THE TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – A

Jeremiah 20:7-9
Romans 12:1-2
Matthew 16:21-27

How you hear the words will determine the shade of meaning. You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped. The dictionary says that a dupe is one who is easily deceived or cheated; in other words, a fool. So, to be duped is to be made a fool of. Was Jeremiah raging with fist raised to the heavens when he spoke these words? Was he brokenhearted with tears streaming down his face as he whispered them? Was there a wry smile accompanied by a wagging head that left Jeremiah telling God that God had really pulled a clever one on the lad when God tapped him to be a prophet? It’s all in how you hear the words as they are proclaimed. Regardless of how you hear them, the truth remains that for Jeremiah the die has been cast. Even if prophesying costs him his life he must do what God called him to do. Jeremiah is in love with God and God’s people come what may. And he can’t be quiet about it.

Jeremiah’s feelings may mirror Peter’s in the gospel. Remember last week’s reading? Peter proclaimed for the other disciples that they are convinced that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus is the Messiah of God, the anointed one God has sent into the world. Remember the praise that Jesus lavished on Peter for his insight: Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah…. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. It is difficult to reconcile such generous praise with the dressing down that the Rock receives a few short verses later: Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me!

What happened? It seems Peter has a lot to learn with some assumptions of which he must be disabused. You see for Peter the word Messiah had rich meaning that included power and prestige in the here and now. Peter assumed that Jesus as Messiah would set up a powerful kingdom, a rich kingdom, and would drive away the oppressors who made life for the Jews miserable. And Peter could hardly wait because when that happened and the rewards started pouring in, who would be there in a position of favor to bask in the luxury? You guessed it. Peter.

But those dreams are dashed in today’s gospel when Jesus begins to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly… and be killed and on the third day be raised. What about the might and the glory? What about sharing the throne with a position of power for Peter? After all, Jesus had just said that Peter was foundational to the kingdom that Jesus was bringing. There is a word in the text whose force we might miss. Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him. To rebuke is to give a complete dressing down to. The word is harsh and severe in meaning. Maybe a fist was shaken in Jesus’ face. The words must have hissed from Peter’s lips with panic just beneath the surface. The panic is born of Peter’s fear that he has been duped by Jesus whose first words to him had never ceased ringing in Peter’s ears: Come after me and I will make you fishers of humankind. That’s a power position, isn’t it?

When Jesus tells Peter to get behind me, Satan, he is not banishing Peter, excommunicating him, as it were. Rather, Jesus calls Peter a tempter the way Satan argued with God in the Book of Job. The order to get behind me is telling Peter to walk in Jesus’ footsteps and learn from what he observes over Jesus’ shoulder. Jesus is not a warrior Messiah. Jesus is a servant Messiah. This Messiah will associate with all the wrong people – the poor, the blind, the lame, the lepers – all those whose condition gives evidence of their being sinners and out of favor with God. That was the commonly accepted assumption of the times. Worse than that, this Messiah sees suffering and death at the very core of his mission. Peter will see the worst thing that people can inflict on people happen to Jesus. Rejection. Crucifixion. Death. There is nothing worse that can be imagined. And Peter probably missed the part about rising on the Third Day.

What tone of voice do you imagine that Jesus used in the final discourse of this pericope? We probably would like to hear the gentle Jesus reassuring Peter and the other disciples. But could it be that Jesus used a stern voice with a hint of anger in it to shock the audience into hearing the new basic condition for discipleship? Those who wish to come after me must deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow me. In other words, if one seeks discipleship for the good things that will follow, the prosperity, power, and position that will follow, that one is following the wrong Christ. The trappings of glory do not belong here. It is a servant church whose foundation is Rock (Peter).

You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped! Jeremiah’s words are now on Peter’s lips. What was true for Jeremiah is also true for Peter. Peter may have been duped but there is no turning back. Life without Jesus would be no life at all. He may still have a lot to learn, even the basic meaning of discipleship, but the truth emerging is that for Peter to live is Christ and to die is gain, as Paul later will say when facing his own death.

People can come to Christ from various motives and begin to walk with him on The Way. But that walking takes time and the walking is formational. Inevitably that walking necessitates denying self and giving up presuppositions. That walking must be in Jesus’ footsteps with lessons learned from watching over his shoulder and doing what Jesus does. Those who aspire to discipleship must accept vulnerability. Jesus’ values are not the world’s values. It’s not about power here, but service – serving the poorest of the poor and giving them primacy of place. Discipleship entails gathering at the Table to give thanks to God – the word Eucharist means thanksgiving. There dying and rising happens as the Assembly breaks the Bread and shares the Cup and is transformed into the Body of Christ in order to be sent to be broken and distributed until all the poor have been fed. And being vulnerable service might entail dying, too. It did for Jesus. It will for all those who follow him.
Don’t miss the promise. For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay all according to their conduct. I think of St. Ignatius of Antioch who pled with his people not to try to dissuade him from the martyrdom, the lion’s jaws that awaited him. He urged them to let him be ground like wheat in the lions’ jaws, an allusion to the flour from which the Eucharistic bread would be kneaded. For Ignatius, the death of martyrdom was not defeat but victory in Christ. So must it be for all who follow Christ. We may not be cast to the lions. But we may be abased in our service. Sometimes, I wonder if that isn’t how it is supposed to be. Sometimes, I wonder if that isn’t the lesson to be learned and taken to heart by all those who let themselves be duped by the message.

Sincerely,

Didymus