And He began to
teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the
elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three
days rise again. And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him
aside and began to rebuke Him. But turning around and seeing His disciples, He
rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting
your mind on God's interests, but man's."
With just his disciples, Jesus
teaches the disciples a more complete idea of what it means that Jesus is the
“Christ”. He tells them that being the
Christ isn’t just an opportunity to rule the world. Rather, it is initially just the opposite. He said that he would have to suffer
much. That he would be officially
rejected by the current rulers of Israel-—he elders and the chief priests that
constituted the government of Judea, not counting the Roman governor. And then he would be killed by them and risen
from the dead in three days.
However,
this prophecy did not make sense to the disciples, who understood the “Christ”
to take a straight path to power—through armed forces, probably. Since Peter
proclaimed Jesus as the Christ, he felt it was his responsibility to correct
Jesus when he was thinking negatively, so he rebuked him. Jesus, however, stared at his disciples and
then called Peter “Satan”. “Satan” was
an official title of God’s court, indicating one who accused others, or a
prosecutor. Satan is also the one to
tempt others to disobey God, which is what Peter is doing to Jesus here. Peter is telling Jesus that there is an
easier route to becoming the son of God other than the cross. Historically, this is true. People have become emperors through battling
armies, conquering nations, through proclamation of the people and many other
ways. But Jesus’ response is not that
there aren’t other ways to become the Christ, but that this is God’s chosen
way. All the other ways are human, not
established by divinity.
As creatures, we have an antipathy to suffering. As human beings, especially modern ones, we have an antipathy to meekness. It seems unnatural, hateful, and the final choice. To chose the path of meekness and suffering when there are still other options seems unhealthy and frankly stupid.
But this is exactly what Jesus is doing. He is choosing the route of not just agony-- enduring agony can be respected-- but humiliation and rejection. This path is the only way the work can be done. Choosing to be not only one-down, but to be placed at the bottom rung of the social ladder is something no one would choose if there were another option. But Jesus insists that this is the only way to be the Christ, at least the Christ that can be effective to deliver the world.
Jesus teaches us that this path isn't only for him on the cross, but also for all of us who follow him. He states that not only should we honor him for his humiliation, but accept humiliation in our daily lives as well. "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." "If anyone is to enter the kingdom, he must be humble like this child." Again, this is unnatural and hateful. But it is the only way to receive the blessing of God.
This requires the wisdom of the Spirit.
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