OBSTACLE IN THE PATH - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)

Homily for the 22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)

Based on Mt 16:21-27 (Gospel), Jr 20:7-9 (First Reading) and Rm 12:1-2 (Second Reading)

From the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”

OBSTACLE IN THE PATH

“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path” (Mt 16:23)

The Gospel for this  22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A) is taken from Mt 16:21-27. First title is: “First prophecy of the Passion,” with the following parallel texts:

1.       Mk 8:31-33 - First prophecy of the Passion: And he began to teach them that the Son of Man` was destined to suffer grievously, be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be put to death, and after three days to rise again (v. 31); and he said all this quite openly. Then taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him (v. 32). But, turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said to him, ‘Get behind me, Satan! Because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s (v. 33).

2.       Lk 9:22 - First prophecy of the Passion^d “The Son of Man’ he said, is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day. Footnote ^d  says “This prophecy is to be followed by several others, 9:44; 12:50; 17:25; 18:31-33. Cf. 24:7,25-27. Lk omits Peter’s protest and his rebuke by Jesus, Mk 8:32f.”

Verses 21 and 22 say: From that time^k, Jesus began to make clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders, and chief priests and scribes, to be put to death and to be raised on the third day. Then taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. ‘Heaven preserve you, Lord;’ he said ‘this must not happen to you’. Footnote  ^k says “Jesus has just elicited from his disciples the first explicit profession of faith in him as Messiah. At this crucial moment he tells them for the first time of his coming Passion: he is not only the glorious Messiah, he is also the suffering servant. Within the next few days this teaching method will be pursued in a similar situation: the glorious transfiguration will be followed by an injunction to silence and a prediction of Passion, 17:1-12. It is Christ’s way of bracing the disciples’ faith for the approaching crisis of death and resurrection.”

Parallel texts of verse 21 are:

1.       Mt 17:12,22-23…however, I tell you that Elijah has come already and they do not recognize him but treated him as they please; the Son of Man will suffer similarly at their hands (v. 12).’ Second prophecy of the Passion: One day when they were together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men (v. 22); and they will put him to death, and on the third day he will be raised to life again.’ And a great sadness came over them (v. 23).

2.       Mt 20:17-19 - Third prophecy of the Passion. Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, and on the way he took the Twelve to one side and said to them (v. 17), ‘Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death (v. 18) and will hand him over to the pagans to be mocked and scourged and crucified; and on the third day he will rise again (v. 19).

3.       Lk 2:38+ - She came by just at that moment began  to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward the deliverance of Jerusalem.^k Footnote ^k says “The messianic deliverance of the Chosen People, 1:68; 24:21, primarily affected their capital city; cf Is 40:5; 52:9 (and see 2 S 5:9+). FrLk, Jerusalem is God’s chosen centre from which will spread his salvation: 9:31,51,53; 13:22,33; 17:11; 18:31; 19:11; 24:47-49,52; Ac 1:8+.”

4.       Lk 13:33 - But for today and tomorrow and the next day I must go on, since it would not be right for a prophet to die outside Jerusalem.ⁱ Footnote ⁱ  says “Meaning apparently ‘My work will soon be over, but not yet. I have not finished my work of exorcising and healing: this I shal contrive to do on my way to Jerusalem where my destiny lies’, cf. 2:38+. Similarly, in Jn 7:30; 8:20 (cf. 8:59; 10:39; 11:54) the enemies of Jesus have no power over him so long as ‘his hour has not yet come’.”

5.       Ac 10:40…yet three days afterwards God raised him to life^m and allowed him to be seen…Footnote  ^m says  “Lit. ‘raised him on the third day’; stereotype formula of the Christian preaching and faith. It appears as early as 1 Co. 15:4 (a first stage of the creed) with the addition ‘according to the scriptures’. The formula echoes Jon 2:1 (cf. Mt 12:40): see also Ho 6:2. It recurs in Mt 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 27:64; Lk 9:22; 18:33; 24:7,46.”

Verse 23 says: But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle^l in my path, because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.” Footnote  ^l says “By blocking the Messiah’s appointed way, Peter becomes an ‘obstacle’ (primary sense of the Greek skandalon) to Christ and becomes, though unwittingly, the tool of Satan, cf. 4:1-10.”

Parallel text of verse is that says:

1.       Mt 4:10 - Then Jesus replied, “Be off, Satan! For scripture says: ‘You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.’

2.       Mk 4:13 - Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?^c Footnote  ^c says “The apostles’ incomprehension of Christ’s works and words is a favorite theme of Mk. 6:52; 7:18; 8:17-18,21,33; 9:10,32; 10:38. With the exception of certain parallel places (Mt. 15;16; 16:9,23; 20:22; Lk 9:45) and of Lk 18:34; 24:25,45. Mt and Lk often pass such remarks over in silence, or even emend them; compare Mt 14:33 with Mk 6:51-52, and see Mt 13:51, Cf. Jn 14:26+.”

