"The Lenten Pilgrimage" - Day 31

Wednesday, March 24th  

     “Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.   He said all this quite openly.  And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.  But turning and looking as his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan!  For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’”

                                     Mark 8:31-33

     Perhaps we shouldn’t be too hard on Peter.  He just didn’t understand, and of course he was not alone.  The notion of a suffering Messiah simply did not mesh with the popular religious hope that envisioned a military uprising aimed at Rome. 

     And as we inch our way steadily toward Holy Week and the cross, perhaps its a good time to consider our own Messianic expectations. 

     To follow this Messiah is to walk the way of the cross.  And the way of the cross will always be a way of suffering, self-denial, surrender and sacrifice. 

      Follow Jesus, and you can dispense with the notion of a ticker-tape parade in your honor.  Any way of religion that brings us glory, that wins us accolades and puts us in the crosshairs of praise, is not the way of the cross.    

Prayer

     Lord Jesus, like Peter we recoil at the thought of following you to the cross.  It is more 

     natural for us to set our minds on human things rather than divine things.  Show us where

     our expectations of you fall short of your glory.  Show us where our discipleship is limited

     by our own lack of imagination, commitment and courage.  May our lives not stand in 

     opposition to your work, but as a vehicle for your ongoing ministry in the world.  In your name    

     we pray.  Amen.