butterfly july 31, 2005

butterfly taken july 31, 2005

August 4, 2005

Get Behind Me Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples,
"Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, "God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

How many times do I think not as God does but as human beings do? It is an acceptance of the will of God that comes first. It is so difficult to see evil and injustice in the world which I believe God does not want but allows as a part of the free will that people are given. It is not a simple matter to accept suffering and fight injustice in a path that is the way of God.

Peter is the rock that Christ will build the church on. Today, it stands out to me upon reading this that Peter is the son of Jonah. For me this means the son of the earlier foretold resurrection. Jonah was three days in the belly of the whale and came out to live and carry out the will of God. Ninevah was a city that had fallen from the path of God into evil ways, but after hearing Jonah carry God's message to them, the entire city repented and turned to God.