Finding life in the passion of Jesus
WE saw Peter expressing faith in Jesus as the Messiah. And he was tasked to take care of and serve the Church against the forces of evil and death. Thereafter Matthew narrates how Peter found difficulty with the fact that Jesus was to undergo His passion (Matthew 16:21-27).
A crucified Christ
A turning point in the gospel is the announcement of Jesus about His approaching suffering and death in the hands of His enemies. the violent reaction of Peter to this information was understandable. How could the Messiah, the Son of the living god, be subjected to ignominious suffering and even death, and at the hands of the religious leaders of the people, and in the holy city of Jerusalem? How could one who has shown His power and authority in His teachings and deeds be assigned such a terrible end? in His conventional religiosity, Peter asked god to forbid such suffering and death. if Jesus gave any explanation for His upcoming passion, Peter pinned down by the fear of pain and shame seemed not to have heard any of it.
this scandalous reality of horrible
suffering and death may not appear or sound so shocking to us anymore today. in our world where violence in many forms is daily and commonplace, we can easily be inured to the cross of Jesus to the extent that it no longer makes any impression on us; in fact, the cross can be just part of the décor or a piece of jewelry. But even in today’s world of Covid-19 where hundreds and thousands die on a given day, each one of whom is not just a number but someone special to a particular family or group of people, the reason for the death whether timely or not, inevitable or avoidable, can make the pains bearable or worse. that Jesus would be eliminated because he dared to criticize religious hypocrisy and to confront those in power, Peter could not swallow that anyone should accept that consequence.
Satanic opposition
PETER took Jesus aside and rebuked Him. “god forbid, Lord! no such thing shall ever happen to you!” Although Jesus must have felt that His friend’s reaction was out of love for Him, nonetheless He found it unacceptable. it must have reminded Him of Satan in the desert who cunningly tried to make Him deviate from the path in accord with the Father’s will by suggesting that He should think of Himself first of all (Matthew 4:111). Jesus brooked no compromise when it comes to doing His Father’s will. there is only one place for Satan and anything satanic: behind Him and out of His way, never leading the way. nothing and no friendship can be allowed to be an obstacle to Him in His mission, and Peter tasked to be the rock giving stability to His community of faith was in danger of becoming a stumbling block instead. Peter had not yet comprehended that Jesus would be the Savior Christ, not in a political and worldly manner, but as the obedient and suffering servant of god.
“You are thinking not as god does, but as human beings do.” Of course, Peter was only human. But someone who has received god’s revelation about the Messiah and has entered into a special communion of faith with him is expected to be taken up by something more than just what is human. His thinking as well as his values now needs to transcend merely human aspirations and vested interests. Peter and the faithful must become Jesus Christ’s kadiwa (one in spirit) in his total submission to god.
Alálaong bagá, having faith in Jesus’s way and life means to identify with Him and to make His announced passion to the glory of god one’s destiny. to love god above all and even to offer one’s life if need be in order to be true to Him is what the cross symbolizes for the followers of Jesus. “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny Himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” the standard of our Christian faith is to be crosscarrying. For what do we live? Jesus has shown us the way to the eternal union with god, as it goes through suffering and death. We hesitate and are diffident to go that way, we instinctively try to hang on to this earthly life and play it safe according to the ways of the world. And we inadvertently do not hear what Jesus says: “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” By our lives and direction, we really proclaim whether we are children of this world or, one with Jesus, the children of our heavenly Father.
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