Precious Lord, take the hand of this dear reader during this Lenten Journey and guide them gently towards peace and maturity; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes from Mark 8: 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." (NRSV)
This is half of this coming Sunday's Gospel reading. It is part of the story leading up to Jesus' passion and resurrection. Jesus was being completely honest with His disciples about what lay ahead for Him. He left no part out. Jesus would suffer. Jesus would be rejected by the religious folk of His day, and Jesus would be killed. That's probably the point most of us would stop concentrating on what Jesus said. "Wait! What?" That's what happened to Peter. He heard the word kill and that's all he wanted to hear. There is a small phrase right after what was said, and it reads, "And after three days rise again." And (Jesus) "said all this quite openly." But Peter didn't hear that. There was that word kill and all that that means. Peter takes Jesus aside and began to "rebuke Him." Jesus knew that this sort of talk was not helping the disciples nor Peter so Jesus responds by rebuking Peter and calling him "Satan," and all because his mind was on human things not the things of God.
When was the last time that happened to you, when your earthly thinking got your faith in trouble? It's easy to do. The things of earth are ever present and we're very likely to get pulled into (or down) to them. The things of God are what nourish and strengthen us. The divine things are the ones that get us through situations when we think all is lost. We need to stay on the divine things by our prayers, our scripture reading, our devotional times, our worship time, our fasting, and our quiet times with God.
Where's your head today? It might also tell you where your heart is.
PRAYER: Loving God, I confess as does this person who prays this with me, that at times I think like everyone else and see only what I think are human realities and so the options and outcomes are not what I want. Let me think on You and Your presence, Your voice, the voice of truth that tells me a different story than the world would have me hear; and may that speak to me about what is possible with You. I pray this in the precious and powerful name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
