16-Feb-17

Gospel MK 8:27-33
Jesus and his disciples set out
for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he 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."
Reflection:
By preaching God's message of love and forgiveness, Jesus had become a threat to the authority of the religious leaders. Now, on the final leg of His journey, He knows death lies ahead.
Wanting to know if His followers understand that He was sent by God to save the world, He asks; "Who do people say that I am?"
Peter answers, "You are the Christ."
Jesus then explains what is to come: suffering, followed by His rejection by the elders, chief priests and scribes, then death, and finally, His resurrection.
Horrified, Peter "rebukes" Jesus.
In turn, Jesus scolds Peter, telling him;
"Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."
Therein lays the challenge: to think like God, not like a human being.
Jesus' way was always clear. In all that He did He sought to fulfill the will of God, even when God's will went completely against His human nature.
No one "wants" to die.
But the night before His crucifixion Jesus was able to pray: 'Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42)
Jesus' way was to allow God's will to happen, not to make His own will happen.
Peter, like us, was fully human.
When they came to arrest Jesus in the garden, Peter's first reaction was to bring about his own will: "Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear." (John 18:10)
Can I, like Jesus, stop trying to "make things happen?"
Can I find the faith to simply allow God's will to come about in my life, trusting that even if I do not understand, God will make all things right in the end?
"Where you are today is no accident. God is using the situation you are in right now to shape you and prepare you for the place He wants to bring you into tomorrow. Trust Him with His plan even though you don't understand it." - - Unknown