Scripture Study for
Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jeremiah 20:7–9 / Psalm 63:2b / Romans 12:1–2 / Matthew 16:21–27
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Understanding the Word
By Br. John R. Barker, OFM
Jeremiah has struggled not only with the mission to proclaim God’s word, but also with the way God had gone about practically coercing him into the task from the beginning (1:5). Jeremiah’s attitude comes out most clearly in this famous passage in which he accuses God of “duping” (or “seducing”) him. The prophet feels God has put something over on him, and he has allowed it to happen. The result has been nothing but pain. Yet Jeremiah is unable to simply walk away. God has gotten into Jeremiah’s bones and the call to proclaim God’s word is unrelenting. This is what Jeremiah was born for and there is no walking away from it.
Having concluded that no matter how mysterious are God’s ways, they are for the good of everyone, Paul turns to the response his audience should have to this divine mercy, which is to offer themselves to God. This requires them to reject the tendency of the “old self” (or the “flesh”) to conform to the values and expectations of the world. Having died to sin in Christ, and with the Spirit dwelling within them, they must be re-formed and have their minds, wills, perspectives renewed. Being conformed to Christ means becoming like him, who was devoted to nothing but the will of God, and thus sought always to do what God—not “the age”—considered good, pleasing, and perfect.
Immediately after being proclaimed the rock upon which Jesus will build his church, Peter reveals the limits of his understanding of the Christ. When Jesus announces that he will suffer and be killed, Peter responds according to quite human ways of thinking: The Messiah and Son of God could not possibly suffer and die. Jesus immediately recognizes this reasoning as a satanic temptation to abandon the course and insists that the kingdom of heaven is costly. This is not a new teaching—Jesus has been proclaiming it along. What is new is the realization that the Son of God himself will pay the highest price. As he has previously assured them, the price will be worth it. They will gain the very thing they think they are losing, and more.