Caesarea Philippi is located in the Golan Heights, which is the northeastern part of the modern state of Israel. Today, the area is a beautiful park, visited by many nature lovers. Within the park stands a group of ancient Roman ruins, the remnants of temples dedicated to various gods revered in Greco-Roman culture. Among these temples was one honoring the Emperor Augustus, who had founded the Roman Empire and was worshipped as divine.
At the time of Christ, the Jewish people, like many other nations, lived under Roman occupation. Throughout the New Testament, we see a contrast between the reign of Christ and Roman imperial power. The Gospel of Mark starts with the words "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mark 1:1). At first sight, we might gloss over this sentence as just a chapter heading. But, as we shall see, each word is full of deep meaning. The use of the word "beginning" invokes the first words of Genesis, "In the beginning" (Genesis 1:1), the words that introduce the account of creation. Mark is subtly implying that what we are about to read, the coming of Christ among us, is as important as God's act of creation. In the New Testament, the life-giving order created by Christ is set in contrast with the oppressive order brought about by the Roman Empire.
The word "gospel" or "evangelium," meaning "good news," was used in imperial Roman propaganda to proclaim the "good news" that the empire had conquered many lands and peoples. As all oppressors tend to do, the Romans would tell their defeated subjects that their oppression was for their own good. The Gospels present a different kind of good news, the Good News of Christ, leading to eternal life.
The name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, is also full of meaning. "Jesus" means God Saves, and "Christ" stands for the Anointed One, the one who would save the people of Israel. By contrast, the Roman emperor was called "the Savior of the World." Rome's imperial reign, the Pax Romana, the oppressive and exploitative “peace” brought about by the empire, was presented as the salvation of the world. But Christ offers us true salvation, liberation from our sinful brokenness, eternal salvation, an endless life of infinite joy.
The final words of the first line of the Gospel of Mark are "Son of God," showing the divinity of Christ. In contrast, the Roman Emperors were upheld as divine by the imperial propaganda machinery. In fact, the early Christians were persecuted in part because they didn't accept the divinity of the emperors, but would worship God alone. The Gospels show us that there is only one God, the God of the Scriptures, the God of Christianity, who became incarnate and came among us for our salvation. Throughout the New Testament, we see that we must worship Christ alone, allowing him to be the organizing principle of our lives.
In this Sunday's Gospel passage, Christ asks the disciples the question, "Who do you say that I am?" As he does so, they are on their way to Caesarea Philippi, where the temple of Augustus stands. The location is deeply symbolic. Who are the disciples going to proclaim as the focal point of their lives? Are they going to accept the Roman imperial propaganda with its false good news or are they going to give their lives entirely to Christ? Are they going to live according to the disordered values of the most powerful political power that their people had ever known or are they going to follow Jesus?
Peter gives the answer that the whole of the New Testament gives. Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the true salvation of the world. We too must reflect as the disciples did. Is there anything in the world we consider more important than Christ? Political, military, economic power? Nothing in our lives should be more important than Christ himself. Christ and Christ alone should be the organizing principle of our lives.
But Peter does not yet fully understand what the coming of the Messiah means. The Israelite expectation was that the Messiah would be a powerful military figure, who would overthrow the oppression of the Romans by force. But that is not the salvation Christ brings. Instead, Christ offers himself in self-sacrifice for the world so that all people may be freed from the bondage of sin. Only after his self-giving on the Cross does Jesus come into his glory, which in time will culminate in the remaking of the world with Christ as the center.
Peter wants the path of force, rather than that of self-sacrifice. He does not yet understand that sacrificial self-giving is the way to heal and restore the world. When Peter tries to stop Jesus from accepting the necessity of the Cross, Jesus rebukes him so harshly that he even calls him "Satan." In time, Peter will come to understand. He too would be crucified, in Rome. In fact, when he was about to be executed by the Romans, he asked the soldiers to crucify him upside down, because he did not consider himself to be worthy of dying in the same manner as Christ.
We too must ponder the message of the Cross. Christ tells us in this Sunday's Gospel: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me" (Mark 8:34). Each of us must accept crucifixion. True, few of us will be crucified literally. But we will experience crucifixion through a myriad ways of being called upon to sacrifice ourselves, whether it is for our family, our friends, our community, or even our enemies. We must unite our suffering to that of Christ, living by the principle that only self-sacrificial love can truly heal.
||
The readings for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B are:
Is 50:5-9a
Ps 116:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
Jas 2:14-18
Mk 8:27-35
The full text can be found at the USCCB website.
Photo Credit: The remains of the Temple of Augustus in the Golan Heights in the state of Israel. (c) 2016 by Zoltan Abraham.