GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 8:38
Knowing Him
received a message that a high school classmate had died. (These notices are coming too frequently now.) We had classes together, ate together, and played sports together. But the obituary had a long list of his benevolent activities, suggesting that I didn’t know him—at least, I didn’t know that side of him. Oh, he was always helpful and kind, but his generosity and benevolence represented a side of him that I didn’t know. He came to own a popular restaurant, but I didn’t know he employed troubled teens on the condition that they finish their education, stay away from drugs, and were always be at work on time. It was his plan to give them a head start.
There are reasons for not knowing someone. In Facebook terms, it’s known as “unfriending” someone. Back when colleges had faculty dress codes, one college where I taught required male faculty members to dress professionally, which was defined as wearing a jacket and a necktie. One colleague wore tattered jackets with an unknotted tie slung around his neck. I thought he had serious trouble with authority and that it would be best not to be in his circle of friends. I was friendly and courteous without knowing that colleague.
As Jesus talked to his disciples and the crowd at Caesarea Philippi, he said to them, “For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with his holy angels.” (Mark 8:38) Claiming association with Jesus carried serious consequences: alienation from Jewish friends, suspicion by Roman authorities, and ridicule from religious leaders. Jesus, however, made the case clear: be ashamed of the Son of Man now, and the Son of Man will be ashamed of you later. Father, may I never be ashamed of knowing the Son of Man.
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