Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
Reflecting on Matthew 16:21-27
Do you remember just last week, when Jesus said, “I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church”? How quickly things change. In today’s gospel, Peter takes Jesus aside after he predicts that he will suffer and die. No! says Peter! Please, no! Nothing bad will ever happen to you!
And just like that, Jesus renames Peter, the Rock, Satan! In this renaming, Peter (now Satan) becomes the enemy of the Church, not its foundation. What a disturbing shift.
We can sense, in Jesus’ emotional response, that he knows what will meet him in Jerusalem. His quick and sharp reply to Peter’s words of comfort shows how much the coming crucifixion is looming over him. He must remain steadfast as the day draws near.
Second, he has, up to this point, not said a word to the disciples about his death. But now that he was recognized as the Christ by Peter, they need to know what that means, fully. They’ve seen him heal, and draw great crowds as a prophetic teacher. But now they need to know the real meaning of Christly love: for the good of the world he must suffer greatly under the elders, chief priests and scribes, and be killed. But, on the third day, he will be raised.
Did the disciples understand? Certainly not. His arrest in the Garden came as a terrible shock, and they all scattered. In the same way, they didn’t understand the resurrection until the women came running to tell them. And it was then that Peter finally understood, and, as Jesus predicted, became the leader of the post-resurrection Church.
Could you have had different titles throughout your life, too?