Matthew 16
Who do you say Jesus is? Can you describe him in one short sentence? Who do you say that the Son of Man is? This is the question Jesus asks his disciples in this Sunday’s gospel.
Probably we are not surprised when we hear St. Peter’s answer, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” for we have heard this many times. But it is a different matter whether we can give the same answer when someone asks about Jesus. Not only to strangers but also to our families and close friends, we seem to hesitate to declare this confession of faith. I, a priest of the Church, often look for more appealing or diplomatic descriptions of Jesus. And Jesus asks me today, “Who do you say that I am?”
It cannot go unnoticed that Jesus declared he would build his Church on Peter immediately after Peter rightly confessed the true identity of Jesus. Jesus chose Peter as the bedrock of his Church on earth because Peter confessed the true nature of Jesus. This profession contains the most fundamental faith in Jesus, i.e. Jesus is God who is incarnate on earth. Jesus confirms this profession of faith as God’s revelation.
Of course, this profession of faith in the nature of Jesus critically unites all the followers of Jesus. And in this sense, it becomes the foundation of the Church. However, this profession of faith is also critical for salvation because we can only be in the right relationship with the Lord when we rightly know who Jesus is. Only when we know his origin, we understand his power. And only when we know his origin, we can understand his intention and purpose on earth. When we correctly identify Jesus, we can entrust our whole life, our whole being to him.
I ask myself again, “Who do I say Jesus is?” I ask myself if I have ever clearly and loudly declared to myself that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I have probably heard this profession hundreds of times. But I wonder how many times I professed this to myself and before the presence of our Lord. If this profession of faith had always resonated in my heart, I would have been a very different Christian, a very different priest.
Once again today, Jesus asks us, “Who do you say that I am?” Let our answers be pleasing to our Lord so that he may accept them and renew our life with his mighty power.