Second Title is “Condition of following Christ.”

1.       Mk 8:34-9:1 - He called the people and his disciples to him and said, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross, and follow me(v.34). For anyone who wants  to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it (v.35). What gain, then, for a man to win the whole world and ruin his life? (v. 36). And indeed what could a man offer in exchange for his life? (v. 37) For if anyone in this adulterous and sinful generation is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels (v. 38).” And he said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power’ (Ch. 9, v. 1).

2.       Lk 9:23-27 - Then to all he said, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me (v. 23). For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it (v. 24). What gain, then, is it for a man to have won the whole world and to have lost or ruined his very self? (v. 25). For if anyone is ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his own glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels (v. 26). ‘I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God’ (v. 27).

Verses 24, 25 and 26 say: Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it, but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it^m. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? Footnote ^m says “Paradox. This dictum and those immediately following oscillate between two senses of human ‘life’; its present stage and its future. The Greek psyche, here equivalent to the Hebrew nephesh, contains all three senses of ‘life’, soul’, ‘person’.”

 

Parallel texts of verse 24 are:

1.       Mt. 10:38-39 - Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me (v.38).  Whoever finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find itⁿ (v. 39). Footnote ⁿ says “In Mt this dictum is given in a more archaic form than in Mk or Lk: ‘find’ covers the idea of ‘winning’ ‘securing for oneself’, cf. Gn 26:12; Ho 12:9; Pr 3:13; 21:21. See Mt. 16:25.”

2.       Lk. 14:24 - ‘…because, I tell you, not one of those who were invited shall have a taste of my banquet”.’

3.       Lk 17:33 - Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it, and anyone  who loses it will keep it safe.

4.       Jn 12:25-26 - Anyone who loves his life loses it; and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life.

5.       Mt 10:39 - Whoever finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find itⁿ. Footnote ⁿ says “In Mt this dictum is given in a more archaic form than in Mk or Lk: ‘find’ covers the idea of ‘winning’ ‘securing for oneself’, cf. Gn 26:12; Ho 12:9; Pr 3:13; 21:21. See Mt. 16:25.”

6.       Mt 24:30,34 - And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven;^o then too all the peoples of the earth will beat their breasts; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.^p (v. 30). I tell you solemnly, before this generation has passed away all these things will have taken place^t (v. 34). Footnote ^t – says This statement refers to the destruction of Jerusalem and not to the end of the world. In the course of his preaching Jesus probably made the distinction between these two things clearer, cf. 24:1+ and 16:28+.

7.       Mt 26:64  - ‘The words are your own,’ answered Jesus. ‘Moreover, I tell you that from this time onward you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven^u. Footnote  ^u  says “‘The Power’ is equivalent to ‘Yahweh’. At the critical moment Jesus abandons his policy of the ‘messianic secret’, cf. Mk 1:34+, and unequivocally acknowledges - as he had already acknowledged to his intimates, Mt 16:16 - that he is the Messiah. But he goes further and reveals himself, not as the human Messiah of traditional expectation but as the Lord of Ps 110, cf. Mt 22:41f, and the mysterious personage of heavenly origin whom Daniel had seen in vision, cf Mt 8:20+. Henceforth the Jews will not see him except in his glory which will be manifested first in the victory of the resurrection and subsequently in the victory of the Church. Cf 23:39 and 24:30.”

Verse 27 says: For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct.ⁿ  Footnote  ⁿ says “‘his behavior’; var. ‘his works’.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Mt 25:31 - When the Son of Man comes in glory,^e escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory (v. 31). Footnote ^e  says “The perspective changes: it is now a question of Christ’s last coming at the end of the world.”

2.       Jb 34:11…that he requites a man for what he does,^c treating each one as his way of life deserves. Footnote ^c  says Classical formulation of the doctrine of retribution. In the NT, this is usually referred to the Last Day.

3.       Ps 62:12…for you, Lord, to be loving; and for yourself repay man as his works deserve.^e Footnote ^e  says “Doctrine of individual retribution taught by the prophets (especially Ezekiel, 14:12+), the wisdom writers and the psalmists, 37:1+.”

4.       Jr 17:10 - I, Yahweh, search to the heart, I probe the loins,  to give each man what his conduct and his actions deserve.

5.       Zc 14:5 - And the Vale of Hinnom will be filled up from Goah to Jasol;^c it will be blocked as it wase^d by the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Yahweh your God will come, and all the holy ones with him.^e  Footnote ^c says “Text corr.”; Footnote ^d says  “‘It will be blocked as it was’ Greek; ‘you will flee as you fled’ Hebr.”; and Footnote ^e says  “‘your (thy) God’ corr; ‘my God’ Hebr. ‘with him’ Greek; ‘with thee’ Hebr.”

