Last Sunday, we heard Peter make a beautiful profession of faith: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus praised Peter for this confession and entrusted him with a great responsibility. But today’s Gospel, Peter is being rebuked by Jesus with very strong words: “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.” What happened? How can Peter move so quickly from being praised to being rebuked?

The problem is that Peter recognized who Jesus was, but he still did not understand what kind of Messiah Jesus was. Matthew tells us that from that moment on, Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer greatly, be killed, and be raised on the third day. The word “must” is important. Jesus is revealing that his mission as Messiah will be accomplished through self-giving love. The Messiah will not save His people by political power; rather, He will save them through the cross.

But Peter cannot accept this. He does not want his Master to suffer. Peter’s love is still mixed with his own expectations. He wants Jesus to be the Messiah, and yet he wants a Messiah without suffering, a Messiah without rejection, a Messiah without the cross.

And perhaps this is where Peter becomes very close to us. We also believe in Jesus, but sometimes we want Jesus according to our own expectations. This is perhaps one of the one of the messages we may learn from today’s Gospel. The real challenge of discipleship is not simply changing our behavior. It is allowing God to change the way we think. Hence, being true disciples of Jesus means moving from “what do I want?” to “Lord, what do you want from me”?

Sometimes we ask God to change our situation when God is actually trying to change our hearts. Faith does not mean that everything will happen according to our plans. Faith means that even when we cannot understand God’s plan, we continue to trust Him.

Brothers and sisters, Peter’s journey is also our journey. Last Sunday, Peter confessed, “You are the Christ.” Today, Jesus teaches Peter what that confession really means. To say that Jesus is the Christ is not simply to recognize His identity. It is to accept his way—the way of self-giving love, sacrifice, obedience, and ultimately the cross.

And perhaps this is the invitation of the Gospel today: Let Jesus correct our image of discipleship, that discipleship means following God’s will. Let Jesus change us, so that we may be able to follow His will, not ours, not mine. Christianity is not simply about having Jesus beside us when life is easy. It is about remaining behind him even when the road becomes difficult. Amen.