Then Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Mark 8:31-33

Previously, Peter had proclaimed that Jesus was the Christ. In Jesus’ time, the people had suffered one oppressive regime after another. They exhausted all human efforts to overcome the tyranny. Cruelty and injustice had become the norm for them. However, the people knew that the Christ would change this scenario for eternity. After Him, suffering and injustice would be history.

We can understand how disappointed Peter must have felt when Jesus predicted the future that awaited Him. There was no mention of political takeover. The world was going to remain as it was. The Christ was to suffer, just like the oppressed and humiliated. It wasn’t exactly what the people wanted to hear. If we are honest, it is not what we want to hear as well. Jesus was supposed to be the answer to all of life’s problems. There was nothing else after Him. If He is not going to change the order of things, then who is going to do it? Peter felt that it was his duty to redirect the Christ to do what he believed was necessary, an attitude that is still prevalent today. It is a satanic one according to Jesus. Even then, we still persist on holding onto to it. We still believe that we can guide the Christ in His actions in this world.

A couple weeks ago something tragic happened. It left me feeling rather revolted and somewhat bitter. In reality, it is not that interesting because evil is dreadfully boring. Wanderson was falsely accused of something serious. I know that he was completely innocent because he was with me. He was standing next to me when it happened. We were watching a cultural presentation together. It was a Chinese lion dance in honor of the Lunar New Year. Growing up in Singapore, this was one of my favorite cultural spectacles. I invited the teens to watch with me. It was a good educational opportunity, plus I could share one of my favorite childhood experiences with them. Bruno and Guilherme were with us. Usually, the young people would avoid watching such events. They usually think that the rest of people dread their presence in the midst of them. However, today, they were with me. They felt safe.

The presentation was mediocre and somewhat unintentionally humorous. Wanderson was making some funny remarks about it. Then, for no apparent reason, a young man approached and punched him in his back. It was so random that we thought maybe it was a friend fooling around with him. The young man said something that visibly upset Wanderson and he left immediately. We were little confused. Then we overheard the man telling his friends that we were a suspicious bunch too. Bruno confronted the man, who recoiled. He was trying to intimidate us for some reason. We were still little disoriented. The young man grabbed his wife and went to two policemen who stood close by. He claimed that Wanderson had sexually assaulted his wife. The officers took out their guns and approached Wanderson. Needless to say, he was manhandled and handcuffed. Throughout this time, the poor boy was pleading to the police saying that he had done nothing. We went to his defense. The officer told me that I could be his witness but if they proved Wanderson was guilt, they would arrest me for being an accomplice. To be frank, I was afraid to get into the patrol car where I knew more injustice and violence awaited me. To my surprise, Bruno offered to be taken with Wanderson but the police ignored him and drove off.

Everything was resolved in a few hours. There were surveillance cameras and high tech finger print detectors involved. Wanderson was no where near the woman and his prints were not on the woman. I knew this already because he was standing next to me. The woman did not even know what was going on until her husband told her she was supposedly assaulted. There was nothing that provoked the incident except hatred and prejudice. The man could not handle the presence of poor homeless youth enjoying a public event. Bruno and I noticed that this man had a religious t-shirt on which had a biblical verse about Jesus. Apparently, he believed in the Christ but not in His love and grace.

At the end of the day, the couple went home without any consequences. Wanderson was released immediately but suffered public humiliation for no rhyme nor reason. He came back and went on with life as usual. He has grown accustomed to this kind of treatment. Bruno told me that this happens all the time. People can say all kinds of lies against them and they can’t say anything in their defense. None of them have any criminal record but they are always treated as if they are guilty before proven innocent. Bruno asked me why is the norm. I had to restrain my instinct to say that this wasn’t the norm. It would be an utter lie. This is how things operate here. One side has the power to dominate and humiliate while the other is helpless and has to endure everything that is at thrown at them. I came home feeling a little sad and very angry. I wanted God to do something. I was on the side of Peter. I wanted to rebuke God for not changing the way the world functions.

It was obvious to Peter. Things cannot go on as they are. Jesus never disagreed with Peter. However, He was not going to participate in the evil system to change it. He did not come to improve things. This would require Him to work in partnership with sin. This was the proposal of the devil in the desert. It was a partnership that came with a price.

The devil said to Jesus, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ Matthew 4:9-10

Jesus came to establish the New Creation. The Old is incompatible with the new. The former does everything from top down. God chooses to establish the New Creation among those who are humiliated and oppressed constantly. We want a Christ who comes wielding with power and might. Jesus reveals to us a suffering servant. God chooses to establish His Kingdom from the perspective of those whom the world neglects and rejects. The New Creation begins here and it is well established here. However, we are not going to see it until we give up our idea of how things should function and allow God to reveal His ways to us.

Bruno had a similar experience. He was taken to the police station falsely accused of something which never happened. The commanding officer found nothing incriminating and it was clear that Bruno was innocent. He reprimanded the officers. He demanded that they release him immediately. However, the arresting officers took him to a hidden corner in streets and beat up before letting him go. Bruno said that he did not mind the unjust beating that he received. This always happens. However, he was happy at least one person recognized that he was falsely accused. He was satisfied with this. I would have demanded more. Then again, I live in a different world where I am fed with lies on how this world functions. Our homeless youth see a different reality. It is closer to what Jesus experienced. Perhaps, they see the Kingdom of God in a different light. Maybe, I am the one who needs to leave my “satanic” ideas of how the Christ should act in this world and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to me through these young people.

The New Creation is here. We may never see it if we insist on looking for it in the old.