22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Jeremiah 20:7-9
Psalm 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 (2b)
Romans 12:1-2
Matthew 16:21-27
September 3, 2023
Last week we heard Peter proclaim to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Peter got that right. Jesus knows Peter’s proclamation is based on revelation from God to Peter. Jesus then makes Peter first among the Apostles.
It was a good day for Peter. Well, a good moment anyway. It didn’t take long before Peter slipped up again. Today’s gospel scene immediately follows last week’s.
Jesus began to teach his disciples about his coming Passion. He told them how “He must go to Jerusalem” where He will “suffer greatly.” He will be handed over by the chief priests and the scribes and be killed.
The fact that Jesus “must go to Jerusalem” would not have been a surprise. That’s where Jews went for religious events and it has been the capital of Israel.
It probably also won’t have been a big surprise that the chief priests and scribes would want to hand Jesus over. They have already been trying to silence Jesus.
However, for Jesus to say that He would “suffer greatly…and be killed” left the disciples confused and wondering how could this happen to the Christ.
What is Peter’s reaction? He rebukes Jesus saying, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall every happen to you.”
He didn’t ask Jesus “How can this be?” He essentially told Jesus He was wrong.
How did Peter go from proclaiming Jesus as the Christ to rebuking him so quickly?
The suffering of Jesus should not have been so shocking. The Suffering Servant oracles in the Book of Isaiah speak of the one who suffers like Jesus.
Why did Peter get it wrong? Because he was “thinking not as God does, but as human beings do. He wanted a great earthly king.
People continue to rebuke Jesus today.
Who rebukes Jesus today? Anyone who denies that there is truth rebukes Jesus as the way and the truth and the life. Anyone who teaches behavior contrary to what Jesus taught rebukes him.
People had been acting against God’s teaching long before Jesus became incarnate in the flesh. Many of the prophets faced persecution from those who did not want to follow God’s Will. Jeremiah was one of them.
Jeremiah faced ridicule and persecution for the messages he delivered from God. Jeremiah felt duped. Surely God would have known how the people would react! Why did God tell to prophesize when God would have known that the people would make Jeremiah “an object of laughter” and mock him.
Speaking the “word of the LORD” brought Jeremiah “derision and reproach.”
Have you ever felt like someone laughs at you for believing in God?
Have you ever had anyone say, “How can you believe that stuff in the Bible? No one believes that anymore.” Are you tempted to keep silent about our faith to avoid “derision and reproach”?
Jeremiah attempts to speak no more of God. However, “then it becomes like fire burning in my heart” and he grows “weary holding it in.”
The people did not like what Jeremiah said. They tried to silence him. What they did not do was try to prove him wrong. They disagreed but they did not make an argument against what God had taught.
I think the same is true today. People who reject God’s truth are becoming more and more vocal and tell us to be silent. What I do not hear from them is a convincing argument from their side. In fact, sometimes I think they don’t provide any argument. They just say people must be free to choose for themselves. I say to be free to choose, one needs to know what their choices are.
We are here because our souls thirst for God.
Do our lips glorify the Lord in speaking his Truth or do we try to save our life by keeping silent?
Jesus tells us, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
We deny ourselves when we stop acting only for our own immediate pleasure. We take up our crosses when we willingly accept suffering in the name of the Lord. We follow him when we live as Jesus teaches.
Are you willing to offer your earthly life as a “living sacrifice” to God? We make ourselves a “living sacrifice” when we give up earthly desires so that we may follow Jesus.
Do you follow Jesus’ ways or do you choose to conform yourself to current worldly thinking? Here lies what might be one of our greatest challenges today as a church. In becoming silent to avoid “derision and reproach” God’s Word is not heard. If people do not hear God’s Word, they cannot follow it. Then, the people conform themselves to the present worldly thinking.
We need a renewal of faith. The world should not dictate our faith. It is our faith that should shape the world.
Do you rebuke God’s teaching or do you accept your Cross, “offering your bodies as a living sacrifice”?