From: Mark 8:27-35
Peter’s Profession of Faith
Jesus Foretells His Passion and Resurrection. Christian Renunciation
[34] And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, “If
any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me. [35] For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses
his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
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Commentary:
29. Peter’s profession of faith is reported here in a shorter form than in Matthew
16:18-19. Peter seems to go no further than say that Jesus is the Christ, the
Messiah. Eusebius of Caesarea, in the fourth century, explains the Evangelist’s
reserve by the fact that he was the interpreter of St. Peter, who omitted from his
preaching anything which might appear to be self-praise. The Holy Spirit, when
inspiring St. Mark, wanted the Gospel to reflect the preaching of the prince of
the Apostles, leaving it to other evangelists to fill out certain important details to
do with the episode of the confession of Peter.
The sketchiness of the narrative still show Peter’s role quite clearly: he is the
first to come forward affirming the messiahship of Jesus. Our Lord’s question,
“But who do you say that I am?”, shows what Jesus is asking the Apostles for
— not an opinion, more or less favorable, but firm faith. It is St. Peter who ex-
presses this faith (cf. note on Matthew 16:13-20).
31-33. This is the first occasion when Jesus tells His disciples about the suffe-
rings and death He must undergo. He does it twice more, later on (cf. Mark 9:31
and 10:32). The Apostles are surprised, because they cannot and do not want
to understand why the Master should have to suffer and die, much less that He
should be so treated “by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes.” But
Peter, with his usual spontaneity, immediately begins to protest. And Jesus re-
plies to him using the same words as He addressed the devil when he tempted
Him (cf. Matthew 4:10); He wants to affirm, once again, that His mission is spi-
ritual, not earthly, and that therefore it cannot be understood by using mere hu-
man criteria: it is governed by God’s designs, which were that Jesus should re-
deem us through His passion and death. So too, for a Christian, suffering, united
with Christ, is also a means of salvation.
34. When Jesus said “If any man would come after me ...”, he was well aware
that in fulfilling his mission he would be brought to death on a cross; this is why
he speaks clearly about his passion (vv:31-32). The Christian life, lived as it
should be lived, with all its demands, is also a cross which one has to carry,
following Christ.
Jesus’ words, which must have seemed extreme to his listeners, indicate the
standard he requires his followers to live up to. He does not ask for short-lived
enthusiasm or occasional dedication; he asks everyone to renounce himself, to
take up his cross and follow him. For the goal he sets men is eternal life. This
whole Gospel passage has to do with man’s eternal destiny. The present life
should be evaluated in the light of this eternal life: life on earth is not definitive,
but transitory and relative; it is a means to be used to achieve definitive life in
heaven: “All that, which worries you for the moment, is of relative importance.
What is of absolute importance is that you be happy, that you be saved” (St.
J. Escriva, The Way, 297).
“There is a kind of fear around, a fear of the Cross, of our Lord’s Cross. What
has happened is that people have begun to regard as crosses all the unpleasant
things that crop up in life, and they do not know how to take them as God’s chil-
dren should, with supernatural outlook. So much so, that they are even removing
the roadside crosses set up by our forefathers. . . ! “In the Passion, the Cross
ceased to be a symbol of punishment and became instead a sign of victory. The
Cross is the emblem of the Redeemer: in quo est salus,vita et resurrectio nostra:
there lies our salvation, our life and our resurrection” (St. J. Escriva, The Way of
the Cross, II, 5).
35. “Life”: in the original text and the New Vulgate the word literally means “soul.”
But here, as in many other cases, “soul” and “life” are equivalent. The word “life”
is used, clearly, in a double sense: earthly life and eternal life, the life of man
here on earth and man’s eternal happiness in heaven. Death can put an end to
earthly life, but it cannot destroy eternal life (cf. Mt 10:28), the life which can
only be given by Him who brings the dead back to life.
Understood in this way, we can grasp the paradoxical meaning of our Lord’s
phrase: whoever wishes to save his (earthly) life will lose his (eternal) life. But
whoever loses his (earthly) life for me and the Gospel, will save his (eternal) life.
What, then, does saving one’s (earthly) life mean? It means living this life as if
here were none other — letting oneself be controlled by the lust of the flesh and
the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (cf. 1 Jn 2: 16). And losing one’s (earthly)
life means mortifying, by continuous ascetical effort, this triple concupiscence —
that is, taking up one’s cross (v. 34} — and consequently seek ing and savouring
the things that are God’s and not the things of the earth (cf. Col 3:1-2).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
| First reading | Isaiah 50:5-9 © |
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| Psalm | Psalm 114:1-6,8-9 © |
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| Second reading | James 2:14-18 © |
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| Gospel Acclamation | Jn14:6 |
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| Or | Ga6:14 |
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| Gospel | Mark 8:27-35 © |
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