My Dear People,

Last week we learned from the Gospel that Jesus is the Son of the Living God. This week Jesus goes on to explain the purpose and the reason for his incarnation. It states Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.  

Why does Jesus say this? This is his mission: the reason why Jesus came to earth as a human being was to suffer and die for us, so that we will be redeemed. His suffering and death fulfills what his name  Jesus, Yashua means in Aramaic. It means “God’s saves.” For Jesus to suffer and die meant it was the ultimate act of love to save us from our sins and open heaven.  Jesus began to march toward Jerusalem. 

Tragically, Jesus will not be welcomed by the religious authorities when he arrives there. Peering ahead with prophetic vision, he foresees a chain of events that will cause him to suffer greatly and be killed. Surely there is a curious glimmer of hope attached to it. Jesus mentions that he will be raised from the dead on the third day. What the disciples made of this last point we can only guess. 

Peter will have none of this talk about doom and gloom awaiting the Master in Jerusalem. Impulsively he insists: God forbid. Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you. The whole scenario seemed utterly unthinkable. Peter expects the Messiah to conquer and reign, not to be killed. 

Peter is speaking with human interest, as we all do when we see a beloved person taken away from us: he objects very strongly. Peter does not know that the mission of Jesus is to die for our sins so that we can be redeemed, and through that Jesus opens Paradise. This is the reason Jesus rebukes Peter very strongly, Get behind me Satan!  One can barely imagine a more stern and bone-chilling rebuke. Peter, the man just praised and promoted in extravagant terms, is now given the name of the devil. The reason is that Peter is thinking as human beings do and not as God does. His words are not the result of spiritual discernment. Instead, Peter is yielding to the human aversion to suffering. Beyond that, the prospect of Jesus perishing in Jerusalem is drastically out of step with his own expectation of the Messiah and his mission. 

It is significant that Jesus describes Peter as an obstacle, different from the previous verse where Peter was praised. The difference is one of grace versus nature.  Peter, in verse 16, speaks what the Father had revealed to him, that he keeps the forces of darkness at bay. When the same Peter speaks from the standpoint of weak human nature apart from divine assistance, he is a stone that causes others to stumble. 

Jesus, concentrating on his passion and death, explains that anyone who wants to be his disciple must carry his cross and follow him. To be a disciple of Christ means to suffer and be objected to when we stand for Christ. And when the apostles went to preach, in time all were persecuted. 

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Vincent Clemente