Gospel Reflection for Sunday September 15th 2024 – 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time By Fr Brian Maher OMI
Gospel Reflection for Sunday September 15th 2024, 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time | Mark 8:27-35
How could Peter, the apostles, and Jesus’ other close companions have got his mission so totally wrong? We see it in this week’s Gospel, but the truth is that from the very beginning and right up to his death, the apostles were more or less clueless. That may sound a bit harsh, but Jesus saying to Peter, “Get behind me Satan…” is also harsh. To publicly castigate the man chosen to be leader of the group indicates, I think, the frustration and maybe loneliness Jesus felt as he realised his mission would end in his death and struggled to find even a hint of understanding in Peter and the others.
So, what was wrong with these well-intentioned men and women who had given up family and business to follow him? Were they simply dense? Did they have so many of their own agendas and biases that they just could not see the truth staring them in the face? Were they incapable of listening, or understanding, or both? Were things going so well for them that they could not envisage it ending in tragedy?
I mean, a person would have to work hard to misunderstand “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.” And, in case we were inclined to give the apostles the benefit of the doubt, Mark tells us, “He spoke plainly about this…”
Clearly, something fairly dramatic is going on at the start of this Gospel; something dramatic enough for the heir apparent to called ‘Satan’!
The twelve apostles were not stupid, uneducated or incompetent. They had families, jobs and responsibilities. Peter and his brother Andrew ran a fishing business in partnership with James and John. Matthew was a tax collector; Simon, a zealot (a revolutionary, dedicated to overthrowing Rome) and, while not exactly a profession, intelligence was needed to stay alive! Bartholomew was the son of a farmer and almost certainly a farmer himself. Judas clearly had experience handling and organising money, an expertise that led to his selection as treasurer of the group.
Later in their lives they had the task of holding the early Christian church together against fierce opposition, a responsibility they handled with remarkable diplomacy, tenacity and courage.
They had their own agendas in following Jesus. Of course they did! As a zealot Simon must have hoped Jesus would become a military Messiah who would lead the revolution against Rome. But everyone of us has an agenda of some kind and we all operate with mixed motives. The apostles and companions of Jesus don’t come across as being any more scarred than the rest of us. In fact, overall, they come across as a solid, capable and well-balanced group.
This Sunday’s reading, at the halfway point of Mark’s Gospel marks a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. In what seems a blinding moment of insight, Peter acclaims Jesus as the Messiah and then, almost immediately, forgets what he said and begins to argue with him!
From this moment on Jesus speaks more and more about his mission ending in suffering and death, while around him opposition to his mission hardens and grows. What I think we are witnessing here is a change happening within Jesus. It is always a mistake to imagine that Jesus always knew exactly who he was or that, from the start, he understood the implication of his mission to preach the Kingdom of God. If we believe that Jesus was ‘fully man’ then we accept that as he grew and worked his knowledge and self-awareness grew and developed. With development of any kind comes questions, doubts and fears, and the Gospels never shy away from acknowledging that Jesus had these.
At the start of his ministry Jesus was known primarily as a miracle worker and storyteller. His miracles were met with wonder and his stories and parables, taken from nature and the ordinary experience of people, were easily understood and well received. His companions were upbeat, enjoying success and approval. When Jesus sent them out in pairs to the towns and villages he planned to visit, they returned with great joy, recounting the welcome they received and the success they had.
However, in his times of prayer and reflection, early in the mornings or when he ‘escaped’ alone into the hills, something was changing within him. His own relationship with the Father began to reveal a ‘Kingdom of God’ that looked very, very different to what was expected. His ‘new’ awareness was of a Kingdom marked by peace and forgiveness rather than judgement and punishment of enemies. His awareness was of a Kingdom where everyone was invited and everyone was equal, rather than a Kingdom centred on Jerusalem and Temple worship.
His growing awareness was that the ‘Messiah’ would not lead armies into battle, but would reveal a God of Love, gentleness and forgiveness. His growing awareness was that the ‘Messiah’ was for the whole world – Jews, yes, but also Samaritans, gentiles, the poor, the sick, sinners, the excluded, the despised.
This awareness was as new for Jesus as it was for anyone else. He was, we must remember, a man of his times, a committed and practising Jew, educated in the Law of Moses and the teaching of the Prophets, and he too grew up expecting the Messiah to come in power and glory, leading armies of angels into battle against God’s enemies.
