“Who do you say I am?” The same way the first disciples, we Christians must respond to Jesus’ question and remind ourselves about whom we followed and what our expectations are. Our lives, too, are animated by the same faith.

Jesus, you are the Son of the living God. We believe that you came from God. You can lead us, like no one else, to His mystery. From you we can learn to trust always in him, in spite of so many questions, doubts and uncertainties that come up from our hearts. Who else but you can bring about our faith in a loving God? In the middle of the dark night that is falling upon your followers, take us to your Father.

 

Jesus, you are the Messiah, the great gift of the Father to the whole world. You are the best that your followers can show, the most valuable and attractive. Why is the joy within the Church almost extinguished? How come that we don’t welcome, enjoy and celebrate your wonderful presence among us? Jesus, please, save us from our unhappiness and let us share your joy.

 

Jesus, you are our Saviour. You have the power to save our lives and direct our human history towards an ultimate salvation. Lord, the Church you love so much is sick, weak and has grown old. We don’t have the strength to move towards the future and proclaim with vigorously the Good News. Jesus, if you wish, you can heal us.

You are the Word of God made flesh. You are really angry and encamping among us to denounce our sins and start a march,the radical movement that we all need. Shake up the conscience of all your followers. Wake us up from the religion that has given us contentment and put us to sleep. Remind us again about our true vocation and send us once more to proclaim your kingdom and heal the sick.

 

Jesus, you are our one and only Lord. We cannot have any other substitute. The Church is yours alone. Why can’t we see you at the centre of all our gatherings? Why do we always find other reasons to get together? Why do we try to hide your Gospel? We do we remain deaf to your words that are spirit and truth? Jesus, whom should we follow? You alone have the words of eternal life.

 

Jesus, you are our Friend. That is what you called us, and we have almost forgotten it. You always wanted your Church to be a community of friends. You gave us your friendship and companionship. You left us your peace forever. You will remain with us till the end. Why should there be so much discord, resentment and confrontations among your followers? Jesus, give us your Peace, because, left to ourselves, we will never find it.

 

YOU’RE THE MESSIAH

 

It is relatively easy for those of us, brought up in a Christian environment and Catholic education, to respond to the question, “Who is Jesus Christ?” with a quick “He is the Son of God, and the Saviour of the World.”

 

That was not the case with Jesus’ first followers. They had a religious background like us, but it was not the same as ours. They had been nurtured on the promises of the Messiah – a Redeemer for Israel. For the most part this hope was vague and faint. Having met Jesus and lived with Him for a short while, they saw and felt something in Him. There was a quality in his life which they could neither explain nor resist. Until one day Peter said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

 

                        For Peter and all of his fellow disciples, it was a spiritual breakthrough – did he really mean what he said? All of us would do well to try to recapture what Peter felt and to try to understand what he meant when said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

 

I think it was, first of all, a statement about God, himself. Peter was a Jew, just like all the rest of the disciples. They had believed in one God, just as we have been nurtured on the story of Jesus. For them it was a God who “created the heavens and the earth.” It was a God, whom Isaiah had seen “seated upon a high and lofty throne,” on whom the Seraphim sang, “Holy, holy, holy!” Those disciples had always believed in the God of creation, the God of history, reigning in the heavens, among the stars.

 

For the first followers of Jesus, they had encountered in Him something totally new. They knew him as a man, an extraordinary man, the kind of whom they had never seen. Then, as they lived with him, listened to him closely, they sensed and saw something else. In the words of Paul, they began to see, “the glory of God shining on the face of Christ.” ( II. Cor. 4:6 )

 

Such deep and burning conviction was the message that those disciples began to deliver across the Roman Empire: the good news of the Son of God, whom we have seen with our own eyes, and heard with our ears. God has come to us and made himself known through the life of a man.

 

Secondly, Peter’s great confession was a statement about Jesus.How could Peter come to such confession, which implied an extraordinary accumulated experience? “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God?” They saw, first of all, in Jesus a spiritual superiority: a quality in his life that their lives did not possess, and a sense of moral challenge whenever they were in his presence. Luke tells us of a time when Peter fell at his feet and said, “Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.” Finally, they understood His rightful authority over their lives. They began to call Him “Teacher and Lord.”

