This Reflection is taken from the Sunday Devotion written by this blogger for Christ Episcopal Church, Yankton, SD on Sunday, February 28, 2021.
Jesus began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
The Bible texts of the Old Testament and the Epistle lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.
REFLECTION
Jesus, help us to set our minds on divine things. Amen
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In today’s second lesson, we hear the story of Peter rebuking Jesus for having told his disciples that he would suffer, be rejected by the religious authorities,
killed, and rise again. Peter believe Jesus was the Messiah, but his understanding of a messiah was someone who was going to defeat the Romans and restore the Kingdom of David as in the past. The last thing Peter wanted to hear was Jesus toying with what sounded like defeat by the very people he was trying to liberate.
Peter simply didn’t get it, and let’s be honest, would we have gotten it any better at the time, living in an environment of constant oppression? Defeat was all the people in Judea had known and now Jesus, who appeared inPeter’s mind as the best hope at freeing them of such oppression, was talking in riddles about being killed and raised from the dead. Part of Peter’s concern was that Jesus wasn’t going to attract needed followers to accomplish what Peter thought a messiah needed, an army. What Jesus was telling his disciples would hardly serve to recruitment people to his cause.
Jesus hit the pause button on Peter’s rebuke with a stern rebuke of his own, calling Peter Satan - the Father of Lies; a poignant way of telling Peter he was surfing on the illusions of this world and not focusing on the bigger picture, on things divine. What Peter could not see or understand is what Jesus was referencing, the context in which all these things would occur, the fulfillment of what God had promised to Abraham. At this stage, Peter was lacking an understanding the ways of God. He was unable to comprehend the Mystery of Faith Jesus was referencing.
Picking up on Peter’s concern about recruiting people, Jesus says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”
This statement has its connection to the paradox mentioned in last Sunday’s reflection; the paradox of being in the world but not of the world. Jesus’ statement on denying self begs the question what denying oneself and taking up one’s cross means. Is Jesus literally meaning that people should seek the martyrdom Jesus would face? I think not.
Denying oneself is contingent on knowing oneself. I see in Jesus’ appeal to follow him a plea to recognize who we truly are and whose we truly are. Each of us is a unique creation with specific abilities and disabilities - strengths and weaknesses. The cross we bear is largely ourselves. In this sense Jesus is inviting us to be grounded in the symbolic paradox of the cross, to be in the world but not of the world - to pick ourselves up, brush aside our selfish ways, and follow Jesus’ example and teachings.
Exploring who we truly are as children of God is a good Lenten exercise. What are our strengths? What are our weaknesses? What is illusionary in our lives? What is real?
On a personal level, one might ask: What do I have to let go of (deny)? What is the cross I am bearing? Does it have a name? Can I embrace it and hold on to it? What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus today? What are the difficulties in doing so? What are the benefits? Am I carrying my despair or am I shouldering the burden of fulfillment? Am I doing both?
Setting our minds on the divine and embracing the Mystery of Faith allows us spiritual freedom to sidestep the fear, the hatred, and the difficult with love and patience, because we know this world is not an end in itself. This world will pass away and with it all of the illusions, difficulties, fears, and hatreds contained in its numerous moments. What will remain is that which is not of this world, the incorruptible, the divine essence of all creation, and the true essence of who we.
Amen.
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Until next time, stay faithful.
Norm
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