Like it or not, front and center in today’s readings is suffering.
Probably no one’s favorite subject! The next time we hear that first
reading will be Palm Sunday. It’s one of the so-called Suffering Servant
poems from Isaiah that the Church has always read in light of Jesus and
his passion and death. For good reason. Much like Jesus, Isaiah’s
mysterious servant was at the mercy of evil forces, yet remained
serenely in charge of himself as he resolutely embraced his destiny. “I
gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my
beard” he says, “my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.” We
find language reminiscent of this in one of the Eucharistic prayers of
the Mass: “At the time He was betrayed and entered willingly into his
passion, Jesus stretched out his arms on the cross.”
In the gospel, we find Jesus displaying the
same serenity as Isaiah’s servant when he calmly tells his disciples
that “the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders,
the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed….” His timing for
telling them is worth noting. He had just put two questions to his
disciples. The first: “Who do people say that I am?” was one they had
answered easily. They were well aware of what people were saying about
Jesus: that John the Baptist had come back from the dead, or Elijah or
one of the prophets had returned. But the second question wasn’t
so easy: “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asked. This question didn’t
allow them to fall back on hearsay. This was a between-the-eyes question
and Peter was up for it. “You are the Christ,” he said with laser-like
clarity.
But take note of what happens next. No sooner
does Peter proclaim Jesus to be the Christ, the Messiah, than Jesus
gives an entirely new and unexpected meaning to Messiah. He begins to
talk about his approaching suffering and death. And Peter would have
none of it. In his mind suffering and Messiah or Christ didn’t belong in
the same sentence.
It’s worth noting the way Mark tells this
story. “Peter took Jesus aside,” Mark tells us. In the gospels, it’s
usually Jesus who takes people aside, away from the crowd so he can
connect with them in a personal way - like he did with the deaf mute in
last Sunday’s gospel. But here it’s Peter who takes Jesus aside, and
what does he do? He rebukes Jesus! He rebukes the one he has just
confessed to be the Christ, the Messiah!
Rebuke is a strong word. Rebuke is what Jesus
did to the unclean spirit earlier in Mark’s gospel; rebuke is what Jesus
did to the wind and the sea when the disciples were in danger of
drowning at sea. Rebuke is a very strong word that makes it clear just
how deeply opposed Peter was to the thought that his master, the Christ,
would suffer and die. And is it possible that there was a little
self-interest on Peter’s part? If the master would suffer and die, what
would that mean for Peter…?
But Peter’s rebuke of Jesus is not the end of
the story. We’re told that Jesus turned right around and rebuked
Peter. And what a rebuke it was! “Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus
heard the words of Peter for what they were – a temptation worthy of
Satan himself. Jesus had met Satan before - in the wilderness, following
his fast of forty days and nights, where he heard the same kind of talk
from Satan as he was now hearing from Peter – cunning enticements to
take the easy path to glory.
But, my friends, Jesus wanted Peter – and he
wants us – to know that there is no easy path to glory. Nor is there an
easy answer to the question, “Who do you say that I am?” although answer
it we must. Peter answered it on the road to Caesarea Philippi when he
said, “You are the Christ!” Years later, on another road, legend has it
that he answered it again in a different way entirely.
I think you know the legend. It carries a
profound truth as legends often do. The year was 64, A.D., when the
emperor Nero was viciously persecuting the Christians of Rome. The place
was the Appian Way along which Peter was beating a hasty retreat,
running for his life from Rome where there was a price on his head and
on the head of every Christian. As the legend has it, Peter saw a
familiar figure in the distance coming toward him along the road. It was
Jesus. This time, Peter, not Jesus, asked the question: “Domine, quo
vadis?” (“Lord, where are you going?”), and Jesus answered him, “I am
going to Rome to be crucified.” This time, Peter didn’t rebuke the
master. He didn’t say a word. Instead, he turned around and headed back
to Rome where he himself was crucified. That, I would submit, was the
moment Peter really answered Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I
am?”
“Who do you say I am?” My friends, it’s a
question we too must answer. And words alone won’t do. We will answer it
in a few minutes when we approach the table of the Eucharist, but the
truth is that we answer it every day - by the values we espouse, the
stands we take, the decisions we make, and the way we live!
Father Michael G. Ryan
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