the relationship of This World (consumerism of the 21st century, too) to God's Kingdom is topsy-turvy; paradoxical; upside-down: the last shall come first, you much lose your life to gain it, the vinyard workers paid equally no matter how long they spent in the fields, and so on. Perhaps the "sound byte" verson of Jesus' teaching begins with "God is Love" (but so much can be unpacked from that compact statement) and then could be summed up as "things are not how they look." So be thoughtful to discern if you truly are hearing God's voice or some other source. Be vigilant ('trust but verify' as President Reagan told Premier Gorbachev) when someone claims to speak God's teaching or will. In the end, Jesus does not want the "mountain-top experience" that he has with Peter, James, and John. Rather, it is going down to the valley where the Gospel work is to be done. In other words, The World is not a place to shy from, filled with distraction and other forms of temptation; nor is it to be embraced blindly. It is imperfect, but since Christianity is an "embodied" (lived in time and space, requiring physical effort and friction and obstacles to overcome) form of religious practice, it is precisely in "The World" where one's spiritual muscles can exercise and the place where growth is possible.

As the passage is put in BibleGateway.com in the translation by Hawai'ian Pidgin English, here, those with ears to hear and eyes to see should beware of "the older leaders" (elders), "the main priest guys" (chief priests), and "the teaching guys who teach God's Rules" (teachers of the Law). That is a lesson to all who seek after God's presence in the world past, present, and future.