Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

In this Sunday's Gospel we hear one of those stories that always makes me feel for Peter. As it starts, Jesus asks the disciples 'Who do you say I am?' And it is Peter that answers, 'You are the Christ.'

In Matthew's account of this moment, Peter is affirmed for this answer - not because he has figured it out for himself, but because of his openness to the Spirit which has revealed it to him. We are told that this openness to the Spirit will be the defining character of the Church's understanding of God's will going forward. Yet, here in Mark's much abbreviated account Peter and the others are simply told to keep Jesus' true identity to themselves.

We heard this last week too. Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone about the miracle he had performed, but the more He insisted, the more widely they spread the news. Everyone, it seems, knows better than Jesus and they are not listening to Him. But He doesn't seem to do anything about it. Until now.

Peter, we are told, remonstrates with Jesus when He begins to reveal to them the fate that lies ahead of Him. "And He began to teach them that the Son of Man was destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected... and to be put to death."

And isn't this what a good friend would do?

But Jesus comes back hard. 'Get behind me Satan!' In that moment Peter must have been crushed.

Then Jesus makes His point. God's way is not the easy way. God's way is not running away. God's way is not keeping your head down and letting things pass by. God's way is not our way.

At some point we have all had a moment of being crushed like Peter. But at the start of the story Peter himself had already identified the solution. Jesus, You are the Christ. You are the one who knows us, who loves us and who has come to save us. And knowing this, Peter sticks it out.

Jesus tells the disciples quite openly - there's more grievous suffering to come, but there's glory at the end. When life comes back at us as hard as Jesus came back at Peter, may we respond as faithfully as Peter did.

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