 

In the third place, Peter’s great confession was a statement about himself, about his fellow disciples, and about each one of us. If God had come down in the life of a man, divinity and humanity weren’t too far apart.  Humanity and divinity perfectly blended in one life. The same God who lived in Jesus could also live in us. God was no longer far away; he was near at hand. He was no longer up there. He was here, living in me. Peter, at last, had spoken well – and did not have to repent.

WHO AM I

 

An ancient parable tells of a lion cub that was raised among sheep and “behaved” like a sheep. One day a lion sauntered by, noticed one of his own kind hanging around with sheep, and stopped to ask: “Who do you think you are?” The sheep-lion responded, “I am a sheep.” But the newcomer led him to a pond, told him to look at his own reflection in the water, and asked, “Now who are you?” The sheep lion opened his powerful jaws and let out a roar that shook the placid countryside. From that moment on, he never forgot his true identity.

 

Peter was the first disciple to acknowledge openly that Jesus was the promised Messiah. “Who do you say that I am?” he was asked. “You are the Christ,” Peter answered; and then came Jesus’ strange reply in which He strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that He is the Christ.  Why?  What is behind this secret?

 

The answer is quite simple, actually.  The people of Jesus’ time already had fixed notions as to who the Messiah would be and what He would be like. And Jesus did not fit the mold.  They were convinced that the Messiah would come in the form of a great warrior king in the tradition of King David. He would be the military leader and political leader that would win freedom and independence for Israel.  Consequently, when Peter acknowledged Jesus as Messiah and Jesus said that He was not the kind of Messiah he was expecting, Peter could not handle it.  He could not accept Jesus’ forecast of His Passion and Crucifixion.  “Heaven preserve You, Lord, this must not happen to You,” Peter exclaimed (Mt. 16:22). Jesus’ answer, this time, was the “flip side” of the earlier one (“You are Peter, the Rock…”); and He literally blasted Peter for playing the role of Satan!

 

Jesus came, not in the form of military or political leader but as the embodiment of God’s own life in His own life. Jesus came not to conquer and destroy, but to heal and save. Jesus came, not as lofty king, but as humble servant. Jesus came to liberate, not through the power of the sword, but through the power of love.

 

 When Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?

They replied, “Some say He is John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others

say Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  Then Jesus said, “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter spoke up, “You are the Christ,” he said, “the Son of the Living God.” Jesus replies, “Simon … you are a happy man!”

 

Do you know who I am?  Do you know me?  Jesus’ question is addressed to us now. And we, His followers, answer readily, “You are the Christ.  You are the Messiah. You are the Son of the Living God.”  Then we face the crucial follow-up question: “How well do we know Him?” Do we know Him well enough to trust His promise to lead us into eternal life with God who is Love?

WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?

 

“Who do you say I am?” We can’t say exactly how Christians today would reply to this question; but we can, perhaps, have an inkling of what Jesus would mean to us today if we had known Him more closely and personally, as the apostles had.

 

Jesus would help us, first of all, to know ourselves better. His Gospel makes us think, and challenges us to ask ourselves the most important and decisive questions in life. His way of feeling and going through life, His manner of reacting to human suffering, and His unwavering trust in a God who loves life, are among the best we have seen in human history.

 

Jesus can teach us, first of all, a new life style. Those who got closer to Him did not get attracted by a new doctrine, but they were invited to change their way, to seek the truth with a wider horizon, greater hope and dignity.

 

Following Jesus will invite us to give up certain unhealthy forms of religious practices, such as blind fanaticism, legalism and selfish fears. Most of all,  Jesus can bring into our lives something as important as the joy of life, the look of compassion towards people, and the creativity that selfless love always brings out in us.

 

Jesus can also free us from those sick images of God that many of us have dragged along, unmindful of the harmful effects they have on us. He can teach us to experience God’s presence as a friendly, and much closer inexhaustible fountain of life and trust. Letting oneself be drawn by Jesus means getting to know a God who is totally different, much greater and humane than most other theories had taught us.

 

To come in contact with Jesus at such level, we must dare to give up our inertia and indifference, and recover our inner freedom, being ready to be born again, leaving behind the peaceful and boring practice of religion.

 

We know that Jesus can become the healer and liberator of many people who are trapped by indifference, distracted by modern life styles, paralyzed by routine of religious practices or seduced by purely material comforts – but cannot find the Way, the Truth and the Life.