ANYONE WHO LOSES HIS LIFE FOR MY SAKE, WILL SAVE IT

XXIV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 8:27-35

Before Jesus, we are faced with God’s mystery and confronted with a simple question: “But you, who do you say I am?” Jesus demands an answer from which one of us. Peter gave the answer that became the standard answer: “You are the Christ.” The word Christ is not a personal name and is not either Jesus’ surname. Christ is the Greek word that translates Messiah, meaning the Anointed One, that is the one sent by God to fulfil his promises and bring salvation to his people and the world.

If Jesus is the Messiah, how is he going to bring about salvation? The people of Israel lived in the hope and expectation of the coming of the Messiah. He would usher in a time of peace, freedom and justice. The Messiah would defeat all the enemies and conquer all the nations to establish the rule of God. With him on the throne, there would not be any kind of oppression and exploitation. The understanding was that the people of Israel, as the chosen people of God, would be the first fruits and the standard-bearer of the new world established by the Messiah. These expectations were so deeply entrenched that the apostles could not understand otherwise. Being companions of Jesus, they were sure of sharing in the glory, power and wealth that will be the result of this new age, the age of the Messiah. However, Jesus is going to turn everything upside down. He had no political ambitions and considered money to be a false god, which cannot be served.

When Peter answered: “You are the Christ.”, Jesus “gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him.” Once announced and proclaimed as the Messiah, he would become the head of a political movement, which would lead to a cry for independence, and then to war against the Roman oppressor. Jesus did not want any misunderstandings and made it clear that the way to salvation would lead him to suffering and death. Peter couldn’t stand it and “started to remonstrate with him.” Then, Jesus was harsh with Peter, calling him Satan, “because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.” The way to salvation passes through suffering. It implies taking up our cross and being ready to lose our life.

We are not different from Peter and the other apostles. We fear suffering and death. The society which we live in puts forward a life without suffering as an ideal. We try to insulate ourselves and our children from adversity and suffering. As a result, we have young men and women who are not resilient and who despair of life at the slightest difficulty. The children of today are brought up as princes, whose whims are satisfied and to whom everything is given. As they grow up, they think that everything is theirs to grab. However, in society, life is hard and we need to be prepared to put up with difficulties and hardships. In difficult times, that’s when we can prove our worthiness. 

“Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it”. (Mk 8:35).