6.       2 Th 1:7…and reward you, who are suffering now, with the same peace as he will give us,^a when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven with the angels of his power. Footnote  ^a says “Paul often compares his own situation with that of the churches he is writing to, cf. 1 Th 2:3; 1 Co 4:8; Ph 1:30, etc.”

The First Reading is taken from Jr 20:7-9.

Verses 7 and 8 say: You have seduced me, Yahweh, and I have left my self be seduced; you have overpowered me: you were the stronger.^d  I am a daily laughing stock, everybody’s butt. Each time I speak the word, I have to howl and proclaim: ‘Violence and ruin!’ The word of Yahweh has meant for me insult, derision, all day long. Footnote ^d says “The images of seduction and struggle illustrate the power of Yahweh over his prophet.”

Parallel texts of verse 7 are:

1.       Jr 15:10 - Woe is me, my mother, for you have borne me to be a man of strife and of dissension for all the land. I neither lend nor borrow, yet all of them curse me.

2.       Am 3:8 - The Lion roars: who can help feeling afraid? The Lord Yahweh speaks: who can refuse to prophesy?

3.       Lm 3:14- I have become the laughing-stock of my whole nation, their butt all day long.

Verse 9 says: I used to say, ‘I will not think about him, I will not speak in his name anymore’.  Then there seemed to be a fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones. The effort to restrain it wearied me, I could  not bear it.^e Footnote  ^e says “‘bear it’ following Greek.”

Parallel text of verse is that says:

1.       Jr 23:29 - Does not my word burn like fire-it is Yahweh who speaks-is it not like a hammer^l shattering a rock? Footnote ^I  says “Text corr.”

2.       Jb 32:19-20 - I have a feeling in my heart like new wine seeking a vent, and bursting a brand-new wineskin (v. 19).ⁱ Nothing will bring relief but speech, I will op[en my mouth and give my answer (v. 20).

3.       Ac 4:20 - We cannot promise to stop proclaiming what we have seen and heard.

The Second Reading is taken from Rm 12:1-2.

Verse 1 says: Thinks of God’s mercy, my brothers, and worship him, I beg you, in a way that is worthy of thinking beings,^a by offering your living bodies as a holy sacrifice, truly pleasing to God.  Footnote  ^a says “Or ‘in a spiritual way’, as opposed to the ritual sacrifices of Jews or pagans, cf. Ho 6:6. Cf. Rm 1:9.”

Parallel text of verse is that says:

1.       1 Th 4:1 - Finally, brothers, we urge you and appeal to you in the Lord Jesus^a to make more and more progress in the kind of life that you are meant to live: the life that God wants, as you learnt from us, and as you are already living it.^b Footnote  ^a  says “Paul speaks ‘in’ (v. 1) ‘by’ or ‘in the name of Christ, cf 4:15; 2 Th 3:6,12. His doctrine on moral behavior which is based on the earliest Christian teaching invests ordinary day-to-day life with a new depth: it has the seal of Christ on it, Col 3:18+.”; and Footnote ^b  says “Om. ‘and as you are already living it’.

2.       Rm 1:9 - The God I worship^f spiritually^g by preaching the good News of his Son knows that I never fail to mention you in my prayers. Footnote  ^f says “Lit. ‘I offer worship offered to God, cf. 15:16, like the Christian life itself, since both depend on charity, 12:1; Ph 2:17; 3:3; 4:18, Ac  13:2; 2 Tim 1:3; 4:6; Heb 9:14; 12:28; 13:15; 1 P 2:5.”; and Footnote ^g  says “By spirit (pneuma) Paul sometimes means the highest element in a human being, Rm 1:9; 8:16; 1 Co 2:11; 16:18; 2 Co 2:13; 7:13; Ga 6:18; Ph 4:23; Phm 25; 2 Tm 4:22; cf. Mt 5:3; 27:50; Mk 2:8; 8:12; Lk 1:47,80; 8:55; 23:46; Jn 4:23f; 11:33; 13:21; 19:30; Ac 7:59; 17:16; 18:25; 19:21. This  he distinguishes from the flesh, the lower element (1 Co 5:5; 2 Co 7:1; col. 2:5; cf. Mt 26:41p; 1 P 4:6; Rm 7:5), from the body (1 Co 5:3f; 7:34; cfJm 2:26; Rm 7:24), and from the psyche also (1 Th 5:23+; cf. Heb 4:12; Jude 19); it bears some relationship to nous (Rm 7:25; Ep 4:23) Cf also ‘dispositions of the spirit’ in 1 Co 4:2); 2 Co 12:18; Ga 6:1; Ph 1:27. By choosing this traditional term (Cf. Is. 11:2+) instead of the nous of the Greek  philosophers, the NT can suggest a deep affinity between the human spirit and the Spirit of God that stimulates and guides it, Rm 5:5+; Ac 1:8+. There are many texts where it is hard to tell whether it is the natural or supernatural spirit that is referred to, the personal or the indwelling spirit- cf. e.g. Rm 12:11; 2 Co 6:6; Ep 43:23; 6:18; Ph 3:3 var. Col 1:8, Jude 19, etc.”

