O God, through suffering and rejection you bring forth our salvation, and by the glory of the cross you transform our lives. Grant that for the sake of the gospel we may turn from the lure of evil, take up our cross, and follow your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
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27 Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" 28 And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." 29 He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." 30 And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.
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Reflection
Who is Jesus? Who do people say that he is? Who do you  say he is? Jesus asks these questions of the disciples, but we can ask them of ourselves as well. Peter makes his confession that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus commends Peter for his confession of faith, but Jesus also wants to be clear about who the Messiah is. Peter, and we too, are to see the Messiah through the cross.
Immediately following Peter's confession Jesus tells the disciples what he must do, but it doesn't make sense to them. A cross? Dying? How can a dead leader be the Messiah the Savior? However, to truly know the Messiah, to know the love of Jesus, we have to see him through the cross. The gospel of Mark keeps pointing us to the cross. Professor Rick Carlson says, " Mark wants us to see Jesus cross-eyed", that is, through the eyes of the cross.
At first that doesn't make sense. In the gospel, Peter challenges the plan Jesus lays out, and Jesus reprimands Peter. "You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." When we see the world through human eyes; we see it with a "me first" attitude. The world functions on a "get all I can get", "me first" attitude. But when we live life, see life through the cross, with the power of love modeled for us on the cross, there is a whole different outcome. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot defeat hate only love can do that." On the cross love wins, death loses. A "cross-eyed" world is a world of love, hope, forgiveness.
Jesus models for us the power of love. When the powers that be are challenged by the gospel message, they seek to silence and destroy it. They seek to use power, fear and threats to life to maintain control. And, at first glance, it would appear that the powers that be win. Jesus dies on the cross. Death on the cross demonstrates the extent to which Jesus was willing to go to show us his love. The cross is not the final word, however. The resurrection is! It is God's victory over death. Fear and death are not the ultimate power. Love is! Death is defeated. Through the cross, sin and death are destroyed. Through the eyes of the cross, we can see the love of God at work, bringing hope and renewal to all the world.
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