Thinking As God Does
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 him 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 (Mt.16:21-23).
Peter’s reaction to what Jesus announced above was an emotional response coming from his human heart, and not unlike how most of us would react to a loved one about suffering greatly. The seemingly harsh remark involving Satan is quickly qualified with the reality that thinking “as human beings do” can impede progress in the spiritual life. Thinking as God does is an ideal that can only be reached with divine assistance. What is now referred to as The Paschal Mystery was being introduced in its nascent form to the disciples.
The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ is the core mystery of our faith, and is celebrated at every Mass. As disciples, we are charged to follow Jesus daily in a way that conforms to the following challenging passage:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “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 will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? (Mt.16-24-26)
In the course of his time on Earth, Jesus consistently introduced concepts to his followers that were contrary to conventional thinking and human reasoning. One of the best examples of fairness in the marketplace and misguided presumption occurs in the following parable from the Gospel of Matthew:
When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’ He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? [Or] am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last (Mt.20:8-16)
Agreeing to the “usual daily wage” represents the relationship between employer and employee to this day. Income disparity and fairness in the marketplace ultimately find resolution in the terms and conditions set forth in a given contract, written or verbal. Bonuses, profit-sharing and insurance coverage are classified as benefits of employment and ultimately rely on the “generosity” of the employer.
Seeing the world through the eyes of Faith is the work of a lifetime and requires daily prayer and perseverance. Human reasoning is limited and must be subordinate to God’s infinite wisdom. The passage from prophet Isaiah explains:
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways—oracle of the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
my thoughts higher than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Thinking as God does requires humility and docility. The dictates of self-will often stand in contrast to divine teaching and spiritual growth and must undergo the transformation that the cross can bring about in our lives. May we be given the grace to prayerfully deny what proceeds from human nature in order to profit from God’s divine nature and eternal truth.
