Isaiah 50:5-9; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35All human relationships are based on communication,
understanding and acceptance. The Bible tells us that God created man and called him
from non-life to life, from nothingness to existence, in order to build a deep relationship
expressed in honoring, loving and serving him. Generally we find three types of persons
in life: persons who listen attentively to God, persons who suffer for God and persons
who deeply experience the presence of God and live in it. A well designed life has
both joy and sorrow, thought and action. A life of Joy and no sorrow can become like
a terrain with all sunshine and no rain, a barren desert. Both sufferings and joy,
and both faith and good works are necessary for the life of a good Christian. We realize
that every human person is the being whom God has enabled to "listen", like the disciples.
He is a disciple of God, which entails not only theoretical listening, but also the
kind of listening that leads to action, to the implementation of what he has heard,
of the original voice that precedes him and that regulates his life. In other words,
man is an obedient disciple of God. Suffering is the anvil on which man is forged;
it is the mold in which his personality is shaped; it is the real and mysterious code
of the human condition. However, man is the being assisted by God, in whom God shows
his constant and effective presence. However God wants man to search the divine presence
in hi. In the Gospel of today Jesus asks disciples who they think he really is and
Peter responds to say that Jesus is the Messiah, the chosen one. But he misunderstands
the full implication of the Messiah. In the first reading the Prophet reflects on
his mission. Any hardship or suffering cannot break his trust and confidence in God.
In the second reading James tells us that faith without works is dead. Living faith
will perform works of charity. In the First Reading prophet Isaiah presents several
fascinating portrayals of the servant of the Lord. This servant contrasts with the
faithless monarchs presented in the earlier sections. The servant does not rebel but
listens to God’s word. From an earlier oracle we know the servant received a special
commission from the very beginning. A later oracle will describe the servant’s loyalty
to God up to the very moment of death. These very descriptions of such a loyal servant
of God contrasts with the lifeless idols the world worships. In fact this portion
of Isaiah contains heaviest concentration of material ridiculing the very notion of
making idols of the created things. The servant is surrounded by opposition mounted
by a disbelieving world. He suffers abuses from all sides and is challenged from all
over. Perhaps these conditions reflect the experience of Israel in exile where they
had to face constant disgrace and confrontation. But the servant is not swayed by
such hardships. Confident in a strong relationship with God, the servant is prepared
for any challenge. They strike him on his face, spit on him, and pluck his beard.
Yet the servant’s resolve is not shaken. He remains unmoved in the face of adversities.
It is the Lord God alone who will be the help and support to him. His is the example
of living faith that tells us to set our hearts on Divine things so we too can enjoy
a priceless personal relationship with the Lord God. In the Second ReadingJames
speaking on the subject of faith and belief says that Christians must be doers of
the word and not hearers only. The Christian faith is not a series of theoretical
truths but a practical way of living based on Christ’s revelation to us.Faith alone
that is a mental acceptance of all revealed truth is of no avail toward eternal life
unless a person follows Christ in his daily living. This will demand the carrying
out of spiritual and corporal works of mercy. James tells us that faith is dead when
it does not show itself in the acts of love. Such dead faith is as helpful as mere
words to a poor person in need of food and clothing. It is not real faith. He tells
us that faith is alive when it manifests itself in works of charity. Anyone who claims
to have faith but does not practice charity is not living the Christian faith. Therefore
we have to give ourselves, share what we have, not just give charity from our surplus.
Charity is something we do with the generosity of our heart and give to the other
from what we have and what really hurts. True faith is living faith. It is a faith
that bears fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit. There is no such thing as an indwelling
Holy Spirit who is dormant. The grace of God is always at work. If our faith is strong
we do not need anything else. Jesus himself has told us that we must manifest that
we are his followers through our works. In today’s Gospel Mark gives us two incidents
in the public life of Jesus which are closely connected. His mission was given by
the Father to proclaim the kingdom and be with them as the messiah. Here we have the
first of the three predictions of Jesus about his imminent sufferings, death and resurrection.
As such it makes a turning point in this Gospel. Here we have Mark’s carefully constructed
theology of the cross which will evolve around his three passion predictions. Each
passion prediction including this one has three parts. First, there is the prediction
by Jesus of his suffering, death and resurrection. Second, there is the rejection
and misunderstanding by the disciples regarding the sayings of Jesus. Third there
is a corrective teaching by Jesus which stresses some theological aspect and the meaning
of discipleship.Here in this episode, Jesus insists on an important point, one which
is very dear to his heart: that of knowledge. Do the men, the women, the disciples
he chose to follow him and to continue his work later on know exactly who he is?The
knowledge of God and the knowledge of Jesus Christ areimportant and capital for us.
