At the end of last Sunday’s Gospel, after Peter’s profession of faith, Jesus “commanded his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ”. After confirming the truth of Peter’s spoken words with high praise why did He do this? We find the answer to this question in today’s Gospel, which follows the one read a week ago. Jesus, professed as the Christ, the Son of the living God, now reveals his true mission as Christ-Messiah for the salvation of the world according to God’s plan. The fact that Peter’s resistance to this revelation provoked an almost vehement reaction from Jesus, makes it clear that Jesus wanted not only to enlighten the disciples on the divine plan to be fulfilled, but also to give them an implicit invitation to understand and adhere to the same mission of their Master. The words of Jesus today are therefore fundamental for the mission of the disciples of all times and deserve particular study precisely from a missionary perspective. The following three points serve only as introductory notes to a broader personal reflection on the matter.
Also for today’s Gospel the temporal context of Jesus’ teaching must be specified. It is mentioned in the various lectionaries with the classic “At that time” (from the Latin “In illo tempore”), which is too generic and insufficient to understand the meaning of Jesus’ actions and words that follow. (The English lectionaries even omit this temporal clause!) The account of the evangelist Matthew instead has the phrase “from that time on” to underline the close relationship between our episode and the previous one of Peter’s profession of faith. In other words, what is happening today is intrinsically connected with Peter’s profession of faith and together with it effectively marks the turning point in Jesus’ mission. After and only after being professed as the Messiah of God, did Jesus reveal the true nature of his mission, “From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly…”
This is the emblematic phrase on the mission that Jesus will effectively accomplish with his life, passion, death, and resurrection. However, it should be emphasized that the used word “must” does not indicate an inevitability of events, but the plan to be carried out according to God’s will. This theological nuance of the verb analyzed is accentuated even more often and more strongly in the Gospel of Luke. Thus, just one example for all, in the account of the apparition on the road to Emmaus, the risen Christ reproached the two “foolish and slow-hearted” disciples with a rhetorical question: “Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Lk 24:26). It is the mystery of the true mission of God’s Messiah, which also passes through the moment of the passion and the cross, not because He voluntarily sought it or suffered it passively, but simply because Jesus the Christ faithfully adhered to God’s plan designed for him for the salvation of the world (“Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup away from me, but not what I will but what you will.” Mk 14:36). So, in our Gospel episode today, he began to introduce his disciples to this mystery of his true mission to prepare them to understand this divine plan for the Messiah as foretold in the prophets. It is the Wisdom of the Cross, of which Saint Paul the Apostle will speak. All disciples of the crucified and risen Christ are invited to embrace this Wisdom in carrying on the same mission of evangelization in the world.
Peter’s first, spontaneous reaction to the revelation of Christ’s cross demonstrated the usual view of all who were waiting for the Messiah – Savior of Israel (who comes in God’s power and glory). Indeed, on that occasion, Peter allowed himself the luxury of “rebuking” his teacher, although only “taking him aside”: “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” This was followed by a very vehement counter-reaction from Jesus who harshly reproached Peter: “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” These are very harsh words, never heard on the lips of Jesus who in the Gospel never called anyone with the diabolical name “Satan” (except of course when he denounced Satan himself in the last temptation in Saint Matthew’s account!).
On the one hand, this reaction of Jesus gives us a glimpse of how serious the situation was. At stake is the question of life and death for those who want to follow God’s will, including for his Messiah. On the other hand, the apostle Peter who a few moments ago received Jesus’ praise for his profession of faith under divine inspiration, now even becomes “Satan”, the diabolical character who always tries to hinder and lead people astray from God’s way. From one moment to another, Peter - the “foundation stone” of the Church - becomes a “scandal” for the Master, that is to say a “stumbling block”, because he was “thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Kyrie eleison!
What a “spectacular” transformation! What happens with Peter becomes a warning for every disciple of Christ of every age. O disciple of Christ, if you are not careful to always remain in the Lord, you can become an instrument of Satan without even realizing it, when “you are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do,” when you follow the plan of men according to the mentality of world, however beautiful and useful it may be. But it is not God’s way, which can and should be learned and discerned from His words in the Scriptures, even if it may be difficult to achieve and may even cost you your life.
Therefore, here is the cordial exhortation (and how appropriate today!) of Saint Paul to the faithful in Rome and generally to all Christ’s disciples, “Do not conform yourselves to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” In this, the words of God will play the fundamental role for an on-going conversion and formation of mind and heart under the illumination, inspiration, and guidance of the Spirit of God. This is fundamental in the life of Christ’s disciples like Peter and will be even more so in their commitment to continue the mission of their Master and Lord. In this regard, here is an important teaching from Pope Francis in the Message for World Mission (Sun)Day 2023, in his comment on the Emmaus episode:
“Without the Lord to introduce us, it is impossible to understand sacred Scripture in depth; yet the opposite is equally true: without sacred Scripture, the events of Jesus’ mission and of his Church in the world remain indecipherable” (Aperuit Illis, 1). It follows that knowledge of Scripture is important for the Christian life, and even more so for the preaching of Christ and his Gospel. Otherwise, what are you passing on to others if not your own ideas and projects? A cold heart can never make other hearts burn!
And a heart that thinks only according to the world, will it ever be able to offer and explain to others the correct way of the Lord?
In the severe rebuke to Peter, it should be noted that, although the Apostle miserably fell into the common worldly mentality on the mission of God’s Messiah, Jesus did not send him home. Jesus did not tell Peter “Go away from me” as he had said to Satan himself (“get away from me, Satan”). Instead, he commanded Peter, “Get behind me,” to exhort him to place himself again on the position of a disciple behind the master to follow him. These words are actually Jesus’ second call for Peter after the first one “Follow me” along the shore of the lake of Gennesaret. They are also valid for all disciples and therefore, Jesus gave them all a so-called discourse of “sequela”, explaining the principles of following Him in life and mission. He starts from a clear request, motivated by a declaration of an existential sapiential nature, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Without going too far into a detailed analysis of this meaningful discourse of Jesus, I would like to underline only one fundamental point. Jesus, who asks his potential followers in such a demanding, indeed intransigent way, is the one who has already traveled this path. He has first followed personally the exposed principles of denying oneself for God, of taking up his cross, of losing one’s life and then finding it again. It is about the dynamics of the seed that falls under the earth and dies to give birth to a new plant, as Jesus himself explained on another occasion. It is therefore more than a sapiential exhortation (for a wisdom of life), but a very “personal” lection on “art of living” from Jesus who then effectively promises true life to anyone who “loses his life for my sake”. Jesus appears here as a sage who teaches the way to achieve true life. However, this way is identifiable with himself and with his message, with his mission that he will entrust to his disciples-missionaries in the world.
Let us pray then in conclusion with the words of a popular Italian liturgical chant, in communion with the whole Church and with the Holy Father in his apostolic-missionary journey to Mongolia in these days:
Take my life, take it, oh Lord,
and let your flame burn in my heart.
(…)
Grant me, o Lord, to give myself to You
and let your light shine before me.
I will follow your footsteps, oh crucified King
and in following you, I’ll live of you.
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