Sunday, August 31, 2014

GOSPEL READING: Matthew 16:21-27

Jesus Predicts His Death
21
From that time on, Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and
suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and
that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22
Peter took him aside and began to
rebuke him. Never, Lord! he said. This shall never happen to you!
23
Jesus turned and said to
Peter, Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the
concerns of God, but merely human concerns.
24
Then Jesus said to his disciples, Whoever
wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
25
For
whoever wants to save their life

will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.
26
What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can
anyone give in exchange for their soul?
27
For the Son of Man is going to come in his Fathers
glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
This Bible passage is yet another proof of Jesus amazing power and wisdom. The passage also
marks Jesus first revelation of his suffering and death as a new phase in the Gospel.
In a glance, we may immediately think that the refusal of Peter that Jesus will die is a good
intention and a normal reaction but in reality, the act of refusal is actually the act of the evil one.
The evil one doesnt want the Divine Plan of God to materialize; that Jesus will die on the cross
to save humanity from sin, which shows Gods extraordinary love for us; that He gave His one
and only begotten Son
Mans plans are not always Gods plans. As stated in Jeremiah 29:11. For I know the plans I
have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you
hope and a future. Peters denial is a clear manifestation of mans limited ability to fully
understand Gods plan. It is because most of the time, Gods plan is already beyond human logic
and understanding. We must always remember that God will never put us in danger. As He has
promised, He will never leave us nor forsake us. We should be assured that we are in good hands
because He created us, He holds the universe and He knows what is in our minds and hearts.
What this passage implies for me is that, Jesus wants us to follow his footsteps. Yes, no human
being is perfect, but following Jesus brings us closer to perfection. What we also need to do first
is accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse us from all our
sins and iniquities. Then we can be fully armed by the armor of God and we are now ready to
follow and emulate Jesus. And surely, along the way, we will experience hardships, failures and
difficulties but since we are following Jesus, we are guaranteed to be on the right path, then we
have nothing to worry about because at the end of the long journey is the fruit of victory and the
reward of Jesus promised eternal life.