Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
Then Jesus told his disciples, "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 will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
"For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom (Matthew 16:21-28)."
At the beginning of Lent we read those passages of the Gospels that deal with Christ’s temptation by Satan and his passing of those tests. The Gospel of Luke ends this scene with the line “When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time (Luke 4:13).” The temptations that assail Jesus are life-long. The Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis’ novel The Last Temptation of Christ which is loosely based on the Gospels portrays Jesus on the cross being tempted by a normal life, a life filled with the love of a woman and the blessing of a family. Satan offers Jesus what many take for granted and such an offer is able to undermine Jesus’ goal. Even though the Jesus of Kazantzakis’ novel is far from the Jesus of the Holy Scriptures and Christian experience he is on the mark when it comes to depicting temptation as finding its source in what is meant to be a good.
In the passage from the Gospel of the Matthew we are presented with an “opportune time.” There is no doubt that Peter loves Jesus. Peter is a man of strong emotions and is headstrong about his following of Jesus. This is what makes his denial of Jesus later on so tragic and his redemption after the Resurrection so beautiful. In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus starkly tells the disciples that suffering and death lies before him in Jerusalem. Peter is scared for Jesus. This is his friend. This is his mentor. This is his rabbi. Jesus is the one whom God has sent to reveal the Kingdom of Heaven. Peter takes Jesus aside and with passion and power rebukes him. His love, his fervor, his expectations and desires inform Peter’s reaction. It is this reaction that threatens Jesus. Why? Jesus does not only see Peter as a follower but Peter is his friend. He cares for Peter as much as Peter cares for him. It is this caring and this love that is the source of the temptation. This love and this caring is that from which the threat to Jesus ministry and God’s victory comes. Peter’s care, concern, friendship, and love is worth living for.
This begs the question “Is there anything worth dying for?” Jesus has always understood his mission to reveal the Kingdom of God, to reveal that no person or institution can stand between God and those whom God loves and that no one is outside of such love. This threatened the religious monopoly that the leaders of his faith fostered and inflicted upon the people of God. This is what they thought was worth killing for. And Jesus knows that. Yet, he also knows that if he stops and repents of the following of God’s will then his enemies would probably recede back into the shadows. Jerusalem would not have to be the place of suffering and death that he knows it will be if he continues his course.
In rejecting Peter’s rebuke he is affirming God’s call to him. He is affirming that God’s love for his people; for all people, is more important than anything else is even if answering God’s call will cost him his very life. Jesus reminds the disciples that following him is not about pride, self-righteousness, rebelling against authority, personal gain, garnering respect, choosing the right side, being right and righting wrongs, but is about declaring God and his kingdom. God’s will takes precedence over everything else. Only those who understand this can truly choose to follow Jesus. The cost of following Jesus may be a price that many of us may be unwilling to bear. This is not about calling ourselves “Christians” but about being a follower of Jesus. The true religion of Jesus is revealing the love of God to any and all no matter what and who may threaten us for there are some in the world who do believe and who will fight to keep certain people out of the Kingdom of Heaven.
There are some in the world who will spend any amount of money and use any means necessary to declare who is of God and who is not of God. There are those in the world who will set their will over and against God so that many can be kept desperate, poor, needy, wanting, distracted, pacified, coerced, entertained, ignorant, selfish, and oppressed. They will actively fight those who follow Jesus and if need be they will befriend those who will follow Jesus. Those of us who claim to follow Jesus must always be mindful that there is indeed a cost to calling Jesus Lord because in the end claiming Jesus as Lord is not about our salvation but about the salvation of others-The Reverend Adrian A. Amaya.
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