Is 50:5-9a; Ps 116; Jas 2:14-18; Mk 8:27-35
COMMENTARY
From Profession of Faith to Missionary Conversion
This Sunday’s Gospel represents a pivotal moment in Jesus’ mission. It is an episode comprising two intertwined events: Peter’s profession of faith in the messianic identity of Jesus and the latter’s revelation of His true mission, who then prompts Peter and his companions to reflect deeply on it. Among the many intriguing and instructive details in the passage, there are three that are particularly significant for the journey of Christ’s missionary disciples in every age.
1. “You are the Christ.” The Fundamental Profession of Faith for the Disciple
Peter’s profession of faith is perceived by many to be too concise and insufficient in comparison to the elaborate affirmations typically expressed through the recitation of the Creed at every Mass. Nevertheless, it represents a foundational declaration made by Peter on behalf of the Twelve and all of Jesus’ disciples. Indeed, “He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’” and “Peter said to him in reply, ‘You are the Christ.’” The representative character of Peter’s response thus emerges clearly.
Subsequently, Jesus makes a proclamation regarding his identity as the Messiah. He is the Christ, that is, the Messiah, the Anointed King of God who comes to save his people, as foretold by the prophets and as dreamed in Israel from generation to generation. In this concise statement, “You are the Christ,” Peter and the Twelve proclaimed the singular, unrepeatable, divine identity of Jesus. This assertion differs from the traditional understanding of Jesus’ identity. The significance of this affirmation is elucidated by St. Luke the evangelist, who, in recounting the same episode, attributes a more expansive expression to Peter (“The Messiah of God”). This is then further expanded by St. Matthew the evangelist with Peter’s even more articulate profession, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
In this regard, it should be remembered that Jesus asked and received a profession of faith in his identity from the disciples while they were together on the way to “the villages of Caesarea Philippi”. It seems reasonable to suggest that such a geographical context is not a coincidence. It is known that Caesarea Philippi was a Greek city and the capital of the region north of Israel, with various shrines dedicated to Greco-Roman gods, particularly Pan, the god of nature. By taking the disciples to a place where a variety of religious and cultural traditions were present, Jesus encouraged them to believe and confess His identity as the Messiah, the Anointed One of the One God. There are no other gods outside the one God of Israel, Creator of everything, and there are no other saving Messiahs outside the one Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. This is the basic confession of faith that Jesus asks of each of his disciples in all times, especially in this age of religious relativism, where one is as good as the other. Are we ready to respond to Jesus as Peter did?
2. The True Messianic Mission and Stern Call to Conversion of Jesus
Jesus’ reaction to Peter’s profession is surprising: “He warned them not to tell anyone about him.” Why? Why this absolute prohibition for the disciples to announce to everyone the true identity of Jesus that Peter had just professed? The explanation lies precisely in what happened immediately afterwards.
In fact, after Peter’s profession, Jesus for the first time publicly specifies the mission that He would fulfill as God’s true and only Messiah: “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days.” The mission of God’s Messiah is to faithfully fulfill all of God’s plan for the salvation of humankind. This entails facing the mystery of rejection, suffering, and death in order to rise again.
As evidenced by the disciples’ response to Jesus’ revelation, they were unable to comprehend or accept this disconcerting vision of the future of the Messiah. Once more, Peter acted on behalf of the others: “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.” This is the reason why Jesus just before “warned them not to tell anyone about him.”
Despite professing the truth about Jesus’ messianic identity, Peter and his companions persisted in adhering to the traditional, conventional view of what God’s Messiah would do. The people, including Peter and his companions, held the conventional view that the Messiah would be a glorious figure who would lead the people from one success to the next until the final glory, thereby establishing God’s ultimate rule in the world.
This is a noble but too superficial vision that simply reflects humanity’s limited idea of what God “should” do. Such a vision of the Messiah must therefore be purified, corrected in the light of Jesus’ own life, before it is proclaimed to all. That is why the disciples were “forbidden” at that time to say that He was the Messiah. It was only after the disciples had followed Jesus’ entire path and contemplated the entirety of the Messiah’s life that they were able to proclaim the divine truth about Jesus’ true messianic identity. This event serves as a fundamental lesson for all disciples throughout history: to proclaim Christ “accurately” to the world, one must first engage in a comprehensive examination of the messianic life He led.
