Today’s Gospel reading begins with Jesus explain that he is about to suffer and die. Peter responds much as any of us would in that situation and tells Jesus not to even think that would happen. Peter was probably surprised when Jesus reacted angrily. Why did Jesus object so strongly to Peter’s words? What was wrong with Peter’s response? These are questions we must answer before we can begin to understand today’s Gospel reading.
In last week’s Gospel, Peter was the first to recognize that Jesus was the messiah. Jesus praised him for this insight and said Peter was the rock on which he would build his Church. Now, suddenly, Peter goes from hero to goat. The reason for Peter’s quick fall probably lies in what he meant when he called Jesus the Messiah.
Being a typical Jew, Peter probably thought much like many of the other Jews of his day who were expecting a military and political messiah who would lead them in battle against their enemies and eventually conquer the world. Peter thought it was only a matter of time before Jesus began forming an army to achieve this objective.
Jesus’ talk about suffering and dying did not fit in with the popular beliefs about a triumphant messiah. Therefore, Peter took Jesus aside and tried to straighten him out by saying something like, “Teacher, you’ve got it all wrong. You’re the messiah and the messiah is a winner. What you’re describing is a loser. So, stop talking about such nonsense.”
It’s obvious that Peter and Jesus had different ideas of what the messiah was supposed to be. Jesus was the type of messiah who would not look for success on the battlefield but rather would be triumphant in another way. Instead of defeating human enemies, Jesus was going to conquer both death and the father of death (the devil). This spiritual victory would be more important than any earthly triumph Peter or any of the other Jews could imagine.
Even though the apostles were with Jesus every day and knew him better than anyone else, they still took time to grasp what he was saying. Their privileged position was not enough to guarantee immediate understanding of who Jesus was and what he was about.
For Reflection: How do you think Peter felt after the incident in today’s Gospel reading? If you were Peter, would you have continued to follow Jesus?