When Peter couldn’t see the bigger picture, Jesus rebuked him to shake up his way of thinking. William Manaker, SJ, reflects on how Jesus can help us to “think as God does.” Based on the readings for Sunday, September 3, 2023.
How can Jesus shake up our thinking?
Hi, my name is William Manaker, and this is my one-minute reflection.
Humans are creatures of habit, and that’s good. If we had to think deliberately about all the choices and judgments we make, we’d be exhausted. But our habits of thinking can also be a problem, if we fail to see the big picture.
Peter gets a pretty strong rebuke from Jesus in today’s Gospel. When he hears Jesus has to suffer and die, he thinks, “No way!” But Jesus tells him, “You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” He has to shake Peter out of his old way of thinking.
We need to be shaken up, too, when we judge others prematurely or think we’ve got Christian life completely figured out. If we’re not open to seeing things in a new way, then we can be an obstacle like Peter. So today, let’s ask Jesus to shake us up a bit and teach us to think as God does.