3. “Get behind me, Satan.” A Fundamental Call of Christ for Missionary Conversion
Faced with Peter’s misunderstanding and his attempt to “divert” Jesus from the Messianic path laid out in the divine plan, Jesus reacted in a very “violent” way, severely rebuking Peter: “Get behind me, Satan.” The fact that Jesus referred to Peter as “Satan” demonstrates the gravity of the situation and the seriousness with which Jesus viewed it. It is noteworthy that in the Gospels, Jesus does not address anyone else by this name except when speaking to Satan Himself on the Mount of Temptation, commanding him, “Get away, Satan!” (Mt 4:10).
Peter was therefore rebuked by a very angry Jesus because Peter’s actions constituted a significant temptation to divert Jesus from faithfully fulfilling his divine mission. However, two clarifications are necessary.
Firstly, it is important to note that Peter did not act in this way towards his Master out of bad faith or to test him. Instead, he acted in good faith, as he had professed, and out of immense love for his Master and Messiah. The only failing on Peter’s part was that he remained closed in his human view on the figure of Christ, without opening himself to the newness of the Messianic path that Jesus had just revealed.
Thus, paradoxically, in good faith, Peter, the disciple who believes and loves Jesus, has become for Jesus “Satan” in the original sense of the word, that is, the one who obstructs and diverts man’s walk with God. All this happens because Peter continues to think according to the common worldly mentality, just as Jesus, the Christ, denounced in that moment: “You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” This warning should serve as a reminder to all Christ’s disciples to be constantly vigilant about themselves in their walk with Jesus.
Secondly, it is important to highlight a minor yet crucial aspect of Jesus’ remarks to Peter. While Jesus commanded Satan to “Get away,” He told Peter to “Get behind me.” Jesus did not dismiss Peter in the same manner as He did Satan. He invited Peter to come behind Him, that is, to assume the position of the disciple who follows the Master, as He had called him at the beginning along the shore of the Lake of Galilee (cf. Mk 1:16ff).
Thus, Jesus’ stern rebuke is also a pressing invitation to Peter to follow his Master again, and that not with the old human mentality, but with the new one according to God. In fact, it is a call to conversion, that is, to change one’s way of thinking in order to follow ever more meekly, carefully and faithfully the mission of Jesus, the Messiah and Master. So much so that Jesus later invited those who would follow him to embrace and live by His example the paradox of missionary self-denial: “Whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.”
Finally, there is another detail of no small importance in the Gospel account. When Jesus rebuked Peter, He did not direct His gaze at him, instead, as it is written, “He turned around and, looking at his disciples.” Why? Probably because Jesus perceived the same human thought as Peter in all his disciples, even though it was only Peter who expressed it. Accordingly, Jesus’ rebuke and subsequent call for missionary conversion addressed to Peter also applies to all his followers. In this way, we, his disciples today, are encouraged to take Jesus’ words seriously for our continued missionary conversion. Let us therefore pray with St. Paul for guidance on how to maintain our spiritual renewal, avoid conforming to worldly mindsets, and discern what is good and pleasing to God in our journey with Jesus (cf. Rom. 12:1-2).
Amen.
