Get behind Me, Satan!

24^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

September 13, 2015

Mark 8:27-35

“Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do (Mark 8:33).”

There are two revelations in today’s Gospel. The first revelation is the identity of Jesus. Peter, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, revealed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, and the Anointed One. The second identity is less discussed and less obvious, yet it is important because the person is disclosed by Jesus Himself. It is the identity of Satan. Against him, Jesus also warned us that at least, he possesses three basic characteristics.

The first is that the devil may influence people from all walks of life. When Jesus rebuked and called Peter, Satan, it is clear to us that Peter is not the Devil per se. Peter was close to heart of Jesus, the leader of the Apostles and chosen to take care of Christ’ Church on earth. But, by addressing Peter as the Evil One, Jesus wanted to point out that Satan is working in the heart of everyone. The saints are constantly tempted, the great leaders of the Church once also fall into his tricks, and thus, we can never say that we are immune to his influence.

The second characteristic is that he desires to be the number one in our lives. When Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan.” It seems that he has natural tendency to become the main barrier between us and God. He wants us not to worship God but him, no longer to listen to God, but him, not take the cross of Christ, but to enjoy the earthly pleasure. In short, he leads us into idolatry. Sad to say, we have our own favorite idolatry. Some perhaps worship money and allow any means, including the illicit ones, just to accumulate this wealth. Some may be craving for power and position, and justify any ways including to trick and destroy our neighbors. Some might adore bodily and sexual pleasures, and thus, shun Christian morality as too legalistic, complicated and irrelevant.

The third characteristic, corollary to the second one, is to Satan wants us to bring down God to our human level. Jesus is indeed the Messiah, but His Messianic identity and mission are not like the one Peter had in mind. Peter expected Jesus to be a political and military leader that would charismatically liberate the Israelites from the clutches of the Roman Empire. But, this was not Jesus. The conflict could have been avoided, had Peter understood and accepted Jesus’ explanation of Himself. Yet, the real problem is Peter refused to listen to Jesus and ‘force’ his own will upon God. Indeed, it is the work of the Devil to make us believe that we can create God in our own image, and not we, created in God’s image.

The easiest way to detect this tendency is by examining our prayer. In our daily prayers and devotional practices, who is actually occupying the center place? Is He God? Or, our prayer is still full of ourselves? Prayer is certainly important, but when we transform it as kind ATM for our requests, then there is something wrong. Our professors in the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, often remind us that the Theology can be very dangerous because in our effort to understand Him, we are tempted to box God in our small heads. Thus, one professor would suggest that after arduous study of theology, we need to go to the chapel and ask God’s pardon for trying to put Him in our limited minds.

We thank Jesus for revealing the identity and features of the Enemy. He can influence everyone, you and me. He wants to be our god. And, he tricks us to believe that it is good to bring down to our own level. Let us remember of these three and with the grace of God, we dare say, “Get away behind me, Satan!”

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP