A good Sunday to all.

In last week's Gospel passage, we heard the story of Jesus healing a deaf and dumb man in the Decapolis, in pagan territory. We noticed that the disciples did not accompany Jesus; he had gone alone to the Decapolis, and before that, he had gone to Tyre and Sidon alone, without the apostles; so, he passed away at a specific time from his disciples. We also remember that the separation occurred in a rather tense atmosphere. Jesus had a discussion, first with the scribes and Pharisees and then with the disciples and had harsh words against them. Ultimately, he said, 'But you are really like that (asunetoy = fools) not to understand certain things.' And then he had gone to Tyre and Sidon.

Today, we find him again with the disciples; we hear where he leads them and what he speaks to them on the way: "Jesus and his disciples went to the villages around Caesarea Philippi.” He led them to the northernmost part of the land of Israel. From Capernaum, it is a day journey, but it is worth it because it leads one to the most delightful place in the land of Israel, and there, at the foot of Mount Hermon, ever snowy, its fresh and abundant waters of the river Jordan abound. The surrounding plain is watered by countless streams that make the soil fertile; it is a true paradise on earth, so enchanting that when Alexander the Great passed through it in the year 331, he exclaimed: 'How great... it is indeed the abode of the god Pan and the nymphs!' That is why this place is called Panias, after the god Pan, whence the present name Banias. Also, in the Bible, this region is famous for its lush pastures and the fertility of its flocks and herds.

We ask: Why did Jesus take his disciples to Caesarea Philippi? He will talk with them but could have done it in Capernaum. No, he wanted to ask specific questions in Caesarea Philippi. Therefore, it is crucial to understand which city was the capital of Philip's kingdom. This city was called Caesarea Philippi because it was founded by Philip, one of the three favorite sons of Herod the Great. He had built it as his capital; of course, he had named it Caesarea after the emperor of Rome.

What did the apostles see around them? Jesus took them there precisely so that they could contemplate this place. They saw a fascinating sight; they were enchanted by the scenery and the comfortable life that the inhabitants led. They could not but envy the pleasures that the tetrarch Philip could afford in his palaces. One of these palaces was just above the spring, where you see that building in the middle of the trees.

It is a charming position from which you can contemplate the whole valley. Another detail is marginal, and there is a bit of gossip. The apostles also know who lives in this palace, with whom Philip lives. His wife is Salome, the famous dancer who had asked for the head of the Baptist. She was undoubtedly the star who animated the parties and dances in the triclinium of Philip's palace. In the framework of the attractive life, it leads people to why Jesus asks the first question to the disciples. Let's listen to it:

 

“On the way, he asked them, ‘Who do people say I am?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’”

 

The first question Jesus asks can be paraphrased this way: 'I embody a certain type of man; what opinion do people have of this man I propose, with my person and my life? Do I have a certain value, or am I completely insignificant, and nobody is interested in me?’ Everyone would like to be like Philip; he is the ideal man, admired and envied by all, and even the apostles, in their hearts, would like to incarnate Philip's life. But of his involvement, we shall speak later.

The disciple’s answer: ‘For the people, the human being that you incarnate, counts and counts a lot; they say that you are like John the Baptist, like Elijah, as one of the prophets.’ Interestingly, no one has seen anything in Jesus that makes him look like the great personality of his time. People envied Philip's exemplary life, but in Jesus, they see similarities between people they admired for their lives, not the buildings they built.

They do not see in Jesus any similarity with the high priest before whom all bow down. There is no similarity between these characters. Jesus resembles the Baptist because people have realized that he is like the Baptist, one with a straight back, not bent like the reeds blown about by the wind; he says what he thinks and lives what he preaches. Then they compare him to Elijah, who has professed faith in the one God and has rejected any compromise with idols. Here, we are in the land where idols are worshipped. You can see the beautiful white marble temples dedicated in 19 B.C. by Herod the Great to Augustus and the goddess Rome. And then the buildings of Pan and the nymphs.

Those who worship idols receive honors, pleasures, and blessings from their palaces. If you worship idols, you may be full of good things, but at what price do you become their slave? You are no longer in control. Idols occupy all your thoughts; they decide all your choices. If you worship the money god, he gives you everything, but you must obey him and be ready to exploit, lie, and even kill if necessary. This is the slavery of the idol.

Jesus is one who rejected idols; Jesus appreciates the beautiful things of this world, which are God's creatures and gifts, but woe to you if you become a slave to them. This is the likeness of Jesus to Elijah. The human being proposed by Philip is the one who bestows wealth, positions of prestige, and power. Those who bow down to him make them partakers of his joys and the luxurious life of the court. People appreciate the human being incarnated by Jesus; they admire him for his righteousness and courage, but What do I gain if I become like him? Is it worthwhile to be like him, or is it better to be like the idol worshippers? Or like those who bow down to Philip? What can Jesus offer to those who follow him?

This is a question we must ask ourselves today with clarity because we must answer with sincerity. We could be feeding fantasies that would end in bitter disappointment. Let us review what people expected from Jesus and the saints in the past and what they asked when going to the church. Unsurprisingly, those who expected from Jesus and the saints healing of diseases, welfare, and protection against misfortune later looked for it elsewhere, in science and technology. The one who embodies the human proposed by Jesus, what advantages do they have? To clarify this, Jesus asks the disciples a second question. Let us listen to it carefully, for it is addressed to us:

 

“‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah.’ Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.”

 

Peter's answer to Jesus' second question is correct: You are the Christ, the Son of the God of life; you are the awaited Messiah, but this is not what Jesus wants to know. First, what messiah does Peter have in mind? He is not God's Messiah; he is the Messiah according to human tradition and criteria; the son of David would have ruled the world. However, the problem is that Peter does not understand what Jesus wants to know. The question is, who am I to you? This means, how much do I count in your life? How much are you involved in my proposal as a man? It is the question that a young man asks his girlfriend: Who am I to you? It doesn't mean who I am but for you. That is, how much do I count in your life, in your choices, in your thoughts? How much does my person count?

This is the question that Jesus asked. He wants to know to what extent his disciples are involved in his proposal as a man. In other words, he says to the disciples: Do you want to be men like Herod Philip or like me? You have understood that we are different. What kind of men have you fallen in love with? What kind of person do you want to be? To what extent are you committed to me? It's the betrothal proposal: Do you want to join your lives to mine? It's a question we must let ourselves ask today. What are you willing to bet your life on for Jesus of Nazareth? The union with him may concern a particular time of your life, which may be participating in the Sunday liturgy. It's a good thing... a little prayer. Jesus is not content with that. He wants to know if you want to spend your whole life to live as he lived.

This is the answer Jesus wants to know from the disciples. Perhaps we, too, have given our adherence to Christ as Peter did, with much enthusiasm but without understanding. So, let us clarify well our ideas of what Jesus is telling us now:

 

"He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law and that he must be killed and, after three days, rise again. He spoke plainly about this.”

 

Jesus "spoke plainly about this." ... what a strange verb to begin with because we are in the middle of his public life, so it's been a year and a half already, and Jesus has taught me so much. Now, he must start training again because the disciples have not understood where he wants to take them, or rather, they do not want to understand. Jesus does not want any misunderstandings; he does not behave like certain people who disguise themselves by hiding a little of their true identity to win the person they love. Jesus does not. He wants those who adhere to him to have a clear idea of where he is going and where he wants to take those who follow him.

The 'Son of man' is he. Son of man, in Hebrew הם של האדם - ben-adam means the prototype of man, the man that Jesus wants to incarnate, the man that Jesus presents with his person. He must suffer much; the religious authorities will reject him, the scribes, and the high priests, and he will be killed. It is the proposal of the goal; he will go to that goal, and now he proposes it to his disciples. Therefore, he will be a loser, a failure. He who wants to be great in the world must compete because life is a competition, a frantic race to reach higher and higher. It was so in Jesus' time and even more so today.

The wise Qoheleth called this pathetic game as הֶבֶל 'hebel' = vanity, smoke; and even those who win run after the wind, 'Hebel,' he says. Jesus proposes a different man who does not enter a competition and gives his life for love. In the eyes of the world, the man he suggests is a loser, and Jesus will be a loser. The political and religious authorities will condemn him and kill him. But he immediately adds that after three days, he will rise. He says: Pay attention well because the story of the man that I propose does not end in the darkness of a tomb; the judgment of God turns the criteria and evaluates the success of life in an opposite way to people's judgments.

Peter is shocked; he has received a terrible blow, which is a sign that he has understood. Before, he did not understand or did not want to understand; now, Jesus is too clear, and Peter cannot accept this perspective of the gift of life. This is not why he left the house and the boat to follow the Master. He, too, is ready to give his life but to win, not to lose. He reacts; he has understood and cannot accept Jesus' proposal. Be careful because if we do not respond like Peter, we will not understand what Jesus said. Let us listen to what Peter did:

 

"Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’”

 

Peter was amazed at what Jesus had said and was convinced he had said the wrong thing, So he took Jesus aside. The evangelist says: "he began to rebuke him." The verb used is crucial: 'epitiman' is the verb evangelists use to narrate Jesus' exorcisms. When Jesus must cast out the devil, he rebukes him, and the demon disappears. Using this verb, the evangelist Mark says Peter has begun exorcising Jesus.

Peter is convinced that the devil suggested what Jesus said and must be cast out. Why does Peter think that Jesus said a foolish thing? If we look at the Bible, Peter is right. The Bible consistently says that the Lord protects the righteous; the one who does good is blessed, and the Lord satisfies him with his blessings.

Take, for example, Psalm 37, where the psalmist says: “The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; but my Lord laughs at them because he sees that their day is coming” (Ps 37:12). God puts things in their place; God is on the side of the righteous. And the psalmist continues: "Neither in my youth nor now in old age have I seen the righteous one abandoned” (Ps 37:25), “for the Lord does not abandon the faithful.” In the end, the unjust will be destroyed forever. The race of the wicked is lost. What the psalmist says is found throughout the Old Testament. The promises made about the messiah are those of victory; he will be a conqueror and subdue all his enemies.

