The following is a reflection on Mark 8:27-35 given by Sr. Janet M. Peterworth at St. William Church on September 15, 2024.
“The story I tell myself about me has little to do with how you see me.”
This was written by Thomas Merton in his book “The Sign of Jonas.” Listen again. “The story I tell myself about me has little to do with how you see me.” In this section of his book, Merton is searching to come to his “real self.” This was a struggle for him.
I think Jesus might have been having that same struggle. “Who do people say that I am?” More personally, “Who do you say that I am?” He asked his students [Mk 8:27]. I believe Jesus had a story that He carried with Him, and He gave us a hint of His story when He was just a teenage boy. “Did you not know that I must be about my Abba’s business?” And again at the River Jordan when He heard a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, I am pleased with Him.” [Mt 17:5] Jesus had a story, and little by little He embraced His story, sometimes with joy and once to the point of sweating blood.
In today’s Gospel, Mark is remembering a way that Jesus told His story to His students, disciples, friends—they were certainly all of these rolled into one—the story He has been telling Himself —no, the story He has been living. Sure, He had caused miraculous things to happen. And they said, “Could He be the Messiah we are waiting for?” Yes, He got snarky with the Pharisees and Sadducees. “Oh, yes, maybe He is the Messiah,” they cried. But as Mark remembers it, it was there in Caesarea–Phillipa (the place of shrines to many gods) that Jesus told them the story He had been carrying about himself. Peter was the one who got the answer right. But did he? Indeed, their Rabbi was the Messiah but not the one Peter thought.
Now Jesus tells His story as He sees Himself. “I, the Promised One, will have to suffer, be rejected by the Jewish elders, chief priests, and scribes, be put to death and I will rise again three days later.” [Mk 8:34] I think if we listen carefully, we can hear Jesus sigh and imagine Him saying, “There—I have told you my story, and see, it has little to do with how you see me. Yes, Peter, yes, my students, I am the Messiah, but not the Messiah you were hoping for.”
Peter, don’t try to tell me that the story I know about myself is wrong. Don’t try to talk me out of it with your bravado. I am the Messiah. I am the one you have waited for and hoped for, but I am not going to conquer Rome. I am not going to overthrow the government. So, if that is what you have been hoping for now you know that my story has had little to do with how you have been seeing me.
As I prayed about and reflected on this passage in today’s Gospel reading, I could not help thinking about it in my life. What would it be like to ask a friend or a co-worker, “Who do people say that I am?” In a way that is a scary question. I think Jesus had to be brave to ask it and I know I would have to be brave to ask it. And I would have to be braver still to sit there and listen to the answers as Jesus did. Some say you are a prophet; some say you are John the Baptist and some even think you are Elijah come back. None of those answers aligned with the story Jesus knew about himself. My guess is that the answers to my question (if people would be honest enough to give me the answers) might not align to the story I tell myself either.
I wonder if you have ever asked a spouse or sibling that probing, dangerous question, “Who do people say that I am?” Are you brave enough to do it? Do you think it would align with the story you tell yourself?
And going one step further what if both of us, you and I took the crucifix off the wall in our homes or got our rosaries from under our pillows and looked at the body of Jesus there and asked Jesus, “Who do YOU say that I am ?” What do you think the answer would be? What if it went something like this: “Well, you are my follower. That I know for sure. But if you wish to come after me for real, you will have to deny yourself, take up your cross. And one more thing—you will have to lose your life for my sake—that is, if you want to save it.” Do you think Jesus’ answer to us would align with the story we tell ourselves about ourselves?
Jesus and his disciples set out
for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that I am?”
They said in reply,
“John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets.”
And he asked them,
“But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said to him in reply,
“You are the Christ.”
Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and rise after three days.
He spoke this openly.
Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,
rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the gospel will save it.”
Get Social!