Gospel: Matthew 16: 21-27
Those who read the Bible as a book of apologetic that exists for them to support the positions they already hold have trouble with passages that do not fit the narrative. Last week apologists preached endlessly about Peter's primacy as the rock. But what of this week where Jesus calls Peter a Satan for not judging rightly? What will the apologists preach this week?
What if we consider the fact that the Bible was not constructed as a book of apologetic but as texts for meditation and reflection, a book wherein we find the story of our life as being similar to those we find in the texts of Scripture. How often have we had our high moments like Peter last week where we have it all figured out, only to have our low moments like this week where we find ourselves rebuked by the Lord. What did Peter do? He stayed with Jesus and kept working on his relationship. Over time he got better, though he would still have his failures. But he stayed with the Lord and improved over time.
It is in relating to Peter in our own story that we derive real and authentic meaning from the Bible. His story is our story; his journey is like ours. What can we learn from Jesus' interactions with Peter that can help our own journey of faith? This is what the Bible is meant to do for us - bringing us to a constant reflection and meditation on our life and our story of faith in relationship to the story of God's interaction with his people across the ages.
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