Gospel: Mark
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:
What does
Christ mean?
Christ
means the chosen one or the savior and Peter got it right when he replied to
Jesus: “You are the Christ (Mark 8:29).” Unlike the other disciples Peter knew
the real identity of Jesus. But up to that point in the gospel his knowledge of
the true identity if Jesus was still limited because when Jesus said that He
will suffer greatly he didn’t believe.
Peter
only knew of the powerful Christ not the Christ who would suffer and eventually
die on the cross. Isn’t this our mindset as well? We know Jesus Christ as the
powerful one who would save us from our troubles. Yet there is an important
side of Jesus that we also have to know and that is the Christ who suffered and
died on the cross at calvary.
It is
said that: “To follow Christ is always right; but it is never easy.” Jesus was
actually foreshadowing the path that Peter has to go thru when He said that He
must suffer greatly and be rejected.
This is
also Jesus’ own foreshadowing for us: We have to go through suffering as well
for the sake of the teachings of Jesus. This may be hard to swallow for many
but that this is really how it is: Suffering is part and parcel of our faithful
discipleship!
If we
really are true and faithful followers of Jesus Christ we must expect
sufferings and rejections. We will suffer when we stand for what is right, we
will be rejected when we push what is moral. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment