Commentary on the Gospel of

BD

 

WE must hear again Jesus trying to make clear to his disciples that he is going to Jerusalem and there he will be rejected, suffer many things, be murdered and rise again. And Peter, though they all feel the same way, reproaches Jesus and tries to take him aside and basically tell him to shut up and stop saying those things. He's frightening them and discouraging them. Jesus is clear: Peter is a stumbling block, a rock getting in the way of God's will and the way of the cross and the Resurrection. He's thinking like the world, not like God. Jesus is the Son of Man, not a worldly king and his ways are drastically different than the power bases of kings, governments and armies and nations. His power is revealed in suffering, in resistance to evil that does no harm to others and in forgiveness and mercy even for enemies as well as for friends who betray and desert him. Each will have to decide whether to stand with Jesus or against him. We must decide with every event of the world, every decision, relationship and circumstance. Are we stumbling blocks to the coming of justice and peace-God's way in the world?

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