Together With Jesus Say “Get Behind Me, Satan!”

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR 

Homily for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, September 12, 2021

Today, Jesus and his disciples are on their way to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi was a mixture of Greek and Roman style and persuasion known for its worship of foreign gods. Along the way Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” What Jesus gets by way of response is, first, a public opinion survey “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” Seemingly not satisfied with the answers given, Jesus turns his attention to his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?”  They are silent, afraid, unwilling to speak. Finally Peter breaks the silence, “You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29). Matthew’s version is broader, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). 

After that, Jesus shocks his disciples by telling them that the Christ, God’s Anointed One who is supposed to cleanse the Temple, restore proper worship of Yahweh, defeat the enemies of Israel, gather the tribes of Israel and through them the tribes of the world will be killed. The disciples’ shock is captured by Peter’s reaction. Peter takes Jesus aside from others and begins to rebuke him. It seems he did not hear what Jesus said would happen to him after his death— the resurrection part. After Peter’s rebuke of discouragement, what is Jesus’ response to him? A counter rebuke! Jesus turns around, looks at his disciples— he wants to make sure everyone is paying attention, and then fires his own counter attack rebuke: “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” And to set the record straight and correct any wrong notion of discipleship, Jesus invites the traveling crowd to join the conversation and then says, “Whoever wishes to come after  me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.” Boom! 

Now, did you notice that Jesus doesn’t ask what people are saying about his preaching or his miracle-working or the impact he is making on the culture? He asks who they say he is. The Gospel of John begins, not with the teaching of the Lord, rather his being: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God… and the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us.” In his letter to the Philippians, St. Paul writes, “Even though he was in the form of God, Jesus did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at,” thereby indicating an ontological identity between Jesus and the God of Israel. Jesus and the God of Israel have the same being and nature. Peter’s confession: “You are the Christ” is the mystical faith that stands at the heart of Christianity. To believe with all heart and mind this Petrine faith is to be a Christian; to deny it is to be a non-Christian. 

But why is the identity of Jesus so important? Because it is deeply unreasonable and quite bewildering to resist following Jesus after realizing he is the Christ and Savior. No one truly acknowledges him as the Christ and Savior without taking him seriously, without following him at least in someway. So, up and down the centuries, the Catholic Church insists that Jesus is God; that in an entirely unique way, divine life has become available to the world through merciful intervention of God. 

So, if there’s anyone in your life that is trying to discourage you from following Jesus,  the Author of our life and the Finisher of our faith, that is frustrating you from giving yourself totally to him, rebuke the person and say, “Get behind me, Satan.” If any condition or situation is preventing you from being a reliable disciple, from keeping your eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, the time has come for you to stand up to it and with a rebuking voice say, “Get behind me, Satan.” To that inner voice that is frequently urging you to hate, resent, and discriminate, today is the day to finally say to it, “Get behind me, Satan.” Are you struggling with a habitual sin of pornography, masturbation, marital infidelity, and other forms of the abuse of the internet? Today, you can finally stand up and say, “Get behind me, Satan.” Are you bogged down by worry, by fear, by substance abuse? You can say today, “Get behind me, Satan.” Is anyone telling you that forgiveness is weakness, that humility is timidity? Today is the right day to say to them, “Get behind me, Satan.” If anything or anyone has become the obstacle that is hampering you from using your time, talent, and treasure in the house of God, speak with Jesus and say, “Get behind me, Satan.” If you are one of those who are too busy to pray, too busy to go to church, to busy to attend to their families, too busy to pay attention to their spiritual life, and you have been thinking about doing something to change course, today is the day to utter the words of Jesus and say, “Get behind me, Satan.” Check your life, if you are not pleased with it, if you are not accomplishing God’s mission, God’s goals, God’s plans for you, I think you should speak clearly and confidently, “Get behind me, Satan.” 

The human race’s most formidable enemy is Satan. He is working round the clock to prevent, hijack and destroy God’s plan for us. Satan is our greatest enemy. His singular task is to derail our movement and journey towards God. He accomplishes this by luring us into his net of false pleasure, cheap crown, short-cut, reckless living, vain glory and power. If we accept his offer, he will destroy God’s plan for us. So, today, let us speak with one voice and say, “Get behind me, Satan.”