Today's Gospel from Matthew 16:21-27 brings us to one of the most challenging and important moments in the ministry of Jesus. After Peter has confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, Jesus begins to reveal something that the disciples do not want to hear: He must go to Jerusalem, suffer gently, be rejected, be killed and on the third day be raised.

Peter cannot accept this. He takes Jesus aside and says, "God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." Peter loves Jesus, but at this moment, Peter's love is mixed with misunderstanding.