24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sept.

16, 2012 (Isaiah 50:4c-9a; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35) A Jesuit priest I once knew in Jerusalem offered to get me an appointment with his barber, a Palestinian in Jerusalem. I did not speak Arabic so I had no idea what he was saying although they both laughed a lot. The hair-cutting was fine but before he finished he took a spool of thread, looped it around his fingers with the end of the thread in his mouth. He leaned into my face as I wondered what was happening. He proceeded to pluck my beard, the hair on my ears and my nose hairs in a move that brought excruciating pain. I didnt want to indicate that I felt the pain so I sat there quietly as he finished plucking all that hair. I always think of that experience when I come across Sundays passage from Isaiah because of the pain. The bravado of youth lets us endure a lot. What I endured in a barbers chair is hardly what the servant of the Lord endured in his maltreatment but the plucking of the beard is real torture. The prophet never says why this servant was punished in this way because the prophet never identifies who the servant is. Some have thought he was talking about himself. Others think he is describing a personified Israel. Still others think he is speaking of an unnamed, idealized individual who remained faithful to the Lord in spite of the abuse. Obviously the Gospels were aware of the suffering servant songs of Isaiah in their presentation of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, especially in light of his own suffering. Mark was aware of it too as he presents what some have called the hinge of this Gospel. Up to this point Jesus has urged silence upon various people who have been healed of various afflictions. It was always with the command not to tell anyone because they knew him (see Mk.

1:34) or something similar (see Mk. 3:12). Now Jesus asks his disciples Who do people say that I am? In many ways this is a question directed at the reader who might answer as the disciples do. Then Jesus asks directly: Who do you say I am? Peter answers for them all: You are the Christ. Christ is the Greek word for Messiah which means an anointed one. Part of Old Testament hopes looked to the future for an anointed leader in the line of David who would lead Israel back into its former glory among the nations. When Jesus begins to explain that he will suffer and die and rise after three days, it is probably a prophecy after the fact. The disciples continue to be puzzled by his talk of resurrection from the dead and here Peter is angry and tries to silence such talk. Jesus in turn silences Peter in strong language: Get behind me, Satan. To be associated with Jesus is to think as God does, not as human beings do. That was Peters mistake. To be followers of Jesus means to become comfortable with the paradox of the cross, which means one must be prepared to lose ones life in order to save it. Self denial leads to salvation. In an overly indulgent society like ours, this message is too often silent before the drumbeat of success and riches and worldly acclaim which is everywhere present. The heart and soul of Christianity is found at this point in this Gospel. Anything else that is preached is going to hear an echo of Jesus words to Peter: Get behind me, Satan! Fr. Lawrence Hummer