At a crucial point in Mark’s Gospel Jesus asked a pivotal question of his disciples: ‘But who do you say that I am?‘ Up to this moment, through his miracles and healings, Jesus had been revealing himself to them as the Son of God and, through the revelation given him by the Holy Spirit, Peter finally understood and declared: ‘You are the Christ.‘ The end of the first stage of revelation had been reached: Jesus was revealed as the Christ, the Son of the eternal Father. From now on the disciples could no longer live their lives apart from Jesus. They knew they had to follow him in obedience, for he was their Lord.
Jesus, however, immediately began to lead them into a second, more profound understanding of his own person by teaching that he had to suffer, die and be raised up out of death. His way was to be a way of suffering, humiliation and death, not the way of a powerful, glorious Messiah.
Since through our baptism we are joined to the person of Christ, we are called to follow him. We must grasp that, as Jesus had to suffer, die and rise again, we too shall have to follow him on the same path and live as he lived. What does this mean? We are to live for Christ and not live for ourselves. He must be at the center of our lives, not we ourselves. We must submit ourselves to the Father’s will, just as Jesus submitted himself. All our choices have to be subject to these benchmark questions: ‘Does the Father want this for me? Does this please the Father?’ This is at the heart of denying self.