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Peter walks on Water towards Christ,
Painted by Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900),
Oil on canvas,
Painted circa 1890,
© Private European Collection |
Jesus and his disciples left for the villages round Caesarea Philippi. On the way he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say I am?’ And they told him. ‘John the Baptist,’ they said ‘others Elijah; others again, one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he asked ‘who do you say I am?’ Peter spoke up and said to him, ‘You are the Christ.’ And he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him.
And he began to teach them that the Son of Man was destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be put to death, and after three days to rise again; and he said all this quite openly. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. But, turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said to him, ‘Get behind me, Satan! Because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’ |
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| | Reflection on the Painting
In our reading today, Peter shows off his usual confidence and courage. When Jesus asks His disciples: who do you say I am?, Peter responds with ‘You are the Christ’. Peter probably felt pretty good about himself after he gave the right answer. However, the mood soon turned. Jesus outlined that He would be put to death soon and Peter didn’t like what he heard. He didn’t agree with Jesus that He would have to suffer and be put to death. He probably told Christ to use His powers so He wouldn’t have to suffer a horrendous death. So Peter gets taken to one side and rebuked by Christ. Peter did not understand the path of suffering, and Jesus explained it to him. After that talk, Peter might have felt a little humiliated, yes, but it was an important lesson learnt: recognising Christ for who He is, is good but it is not enough. Peter stuck with Jesus, travelled with Him, sat alongside Him, etc… Christian faith is only meaningful when we travel with Christ beside us… it is only when we journey with Jesus that we can get to know who He truly is…
In our work of art by Russian marine painter, Ivan Aivazovsky, we see Peter running towards Christ, appearing to them walking on the water… Whilst this is a different passage in the Gospel, it shows the similar struggles and shortcomings Peter had towards Christ. A lack of faith made him sink in the waters, saved by Jesus; overconfidence, in today’s reading, gets him rebuked by Jesus. Jesus taught and fine-tuned His disciples every step of the way. As seminarians we are also aware of this spiritual and apostolic fine-tuning that needs to happen on a day to day basis. Please keep us in your prayers today, as we have started a week-long silent retreat. Thank you.
by Patrick van der Vorst |  | |
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