Is. 50:4c-9a; Ps. 116:1-9; James 2:14-18; Mk. 8:27-35
“Get behind me Satan!” These words should be on our lips to rebuke evil putting on the armor of God by calling on the name of Jesus to lift us up out of the darkness of sin, suffering, or temptation. How are we to lift up our faith? It is in the name of Jesus and through the works of God that our faith is not only lifted up as an offering but it continues to grow into holiness so we may already “walk before the Lord, in the land of the living”. Heaven can’t wait for the dead to rise when Jesus can be present to us this day among the living in holiness. When “the cords of death” encompass us and we fall into distress and sorrow we not only call upon the name of the Lord to save us but let us rebuke the source of evil with the words of Jesus, “get behind me Satan”.
Poor St. Peter, he stumbled his way to holiness in an emotional rollercoaster with Jesus. Peter and his brother Andrew are the first to be called to follow Jesus leaving everything behind. In the gospel today, it is Peter who receives the spirit of knowledge to call Jesus “the Christ”. It is here that Jesus calls Peter the “rock” upon which he will build his church. Peter is no sooner lifted up in spirit that he comes crashing down as he tries to “rebuke” Jesus. Really Peter, your first act of authority as the “rock” of the church is to turn on Jesus with the spirit of pride only to be rebuked back to reality with the words “get behind me Satan”. Peter is a great witness for us to recognize just because we are saved and belong to Jesus doesn’t keep Satan from trying to have us stumble back into sinful living.
Satan doesn’t quit on Peter and he doesn’t quit on us trying to have us stumble and fall. We can’t try to blame Satan either justifying our actions with “the devil made me do it”. Satan influenced the thinking of Adam and Eve to commit sin and he tried to influence the thinking of Jesus in the desert so we remain his target but Satan does not control us either. He is the Father of lies and that is his weapon to have us believe his lies and act upon them. In the movie “The Passion” during the agony in the Garden, Jesus is in prayer when Satan appears personified constantly speaking to Jesus to weaken his resolve but Jesus remains in prayer and stamps on the head of the serpent. “Get behind me Satan” is our way of stamping on the head of Satan and calling him out.
We see in the Mount of Olives Jesus foretelling of Peter’s denial of him three times. Peter responds as humans do “Even though I have to die with you, I will not deny you.” Tough talk but we all know how far Peter falls that very night after Jesus’ arrest denying Jesus three times as soon as Satan appears to fulfill the words of scripture, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed”. Satan doesn’t quit trying to influence us with the same efforts to have us deny Jesus and disperse the sheep of God. “Get behind me Satan” for the Lord opens our ears that we may not rebel or be put to shame for denying Jesus or the works he calls us to serve.
Yet after Jesus resurrection when he appears to Peter and the disciples, Peter is once again called to rise up and proclaim his love for Jesus three times by feeding and tending to Jesus’ sheep. In Peter we see how Jesus does not give up on Peter and he does not give up on us calling back to his mercy with love. In Peter we also learn that our faith in Jesus comes to life with the “works” of love or it is dead. Faith and works are two sides of the same coin, can’t have one without the other.
Satan influenced the church persecutors with the same concept “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed”. The chief priests and entire Sanhedrin felt that if they just did away with Jesus then his followers would disperse and the movement would be dead. The Romans who persecuted the early church had the same idea. They went after the apostles and the bishops to make a statement and bring fear to the followers but the more they killed the greater the number grew. Satan’s influence to bring terror and death only gave the people greater faith to proclaim the gospel and to take care of each other.
What about the terror and death that surrounds us, is it cause for us to disperse because we don’t see God or understand the mystery of suffering, or fear our own persecution if we speak out against the culture of death around us. Who speaks for the life of the unborn or for the persecuted Christians around the world? Do we say to Jesus, “I will never deny you” but remain silent in the face of sin? Today on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11, “we never forget” the innocent in the face of evil. Never forget the influence of Satan and evil that can enter the heart to bring death. We remember them and the lives forever changed but we also recall that in the end God triumphs over evil.
