Memorial of Saint John Vianney, Priest
So, Jesus puts this huge question to Peter: Who do you say that I am?
Peter responds saying you are the Christ.
Bingo. Peter has it right. And that is no simple truth. Jesus is happy and perhaps even impressed that this human being standing before him gets who He is. In response to Peter’s answer, Jesus gives Peter the keys to the Kingdom. It’s looking like a very good day for Peter.
But there is more. Jesus then talks about what is ahead for him. The King of the Kingdom that Jesus just gave Peter the keys to is going to suffer—big time.
For Peter, that just doesn’t make sense. How can that be? He is the Christ, the King, the Messiah, the Son of God. He’s going to suffer? Why? And by whose hand? Who would have the power to make him suffer?
Peter balks. Jesus suffering simply cannot be what is to come. He is the king. And not just any garden variety mortal king. He is THE king. Peter gets who Jesus is.
And he doesn’t.
Last Saturday, Bill and I were returning home from a lovely couple of weeks of vacation with our family in Door County, WI on the Lake Express (a high-speed ferry that crosses Lake Michigan between Milwaukee, WI and Muskegon, MI). It was a spectacular day to cross the lake—warm, sunny, and calm waters.
Also on the ferry were about a half dozen Amish. Bill and I were surprised to see them—not because the Amish don’t take ferries. It was just that we have taken this ferry a number of times and had never seen any Amish.
By coincidence, it turns out that this summer Bill and I are working on an article on the Amish and young-Earth creationism (that is, the idea that God created the world—and the whole universe—in six twenty-four-hour days less than 10,000 years ago). Traditionally, the Amish have been creationists but not of the young-Earth sort. So, we have been surprised when we encountered Amish at the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter again and again as we wrote our book on the Creation Museum and other articles on both sites.
I had our article in mind when I saw these Amish hanging out on the back deck of the ferry, chatting amongst themselves. And I was curious—had they been to the Creation Museum? And, if so, what do they think of these sites and the arguments made there?
I approached them, and they were very warm and happy to answer my question. It turns out that none of them had been to either site. One of them had heard of the Creation Museum but didn’t know much about it. They were all very curious about both sites and what they were about. We had a lovely conversation.
As I read the texts before us today, I thought of these folks and why I often find the Amish to be inspiring to my faith, though I could never be Amish.
When Jesus puts that question to Peter—who am I—Peter gets it right. And that is a very big deal. Peter has seen Jesus at work and knows who Jesus is.
But that follow-up from Jesus in which he talks about the suffering that is to come—that’s just too much for Peter. He may have the keys to the Kingdom but he does not understand what that Kingdom (or Jesus) is about.
The King will suffer. And Peter doesn’t get that.
The Amish came to mind as I was reading this text again and reflecting on a certain wisdom they have about what it means to be a Christian. And how to pull it off. They know that it’s hard, really hard. Sometimes, too hard. And their thinking is that no one can do it alone. You need a whole community standing with you and behind you to pull it off.
It’s hard to wrap our brains around the idea that the King suffered. That he did not march into Jerusalem on a thoroughbred with an army behind him to bring the city (and perhaps even the entire Roman Empire) into submission. Instead, he rode in on a donkey. And then he submitted to Pilate. And he suffered.
This is what Peter doesn’t get. Jesus is not about a worldly victory. While he certainly could pull that off, that’s not his game. He’s not about conquering or dominating.
A lot of Christians these days (and for a long time) have really struggled (as Peter did) with who Jesus is and what he is about. Folks today, having imbibed our culture’s wisdom about what it means to be a man or a king or just someone powerful believe that the point is to win, to dominate, to be in charge. Suffering is anathema.
But that is not our savior. And that’s because it’s not about him. It’s about us.
To Peter who cannot grasp the notion of the King suffering, Jesus says: Get behind me Satan.
Oh, and by the way, I just gave you the keys to the Kingdom.
God is Good. Good beyond our understanding. The question to us is: Can we follow Jesus? I pray that I can.
-Sue Trollinger