God's Word for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time A

 What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?

August 28, 2011

Twenty-Second Sunday
in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 20:7-9, Psalm 62:2-6, 8-9 Rv.2, Romans 12:1-2.,

The word of the Lord has meant for me insult, derision all day long.

O God, you are my God, for you I long.

Offer your living bodies as a holy sacrifice, truly pleasing to God.

When the Son of Man comes he will reward each one according to his behaviour

Gospel

Matthew 16:21-27

Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly
from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,
“God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”
He turned and said to Peter,
“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Then Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay all according to his conduct.

 

The cost of belonging to Jesus

 

We, the readers of the Gospel, know the end of the story, that Jesus will rise triumphant to sit as man at the right hand of the Father. Peter didn’t know that. Let us be honest we would have spoken like Peter. How many of us can understand suffering? How many of us willingly face suffering? If it comes we may be resigned to it, but who will freely accept it when he/she could avoid it?  So when Jesus says that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering Peter says ‘no Lord, this mustn’t happen’. Again we do not hear the tone of Jesus when he rebukes Peter and the tone makes all the difference. Jesus too didn’t want to die on the Cross. Deep inside he was afraid and the horror of it repelled him as we see in Gethsemane. He found it difficult to face the Cross and Peter’s words coming from a dear friend were another temptation. Peter spoke for Satan, the tempter.

            Jesus didn’t want the Passion but, as he had preached, he sought first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 8:33). He would continue to preach God’s message, heal the sick, free those bound by Satan, live with the outcast and sinner – even if the whole world was against him. This he did and he knew that the chief priests would kill him for it. His greatness lies in his going to Jerusalem knowing that it would mean his end and a bitter Roman death on a cross. But he trusted in God, his Father. ‘On the third day’ which means in the Bible not today or in the near future but one day, God would certainly vindicate him. He had total trust in his Father. ‘For the sake of the joy reserved for him, Jesus endured the cross, scorning its shame” Heb 12:3.

            Jesus now says to us if you want to be my disciple you must follow me. You have to put the Father and his will for you first in your life. Whatever it costs, even the loss of family, property, freedom or even life, you must put his will and commandments first. Jesus, the Master was obedient to death, I, his disciple, must be so too.

            When we come to be judged, there will be only one question. “How much do you love Jesus, Son and Saviour?”  ‘Let us love him not only with words and with our lips but in truth and in obedience’ 1 John 3:18. Do you love Jesus to the extent of suffering the loss of everything for his sake? Can you trust him to vindicate you ‘on the third day’?

Father while we live in this world may we follow Jesus your Son and put your will first in our lives even though it costs us everything as it did for him.