Proper 17 (22) (Year A)

 Matthew 16.21-28 (NLT; adapted):[1]

From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he’d suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He’d be killed, but on the third day he’d be raised from the dead.

22But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”

23Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You’re a dangerous trap to me. You’re seeing things merely from a human point of view and not from God’s.”

24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you’ll save it. 26And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? 27For the Son of Man [is about to] come with the angels in the glory of [Abba God] and will judge all people according to their deeds. 28And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

Other readings: Exodus 3.1-15 ;Psalm 105.1-6, 23-26, 45b (or Jeremiah 15.15-21; Psalm 26.1-8); Romans 12.9-21

Gathering Prayer:

God of unchangeable power, our strength at all times; guard us from all dangers and support us in all difficulties that we may live victoriously now and ever, and to the ages of ages; through Jesus the Christ our Saviour. Amen.

                                   

I honestly believe that we’re shown things “when we’re ready.” I’ve read passages over and over and over again and then, one day, “out of the blue” something just leaps off the page and I wonder why I hadn’t seen it before. This passage is one of those passages. We’ll get to why that is in a moment but first, let’s look at the whole Lesson.

Our opening verses come right after last week’s Lesson where Jesus gave Simon the name “Peter,” which means “stone” or “small rock.” Basically, the word means a rock someone could throw. And then here, Jesus tells Peter that he’s now a rock big enough to cause him to stumble — a stumbling block. A lot of translations have just that phrase — stumbling block. The word play is fascinating.

If it were accurate.

Other translations use “hindrance,” “offense,” “obstacle,” “scandal,” etc., and while those are better, the majority uses “stumbling block.”

I chose the New Living Translation today because it was one of two versions that translates the Greek word σκάνδαλον (skandalon) as “trap.” The HELPS Word-studies defines σκάνδαλον like this:

σκάνδαλον (skandalon) — properly, the trigger of a trap (the mechanism closing a trap down on the unsuspecting victim); (figuratively) an offense, putting a negative cause-and-effect relationship into motion.

— (“the means of stumbling”) stresses the method (means) of entrapment, i.e. how someone is caught by their own devices (like their personal bias, carnal thinking).

The word, then, is not about Jesus stumbling; almost anyone can recover from a stumble. But a trap? That’s something altogether different. And I think it’s exactly what Jesus means here. Notice the definition is key to point out that it’s the mechanism or method of the trap, how someone could get caught by “their own devices.” Peter’s not just a rock that makes Jesus stumble; he’s the trigger for viewing the world in a way that would forever trap Jesus.

Why?

Because Jesus is truly human! Jesus “was tempted in every way that we are, yet never sinned” (Hebrews 4.15; TIB[2]). This exchange shows us that this was a real struggle for Jesus. It shows his humanity. He’s not just saying Pete’s the trigger; Jesus is saying he could definitely fall into that trap! He knows that’s a weakness for him into which he’d rather not fall. To put it bluntly, Jesus didn’t want to “suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law” and be killed by the Romans. If it were up to him, he’d rather do something else — anything else. As he says later, “Abba, if it’s possible, let this cup pass me by” (Matthew 26.39a; TIB).

Maybe Peter sensed this. Maybe he could see the anxiety in Jesus’ eyes about having to drink from this cup and he’s trying to comfort Jesus. I can just hear the urgency in Peter’s voice, “Heaven forbid, Lord. This will never happen to you!” I can see Peter seething at the thought. He might even be rubbing the hilt of his sword when he said it. And when it does happen to Jesus — when they come to arrest him — Peter makes good on his promise by cutting off Malchus’ ear (John 18.10-11).

Right there is the trigger — violent revolution. Heck, Jesus could call down twelve legions of angelic warriors to help out (Matthew 26.53)! He wouldn’t have to suffer and die — he could slaughter the lot of them and put an end to all of this right then and there.

But Jesus sees that for what it is — it’s the trigger of a trap in the way the world works. Violence is what humanity does; it’s not the way of Jesus. As he says later to Pilate, “My realm doesn’t originate from this world. If it did, my guards would fight so that I wouldn’t have been arrested by the Jewish leaders. My realm isn’t from here” (John 18.36; CEB[3]; adapted; cf., John 6.15). While Jesus’ realm “isn’t from here” it’s indeed for here.

That’s what’s at stake. Follow the Way God has set out before him — the way of peace — or follow the way of humanity and start a violent revolution. Peter’s statement is the trigger of the trap. He’s essentially saying, “Jesus, we won’t let that happen to you! If anyone tries to harm you, they’ll have a fight on their hands. We’ll storm the gates of Rome itself if we have to!”

