BIBLE STUDY #57
TWENTY SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
August 28, 2011

Reading 1
Jer 20:7-9

You duped me, O LORD, and I let myself be duped;
you were too strong for me, and you triumphed.
All the day I am an object of laughter;
everyone mocks me.

Whenever I speak, I must cry out,
violence and outrage is my message;
the word of the LORD has brought me
derision and reproach all the day.

I say to myself, I will not mention him,
I will speak in his name no more.
But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart,
imprisoned in my bones;
I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it.

The Word of the Lord

Reading 2
Rom 12:1-2

I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God,
to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.
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.

The Word of the Lord

Gospel
Mt 16:21-27

Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly
from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,
"God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you."
He turned and said to Peter,
"Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

Then Jesus said to his disciples,
"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.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life"
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory,
and then he will repay all according to his conduct."

The Gospel of the Lord

Reflection

Last week we heard Peter exclaim that Jesus is the ‘Messiah, the son of the living God.’ This week we learn what type of Messiah Jesus is: not just one of glory, but of suffering; not just one with a crown of gold, but a crown of thorns. This is the first of three passion predictions.

When Jesus references ‘the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes’, he is referring to the Jewish leadership called the Sanhedrin, which is composed of 71 members from all three of these groups.

All of these future events happening in Jerusalem are significant because this is where other prophets were killed. So it is appropriate that Jesus, the greatest prophet, meets his fate in Jerusalem. He is to be killed, that is, martyred like the other prophets. Notice it doesn’t say crucified, because he’ll be facing the Sanhedrin who martyred, but did not crucify the prophets. It’s only when he faces the Romans that he gets sentenced to crucifixion.

Jesus also says that he ‘must’ go to Jerusalem. He is deliberately going there knowing what will happen. He is the obedient Son, perfectly carrying out his Father’s will.

It seems to me that Peter was shocked, if not outright scandalized, by this passion prediction. This is not surprising, though. How was Peter to understand? The Messiah was supposed to be a conqueror, not a victim of death. And how was he supposed to understand about resurrection since it had never happened before? He rebukes Jesus because he thinks that the Father would never permit that to happen.

Jesus rebukes Peter by saying, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

Satan, in chapter 4, tempts Jesus 3 times, trying to deflect Jesus from his mission. In 4:10, Jesus says, "Get behind me, Satan!” He sees Peter’s attempt to divert him from his mission in the same light as Satan’s attempt to do the same. He calls Peter an obstacle for the same reason: he is trying to prevent Jesus from his God appointed mission, just as Satan tried.

Peter seems to have his heart set on a worldly mission for Jesus. He does not understand that glory comes from the cross, that to be a messiah Jesus must die. His messiahship is not worldly, but dying for our sins. Peter must ‘get behind’ Jesus, that is, to believe in Jesus and what he says ad does, and follow him to his cross, and eventually his own.

Since we now know that Jesus is the Christ from Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philippi, he corrects and complements that truth whenever possible. Jesus tells Peter, “You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." Which is not unexpected. Jesus is the one who teaches us what God wants. That’s why we must ‘get behind’ him so we know what God wants for us in our lives.

Jesus tells his disciples that there are three things they must do if they are to be his disciples: deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him. Denying ourselves is more than giving something up, like we do for Lent. It’s not seeking self fulfillment in this world but seeking it through new life in Jesus who knows what’s best for us. If we do this, then there will be consequences, called taking up our own cross. In some areas of the world it could entail martyrdom, but for us it’s mostly being rejected and ridiculed by others for our beliefs. But remember Jesus said that his yoke is easy and his burden light. To follow him means that we follow him no matter where he leads and regardless of the cost. God’s plan unfolds for us over time and the Lord will give us the courage, grace, and strength to follow him where ever he leads us.

If we try to save our lives, that is, find our own worldly way without Jesus, we lose our lives because we won’t be heading in the right direction. We will make mistakes, make bad judgments, and lose our way. Following Jesus is the way to happiness and fulfillment in this life because who knows better than Jesus what’s good for us?

Why do rich people work? The more you have, the more you want. Worldly things are fleeting in pleasure. Gaining the whole world won’t buy salvation, or even lasting happiness in this world.

Eventually, we will be judged on our actions, how we followed Christ. What do you think will be important to Jesus?

In the first reading, Jeremiah found out how difficult it can be to follow God’s path. Even though he suffered ridicule and violence, Jeremiah stayed the course. God’s grace was enough not only to sustain him, but to motivate him to keep on going. Jeremiah’s experience tells us that there will be times when following the Lord will seem like too much, but God’s grace will be enough to sustain us and keep us going.

In the second reading, St. Paul tells us to offer ourselves to God, everything we have and everything we are. By doing this, we are saying that we belong to God. When we do this, we will be transformed by God’s grace to do what is right and pleasing to God.


Fr. Phil