Jeremiah 15:15-21; Psalm 26:1-8; Romans 12:9-21; Matthew 16:21-28
Mr. Chris Paul, Seminarian
Get Behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me! How many of us go about our days thinking we are on solid ground? Everything is going great, and we are on a firm foundation that will hold us on our journey. And then, without warning, we suddenly find ourselves tripped up by a rock or unsteady ground, or maybe even pine straw? Today, we get to see this transition happen to Peter. Just a few verses before today’s reading, Jesus declared Peter to be the rock on which he would build his church. Peter even affirmed to the disciples that Jesus was the son of the living God. But now, to Peter’s dismay, Jesus is telling him that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer death. And to be honest, I could really relate to Peter about this message. He must have been thinking, “What do you mean?” You’ve got to be kidding me! I know you are the Messiah, but what kind of justice and retribution do you bring by dying? To explain this a little differently, what Jesus did would be like someone running for the combined office of President of the United States and the leader of the Christian world on a platform of—“Elect me, and I promise to be assassinated!” You see how crazy that sounds!! So, I understand why Peter would react like this.
Today’s gospel message in Matthew turns out to be the first of four predictions to the disciples by Jesus of his pending suffering, death, and resurrection. Jesus must now start to turn his attention from teaching and healing the crowds to focusing more on the disciples to ensure that they are prepared for what he already knows must happen. The disciples must begin to deepen their own understanding of what the call to discipleship looks like. Peter was the rock on which Jesus was going to build his church, but Instead of being a rock and firm foundation, Peter is now a stumbling block. Another reason why Peter may have been confused is that during this time, it was understood that the Messiah was coming to restore the Jewish kingdom by overthrowing the oppressive empires. But Now, all of a sudden, Jesus is talking about going to Jerusalem to suffer and die at the hands of the oppressors. That is not the picture that Peter had envisioned for the Messiah. It was supposed to be this strong ruler taking out the bad guys. But this strong ruler, instead, is going to suffer and die. Not understanding this part of being a disciple caused Peter to quickly move from a rock of faith and discipleship to a stumbling block. Like Peter, our issue with stumbling blocks is that we put our worldly views and needs above our spiritual and divine needs. The temptation that Peter had succumbed to was putting his own will on God. What Peter thought should happen. And It was based on confusion and not love. Confusion about why the Messiah needs to suffer and die. Peter was attempting to protect Jesus in a way to protect himself, but that is not the identity of Jesus. We do not control Jesus or give him the conditions for our discipleship. Peter had his own image of what the Messiah should look like in his mind. But Jesus was going way off script with the idea of suffering.
One of the big questions we often deal with is that of suffering. It is something that is difficult for us to comprehend in Christianity, so why would it not be difficult for the disciples to face this shocking news from Jesus? The problem with suffering is that it raises issues in understanding God’s love and gift of life. Instead of binding Jesus to our views for our self-preservation, we must faithfully follow and bear witness to him without stumbling blocks. So, What stumbling blocks do we have today that are stopping us from truly taking up our cross and following Jesus? I would like to know if our stumbling blocks may also be stumbling blocks for others around us. The problem with society today is that it is easy for us to let stumbling blocks get in the way because it is much simpler to follow the well-paved road instead of one we don’t quite understand or may fear going down. We are enticed every day through mass media with different messages. Messages like the one with the most toys win. We are told there is no such thing as being too skinny or too rich. That we can’t live without the newest and greatest things because to do so would admit failure in the eyes of our peers. These are all just different ways of saying that our destinies are in our own hands and that we can ensure our happiness and well-being by working harder, earning more, getting additional power and prestige, and caring most deeply about our appearances.
I wish it were easier for us to say “Get Behind me, Satan” to those things in our lives. Those things I just listed are the same things Satan offered Jesus in the wilderness, just phrased in today’s terms. Every time Jesus was tempted, he looked inside to himself, where the spirit dwells, and drew strength to resist those temptations. I think Jesus wants us to begin denying worldly temptations that bring us further from our relationship with God and from realizing our true discipleship. To worry first about loving God and our neighbors as ourselves and worry second about the world’s possessions. Some would say that if we were to follow Jesus with our cross, it would lead us to the cross that Jesus died on. I wonder how many of us have thought about it that way? There is a phrase that I’ve heard that says, “If you want to Follow Jesus, you had better look good on wood.” Think about it for a minute. To indeed follow Jesus would lead us to the cross. When we become Christians, Jesus calls us away from our old identities and selves, and we undergo a change in character. Too many people think that being a Christian does not mean we have to worry about the cross and its meaning. They are just curious bystanders at the foot of the cross, casual followers, you could say, of Jesus.
Christianity may be nothing more than cream in their coffee…just something added to life to make it interesting. Paul offers us a different look at what cross-bearing may look like for us. In Paul’s letter to the Romans today, He lists some virtues that characterize cross-bearing in the best sense. The list is punctuated with actions and attitudes that make life meaningful: a genuine love for others, tenacious goodness, perseverance even as evil encroaches, patience in suffering, blessing even those who persecute, cultivating empathy and rejecting opportunities for retribution, and so much more. And as you should notice, the first of these actions and attitudes is LOVE. Recently, I came across a story that talked about some missionaries who followed Jesus to their cross. Now, I will admit this story may be a little radical, but the point comes across. The story is about some Christian missionaries who went to the Congo. These missionaries went to spread the good news of Jesus, and they were greeted with music, food, worship, and praise. But, the story takes a turn when, at the end of the ceremonies, an older man stands up and makes a confession. You see, the people of the Congo were so weary of the missionaries and what they were trying to do that they devised a plan to slowly and secretly poison all of them.
One by one, children and adults became ill, died, and were buried. The amazing thing is that when the people of the Congo saw how these missionaries died by staying faithful to their message, the people of the Congo decided to believe in the message of the Gospel. The missionaries had no idea what was happening to them; they did not know they were being poisoned, they did not know they were dying, and they did not think they were becoming martyrs. What they did, although they were sick and dying, was stand firm in their faith and follow Jesus. We often times gloss over talk of death and dying by focusing instead on the resurrection because we know the end of the story, so we don’t get bothered by the death part. But Jesus would not let Peter get away with that, and he won’t let us get away with it either. The Christian faith is much more than assigning the right titles to Jesus. Messiah, Son of the Living Man, and Savior are all titles we often hear given to Jesus.
Today’s readings show us that sometimes, these titles can hinder our understanding of what and who Jesus is. Although Peter learned that Jesus is the Son of Man, he had yet to learn the mystery of the cross and the resurrection. Jesus was trying to tell Peter that suffering and death, more than anything, actually becomes Jesus. Jesus is trying to tell us that he must go through this. If we spend our time fulfilling the great commandment, we will have very little time to spend fighting against the great tempter, and we will be well-armed for whatever battles, temptations, and stumbling blocks may come up. We are called to be disciples and know we won’t be perfect at it. We can be faithful to God’s call, sometimes getting it right or wrong, but always trying our best to get our priorities right, taking up our cross, and going out into the world. Because, as Christians, we must always ask ourselves, am I a solid rock of faith or a stumbling block inhibiting my faith and others? Cross-bearing does not have to mean what it meant for Jesus: the price is already paid for in his blood. For most of us today, cross-bearing means serving others with compassion. Because all of us are cross-bearers, and all of us are gods’ allies. And, when we take up our cross and faithfully follow Jesus without worldly distractions, we find ourselves resurrected to a new life in many different ways. To me, the answer is found in the cross.