What does it mean that Jesus is the Christ, that he is God’s anointed one? That’s the central question of today’s Gospel reading, and it has a surprising answer, one that surprises even Jesus’s closest followers.
These disciples, the ones who have journeyed with Jesus during his teaching and public ministry, correctly answer—through Peter—our Lord’s initial question about who he is. As Peter states, the disciples know that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one. And in knowing that, they understand much more than the crowds, who recognize that Jesus is sent by God—a prophet of some sort—but miss the deeper point. Jesus is not just a prophet, as grand and important as a prophet might be. He is the Messiah, the one anointed by God to lead his people Israel to redemption.
But while the disciples are right that Jesus is the Christ, they have a particular idea about what that means—and it’s not the one Jesus has in mind. So when Jesus begins to tell them that he must suffer and be killed by the authorities, Peter rebukes him. But the Lord in turn rebukes Peter: Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.
And so the call comes to us: Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. We, if we want to follow God’s anointed one, must share in his cross. And if we do, if we lose our lives for his sake, then we will find salvation, since the cross leads to resurrection and eternal life.
Today, let us take time to ponder this mystery of the Cross, of a love that passes through death in order to lead all humankind to life. And let us ask Jesus to give us the courage to embrace the Cross each day in order to share eternal life with him.