Useful points to consider:
Pope Francis, Angelus, Saint Peter’s Square, Sunday, 16 September 2018
Today’s Gospel passage (cf. Mk 8:27-35) turns to the question that permeates the whole Gospel of Mark: who is Jesus? But this time Jesus himself poses it to his disciples, helping them to gradually address the question of his identity. […]
The Lord wants his disciples of yesterday and today to establish a personal relationship with him, and thus to embrace him at the centre of their life. For this reason he spurs them to face themselves honestly, and he asks: “But who do you say that I am?” (v. 29). Today, Jesus addresses this very direct and confidential question to each of us: “You, who do you say that I am? All of you, who do you say that I am? Who am I for you?”. Each person is called to respond, in his or her heart, allowing each one to be illuminated by the light that the Father gives us in order to know his Son Jesus. And it can also happen to us, as it did to Peter, that we passionately affirm: “You are the Christ”. However, when Jesus tells us clearly what he told the disciples, that is, that his mission is fulfilled not on the wide road to success, but on the arduous path of the suffering, humiliated, rejected and crucified Servant, then it can also happen that we, like Peter, might protest and rebel because this contrasts with our expectations, with worldly expectations. In those moments, we too deserve Jesus’ healthy rebuke: “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men” (v. 33). […]
Jesus tells us that to follow him, to be his disciples, we must deny ourselves (cf. v. 34), that is, the demands of our own selfish pride, and take up our own cross. Then he gives everyone a fundamental rule. And what is this rule? “For whoever would save his life will lose it” (v. 35). Often in life, for many reasons, we go astray, looking for happiness only in things, or in people whom we treat as things. But we find happiness only when love, true love, encounters us, surprises us, changes us. Love changes everything! And love can also change us, each one of us.
Pope Francis, Apostolic Journey to Budapest and to Slovakia (12-15 September 2021), Homely, Heroes’ Square (Budapest), Sunday, 12 September 2021
[…] Today too, the Lord looks at each of us personally and asks: “Who am I – in fact – for you?” […]
That response renews us as disciples. It takes place in three steps, steps that the disciples took and that we too can take. It involves first, proclaiming Jesus; second, discerning with Jesus and third, following Jesus.
Proclaiming Jesus. The Lord asks: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter, speaking for the others, replies: “You are the Christ”. Peter said it all in these few words; his answer was correct, but then, surprisingly, Jesus “charged them to tell no one about him” (v. 30). Let us ask ourselves: Why so radical a prohibition? There was a very good reason: to call Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, is correct, but incomplete. There is always the risk of proclaiming a false messianism, one of human origins, not from God. Consequently, from that time on, Jesus gradually reveals his real identity, the “paschal” identity we find in the Eucharist. He explains that his mission will culminate in the glory of the resurrection, but only after the abasement of the cross. In other words, it would be revealed according to the wisdom of God, which, as Saint Paul tells us, “is not of this age or of the rulers of this age” (1 Cor 2:6). […]We can add ritual elements, but the Lord is always there in the simplicity of Bread ready to be broken, distributed and eaten. He is there: to save us, Christ became a servant; to give us life, he accepted death. We do well to let ourselves be taken aback by those daunting words of Jesus. And whoever is open to these words is open to the second step.
Discerning with Jesus. Peter’s reaction to the Lord’s announcement is typically human: as soon as the cross, the prospect of pain, appears, we rebel. After having just confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, Peter is scandalized by the Master’s words and tries to dissuade him from following that course. Today, as in the past ever, the cross is not fashionable or attractive. […] On the one hand, we have God’s way of thinking, which is that of humble love. A way of thinking that shuns imposition, ostentation and every form of triumphalism, and always aims at the good of others, even to the point of self-sacrifice. On the other hand, we have our human way of thinking: this is the wisdom of the world, of worldliness, attached to honour and privileges, and grasping for prestige and success. […] Let us allow Jesus the Living Bread to heal us of our self-absorption, open our hearts to self-giving, liberate us from our rigidity and self-concern, free us from the paralyzing slavery of defending our image, and inspire us to follow him wherever he would lead us, not where I want. And so, we come to the third step.
Walking behind Jesus and also walking with Jesus. “Get behind me, Satan” (v. 33). With this stern command, Jesus brings Peter back to himself. Whenever the Lord commands something, he is already there to give it. Peter thus receives the grace to step back and once more get behind Jesus. The Christian journey is not a race towards “success”; it begins by stepping back – remember this: the Christian journey begins by stepping back – finding freedom by not needing to be at the centre of everything. Peter realizes that the centre is not his Jesus, but the real Jesus. He will keep falling, but in passing from forgiveness to forgiveness, he will come to see more clearly the face of God. And he will pass from an empty admiration for Christ to an authentic imitation of Christ. […]