I wonder who Jesus is to you? How do you think of Jesus?

In 1977, large swathes of the UK gathered around their televisions to watch ‘Jesus of Nazareth’. For many people, Robert Powell became the face of Jesus. With the music, the programme captured the imaginations of many. Robert Powell’s interpretation of Jesus, under the direction of Zefferelli, was almost other-worldly. Jesus was not like that. Jesus was rooted amongst real people in a context where people were under occupation, yet laughed, danced, and celebrated, as well as mourned, wept, and offered lament.

I remember singing in school, the hymn, ‘Gentle Jesus, meek and mild’. Jesus was gentle, but he also was strong, kind-hearted, yet firm. In this passage from the gospel, Jesus has just been confessed as Messiah. Jesus has ordered his friends to tell no one.

Jesus begins now to tell the disciples that he (Jesus) must suffer and die. This was not what was expected of the messiah. The messiah, the chosen one, had been long expected. Whispers of the coming of someone who would inaugurate the kingdom of God had echoed down the centuries. It was peppered throughout the Old Testament. Now he was here. Jesus stood in their midst. The excitement would have been palpable.

And Jesus bursts that balloon. Jesus was the Messiah. But he was a different sort of Messiah. No wonder Peter was shocked, perhaps even disappointed or angry. This cannot be. Jesus confronted Peter. You are not in tune with the thinking of God. In fact, you are thinking like the evil one.

Jesus goes on. If you want to follow me, you must take up your cross and follow. You must deny yourself. Jesus is, for Christians, not an optional extra, but some one who asks us for our everything, whilst at the same time walking alongside us.

When I was much younger, I remember being very upset. I was at home in Sheffield. My dad wanted me to talk to him. He was desperate for me to talk to him, to tell him everything. Instead of talking, I ran to the park in the rain. My dad ran after me. He was recovering from a cancer operation (I believe). My dad caught up with me as I sat on the grass in the rain. We sat in silence in the rain and he hugged me.  That is how Jesus walks alongside us. That is the kind of God that demands our everything.

Tybed pwy yw Iesu i chi? Sut ydych chi’n meddwl am Iesu?

Ym 1977, ymgasglodd rhannau helaeth o’r DU o amgylch eu setiau teledu i wylio ‘Jesus of Nasareth’. I lawer o bobl, daeth Robert Powell yn wyneb Iesu. Gyda’r gerddoriaeth, daliodd y rhaglen ddychymyg llawer. Roedd dehongliad Robert Powell o Iesu, o dan gyfarwyddyd Zefferelli, bron yn arallfydol. Nid felly oedd Iesu. Roedd Iesu wedi’i wreiddio ymhlith pobl go iawn mewn cyd-destun lle’r oedd pobl dan feddiant, ond eto’n chwerthin, dawnsio, a dathlu, yn ogystal â galaru, wylo, ac offrymu galarnad.

Dw i’n cofio canu yn yr ysgol, yr emyn, ‘Gentle Jesus, meek and mild’. Roedd Iesu yn addfwyn, ond roedd hefyd yn gryf, yn garedig, ond eto’n gadarn. Yn y darn hwn o’r efengyl, mae Iesu newydd gael ei gyffesu fel Meseia. Mae Iesu wedi gorchymyn i’w ffrindiau ddweud wrth neb.

Mae Iesu’n dechrau nawr i ddweud wrth y disgyblion fod yn rhaid iddo ef (Iesu) ddioddef a marw. Nid dyma a ddisgwylid gan y meseia. Yr oedd y messiah, yr un a ddewiswyd, wedi bod yn hir ddisgwyliedig. Roedd sibrydion dyfodiad rhywun a fyddai’n urddo teyrnas Dduw wedi atseinio ar hyd y canrifoedd. Roedd yn brith trwy gydol yr Hen Destament. Nawr roedd yma. Safodd Iesu yn eu canol. Byddai’r cyffro wedi bod yn amlwg.

Ac mae Iesu’n byrstio’r falŵn hwnnw. Iesu oedd y Meseia. Ond roedd yn wahanol fath o Feseia. Does ryfedd fod Peter wedi cael sioc, efallai hyd yn oed yn siomedig neu’n grac. Ni all hyn fod. Wynebodd Iesu Pedr. Nid ydych yn cyd-fynd â meddwl Duw. Yn wir, rydych chi’n meddwl fel yr un drwg.

Iesu yn mynd ymlaen. Os wyt ti am fy nilyn i, rhaid i ti gymryd dy groes a dilyn. Rhaid i chi wadu eich hun. Nid rhywbeth ychwanegol dewisol yw Iesu, i Gristnogion, ond rhywun sy’n gofyn inni am ein holl bethau, tra ar yr un pryd yn cerdded ochr yn ochr â ni.

Pan o’n i’n llawer iau, dwi’n cofio bod yn ofidus iawn. Roeddwn i gartref yn Sheffield. Roedd fy nhad eisiau i mi siarad ag ef. Roedd yn ysu i mi siarad ag ef, i ddweud popeth wrtho. Yn lle siarad, rhedais i’r parc yn y glaw. Rhedodd fy nhad ar fy ôl. Roedd yn gwella o lawdriniaeth canser (dwi’n credu). Daliodd fy nhad i fyny gyda mi wrth i mi eistedd ar y gwair yn y glaw. Eisteddom yn dawel yn y glaw ac fe gofleidiodd fi. Dyna sut mae Iesu yn cerdded ochr yn ochr â ni. Dyna’r math o Dduw sy’n mynnu ein popeth.