Upon this knowledgedepends our participation in the divine life. From it derives the
importance and necessity of the Church's teaching and proclamation of Christ, in good
times and bad! The Church is missionary and she proclaims the Good News of Salvation
in Jesus Christ. The Church of all times and all places must proclaim his message
throughout the whole world: Jesus, the Son of God, died and rose again for the Salvation
of all men of goodwill. The Gospel of today seeks to give us the true identity
of Jesus and invites us to make our personal discovery of the master. For the disciples
it was indeed a new revelation. Jesus by now had already spent more than two years
in his public ministry. The disciples had gone along with him and were getting to
know him personally in his teaching, his healing, his liberating power and his authority.He
had a large crowd following him everywhere and had a faithful band of disciples who
were constantly with him, helping him and supporting him. They had lived with him,
listened to his teachings, seen his miracles and had become part of his life. The
question for the master is whether they really understood his mission and the proclamation
of the kingdom. He had a mission to fulfill as given by the Father and he had called
them to be a part of that mission. On their way to the villages of Caesarea Philippi,
Jesus began asking his disciples, about the reaction of the people about him and how
they were interpreting his presence, teaching and his works. They responded by saying
that some believed he was John the Baptist, other Elijah and still others, one of
the prophets. People accepted him as a spiritual person and the one who was preaching
things divine. They were also aware that Elijah had not tasted death and believed
he would return to show the path of the Messiah. John the Baptist was killed by Herod
but being a holy person had come back to life to continue his mission. Jeremiah, they
believed had hidden the Ark of the Covenantas people were taken into exile and the
belief was that he would come to show where it actually is placed. Jesus then asked
the disciples directly about their personal understanding of Jesus. They had been
with him for some time and they had professed their faith in him. Now he wanted to
know how much they had understood about his position as the Messiah. Immediately Peter,
the Leader of the group, gave a clear, precise and accurate confession that Jesus
is the Messiah, the Christ. The word 'Christ' comes from a Greek word meaning anointed.
The 'Anointed One' is a clear way of referring to the Messiah, the long-awaited liberating
King of Israel. Jesus accepts this confession of Peter done on behalf of the disciples.
Clearly, it had been a high point in the relationship of Jesus with disciples, but
this was not complete. Peter received an appreciation from Jesus for this confession
and profession of faith. He told him this is indeed a divine revelation from the Father.
Even though Peter was correct, Jesus did not want this to get around until the actual
time of his death and resurrection when the full meaning of it will be known. He wished
to tell them even more about himself and the type of Messiah he was called upon to
be. He indeed cautioned the disciples that people were not ready to hear that Jesus
the Rabbi was the Messiah. This revelation was only to them. At this juncture, quite
unexpectedly, Jesus gave the full explanation of the role of messiah to the disciples.
Jesus began to tell them what this Messiah is and certainly as it has been already
explained in the scriptures. He will suffer greatly, will be rejected by the leaders
of his own people, will be executed as a criminal, and on the third day he will rise
to life. This clearly came as a real shock to the disciples. They could not grasp
his message. This was not the kind of Messiah they were taught to expect. Their Messiah
was a liberating, glorious King of Israel. Peter was offended by these words of
Jesus about the suffering Messiah. He point-blank rejected what Jesus said about
the sufferings and death and a serious squabble broke out between them which resulted
in the serious action of Peter being reprimanded. Mark tells us that Peter took Jesus
aside and began to rebuke him. Peter acting in the name of disciples and divinely
inspired, came forward to say that this sort of thing must never happen to their Master.
His rejection of the suffering Messiah would have reflected the understanding of most
people at that time. It would have been the contradiction in terms. The Messiah was
to be a successful warrior who would liberate the people from their oppressors. Jesus
reacted strongly to Peter as he turned and looked at his disciples. He spoke to Peter
and indirectly to the disciples with the words: "Get behind me, Satan. Your ways of
thinking are human, not God's." Peter had become a real temptation, a stumbling block
in the way of Jesus' mission and work. This was a major turning point in the Gospel
story. We are now being given the answer to the question who Jesus really is. Now
we are called upon to know his inner meaning that he is the Messiah-King. But he is
the kind of messiah that suffers and dies for us. The rest of Mark's Gospel account
is replying to this question. It will conclude with the centurion at the foot of the
cross declaring: "Surely this man is Son of God." In fact very similar are the opening
words of Mark: "This is the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Jesus
therefore makes his demands of us as he did to the disciples, to understand his mission
and to follow him closely. He told Peter and his companions that if any one chose
to be his disciple should deny himself, take up his cross, and follow him.For whoever
would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for the sake of Jesus
and the gospel's will save it. It was certainly a challenging call that the Lord gave
to his followers and in this hard way we ought to discover and find him in our lives.
The Gospel in fact tells us that Jesus began to teach them how the son of man is going
to suffer and he teaches us that we too ought to suffer with him. Peter and Paul both
followed Jesus closely, each bearing his respective cross. Both suffered for having
proclaimed the gospel: Peter had the privilege to die on the cross, like his Master,
although he asked to be attached to the cross upside-down, not considering himself
worthy to die in the same manner as the Savior. Paul, after having undergone many
sufferings during his numerous voyages, was decapitated, which was the punishment
reserved to Roman citizens. Peter, Paul, all the disciples of Christ bore their crosses,
whether literally or figuratively. The corrective teaching of Jesus focuses on
the meaning of true discipleship. A disciple is one who understands the Master, follows
him closely, imitates his life and communicates it to others. Here we find Jesus proclaiming
almost the reversal of what most people would expect. Jesus himself is the model of
discipleship. He explains that the discipleship is not about achieving power, prestige
or high position. It is ultimately about service, giving one’s life for others. Ironically
discipleship involves losing one’s life, or giving it away in service of others, which
will result in actually gaining one’s life through the following in the footsteps
of Jesus. Through the action of Jesus the Cross, which was the sign of horrible suffering,
insurrection and humiliating death becomes the sign of hope, victory and new life.
Jesus the Messiah is indeed a liberator but in the understanding of the people and
the disciples but a person of service for humanity.Jesus tells us that to be a Christian
disciple is not primarily to save one’s soul or go to heaven, but to enter fully into
the mainstream of human living and human concerns, to become part of it through loving
and sharing and building up with others as Jesus did.We ask the grace that we may
respond to his call and discover what Jesus is for us in our day to day events of
life.