This is the catechesis that Peter has learned, and now Jesus is saying the opposite. Taking the Old Testament literally, Peter is right. Peter does not understand that God's victories are not those of men; God has only one victory: love, not weapons, of those who can overcome their enemies. This is Peter's misunderstanding.

What is Jesus' response? He began to rebuke Peter; that is, he began to perform an exorcism on Peter. 'It is you, Peter, who has Satan within you because you reason according to the judgment of men and not according to God. "Get behind me.” Not 'away from me as they used to say, no, get behind me, ‘don't stay in front of me to show me the way; I will show you the way, for I am the way of God. If you want to be a man after God, follow me.’ He called him 'Satan' because, having assimilated human thoughts, the world is in the hands of the evil one. Peter has suggested to the Master, without realizing it, options opposite to those of the Lord, and now Jesus addresses a clarification to the multitudes.

Surprisingly, Philippi suddenly appears in Caesarea, and a crowd awaits. What crowd is this? There was no crowd at Caesarea Philippi; only the disciples were there. Jesus speaks to us; we are this multitude that he now addresses. Let us listen:

 

"Then he called the crowd along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and the gospel will save it.’”

 

We are very concerned with numbers; we count, make statistics, make forecasts, and see how many we are if we increase or decrease. Jesus is not worried about numbers, but we know what it means to follow him. He says to the crowd, that is us: “Whoever wants to be my disciple.” The proposal of love does not impose itself; he makes you a proposal and leaves you free. Your life depends on it because you must follow somebody. If you follow the wrong shepherds, you will become false; your life will be wrong. Jesus proposes to you: 'If anyone wants to come after me...'

Let us be careful because there are many admirers of Jesus, but to admire Jesus does not mean to be his disciple yet; it is necessary to adhere to and follow him. Faith in Jesus is also not an adherence to a package of truths. He now clarifies that these demands cannot be mitigated; they can be accepted or rejected. Jesus does not give discounts, delays, or second thoughts. Make up your mind.

We have three imperatives to clarify what it means to follow him. First condition: 'Deny yourself.' The verb 'aparneumai' is the verb that is used for Peter when he denies Jesus when he says, 'I have nothing to do with that man.' It is blasphemy, says Mark. The other evangelists have avoided this verb. He has begun to curse God against Jesus, saying he had nothing to do with that man. Jesus uses this verb to say to Peter, ‘Now you are the one who has nothing to do with me.’ 'Deny yourself.' You don't exist anymore.

Our instinct is to do everything for ourselves; we instinctively turn to ourselves, and everything we do is for our benefit. Jesus says: 'Then if you follow me, forget about yourself.' In every choice you make, every action you take must be for the joy and life of others. Think no more of yourself but of your brother's needs for life, for the joy of your brother; your joy will be the joy of God; that is, you will be a happy person. The first condition is this.

The second condition: "Take up your cross." It does not refer to the necessity of enduring with patience the small or great tribulations of life. An expression was used that said everyone has his cross to bear... NO.

Here, the cross is not to be borne. The cross that Jesus proposes must be chosen and embraced. What does it mean? Not to select suffering but love. The one who takes up the cross with his life, what does he do? Let us think of Jesus coming out of Pilate's praetorium after the condemnation; it is the eve of the Passover; the city of Jerusalem at that moment is already full of people, and in front of the gate of Pilate's praetorium is the 'agora,' therefore, where all the people are shopping for the night of the Passover, the paschal supper. When Jesus comes out, he is wearing around his neck the reason for which he was condemned to crucifixion: he wanted to become king. He must pass among the people who consider him a failure, a loser, a curse of God, insult him for the choice of love he has chosen.

He has chosen love, not competition; he has decided to give his life for others, not to take the lives of others. He passes among these people, and by the world's standards, he receives insults; he is considered a nobody. The disciple of Christ must remember that if he chooses the life proposed by Jesus of Nazareth, he is regarded as a nobody. He will not be a successful person in the eyes of the world. In the eyes of the world, he will be a failure because the great ones in the world are those who assert themselves, who, in competition, win, who do not think of others. The day when one who obeys the god of money begins to think about the good of others, he immediately becomes a loser. To embrace the cross means remembering that you will not be praised. You will be considered a loser.

The third condition is to follow him. It does not mean to imitate him, no. It means always being attentive to where he goes, how he walks, and his decisions. To follow him means, practically, to pray. Praying means always having your cell phone available to talk to him, meaning that whatever decision I make, I must first ask him what he thinks. Don't tell me he doesn't answer you because we know that we will learn how he thinks if we know him. The wife does not need to listen to what her husband suggests. She knows how her husband thinks and makes choices to please him. That is why we need to pray so that at all times, the choices are made according to him.

Jesus promises that on the third day, there will be the resurrection. When the 'third day' is mentioned in the Bible, and this expression is often repeated, it does not mean the day after tomorrow; it means how things will end. It is not that Jesus promised that He would return after three days. The third day is the conclusion of God's story of a lifetime, and the life that triumphs is that of the losers by love, like Christ.

I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.