Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. The goal of discipleship (following Jesus) is to come to know who Jesus is so that one can be where Jesus is. As the Gospel accounts portray it, this is an objective that a disciple continues to pursue during the entire course of his/her life of discipleship. Knowing Jesus does not happen in an instant. It is a revelatory process that takes place in phases. The initial disciples of Jesus came to learn about this the hard way (at least according to the Gospel according to Mark). For them, it was not until after the resurrection that they finally came to a full knowledge of Jesus as well as what their vocation as his followers entailed. It was neither an easy path nor a straight one for the twelve. It was a path that had its dramatic highs and lows. As the evangelist Mark presents his account, each high moment was followed by a low one and vice versa. For as soon the twelve found themselves reeling with joy at having apparently made a step in their life of discipleship, they found themselves being reminded that they were not yet where they needed to be. The incident recounted in today’s Gospel Reading is a prime example.
Following Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ of God (cf. Matthew 16:13-20), a moment which in itself was of central significance in the evolution of the relationship between Jesus and the disciples, Jesus opened their eyes into another secret concerning his identity: that his messiahship was not only about the working of miracles and glory. Jesus was a messiah who was going to be subjected to rejection, persecution, and death. It was a revelation that didn’t go down well with the twelve. Peter, who was never known to shy away from speaking his mind, let Jesus know that he disapproved of what he (Jesus) was intimating. Peter did not understand how he whom he had earlier on confessed as the anointed one of God could end up being killed by mere mortals. For Peter, suffering and rejection was not part of the Messiah’s identity and mission. The messiah was the ultimate savior of the righteous, the hero who was to conquer and triumph over the forces of evil. Wasn’t the Messiah supposed to be the epitome of the triumph of goodness over evil? How, then, could he be subjected to what he came to conquer?
Peter was not alone in his objection to Jesus’ being subjected to persecution and suffering. Like most of his contemporaries, he expected a Messiah to be a powerful figure, someone who was in a position to lead the nation in overcoming the challenges it was currently facing. However, Peter’s objection showed that he did not see the mission of Jesus as a continuation of the mission of the Old Testament prophets. He was yet to understand that it was a mission that would take Jesus down the path trodden by the prophets who had come before him: a path of denial and self-sacrifice. 
The messiahship of Jesus constituted self-denial and sacrifice. As a messiah, Jesus’ mission was primarily that of leading humanity back to God by showing them the right path to follow. Humanity had strayed away from God by acts of selfishness and disregard for the welfare of the other (cf. Genesis 4;9: ‘ Am I my brother’s keeper?’). The path that leads back to God is that of kindness, generosity, humility, concern for others, fighting for justice and fairness, and loving unconditionally. It is a path of self-sacrifice, the path of not counting the cost. It is a path that is not popular and seldom trodden by men and women. It is a path that will champion equality while demanding treating men and women as persons created with inalienable dignity. It is a path that challenges the status quo even as it exposes to persecution and rejection those who have chosen to take it. As a good shepherd, Jesus himself took this path in order to set an example for his followers: “ If you wish to come after me, you too must be ready to walk this path.” 
Jesus’ response to Peter’s protest is a challenge to all believers. Peter in his protest was speaking for all of us. We would always want to invest in something that we know has a future, something that is profitable. That future and profit must be tangible and within our reach. Following Jesus is quite the opposite. There are no quarterly reports, and for the most part, it involves giving rather than receiving. He/she who wants to be a follower of Jesus must be able to approach life as being more than the earthly existence to which we are used. To a disciple, then, gratification comes not from the things that can be offered in this present life (losing oneself) but rather from the knowledge that one is doing the will of God (finding/saving one’s life). This is the only way that a disciple will see no hesitation in immersing the self both in the Gospel and its demands. It is about this that Peter and his comrades needed to be aware. And it is this that we too must understand.