Word to the Wise
Thursday, February 17, 2022 - Thursday in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
[Jas 2:1-9 and Mark 8:27-33]Along the way [Jesus] asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am." They said in reply, "John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets." And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said to him in reply, "You are the Christ." Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." [Mark]
One of my seminary philosophy professors, a much beloved but rather eccentric man, once said to us, "Brothers! It's hard to get the big picture when you're living inside the frame!" Jesus' two questions and the disciples' responses reveal to us the "big picture" of the Gospel According to Mark. Throughout this gospel, the disciples struggle to understand Jesus, and again and again they come up short! Even Peter's response, "You are the Christ!" is faulty because he cannot conceive that Jesus would suffer the fate of crucifixion and rise from the dead. Jesus rebukes him and the other disciples (maybe us too?): "You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."
Peter and the other disciples (us too?) lived "inside the frame." They would not get the "big picture" until what Jesus predicted came to pass. The astounding miracle-worker they were following would meet a terrible death and, even further, rise from the dead. Their understanding would mirror the way many people come to understand Jesus, moving from partial impressions to full belief. To understand Jesus and believe in him requires that we stretch beyond our expectations, read the scriptures and the sacred Tradition of the Church, and then come to our own conclusions, realizing that the big picture makes an almost impossible demand: TO THINK AS GOD DOES! Amen.