Mark 8:31-38 A Reflection on the Cross with Some Personal Additions

Mark 8:33  -  “Get behind me, Satan!” (v. 33)

Certainly this encounter between Jesus and Peter causes any follower of Christ to take pause. If Peter who was a leader of the disciples could be the instrument of Satan, then the possibility exists that any of us could, also, find ourselves opposing the message and ministry of Jesus. Peter received the chastisement of Jesus because he attempted to dissuade Jesus from the cross. Any retreat from the message of the cross puts us over against Jesus.

The disciples were willing to fight for Jesus, and they were willing to die in that fight. In Gethsemane a sword was drawn and a blow was struck. (Mark 14:47) They would fight and die, but they were not willing to take up a cross voluntarily. Peter and all the disciples, despite their protestations, deserted Jesus when he surrendered to the cross. (Mark 14:19; 29;71)

The message of the cross is self-denial. (Mark 8:34) The message of the cross is total abandonment of one’s life to the Gospel. (Mark 8:35) The message of the cross is the decision to choose God’s way over the ways of the world. (Mark 8:38)

Peter found himself following the ways of the world, of evil, of Satan, when he attempted to substitute his own judgment for the Lordship of Christ. The good news is that God’s grace brought Peter to repentance and faith. He embraced God’s  forgiveness and in the light of the resurrection received a new understanding of God’s plan in Christ to reconcile the world. Our first natural response to the cross, like Peter’s response, is to flee. Only in the strength of the Spirit can a disciple bear the cross. Yet those who bear the cross are promised the power of resurrection.

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Witness to the Cross today.

Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) “Ultimately evil is done not so much by evil people, but by good people who do not know themselves and who do not probe deeply.”

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Grandchildren. We were sitting around the dining room table explaining to Mr. Happy (age 3) his given and family names. He has uncles from both the Burke and the Smith sides of the family who are named William; I told him that he and I share that name too; he responded, “Congratulations!”  We laughed. Then we proceeded to name all the Smiths in the family. Another burst of laughter when he summarized, “God is a Smith!”