Word to the Wise
Sunday, September 15, 2024 - 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
[Isa 50:4-9a; Jas 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35]"But who do you say that I am?" Peter said to him in reply, "You are the Christ." 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....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."...."Whoever wishes to follow after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me..."
Peter's confession of faith in the gospels of Mark and Luke is very briefly mentioned. The famous sentence, You are Peter and upon this rock...etc, is found only in Matthew. The story is not about papal power. It is about discipleship. It is clear from all three accounts that Jesus did not want his messianic identity to be confused with contemporary notions of power. When he speaks of his eventual fate at the hands of religious authorities, Peter objects and is, in turn, rebuked for thinking "not as God does but as human beings do." True discipleship will mean accepting Jesus' fate as one's own. Political, social or cultural power are not on the table. The crucifix hanging on millions of walls is a reminder.
This is not a matter of choosing suffering for suffering's sake but a recognition that Christian faith makes demands that will inevitably require a cross to bear. Those who would "edit out" that part in favor of a "comfortable salvation" are diluting the gospel. To recognize Jesus on the cross as messiah and think that this is only something that happened to one person centuries ago, is a denial of the whole meaning of the image. "Who do you think that I am?" is a question for each of us to answer. AMEN