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This Weeks Message From Our Vicar:
Dear Friends,
Last week, I wondered what it might mean for us to become Episcopal Jesus Freaks: people willing to live as though the resurrection of Jesus is actually true. This week, Matthew presses that question even further.
Peter’s confession—“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”—is the hinge upon which Matthew’s Gospel turns. Everything before it has been leading us toward the recognition of who Jesus is. Everything after it begins showing us what kind of Messiah he will be.
As this second great movement begins, Jesus is transfigured before his disciples. In a scene reminiscent of his baptism, the Son is revealed in glory, the Father speaks, and the Spirit overshadows them in the cloud. Jesus then turns toward Jerusalem, suffering, and the cross.
But first, Peter becomes the tempter. When Jesus explains that he must suffer, die, and be raised, Peter protests: “God forbid it, Lord!” Jesus’ answer—“Get behind me, Satan!”—is startlingly severe. Perhaps this temptation reaches him differently from his wilderness temptations because it offers escape from the suffering Jesus genuinely doesn't want. His prayer in Gethsemane seems to echo the power of this temptation: let this cup pass from me.
And yet, his prayer continues: not my will, but yours.
That perspective - not my will but yours - pushes us back to Peter's well intentioned but ultimately wrong headed help. His mind sees the human perspective: suffering and death = bad. Jesus, even in fear, keeps his mind on the things of God. Faithful obedience to God = best.
Perhaps that is the key ingredient in our Episcopal Jesus Freakery. We are creatures, not the center of reality; servants of the Creator, we do not live as god. Living in light of the resurrection means allowing God’s purposes to reshape every corner of life, including those places where obedience is costly and our wills resist.
This does not make suffering good or require us to seek it. It means trusting that suffering and death do not have the final word. Because Jesus is risen, we can loosen our grip upon the illusion that everything depends upon us and pray with him: “Not our will, but yours be done.”
Peace,
Joe
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