Mark, My Words: August 30, 2020
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Did you catch Jesus saying something pretty unusual in the gospel today? Jesus actually calls Peter “Satan”. In our house, we weren’t allowed to call each other names. If Jesus’ mother is anything like mine, she isn’t thrilled to have this moment recorded in the family archives!
The word satan is Hebrew for “the adversary,” or “the one who obstructs.” But how is Peter obstructing Jesus? Jesus just told the apostles that he will soon suffer and die. Isn’t Peter just trying to be a sympathetic friend, by saying, “No way! God forbid that happening!!”? No, Jesus is trying to gently break it to the apostles that he is not the “Terminator-type” Savior they were expecting. God’s larger plan includes sufferings the Messiah will have to endure.
And here Peter is suggesting, “Back off—don’t go with God’s plan!” Let’s think of the times we, too, are tempted to obstruct God’s plans for someone we love—our kids, maybe. Sometimes we shield them from the consequences of their bad choices, or make life too easy for them. But Jesus’ parenting advice is, “Whoever wants to be my follower has to deny themselves, take up your cross, and follow me.”
Congratulations to those who are helping their children take up crosses on the high road of strong and loving discipline with their children. It is hard, and others criticize you—but that’s the very nature of a cross. Parents have to die to their own comfort, reputation, or to the temptation to be a “best friend” instead of a parent. It is never easy, but it is the building of God’s pathway that you are engaged in. St. Paul helps us take up our crosses: “Do not conform yourselves to this age.” Let us renew our minds towards true life in Christ.