In the gospel reading today, Peter was scolded by Jesus because he tried to stop Jesus taking up his cross.
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
And Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you."
But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men." (Matthew 16:21-23)
This reprimand was very severe. "Satan" means enemy. Stopping Jesus from taking up the cross made Peter Jesus' enemy, putting him on the opposite side of Jesus!
Then Jesus said the most paradoxical saying in the gospel:
For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
ὃς γὰρ ἐὰν θέλῃ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ σῶσαι ἀπολέσει αὐτήν· ὃ δʼ ἂν ἀπολέσῃ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ εὑρήσει αὐτήν. (Matthew 16:25)
Pardon me for lifting chunks of text from the classics. I find a Chinese passage by Mencius echoing a similar message.
孟子曰：“舜發於畎畝之中，傅說舉於版築之閒，膠鬲舉於魚鹽之中，管夷吾舉於士，孫叔敖舉於海，百里奚舉於市。
故天將降大任於是人也，必先苦其心志，勞其筋骨，餓其體膚，空乏其身，行拂亂其所為，所以動心忍性，曾益其所不能。
人恒過，然後能改；困於心，衡於慮，而後作；徵於色，發於聲，而後喻。
入則無法家拂士，出則無敵國外患者，國恒亡。
然後知生於憂患而死於安樂也。” 【孟子‧告子下】
After reviewing the life of six historical characters, Mencius concluded that when "Heavens" assigned important missions to individuals, these people had to go through many trials and difficulties in order to empower them, to release their potentials （動心忍性，曾益其所不能）. Of course, when Mencius talked about "Heavens", he did not have a deity in mind. He was making observations on human behaviours. In the end, he derived a corollary that people (and countries) survive on challenges and die of boredom and comfort. This corollary has the same paradoxical character as that of Jesus' teaching in Matthew 16:25. With the development and elaboration from the Mencius text, the Gospel passage becomes more palatable. That's why I always believe that we are able to build up a Chinese Christianity when enough effort is paid on correlating texts from Chinese Classics and the Bible.
Of course, we have to bear in mind that the Bible talks about God and our relationship with Him. True, it is more pleasant and acceptable to downgrade the "lose his life" to "undergo difficulties and challenges". However, we have to take into account of the phrase "for my sake". Being a Christian is more demanding than being an Olympic athlete, which was a favourite image Paul usually employed. Therefore, we do not simply undergo trials and challenges to release our potentials. When we think well of ourselves that we have been empowered with sufferings, we will be surprised to find that we are not yet half way through the finishing line. Jesus expects us to be martyrs.
Do Christians have to be so pessimistic? It depends. When the relation between the Church and the State is warm, leading a Christian life will demand a different type of martyrdom, a kind of daily sacrifice/self-denial, burning up oneself slowly as a holocaust to God. Following the example of Jesus, we do God's will, not ours. And most of the time, God's will frustrates our natural tendency a lot. Like many contemporary Jews, Peter expected Jesus to be a political Messiah, not a suffering Messiah. Paul was a Pharisee. Yet, in the end, he became the Apostle for Gentiles! John was a hot-tempered young man, even asking the permission to call down fire from heaven to burn up a village which did not accept them. Yet, in the end, he untiringly preached "love". God would rewire us if we are willing to accept and respond to His call.
My dear Advocate, without Your help, we are unable to transform ourselves. Grant us the grace to embrace martyrdom in our daily life. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment