24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B

MARK 8:27-35
PETER GETS THE RIGHT ANSWER. INSPIRED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, HE RECOGNIZES THAT JESUS IS SOMEONE SPECIAL, THE MESSIAH, THE ANOINTED ONE OF GOD. AND THEN JESUS TELLS HIS DISCIPLES ABOUT HIS FUTURE – THAT HE WILL BE HANDED OVER, TORTURED, AND PUT TO DEATH, TO ARISE IN THREE DAYS. AND PETER PULLS HIM ASIDE AND POINTS OUT THAT THIS IS NOT AT ALL WHAT WAS EXPECTED OF THE MESSIAH, AND WHERE WAS HE GETTING ALL THIS CRAZY TALK?.
AND THEN JESUS SAYS THOSE WORDS – GET BEHIND ME, SATAN! THAT MUST HAVE REALLY STUNG! IT SEEMS SO UNLIKE THE JESUS WE IMAGINE. TO CALL THE MAN WHO WOULD BE THE LEADER OF HIS CHURCH SATAN FOR DOING NOTHING MORE THAN REMINDING HIM IN PRIVATE THAT THE MESSIAH WHO WAS TO COME WOULD START A NEW AGE, RULE OVER A PERFECT KINGDOM AND BECOME THE ULTIMATE HIGH PRIEST. YOU COULDN'T DO ALL THAT AND BE REJECTED, TORTURED, AND KILLED BY THE LEADERS OF THE PEOPLE YOU HAD COME TO SAVE.
AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR PETER TO GET BEHIND HIM? DOES IT MEAN “GET OUT OF MY WAY?” THAT'S WHAT I ALWAYS THOUGHT. MAYBE IT MEANS “DON'T INTERFERE WITH MY PLANS!” THAT WOULD FIT THE CONTEXT A LITTLE BETTER.
THE LANGUAGE JESUS SPOKE WAS A SIMPLE ONE. ARAMAIC HAD FAR FEWER WORDS THAN ENGLISH OR GREEK. IT WAS SIMPLE AND DIRECT. NO MODERN POLITICIAN COULD EVER SURVIVE WITH A LANGUAGE LIKE THAT. BUT SOMETIMES WHEN WE READ SOMETHING THAT WAS TRANSLATED INTO GREEK BY AN EYEWITNESS, AND THEN INTO ENGLISH FROM THE GREEK BY SOMEONE ELSE AT SOME TIME, IT'S NICE TO GO BACK TO THE ORIGINAL TO TRY TO FIND OUT THE SENSE OF WHAT JESUS WAS SAYING. I CAN'T READ ARAMAIC, BUT FORTUNATELY THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO CAN.
THE FIRST THING IS THAT IN ARAMAIC, THE WORD SATAN, WHICH WE ASSOCIATE WITH THE DEVIL, CAN MEAN “ACCUSER”, “OPPONENT” OR ADVERSARY. THE JEWS OF JESUS TIME BELIEVED IN EVIL SPIRITS, BUT MOST DIDN'T BELIEVE IN A HELL WHERE SOULS WERE TORTURED, AND IN FACT MANY DID NOT BELIEVE IN A HEAVEN EITHER. ON THE OTHER HAND, THEY DID BELIEVE THAT ONE OF GOD'S ANGELS, AND A VERY SMART ONE AT THAT, WAS IN CHARGE OF ARGUING AGAINST WHATEVER GOD HAD PLANNED TO DO. THE RABBIS WHO COMMENTED ON THIS BELIEF SAID IT WAS SO THAT IN THE COURSE OF THE ARGUMENT, THOSE IN HEAVEN WOULD HEAR ALL THE OBJECTIONS TO GOD'S PLAN, AND GOD WOULD ANSWER THOSE OBJECTIONS, AND WHEN THEY SAW HOW BRILLIANT AND BEAUTIFUL HIS PLAN WAS, THEY WOULD HONOR GOD EVEN MORE THAN BEFORE. THE ADVERSARY FILLED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE HEAVENLY COURT.
SO IN THIS STATEMENT OF JESUS, MAYBE HE MEANT ADVERSARY WITH A SMALL A. HE IS NOT REALLY CALLING PETER THE HEAD OF THE DEMONS, BUT RATHER, HE IS CALLING PETER HIS ADVERSARY, BECAUSE PETER IS TRYING TO POINT OUT THE REASONS HE SHOULD NOT GO DOWN TO JERUSALEM AND BE PUT TO DEATH.
AND WHAT HE SAYS TO PETER NEXT IS “GET BEHIND ME”. AND WHAT HE MEANS IS FOR PETER TO GET WITH THE PROGRAM, TO SUPPORT JESUS IN THIS DIFFICULT THING HE HAS TO DO. AND HE GOES ON TO SAY THAT ANYONE WHO WISHES TO FOLLOW HIM – AND HE USES ALMOST THE SAME WORDS THAT HE USED WITH PETER – IF ANYONE WISHES TO GET BEHIND HIM, HE WILL HAVE TO BEAR A CROSS, EVEN TO THE POINT OF LOSING HIS LIFE, JUST AS JESUS WILL DO.