It must have taken time, prayer and reflection, as well as fears, doubts and questions before he realised that the Kingdom he saw within himself was the true Kingdom of God and that he had no option but to preach it, and keep preaching it, come what may. Possibly the stories in the Gospels telling of the temptations of Jesus, the Father speaking to him at his baptism and again at the transfiguration, give us tiny windows into this inner life and growing awareness within Jesus.
Without doubt he would have turned to his closest friends to share something of what was happening within him. We know that he often took his apostles away by themselves to teach them, share his vision of the Kingdom of God with them, and also seek their support, companionship and understanding. At the transfiguration he took his three most trusted friends, Peter, and the brothers James and John with him up the mountain. During the ‘agony in the garden’, on the evening of his arrest, the same three friends are there with him – though sadly asleep!
Is not the fact that they were asleep while he agonised about his fate a clue that they did not really understand the urgency or the implications of what was happening? And is not the confrontation between Jesus and Peter in this week’s Gospel not a clear sign that Peter simply did not ‘get’ what Jesus was saying. Jesus statement, “…You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” is doing no more than stating the reality and the frustration of Jesus with his closest companions.
It would be easy to criticise or condemn Peter’s (and the others) lack of understanding and empathy. However, the ‘new’ reality Jesus was talking about; the ‘new’ Kingdom of God being revealed to the world was truly mind-blowing. Jesus was telling them that everything they expected to happen, everything they expected the Kingdom of God to bring them, was wrong! … … and … and they were being asked to believe this based only on what Jesus was telling them. Is it any wonder that the Gospels tell us over and over that it was only after the Resurrection that his followers began to understand what he was saying to them?
As Jesus self-awareness grew and changed, he also began to see that what he was preaching – what he had no option but to preach – was putting him on a path of confrontation with the Pharisees and Jewish authorities. Their lives were dedicated to the Law of Moses, and their belief was that the ‘Messiah’ would bring a Kingdom which would vindicate them, punish their enemies, and place them on the seats of power in the Kingdom of God. It was a pleasing image and something they believed they deserved because of their dedication to the Law of Moses.
Then, along comes Jesus with his stories of ‘Good Samaritans and Jewish priests who ignore suffering’; saying that the Kingdom of God was open to all people. What place would they have in such a Kingdom? – where the Law of Moses is not even known!
From this point in Jesus’ ministry to his death, he begins to speak more and more about suffering and the Cross. He knows that the authorities will reject his message, and he also knows that his relationship with the Father makes it impossible for him to compromise in any way the Kingdom being revealed by him. With this comes the growing realisation that it will have to end with his death.
This is what he is trying to tell his disciples, and this is what they fail to see.
The Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ is counter cultural. It goes against everything the world holds as important – power, wealth, authority, entitlement, prosperity, riches, influence and on and on it goes. The politics and Governments of all our various countries show us all too clearly what the Kingdoms of this world look like.
The Kingdom of God is for the poor, the meek, the gentle, those who suffer, those who forgive, those who mourn, the downtrodden, the powerless. “This is a Kingdom for fools”, the Kingdoms of the world tell us; a “Kingdom for losers and suckers”, the Kingdoms of the world tell us; a “Kingdom where you get nowhere”, the Kingdoms of the world tell us.
And the world is right … …if we accept the values of ‘the world’. As Christians we are called to lives which witness to the resurrection, to the values of the Kingdom Jesus died to share with us.
In this Gospel I can almost hear Jesus plead with us:
“The Kingdom I proclaim…” he says, “…is God’s Kingdom and it is a Kingdom based on Love, forgiveness and gentleness. It will be rejected by the Kingdoms of this world, founded on fear, power and control. I was sent by the Father to share the Kingdom of God with the world, … and it is a Kingdom I will die for… You, too, will experience rejection at the hands of those who control by fear and offer false dreams. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” But do not fear, my Resurrection followed my Cross, and so will yours. The Kingdoms of this world cannot, and will not, bring happiness and peace. The Kingdom of God can, and will, bring happiness and peace and joy and acceptance and compassion and….so much more… Amen.
Many thanks,
Brian.
| Gospel | Mark 8:27-35 |
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The Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously
Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.
