Thinking as God Does!

Thursday, February 20, 2025

Gen 9:1-13; Mk 8:27-33

Today’s Gospel highlights Peter’s revelation of Jesus’ identity. 

Jesus asks two questions. The first question tests his disciples’ general knowledge about his identity as perceived by outsiders. But the second question tests their capacity to understand and internalize who Jesus is. While the first question is focused on the accumulation of data about him, the second question demands an insider’s perspective. 

The answer to both questions lies in the last line of the Gospel, which invites us to ‘think as God does.’ In other words, it indicates that we should approach and answer both questions only from the perspective of God, or we will be right only if we answer the two questions from the perspective of God. 

The text underlines that authentic spirituality is not about fashioning a god of our own making but entering God’s frame of mind to think and act like Him. 

Secondly, the revelation of Jesus’ identity by Peter holds profound insights for our reflection. Peter intervenes twice, first with the correct answer and then with a false understanding of Jesus’ identity. Peter’s interventions demonstrate that even after enjoying the privilege of divine inspiration, it is possible for us to retreat into a human frame of mind if we fail to sustain God’s inspiration and work on it. 

In affirming the identity of Jesus, Peter shows what it means to think like God. But in negating what the identity of Jesus would entail – his passion, death, and resurrection – Peter thinks like humans. Thinking from God’s frame of mind, Peter boosts up Jesus’ mission. But thinking like humans, he becomes a hindrance to the same. 

Thus, Peter’s interventions contain within them the blessing of thinking like God and the danger of thinking like humans. 

Peter helps us realize that with God, we succeed, and without God, we fumble. 

Let us pray for the gift of thinking from God’s perspective and lead our lives in that light. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar