“You are the Christ.” Peter says it, and his life is changed. Immediately, Jesus says, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” With those words, Peter became the head of the disciples and eventually the first pope.
It’s fun to wonder: Was Jesus waiting for one of the disciples to say it so he could know who the leader would be? Or, perhaps he had known Peter’s role from the first days at the Jordan, but he had been waiting for the words to be spoken. He had had to wait, because he knew that seeing him as the Christ was an essential foundation for the greater leap of faith that was to come: That the Christ would lead by dying on a cruel Roman cross.
“You are the Christ.” Peter says it, and Jesus’ life is also now changed. All three synoptic Gospels follow Peter’s confession with the Transfiguration. Then, from the time Jesus comes down the mountain, he begins to predict his Passion and death. Jesus went on teaching, healing, casting out demons, eating with sinners, speaking parables to crowds, arguing with scribes and Pharisees, and living “on the road,” but now there would be a focus on the necessity of sacrifice and the hope of resurrection. Jesus turns his attention to Jerusalem and Golgotha. His actions are the same, but his focus is different.
“You are the Christ.” We say it. The question for us is: Does recognizing Jesus is the Christ change our lives? Does it give us a new identity? Does it give our lives focus?
Before we consider those serious questions, let’s look at the first two readings for a moment to see how they fit into the big, emerging picture of God’s great love invitation.
Isaiah 22:19-23
This selection from First Isaiah, written before the Babylonian exile, is included because it describes how having the keys to the kingdom, in this case, the kingdom of Hezekiah, king of Judah, was a sign of authority. Hezekiah was king at the time the Northern Kingdom of Israel was carried off to Babylon in 722 BCE and during the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib in 701 BCE. Shebna, mentioned in this week’s reading, was an unworthy official who was replaced by Eliakim. Eliakim was then given the keys of the kingdom.
This passage is included because it ties Old Testament events with Jesus and authority in the Church. After Peter’s confession of faith, Jesus gives him the keys of the kingdom, that is, he gives him authority to govern. This is the basis for the Church giving authority to the Pope.
Romans 11:33-36
This selection from Romans follows right after last week’s selection. You might remember that last week St. Paul was struggling with the questions, “If the Jews are God’s chosen people, why aren’t they embracing Jesus as the Messiah?” and “Will they be saved?” [Some of us struggle with similar angst about our children, baptized and brought up in our Catholic faith, who no longer practice their faith]. In today’s selection, Paul gives up his musings to simply say, “Who has known the mind of God?” In effect he remembers that none of us are worthy of redemption, the Lord is never outdone in generosity, yet his understandings are very different from ours. When we can’t understand, we can trust in God, for “from him and through him and for him are all things” to act with both mercy and justice.
Perhaps not a secure comfort, but one that does rest on God’s Word.
Matthew 16:13-20 and Questions for Us
We return to Peter’s confession of faith: “You are the Christ.”
What does it mean when I say what Peter said?
In one sense, at least, I think it means that “flesh and blood has not revealed this.” Believing “You are the Christ” is a gift from God. It is the gift of Faith. St. Mother Teresa did her seminal work in India, which is 80% Hindu and only 2.3 % Christian. When asked how come she did not actively work to make people Christians, she said, “Faith is a gift of God, and he gives it to whomever he chooses.”
God chose Peter to say “You are the Christ” and thus be first among the disciples. God chose me to believe “You are the Christ.” God chose to give me faith to believe it. Saying and believing “You are the Christ” means I have great cause for thanksgiving.
When I say, “You are the Christ” and feel thanksgiving, I want to go beyond gratitude. I want to worship him. I want to sing songs to him, pray to him, study him, adore him. Whether I do that talking to a picture of him or kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament during Adoration or receiving him in the Eucharist, “You are the Christ” means Jesus is my Lord and my Savior.
An appropriate response is worship.
Yet worship is not enough, if I really believe “You are the Christ.” If I believe Jesus is the Christ, He needs to be LORD to me. I need to understand what he asks of me. At a most basic level, I need to remember that He is God and I am not. He is truly alive, fully real, and desires a relationship with me. He comes to me at every mass, every sacrament. He seeks what is good for me—and everyone.
An appropriate response is obedience.
But how can I be expected to obey when what Jesus/God seems to want is so counter to the culture around me? Believe in grace? The 10 Commandments? The Sermon on the Mount? All He says today in prayer and through the Holy Spirit? Yet, if Jesus is the Christ, WHY would I choose to listen to the eternal television news or Facebook gossip or the ads that plague even reflections like this—instead of Jesus? And how can I obey unless I have a deep, honest, loving connection with him?
An appropriate response is loving relationship.
Such complete, counter-cultural obedience can only be done these days (for independent minded me, at least) through loving relationship. Honest conversation with God. Dependency on guidance by the Holy Spirit. Treating Jesus with the same respect I give to anyone I deeply love. Because I love him. Yet, more and more, there is more….
An emerging appropriate response is “Follow me.”
In one sense it’s always been about “Follow me.” But, if Jesus is the Christ, and he says, “Follow me,” what does it mean? Today, at least, I think it means what it meant for Peter: to take my sometimes mouth-precedes-brain self to tag along day after day as I put myself in prayer with Jesus and the other disciples, and say, “So, Jesus, LORD, the Christ, show me how to live as your hands and feet, as your eyes, your voice today—here, now, with this to do list, this aging body, this family, this parish, these hopes, these sinful tendencies, these necessary sacrifices.
What About You?
Spend some quiet time today before the Blessed Sacrament or an image of Jesus that is especially appealing to you. Say to Jesus, “You are the Christ. I want to worship you, obey you, be in loving relationship with you, and follow you.”
See what the silence after your spoken prayer tells you. See what emerges from the silence.
Prayer
You are the Christ. Lead me, LORD, to worship you, obey you, love you in a personal way, and follow you. Show me how today.
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