The Lord Foretells His Death and Resurrection.

(Mat. 16:21-28; Mark 8:31-38 and 9:1; Luke 9:22-27).

In order to prepare them mentally for the earthly fate of the Messiah, and also to refute the Jews’ sensate depiction of the Messiah and to consecrate them into the great Mystery of His redeeming ordeal, the Lord summons the disciples for His confessional as the Messiah and Son of God, and notifies them of the sufferings awaiting Him in Jerusalem. Although already deeply devoted to the Lord, but still not free of the Jews’ notion of the Messiah as an earthly king, the ardent and strong-minded Peter couldn’t tolerate this revelation about his deeply beloved Teacher. Not wanting to disagree with Him in front of everyone, Peter takes Him to one side saying: “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” (Mat. 16:22). These words express the thought that suffering and death are incompatible with the worthiness of Jesus Christ as the Messiah, as the Son of God.

The Lord responds to this with indignation: “Get behind Me, satan!” (Mat. 16:23; Mark 8:33). He clearly felt that it wasn’t Peter that was saying this to Him — attempting to turn Him aside from the forthcoming sufferings — but the seducer-satan himself. By taking advantage of Peter’s pure feelings, satan wanted Christ’s human nature to waver in the face of His ordeal of redeeming humanity. The remarkable thing is that the Lord, having just recently named Peter “rock,” suddenly calls him “satan”; this disproves the false Roman-catholic teachings that Christ’s Church was built upon Peter’s human persona. Can such a mutable, inconstant and unreliable foundation be that of Christ’s Church, so that “the gates of hades shall not prevail against it?” And if we are to take all of Christ’s words literally, we would be obliged to come to the completely absurd, yet strictly logical conclusion from the catholic point of view, that the Church is established on satan!

The Lord further says: “You are an offence to Me!” (Mat. 16:23). Here, the Lord has in mind that Peter, “in opposing Him and in wishing that God’s eternal decree, for which the Lord came to earth will not happen, he becomes opposition.” (???). And the Lord adds: “you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Mat. 16:23; Mark 8:33). In other words, the Lord wants to say that God had decreed the suffering and death of the Messiah, and that he — Peter — is not thinking of that which is pleasing to God but about that, which is advantageous to the Jews: treating the Messiah as an ordinary person — although a powerful king-conqueror. It is natural for a person to preserve his life, avoid suffering and strive for contentment and toward earthly pleasures and gratifications. But this is a path upon which the devil tries to lead people — wishing their destruction. This is not Christ’s path and His genuine followers. “If anyone desires to come after Me (be genuine followers), let him deny himself (refuse yourself, disclaim yourself from your natural will and inclinations), and take up his cross (condition yourself in such a way, as to be ready for the sake of Christ for any privations and suffering, including death), and follow Me (emulate Christ in His ordeals of self-renouncement and self-denial). For whoever desires to save his life (in the sense of earthly blessings) will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake (who will not spare himself for Christ) will find it (will save his soul for eternal life). For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world (will attain all of the world’s honors and pleasures, acquire all its impermanent treasures for his personal use) and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mat. 16:24-26; Mark 8:34-37 and Luke 9:23-25). The human soul is more precious than all the treasures on earth, and a ruined soul cannot be saved with anything, not with any earthly riches.

Together with this thought of eternal destruction of people that maintain themselves for this world only, the Lord couples it with the thought on His Second Coming, when each one will get rewards “according to his works” (Mat. 16:27). This is an important thought, as it refutes the Protestant and sectarian assertions that good deeds are not important in order to be saved. Evangelists Mark and Luke similarly relay other important words of the Lord: “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation (he who is ashamed to be included as a follower of Christ, particularly to fulfill the commandment of carrying his cross), of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed (will refuse to recognize him as His follower) when He comes in the glory (on Judgment Day) of His Father with the holy Angels” (Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26).

The Lord concluded this conversation with the following significant words: “Assuredly I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His glory” (mat. 16:28; Luke 9:27). These words gave (and are still giving) cause for some people to conclude about the nearness of the Second Coming of Christ — tempting them to think that the prophecy didn’t eventuate. However, the other two Evangelists — Saints Mark and Luke — define this, making it possible to understand the Lord’s words correctly. Saint Luke conveys it thus: “But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Kingdom of God” (Luke 9:27). Saint Mark adds to that: “they will see the Kingdom of God present with power” (Mark 9:1). From these words, it can be seen clearly that the conversation is not of the Lord’s Second Coming, but of the revelation of God’s Kingdom, i.e. about its blessed power on earth among the faithful — about establishing Christ’s Church. So “the Kingdom of God present with power” — is Christ’s Church, established by the Lord, its dissemination across the face of the whole world being witnessed by many of His worthy disciples and contemporaries.