One of the “Big” lies of Satan is the lie of relativity we all hear and many come to believe and it goes like this, “Truth is in the eyes of the beholder”. Jesus heard it from Pontius Pilate when he asked, “What is truth?” For Pilate it was a rhetorical question for he did not accept Jesus’ answer “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” For Pilate and for many today one person’s truth is another’s false reality but not for Jesus. Come to the truth, come to Jesus. As our famous protestant brother and writer Rick Warren wrote “Its not about you”.
How often does our thinking spiral into fears, visions filled with “what if” and our imagination goes wild with negative thoughts that distress us, disrupts our peace especially because at the moment there is no danger, no crisis, no visible enemy or is there? Could it be the enemy we call out to get behind us, that is to get away from us? This may be the moment when the unseen enemy is before us and we need to rebuke him by name “get behind me Satan!” If we think that by ignoring Satan, he will ignore us we are mistaken. He only targets our vulnerabilities even more with as many evil spirits we allow into our mind to beat us and shame us. In the moment of darkness when the “snares of the netherworld” seize upon us and we fall into distress we are to call upon the Lord’s salvation and rebuke the evil one with the Lord’s name. The Lord hears those who are brought low and comes to save us.
I have to say that almost every day I receive mail from many groups, ministries, and movements with images of Jesus coming in the poor, the hungry, the suffering seeking help to fund their projects. When you respond to one it seems we get ten times more mail from others seeking support for doing the works of God. You may have had a similar experience and it can be overwhelming to see what the need is. Your heart goes out to all of them and usually their letters come with a little gift knowing that they are investing in your generosity. It brings reality into focus not only of the struggle of others but that we cannot even count the blessings we have received from God. The truth is always before us. Jesus is always before us but we must be open to the truth. Jesus brings the truth into the world, Ephphatha, be opened!
To be Christian is to be giving of oneself with our works of faith in time, talent and treasure. “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? So also, faith of itself, if it does not have works is dead.” Faith alone does not save. Faith is meant to moves us to do the works of salvation and the works of salvation create life so that in Christ death has no sting, no power, no glory for “he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive” (Lk. 20:38). That is why we not only pray for the dead but for the dead to pray for us because theirs is not a final death but a death to this body while their souls are more alive in the truth of Christ. Philippians 2:12 reminds us, “So then my beloved…work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” The evil one is at large seeking the ruin of souls. “Get behind me Satan!”
The Lord God opens our ears to hear him in his word, to touch his body and blood in the Eucharist, to walk among the faithful to follow the truth “before the Lord, in the land of the living.” Heaven can’t wait for tomorrow when Jesus makes himself present to us today. We enter the land of the living to taste and see the goodness of the Lord when we come to Jesus to wash away our sins and receive him in the Eucharist. This is that day and the hour has come to proclaim our faith in the truth of Jesus. Be renewed, and go forth to love and serve the Lord in all his works.
The Lord will bless the land we stand on and guide the path we walk that we may radiate his love and glory to the world. When we receive the Lord, we receive his mercy and faithfulness to be faithful in all our works. “Justice and peace have embraced” coming from heaven to be with us in Jesus as he appeared to the disciples after the resurrection proclaiming “Peace be with you.” God dwells in us as we receive Jesus and we enter into the land of the living freed from the stain of sin. As the song reminds us, “this is holy ground, were standing on holy ground” and the Lord will keep us along the path of holiness with ears and eyes open to his mercy and love.
“In the name of Jesus, get behind me Satan” is a powerful prayer. In it we reject Satan and all his empty lies and we embrace Jesus, the Father’s only begotten Son, united to the Trinity, the angels and saints and to the one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic church first entrusted to Peter as the first Pope, that is “Holy Father” of the church despite his faults and his past. Peter rises to embrace the works of Jesus with great faith and so are we to do. The truth is this world is about salvation through Jesus Christ. Don’t leave this world without him. Jesus saves!
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