But, again, Jesus recognizes that and rebukes Peter openly. Whereas just moments before, Jesus said Simon was blessed because God revealed to him that Jesus was the Messiah, he’s now saying, “You’re my adversary! You’re only seeing this in human terms; you’re not seeing God’s way!” As we know, “[God’s] thoughts are not [our] thoughts, nor are [our] ways [God’s] ways,” (Isaiah 55.8; TIB). As St Paul says, “We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist” (1 Corinthians 13.12; MSG[4]).

What a blow to Peter! To go from such a high point and immediately fall to one of his lowest points (though, he will get lower still). How often has that happened to you? To go from a place of honor to a place of despair? It’s happened to me more than I’d care to admit. And, if I’m being honest, it happened in the same way that it happened to Peter. One minute, I’m feeling a sense of exaltation only to be brought down by my own undoing and generally within a short period of time.

But then Jesus turns and addresses the rest of the disciples. This lets us know that Peter wasn’t the only one thinking this way — he was just the only one to say it out loud. “If any of you want to follow me,” Jesus challenged, “you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me” (verse 25). The Message puts it this way — 

Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self.

That’s it. That’s the message Jesus has been preaching from day one. The true way of being human is the way of self-sacrifice, the way of Love. Following Jesus doesn’t always mean giving up your life, but it can mean that. For most of us, though, it’s about giving up our own comfort or life-style or rights for the sake of those who don’t have those things. It’s about giving up our desires and wants to meet the needs of others. That’s what Love does — it gives itself away for the sake of the Other.

We now come to the passage that set me on my backside. I remember sitting in the living room of a dear friend of mine (who, along with his wife, has recently died) and we were talking about all things eschatology (the study of last things). His wife asked me to turn to this passage and read it out loud.

For the Son of Man [is about to] come with the angels in the glory of [Abba God] and will judge all people according to their deeds. 28And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom” (Matthew 16.27-28; NLT; adapted).

I’ve changed the key word in verse 27. The New Living Translation translates the Greek word μέλλω (mellō) as “will” — “The Son of Man will come with the angels …” But the word actually means “to be about to.” From the HELPS Word-studies, μέλλω means, “properly, at the very point of acting; ready, ‘about to happen’.”

My friend explained all of this to me and then asked, “If you were standing with the disciples when Jesus said that, what do you think it would mean?”

“That some of us wouldn’t die before he returned,” I replied with the full impact of that starting to sink into me.

“The question, then, is,” she asked, “did Jesus return, or are there some of his original disciples still living somewhere? Maybe they’re the gurus in the mountains of Tibet?”

The weight then was fully on me. I just stared at the page trying to find a way out of this puzzle. Before I could offer any thoughts or objections, my friends were already prepared because they used the same ones themselves when they were confronted with this passage.

“Some people point to the beginning of the next chapter (the Transfiguration) as the ‘fulfillment’ of this passage. Some others point to the resurrection. Others point to Pentecost. But none of those fit.”

“How so,” I questioned. They all seemed like plausible solutions. The next question, though, showed the fallacy of human effort.

“Well … who died? Between this statement and the Transfiguration (which Matthew states took place just a few days later), who died?”

“No one.”

“Right. So who died before the resurrection or Pentecost?”

“Oh! Judas!” I felt like I had just solved Rubik’s Cube.

“Okay. That’s one person. Who else?”

“What do you mean?”

“Jesus said, ‘some people won’t die,’ meaning some people would have died. That is —” 

“More than just one person,” I interrupted.

“Exactly.”

I felt the uneasiness come back, like I just discovered I missed a whole side of Rubik’s cube.

“We’re left with one of two choices: Since all the disciples are dead, either Jesus lied (or, he didn’t know what he was talking about if the thought of Jesus lying is too much) or he returned just like he said he would.”

“I don’t think Jesus lied or was wrong,” I stammered. “But if he did return…”

“Then,” my friend interrupted, “we have to figure out what that means, not only from a biblical standpoint, but from a practical standpoint, too.”[5]

To paraphrase Jesus’ comments to Peter, most of our eschatological views tell us more about the way we want things to go rather than the way God wants things to go. We’re only thinking about this from a human standpoint (without a lot of imagination, if I’m being honest) and not God’s way of seeing it. The implications of such a thought are troubling to say the least. It’s almost like Peter in our story above. One moment we feel like we’ve got it all sorted and the next moment Jesus comes along and tells us something that shakes us down to the foundation of our understanding and even that’s broken apart.

It’s in those moments (plural; because they come over and over again) that we have to take up the only bit of rubble still worth holding onto — Jesus himself — and follow him in the way of Love. Only then will we find out true selves.

~~~

In the Love of the Three in One,

Br. Jack+, LC

_________

[1] Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation, Inc. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

[2] Scripture quotations marked (TIB) are taken from The Inclusive Bible. Copyright © 2007 by Priests for Equality. Used by permission.

[3] Scripture quotations marked (CEB) are taken from The Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible.

[4] Scripture quotations marked (MSG) are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

[5] For a more in-depth study on this fascinating subject, see my series, New Testament Eschatology.