22nd Week in Ord. Time, Sunday – 30th August 2020 — Gospel: Mt 16,21-27
Get behind Me-ssiah
“Suffering and dying is what we have all endured, prophet and ordinary person alike. You are supposed to be different. This is not what our deliverer ought to do. There must be a different way.” With this thinking Peter begins to correct the Messiah about the nature and scope of his mission. He imagined that he spoke daringly the truth about Jesus’ identity. But Jesus reproached him saying, “Get behind me, Satan!” Thus Peter moves from the heights of recognition to the depths of rejection. Why is Peter now acting like the great deceiver? Because Peter is drawing Jesus away from the divinely ordained path that moves from suffering to the cross, from torture to shame. Just moments ago, Peter got it right. But in the next instant, Peter gets it wrong. Wrong enough to be in league with Satan.
At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus’ response to Peter echoes his wilderness rejection of the devil. It is worth noting the distinction between Jesus’ commands to Satan (Mt 4,10) and to Peter (Mt 16,23). Jesus expels Satan from his presence saying, “Away with you, Satan!” But to Peter, Jesus adds words that remind him of his place as a disciple, “Get behind me, Satan!” In the wilderness, Satan dared Jesus to use his authority as Son of God for his own purposes instead of serving God’s mission in the world. He tempted Jesus to set his mind on human things rather than on the things of God. Jesus refused to fall into the tempter’s trap and be diverted from God’s mission. When Peter stands in front of Jesus to block the way to the cross, Jesus calls him Satan. Peter’s misunderstanding misses the point of what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah. Peter is the recipient of blessing (Mt 16,17), but now, he is putting his own thoughts ahead of the ways of God, which makes him a stumbling block – a hindrance to Jesus’ mission. Nevertheless, Jesus does not break relationships with him. Instead, he reminds Peter of the proper place for a follower.
In Matthew, the word “behind” (opiso mou-Gk) signifies discipleship. The proper place for a disciple is behind Jesus. Note, in three references Jesus uses the same words to denote this meaning. For example, in calling Simon Peter and others Jesus said, “Follow me” (Mt 4,19 – opiso mou-Gk); In a discourse about discipleship Jesus said, “Whoever does not take up the cross and follow me” (Mt 10,38 – opiso mou-Gk); and in Mt 16,24 Jesus said, “If any want to be my followers” (opiso mou- Gk). Jesus, the Messiah, puts his life on the line ahead of all who follow him. In this context, He refuses to avoid the passion journey that lies ahead. Nevertheless, He is “God with us” (Mt 1,23), promising to be “with you always, even to the end of the age” (Mt 28,20). He is already and always going ahead of his followers (Mt 28,10) – the first one to face the worst that the world can do. Messiah’s strengthening presence makes it possible for those who want “to become followers” to take up their own cross and follow. His supportive presence enables the disciples to follow “behind Jesus,” even when the prospects are frightening or the personal costs are high.
Peter, who once rejected the idea of suffering, later has much to say about suffering in his epistles (1 Peter 3,8-9, 13-17; 4,14-16). Just as our Lord suffered because of His identification with sinful men, so God has purposed that we who trust in Him should suffer because of our identification with Him. As God’s suffering brought blessing to us, so our suffering is viewed as a blessing for us and a potential blessing for others. Suffering is both a blessing and a means of blessing, when it is suffering for Christ’s sake. Finally, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps” (1 Pet 2,21).
