In this key passage of the Gospel, Jesus asks His Apostles, "who do you say I am?" It is a challenging question that Jesus also addresses to each one of us in person.

For His affirmation, Peter was praised: "Blessed are you, Simon bar Jona!" But when Jesus declares Himself a suffering Messiah, the Suffering Servant of Yahweh, Peter resists, and refuses to accept a suffering Saviour. And for this he merits a severe rebuke: "Get behind me, Satan!"

Who is my Christ? Have I accepted a suffering Redeemer in my life? Have I accepted that there is no healing, no redemption, except in the cross? ("Ought not Christ to have suffered, and thus entered His glory?"). Am I convinced that there is no way to God but the way of the Cross?