When you grow up

Jesus, help me accept that I don't understand everything about the world as well as you do! Amen.

Jesus asked the Apostles, "Who do people say I am?" They said, "John the Baptist, Elijah or a prophet." Jesus asked, "But who do you say I am?" Peter had the answer: "You're the Messiah, who'll save the world." Jesus warned them that He'd be hurt for saying He was the Messiah. Peter got worried. Jesus scolded him: "Get away from me, Satan! You're thinking like a person, not like God."

Adults are always asking kids what you want to be when you grow up. You might have some ideas, but you really don't know yet. It's way too soon to decide things about your whole life!

Thinking about careers is one way adults are different from kids. In this week's Gospel (Mark 8:27-35), we learn one way that God thinks differently from people.

Most kids do think about what job they'd like someday. You imagine what it would be like to be a rock star, astronaut, doctor or teacher. But you can't really decide until you're older and you understand what needs to happen to get those jobs: the schools you'd go to, the talent you'd need and so on.

Just like an adult has more knowledge and understanding about careers than a kid, God has more understanding about the world than anybody on Earth.

In the Gospel story, the Apostles say that people think Jesus must be some famous prophet like Elijah, because prophets are people who talk about God all the time.

But Jesus points out that God doesn't think like people do. God knows that there's someone else who could talk about God and heaven all the time: Jesus, God's own Son! Jesus scolds Peter for not realizing that, but He's really just teaching Peter something: God knows a lot more than we do.

It's okay not to know everything that grownups do, because you're not a grownup yet. It's also impossible to know everything God does, because we're not God!