Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Mark (8: 34 – 9:1) in which Jesus says, “What gain then is it for a person to win the whole world, and ruin their life? Or indeed what can anyone offer in exchange for their life?”

Fr Paul says each of the three great prophecies of the Passion is followed by a misunderstanding by the disciples. This is followed by Jesus re-iterating that to be a disciple of his involves following him to glory by suffering. Several of the sayings in the Gospel occur elsewhere in the other Gospels; the Gospel may be composed of various sayings of Jesus, pronounced at different times and are gathered here together.

For the new converts at the time of the writing of the Gospels this may have involved bloody persecution, for it was a crime to refuse to acknowledge the Emperor as Lord, whereas the Christian would declare, ‘Never mind the Emperor, Christ is Lord’.

More likely it would involve isolation, cutting oneself off from family and friends. Going to the games or to the theatre would have been impossible because it involved a sacrifice to the gods, and there were little incense-altars found all over every Hellenistic city.

Towards the end of the Gospel comes one of the few occasions where Jesus uses the title ‘son of man’ with clear reference to the prophecy of the glorious Son of man in Daniel who receives all power and authority from the One of Great Age.

Fr Paul notes today’s Gospel Lesson – do I pick up my cross and follow Jesus or do I avoid it like the plague?