Mathew 16:21-27
Today in the Gospel, we see something very human in Peter. Jesus tells His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, where He will suffer, be killed, and rise again. But Peter cannot accept the idea of Jesus suffering. He takes Jesus aside and says, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.”
Peter says this because he loves Jesus and wants to protect Him. But he does not understand that suffering and the cross are part of the mission Jesus has come to fulfil. That is why Jesus gives him such a strong reply: “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.”
When we closely look into the life of Peter, we can observe that Peter has a tendency to avoid suffering in life. When he was with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, he tried to defend Jesus with a sword, but when the danger became real, he ran away. Then, in the courtyard of the high priest, when people asked whether he knew Jesus, Peter said three times, “I do not know him.” Peter wanted to be close to Jesus when everything was going well, but when following Jesus became dangerous, fear took over.
There is a beautiful story from Christian tradition about Peter and his struggle with suffering. Years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, during the persecution of Christians under Emperor Nero, Peter was leaving Rome to escape the danger. As he walked along the Appian Way, he suddenly saw someone coming towards him. As the figure came closer, Peter recognised that it was Jesus carrying a cross. Surprised, Peter asked, “Domine, quo vadis?” — “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “I am going to Rome to be crucified again, because you are leaving my people.” But Peter did not allow Jesus to be crucified again, so he went back to Rome. According to tradition, Peter was later arrested and crucified upside down because he did not consider himself worthy to die in the same way as Jesus.
The lives of Jesus and Peter remind us that there are crosses in life that we cannot avoid. So let us not run away when suffering comes because we are doing what is right and fulfilling our responsibilities. At the same time, let us not create suffering through our own wrong choices.
If suffering comes from our mistakes, let us have the courage to change; and if it comes while we are faithfully doing what is right, let us carry it with Jesus. The cross is not the end. With Christ, suffering can lead us to new life, and the cross we carry today can become the path to resurrection. Amen.