Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity
“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.”
Overview
“Last week Peter was at the top of the class for declaring that Jesus was indeed the son of God. But this week, in Matthew 16:21-28, he is down at the bottom for failing to understand what it meant for Jesus to be the Christ.
The disciples have experienced miracles and wonders; they have been taught how to build a community that mirrors the kingdom of God. Now they are learning that this work comes at a cost as Jesus shares the news of his suffering and death.
Peter like Jeremiah, in our first reading Jeremiah 15:15-21, wants to know why suffering is necessary, do we have to struggle, must we lose our life in order to save it?
Peter and Jeremiah want fairness, they want the good rewarded and the bad punished. God wants more than this: God does not want the evil to be punished “but rather that they turn from their wickedness and live.”
To live with such a lack of judgment, with all-embracing forgiveness and all-inclusive love is counter-cultural. It will inevitably lead to criticism and conflict. Jesus is brutally honest about this: if we follow him, it will cost us but it will also transform us.
We are asked, along with Jeremiah and Peter, whether we want a comfortable life or whether we want to bring life to others. Are we prepared to give of ourselves so that we might find our true nature by becoming a part of God’s true nature: “for those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their lives for my sake will find it.”
FIRST READING
Jeremiah 15:15-21
Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord.
Look to the rock from which you were hewn
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah, who bore you,
for he was but one when I called him,
but I blessed him and made him many.
For the Lord will comfort Zion;
he will comfort all her waste places
and will make her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
Listen to me, my people,
and give heed to me, my nation,
for a teaching will go out from me
and my justice for a light to the peoples.
I will bring near my deliverance swiftly;
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will rule the peoples;
the coastlands wait for me,
and for my arm they hope.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens
and look at the earth beneath,
for the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and those who live on it will die like gnats,
but my salvation will be forever,
and my deliverance will never be ended.
GOSPEL
Matthew 16:21-28
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