IF YOU READ THE SCRIPTURE IN THIS WAY, IT SEEMS TO FIT TOGETHER BETTER. PETER RECOGNIZES THAT JESUS IS THE MESSIAH, JESUS TELLS HIS DISCIPLES WHAT THAT MEANS. PETER PULLS JESUS ASIDE AND ACTS AS AND ADVERSARY, TRIES TO CORRECT HIM. JESUS COMMANDS PETER TO GET BEHIND HIM, AND THAT ANYONE WHO WANTS TO GET BEHIND HIM AND FOLLOW HIM IS GOING TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE SAME THINGS JESUS WILL GO THROUGH.
WELL, THAT'S ALL INTERESTING, AT LEAST TO ME. BUT WHAT ABOUT THIS TAKING UP ONE'S CROSS?
WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER, I KNEW A PRIEST WHO WAS A PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AT OUR LOCAL CATHOLIC COLLEGE. HE WAS A GOOD FRIEND OF MY PARENTS, AND NOW AND THEN HE'D COME TO OUR HOUSE FOR SUPPER. I WENT OFF TO COLLEGE AND MEDICAL SCHOOL AND GOT MARRIED AND BROUGHT MY BRIDE HOME ONE SUMMER AND MY MOTHER TOLD ME THAT FATHER M WAS IN THE HOSPITAL AND I SHOULD GO VISIT. SO I DID, TAKING ALONG JOAN. FATHER M HAD JUST HAD HIS LEG AMPUTATED; HE WAS GOING BLIND, AND HE HAD A HEART CONDITION. HE WASN'T AT ALL THE PERSON I USED TO KNOW; IN FACT, I WOULD SAY HE WAS PRETTY DEPRESSED. BUT WHEN I TRIED TO OFFER MY SYMPATHIES, HE TOLD ME THAT ALL HIS LIFE HE HAD WONDERED WHAT IT MEANT TO TAKE UP YOUR CROSS, AND NOW HE WAS BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND. HE FELT AS THOUGH HE WAS BOUND TO A CROSS, FLOATING DOWN A RIVER, AND ALL HE COULD DO WAS JUST LET GO.
BECAUSE THE POINT OF LIFE IS NOT PRIMARILY TO BE A PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS OR EVEN TO BE A PRIEST; THE POINT OF LIFE TO TO BECOME ONE WITH JESUS. AND IN ORDER TO DO THIS WE HAVE TO TEAR DOWN WHAT SEPARATES US FROM HIM. WE ALL KNOW WHAT THOSE THINGS ARE – THEY ARE THE THINGS WE CLING TO, THE THINGS BY WHICH WE DEFINE OURSELVES, THE THINGS THAT WE JUST CAN'T DO WITHOUT. AND IF WE GET RID OF ALL THOSE THINGS, IF WE BREAK DOWN ALL THE BARRIERS, THERE IS STILL THE ONE THING REMAINING – OUR CROSS. OUR CROSS IS NOT JUST THAT LAST PART OF OUR LIVES WHEN WE ARE LAYING THEM DOWN; IT IS MADE UP OF EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO US THAT WE WOULD MUCH RATHER NOT HAVE HAPPEN. AND JESUS SAYS THAT IF WE WILLINGLY ACCEPT THESE THINGS, -- ILLNESS, HAVING TO CARE FOR SOMEONE WHO IS AN INVALID, HAVING TO BE CARED FOR BY SOMEONE WHEN YOU ARE AN INVALID; HAVING TO GO THROUGH PAIN, PHYSICAL AND MENTAL; OUR ATTITUDE SHOULD BE THAT IF GOD SENDS THIS, WE ACCEPT IT, BECAUSE THAT IS THE WAY HE CHOOSES TO TRANSFORM US INTO CHRIST. AND HERE IS A SECRET THAT YOU AND I SHOULD PUT IN THE BACK OF OUR MINDS FOR THAT DAY WHEN OUR CROSS BECOMES VERY BURDENSOME – WE CAN FIND JOY THERE, JOY BECAUSE IN CARRYING OUR CROSS, WE ARE MORE CLOSELY UNITED TO JESUS THAN AT ANY OTHER TIME. JESUS' MAIN PURPOSE IN LIFE WAS NOT TO WORK MIRACLES, NOT TO TEACH THE DISCIPLES OR THE CROWDS; HIS PURPOSE WAS TO SUFFER AND DIE IN OUR PLACE, AND IN BEARING OUR CROSS TO THE VERY END, WE KNOW THAT WE WILL RISE WITH HIM TO ETERNAL JOY.