Peter rebukes, Jesus replies MT 16:21-27
A reflection on the Gospel of Matthew in which Jesus predicts his own death. Peter rebukes Jesus and the Lord responds: "Get behind me, Satan!"
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00:00 Jesus announces that he's going to go to Jerusalem, and there he's going to suffer, and there
00:07 he's going to be killed.
00:09 And when Simon Peter hears this, he takes Jesus aside and he rebukes him, it says.
00:15 Peter says, "God forbid, Lord, no such thing will ever happen to you."
00:21 And at that, Jesus turns to Peter and says, "Get behind me, Satan.
00:28 You are an obstacle to me."
00:29 The man that he has just previously called "the rock," now he's calling "Satan."
00:35 And it's hard to understand, because what is Peter doing?
00:38 But he's just trying to protect his friend, as you and I would do.
00:41 We want to protect our friend from anything that's going to imperil their health or lead
00:47 them into danger.
00:49 But what Jesus is teaching Peter is that the best thing that we can do for our friend is
00:56 to let him or her live what God has given them as his will.
01:05 That's the best destiny, that's the best gift we can give to our friend, to live what God
01:13 has in store for them as his design.
01:15 I remember when I was teaching at the seminary in New York, there was a seminarian there
01:20 by the name of Peter Pomposello who went on to be ordained.
01:24 So now he's a priest, but he's also a captain in the army, and he's a paratrooper, and he's
01:32 a jumpmaster.
01:33 It's his responsibility to teach young soldiers, paratroopers, how to jump out of airplanes.
01:41 And he sent me a video once which showed me a training session.
01:45 So they're in this airplane, who knows how many thousands of feet in the air, about ten
01:50 young paratroopers.
01:51 The side door of the plane opens, and one by one, Father Pomposello instructs each man
01:59 to jump out of the airplane.
02:01 And they do it.
02:02 And suddenly, he's all alone in the airplane, he looks out the door, and I'm thinking to
02:07 myself, "No, don't do it."
02:09 And then he jumps, and the plane is empty.
02:14 And just before he jumped, I wanted to shout out, "No, don't do it!"
02:20 It was terrifying.
02:21 But of course he had to do it, along with those other young paratroopers.
02:25 Why?
02:26 Because unless they jump into the danger below, they can't help save those who are dying from
02:33 warfare and destruction.
02:36 If they don't take a risk, then nobody stands a chance of survival.
02:42 And that is what Jesus is modeling for Peter today.
02:46 Let's say you're standing in front of a burning building, and there's still people trapped
02:49 in it, and it's terrifying.
02:51 But then a firefighter shows up, and he's about to run into the front door.
02:57 Would you hold him back?
02:58 Would you say, "Don't go?"
03:00 Of course not, as horrific as it is, we have to let him go, because that's the only possible
03:07 chance of survival for those who are still engulfed in the flames.
03:13 And that is what Jesus is showing Peter and you and I today.
03:19 The plan that God has for us is greater than all of our preconceptions.
03:26 We have to dare to let Jesus go to his destiny, and we have to dare to go with him.
03:34 And look at this wonderful thing.
03:35 Jesus doesn't say to Peter, "Get away from me."
03:38 He says to Peter, "Get behind me," so that then, staying close to Jesus, he can follow
03:46 Jesus very close to his back, following all the way to his destiny.
03:52 Let's go with him.
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