Scripture Reflection 8 "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." - Mark 8:34
9/16/2012 03:00:00 PM"Follow Jesus." We hear this always and we say this in and out of our heads too. We know it's what we are supposed to do and we know how hard we are trying in order for us to do so. Yet it is never easy.
Jesus told his disciples long ago that, "You will be hated by all nations because of my name." (Matthew 24:9) Or "If they persecute me, they will also persecute you." (John 15:20)
The road to following the steps of Jesus is full of difficulties. We are all aware of that. I mean, we are all aware of what is in right now and being a so-called "Jesus-freak" is not in the top of the list or is not even in the list of "cool" stuffs. Maybe for the people who makes the lists and are blinded by their listing. Not for me.
Here's what I think:
Jesus, while he was still living, does not really care what people might think about him. For him, he just have to do what he has to. You know what that important mission is? It is to save you and I from our sins. A sort of mission impossible thing to be doing. But hey, he's the Messiah. And for man it is impossible, but for God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)
Jesus walked on earth and faced a lot of persecutors. For our time now, it's our gossiping so-called friends, our enemies that are just waiting for us to make a wrong move, the cool people we know that thinks we are freaks for being a member of a community of believers who has regular worship activities apart from going to mass every Sunday. You see, not all people think it's cool. But then again, who cares?
The Lord has saved me. That I know for sure. I know he does not ask for anything in return but don't you think we owe him our lives and our redemption? Is putting our faith in His Holy Name too much to ask? I hope not.
In the first reading, Isaiah said "See, the Lord GOD is my help; who will prove me wrong?" Indeed, i attest to these words. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). Many the frightening things and people around us may be, the Lord God is always a step ahead of everything that may come before us.
I believe in God's every promise. But is believing enough?
In the second reading, James said that faith without works is dead. If we claim to have strong faith but never act upon them, then what makes us any different from hypocrites? Not much, we can all be quite the same. We profess our faith every time we attend Sunday mass. "We believe in One God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen......." We mouth every word but do we really mean any word that comes out?
It's hard to tell whether a person has a genuine faith. It's a quite personal matter that only you can assess for yourself. You can ask yourself, "Do I really have faith that Jesus is my God and saviour?" Some are scared of what the answer may be but I guess we should never be scared if we really have someone to hold on to. And for my case, that's my God.
In the gospel for today, Jesus was curious about what the people thinks about Him. It does not say that he really cares that much and is so conscious of what they think of Him but he asked, "Who do people say I am?" And his disciples tried to give him answers. All that is not him, obviously. But then Peter (it is just me or is it always really Peter who gets so involved? Haha. He must be so participative that time.), told him "You are the Christ." And Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about it.
Do you ever wonder why Jesus does not want anyone to know about it? He could be a celebrity is people might know who he is. But then again, it is not what Jesus came for. He knows that what he is about to do will make him suffer even to death. Yet he will rise again. And through his death, humanity shall be saved.
Jesus wants us to think about him not just as the man who does miracles (heals the sick, casts out demons, turns water to wine, feed a thousand). He wants us to see beyond that. He wants us to see him as our Saviour, our Redeemer, our Messiah. Not because he wants more titles for himself but because it is what he really us. And unless we accept wholeheartedly that Jesus is God, we cannot really feel him complete presence in our lives.
God has been working over our lives since the day we are conceived. But it makes a very big difference if we, with open arms and hearts, call upon him and offer him full control over our very own lives.
I have learned a new word from today's homily. It's "kenosis". According to the priest (I wish I caught his name but was not really expecting to be quoting something from his homily. Remind me to take notes next time I go to mass on a Sunday. Easier for me if I attended the Jesuit mass. I could name every priest there is.), kenosis is Jesus emptying of himself. It's like total surrender. He could be that superstar at that time but he chose to be nothing apart from being that man who shall be persecuted, put to death through crucifixion and be resurrected after three days. But what he chose to be is not as simple as counting 1 to 3. It means giving up everything. For what? For us.
We all have things to think about. Every day, we think about different aspects in our lives. It makes me wonder. Did Jesus ever thought about his own, personal life even once? For even a second or so? I cannot answer that with facts but as what I feel, he never did. But he never regretted not to do so either. Know why? Because He loves us that much.
Jesus then leaves us with a challenge and reality check at the same time. "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it." (Mark 8:35)
A cross is not just a piece of wood. It's the symbol of Jesus' sacrifice and our redemption. We all have our own crosses in life. But may we always be reminded, when we take a look at the cross or even with just remembering it, that Jesus carried the cross in his shoulders which was the whole world. It's too much of a burden. And it's not equivalent to the burden and crosses we have in our lives. Not even a quarter of what we have.
Jesus asks us to follow him. It's not an order. It's an invitation. It's an open invitation. You can take it now or set it aside and take it later or ignore it forever. The choice is yours. The Lord is not imposing anything on us. Just know that whatever choice we make, He is and will always be there for us. Whether we like it or now. He will never leave us. :)
Have a blessed Sunday!
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