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. 32 He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” 34 He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it. 36 What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? 37 What could one give in exchange for his life? 38 Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Jesus was about to begin his journey from the non-Jewish region of Caesarea Philippi (Mk. 8:27) in the North down to Jerusalem where he was crucified. After Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah (Mk. 8:29), Jesus began to speak about what would happen to the “Son of Man (v. 31)” and made the first prediction of his passion. He told them openly that he would be violently rejected by the Jewish leaders and would suffer greatly, die, and be raised from the dead in accordance with God’s plan. Peter immediately rejected what Jesus said and Jesus let him know that anyone who denied or rejected his suffering, death and resurrection was on the side of Satan.
Jesus told his followers that if they wanted to be his disciples, they must deny themselves and be prepared to suffer and even face death for his sake and that of the Gospel (v. 35). They were to preach the “Good News” of salvation. By following Jesus, they could find their true selves, and nothing was of greater value because it led to eternal life. Anyone who denies Jesus will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Heavenly Father, grant us the strength to deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow your beloved Son. Help us to resist the temptations of this life and lead us to the heavenly banquet prepared for us through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. This we pray through the same Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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