Verse 2 says: Do not model yourselves on the behavior of the world around you, but let your behavior change, modeled by your new mind. This is the only way to discover the will of God and know what is good, what it is that God wants, what is the perfect thing to do.

Parallel text of verse is that says:

1.       Rm 8:14-18,26-27 - Everyone moved^h by the spirit is a son of God (v. 14). The spirit you received is not the spirit of slaves bringing fear into your lives again; it is the spirit of sons, and it makes us cry out ‘Abba, Father!’ⁱ (v. 15). The Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are children of God (v. 16). And if we are children, we are heirs as well: heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, sharing his sufferings so as to share his glory (v. 17). I think that what we suffer in this life can never be compared to the glory, as yet unrevealed, which is waiting for us (v. 18). The Spirit too comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words (v. 26). And God who knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well what he means, and that the pleas of the saints expressed by the Spirit are according to the mind of God^o (v. 27). Footnote ^h  says “‘led’ seems inadequate: the Holy Spirit is much more than one who inwardly admonishes, he is the principle of a life truly divine, cf. Ga. 2:20.”; Footnote ⁱ  says “The prayer of Christ in Gethsemane, Mk 14:36.”; and Footnote ^o  says “ Paul insists on the necessity of constant prayer (Rm. 12:12, Ep 6:18, Ph. 4:6, Col. 4:2, 1 Th. 8:17+, 1 Tm. 2:8, 5:5, cf. 1 Co. 7:5) taught by Jesus himself (Mt. 6:5+, 14:23+) and practiced by the early Christians (Ac. 2:42+). Paul is always praying for the faithful, 1 Co. 1:16, Ph. 1:4, Col. 1:3,9, 1 Th. 1:2, 3:10, 2 Th. 1:11, Phm. 4) and asks them to do the same for him (Rm. 15:30, 2 Co. 1:11, Ep. 6:19, PH. 1:19, Col. 4:3, 1 Th. 5:25, 1 TH. 3:1, Phm. 22, Heb. 13:18), and for each other (2 Cor. 9:14, Ep. 6:18, on prayer for sinners and the sick, cf. 1 Jn. 5:16, Jm. 5:13-16. These prayers must ask for growth in holiness but also for the removal of all external (1 Th. 2:18 and 3:10; Rm. 1:10) and internal (2 Co. 12:8-9), obstacles to it; we have to pray too, for the orderly conduct of the country’s business (1 Tm. 2:1-2). Paul lays special stress on prayers of thanksgiving (Ep. 5:4; Ph. 4:6, Col. 2:4, 4:2, 1 Th. 5:18, , 1 Tm. 2:1) for every gift of God (Ep. 5:20, Col. 3:17) and particularly for the food God gives us (Rm. 14:6, 1 Co.10:31, 1 Tm. 4:3-5); he begins all his own letters with a prayer of thanks (Rm. 1:8, etc.) and he wants the spirit of gratitude to pervade all the Christian’s dealing with each other (1 Co. 14:17, 2 Co. 1:11, 4:15, 9:11-22). In liturgical gatherings prayers of thanksgiving and praise must predominate (1 Co.11:14) and these sentiments must inspire the hymns that the Christians compose for these occasions (Ep. 5:19, Col. 3:16). It is the Holy Spirit who inspires the prayer of the Christians and Paul prefers to emphasize this rather than repeat the traditional Wisdom themes, namely the necessary conditions for prayer and its efficaciousness (cf. Jm. 1:5-8, 4:2-3, 5:16-18, 1 Jn. 3”22, 5:14-16) which Paul guarantees by the presence of the spirit of Christ within the Christian, enabling him to pray as a son to his father (Rm. 8:15, 26-27); Ga. 4:6, cf. 6:18; Jude 20), while Christ himself intercedes at the right hand of God (Rm. 8:34, cf. Heb. 7:25, 1 Jn. 2:1). The Father’s response is therefore most generous (Ep. 3:10). Hence Christians are called ‘those who invoke the name of Jesus Christ’ (1 Co. 1:2, cf. Rm. 10:9-13, 2 Tm. 2:22, Jm. 2:7, Ac. 9:14,21, 22:16). On the attitude to be adapted when praying, cf. 1 Co. 11:14-16, 1 Tm. 2:8”.

2.       Ep 4:23 - Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual revolution…