Today's Gospel

God’s Question for You

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant. Today's reading is from the Gospel of Matthew 16:13-23. "When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, 'Who do men say the Son of Man is?' And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter replied, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus answered him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church. And the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loose in heaven.'"

"Then he strictly charged the disciple to tell no one that he was the Christ. From that time, Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him and began to rebuke him saying, 'God forbid, Lord. This shall never happen to you.' But he turned to him and said, 'Peter, get behind me, Satan. You are a hindrance. You are a hindrance to me. For you are not on the side of God, but on the side of men.'" It's a great reading. One of our Holy Land pilgrimages, I remember being in Caesarea Philippi, which isn't that big an area at the Roman ruins there and our guide talking to us about this passage. And I don't know. Sometimes I just sort of see a bit of humor in these things. Jesus asking the disciples, "Who do people say that I am? Who do you say that I am?" Like most people, if they started asking you these questions, you'd get the impression that they were having a bit of an identity crisis. "Who do you say that I am? Who do they say that I am?" It's like, "Hold it, Jesus. Get it together, man. You are the Christ. We need you to be very clear about who you are."

Of course, he is. That's the thing. He isn't asking for himself. Jesus never asked questions for himself. He already has all the answers to the question. So anytime you're reading the Scriptures and God asks the question, the Old Testament or the New Testament, sit up, pay attention. Something important is happening anytime God asks a question because God has no need to ask any questions. He already has all the answers. Jesus isn't asking who people say he is because he cares what people think about him. People isn't asking who the disciples say he is for any other reason than to focus them in, to get them clear about who he is and what matters most. And of course, in the very next part of the passage, he says, "All right, we're going to Jerusalem. I am going to suffer. I am going to be tortured. They are going to hate me, and they are going to kill me, and I am going to be raised on the third day." Again, Peter focuses on the wrong part, right? He's like, "We won't let it happen, Jesus."

And Jesus is like, "Petey, you're not listening, man. It has to happen. And I will raise. I will be risen. I will rise on the third day." What jumps out at you today? I call this the Jesus question. Who do you say that Jesus is? Our culture wants to say, "He's just a great teacher," or other religions want to say he's a prophet. A lot of people say, "Oh, there's some wisdom there." But he didn't claim to be a prophet. He didn't claim to be a great teacher. He claimed to be the Son of God. And if he isn't that, he's a liar. And if he's a liar, what are we doing? Who do you say Jesus is? Have a great day and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.