In our culture, great emphasis is placed on the opinion of the individual. We are told that our opinion counts; that our vote matters; and that our personal preferences are relevant. We are taught to think this way because it benefits the institutions we serve. In truth, an institution asks your opinion, 1) because it wants to increase its power, or 2) because it wants to increase its profit. At the individual's level, the one thing that does matter is the very thing that institutions fear: wisdom and its associated behaviors. Wisdom cannot be exploited or manipulated. Wisdom is honest and straightforward. Wisdom is bad for business.

Unlike our institutions, in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus does not care what anyone thinks. His only desire is the knowledge of God's teaching. He wants everyone to become wise by clinging only to the words of Scripture. He demands nothing of his followers except biblical wisdom. In fact, he cares so much about this wisdom—given for the life of the world—that he is willing to give his life for its sake. This is the glory that Jesus proclaims and it has nothing to do with the glory that Peter seeks. Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 8:27-38.

Episode 171 Mark 8:27-38; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Virtues Instrumenti” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/