“And Peter took him aside andbegan to rebuke him.” Peter scoldedJesus. Peter, the Apostle just neverseems to get it. A few days before thisevent, Peter boldly proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. Now he is bold enough to reprimand Our Lordas Jesus when he explains what the reality of Messiahship and discipleship reallyentails. In today’s gospel, Jesusdoesn’t mix words. In fact, he openlysays that following him means suffering, rejection, and the threat of death,because that was where he was headed; the cross. In this scene, Peter’s priorities are alittle messed up. Maybe he was thinkinglike James and John who were hoping for seats of honor in the coming Messianicage. Little did they know what thoseplaces on the left and right of Jesus would mean; crosses of torture. Peter’s rebuke ended with asharp rebuttal from Jesus, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mindnot on divine things but on human things.” (NRSV) Peter needed to let go of hisown needs, desires, and interests and accept what it truly means to followJesus. Peter needed to re-align hispriorities, to risk losing it all, in order to discover the way of life. “If any want to become my followers, let themdeny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
Our Lord outlines therequirements of discipleship as self- denial and the willingness to loseeverything, including our lives for the sake of the Good News. When Peter rebuked Jesus, he thoughtself-preservation was the only necessity worthy of Jesus’ agenda. Peter slipped into a conventional wisdom, whichtouts that looking for one’s own success is the only road to fullness oflife. This wisdom seems to proclaim thatwe are at the center of our own existence. None of us are the center of the universe, life is not centered onus. The ground of our being, the centerof life itself is found in Christ. Ifthat is our faith, and I believe it is, then we must consider taking ourrightful place in the grand design of God, not at the center of life, but as apart of the whole. Jesus discipleshipcall thus means, that we must recognize we are a part of the larger humanfamily, we must release our own desire, our own interests, and our ownpriorities for the sake of others.
When we release the hold we haveon our own life, when we risk our very self for another, we come to know ourrightful place in God’s creation. Thereonce was a young couple named Carl and Lori. They were very much in love and had everything going for them; a newhouse, great jobs, and a bright future. Aftera few years of marriage, Carl one day noticed, that something was not rightwith his health. He and Lori decided togo together to the doctor for a little checkup. A few weeks later, and after several tests, it was discovered that Carlwas suffering from a life-threatening illness. Things changed for them as Carl began a regimen of treatments. Throughoutall the procedures, through the recovery, through the physical therapy, Loriwas right there with him.
Many times, Lori denied her ownneed for a respite from the long nights at the hospital. She denied her own frustration with Carl’sslow and uncertain recovery. She deniedher own fear of the outcome. A friend oneday was concerned about her and mentioned, “Why don’t you take some time torecover, you must be exhausted.” Lori didnot respond because she knew that the giving of herself for her beloved, emergedout of the depth of mutual giving, which she and Carl shared. The self-givinglove demonstrated by her resilient commitment, went beyond merely her ownneeds, her own comfort, and her own interests. She realized that her self-interest were secondary to the relationshipshe and Carl shared.
Thisrevolutionary form of love was what our Lord meant when he said, “deny yourselfand take up your cross and follow me” and it was self-giving love that ledJesus to the cross. The journey to Golgothafor Jesus was one that began, not in the Garden at Gethsemane, nor in the HighPriest’s court. It all started with thechild in the manger. The journey to thecross began with God’s willingness to walk among us, it continued into thewilderness of temptation, it carried forth with each healing of the broken,blind, and lame; the cross drew ever closer with each miracle he performed; andthe path gained momentum with each meal Jesus shared with outcasts. Jesus risked himself from the very beginningof his ministry.
When he challenged conventionalwisdom to heal on the Sabbath, he re-prioritized self-preservation for the sakeof self-giving. When he ate withsinners, he re-prioritized self-preservation for sake of self-giving. When he proclaimed “Father forgive them forthey know not what they do,” rather than coming down from the cross in power,he re-prioritized self-preservation for sake of self-denial and self-giving. All this came with a price because it eventuallymeant giving up his own life for those whom he loved. The peril of self-giving love meant facingdeath of self, and the threat of personal rejection.
Rejection of the Good News cameto fruition for Jesus on the criminal’s cross, the Roman State’s favorite wayof eliminating threats to the social order of the day. It was this radical social upheaval thatresulted in Jesus’ trial at the High Priest’s court, and at the judgment seatof Pontius Pilate. Challengingconventional wisdom by telling people to risk their own self-preservation andcomfort, in order to serve someone else was a very extremist notion for firstcentury Palestine.
SomeChristians today do not quite understand Jesus call to deny oneself, take upone’s cross and follow him. Some believethat taking up our cross and following Jesus means we must give up joy and peace,but I do not believe Jesus’ intended life and life abundantly to be a miserableexistence. I do believe that when Jesussaid that if we lose our life we will find it, he meant that when were-prioritize what is important, we will find the life of freedom, peace, andjoy. In today’s culture, that radicalnotion may also come with a price.
Watch television for 30 minuteson any given day, and you will soon realize that self-gratification is thegreatest value advocated for in our culture. It seems when we focus so much on the consuming mentality of fulfillingour own needs, we can lose touch with who is the center of our lives. In contrast, when we focus on loving othersat the expense of our own interests, we participate in Christ’s ministry of pouringout from ourselves, the grace that is abundantly given to us. This is more than a sentimental idea, it isthe basis of our baptismal covenant and the heart of the church’s mission inthe world.
The promises we make at ourbaptism are based on the responses to the following questions: Will youproclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? Will you seek and serve Christ in allpersons, loving your neighbor as yourself? Will you strive for justice and peace amongall people, and respect the dignity of every human being? Our own desires, interests, and needs will naturallycome into conflict with promises such as these, but living into these promisessurely will bring about life.
All around us, the shadow ofdeath abounds. People suffer fromeconomic devastation, from wars, from severe depression, from brokenrelationships, and from social injustices. Spiritual and emotional death is all around us. Life without dignity, life without justice,life without peace, life without love, is not life giving, but life pilfering. Jesus, by his journey to the cross, calls usto respond to the plight of those suffering around us. When we answer Jesuscall to follow him, we may lose our own interests, desires, and priorities, butwe will participate in life and life abundantly.
There is great risk inanswering Jesus’ to follow him “without looking back, without hesitating,without giving a thought to the danger that such following might pose to ourlives.” Jesus promises that those who doso will find life. Joel Marcus wrote anarticle in the Christian Century, where he stated, “Through that victory thechurch believes, a strange vitality has been released into the world, a spiritof hope that still erupts in arenas of weakness, suffering and death.”1 “Death, the last enemy, has already beendefeated by Jesus' rising from the dead and thus, God’s love will never besquelched, it cannot be quieted, and it must not be taken for granted. The cross, although an instrument of Romantorture and punishment, remains for us Christians, the emblem of our hope inGod’s eternal love. When we considerChrist’s invitation to “deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him,” willwe look down that long and winding road of self-denial and truly follow him, orwill we like the young ruler, reassess our priorities, and turn around and walk away.
1Marcus, Joel. "Uncommon Sense." Christian Century 117.24 (2000):860-22. ATLASerials, Religion Collection. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.)
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