Peter’s declaration of Jesus’ identity is a first step marking a new stage in the journey of faith
Posted on June 20th 2010 in Weekly messages
This Sunday, and the following, brings to a conclusion the recent Adult Confirmation course for Converts. Over the last four months this group has been meeting in the Presbytery to reflect on the different building blocks that comprise the Catholic faith. All these parts refer back to the centre, Jesus Christ. Therefore it is fitting that this Sunday’s Gospel recounts the question Jesus asked His disciples as to His true identity. This is the key question because a Christian, defined as a follower of Jesus Christ, should strive to grasp the identity of Jesus. This is not an abstract question, a subject of theology, but one of personal conviction. Every relationship requires within it the dynamic to know the other, which is satisfied both by real knowledge and by the ability to trust. The dynamism towards personal knowledge is the fuel that powers all friendship, and so any relationship based on either an inability to speak the truth, or on a lie, is destined to failure.
The road to knowledge is never smooth and hits different crunch points on the way. Today’s Gospel reflects this in the realms of faith and commitment. Jesus begins by asking in a third person sort of way, and the disciples give general vague and non-committal answers. Obviously these are not satisfactory and Jesus asks again, this time addressing Peter personally, just as he does to us, ‘Who do you think I am?’ Peter takes a decisive step, inadequate as it turns out, of stating that Jesus is the Messiah, the figure of national salvation, that is someone who, under the inspiration of God, would usher in a period of national renewal. Jesus does just this but in a way unimaginable to the one who just uttered this statement. Here lies the beauty of the teaching of the Church, which preserves this continuing surprise as to the person of Jesus. The dogma of the Church about the person of Jesus Christ may be seen as the successful attempt to prevent Jesus being ‘shrunken down’ to our level, however superficially attractive such a vision might be.
Jesus starts the long process of correction that will occupy the remaining time of His public life. He begins by uniting the title ‘Messiah’ to that of the ‘Son of Man’, the representative figure who will suffer on behalf of the nation. This Son of Man is the Suffering Servant of the prophet Isaiah, but also the figure of the last days, as described in the prophet Daniel. Jesus amalgamates all these different images into Himself, in a way that defies full rational explanation, but which makes sense in faith.
The ‘Son of Man’ is a figure of destiny, the person to whom events happen. He will be crucified, put to death, and finally raised to life. Behind this seeming passivity lie both the active co-operation of Jesus, and the mysterious will and power of God. The passivity of Jesus will be contrary to the self-assertion of the disciples and Peter in particular. However, it will not be an inert passivity. Jesus is still teaching, healing, sharing life together and walking towards Jerusalem.
This passive-active relationship determines the personal meaning of carrying the Cross, a way of life to which every Christian is asked to embrace through the Sacrament of Baptism. The Christian is not asked to undertake this walk alone, but in the power of God’s love, the Holy Spirit, and within the solidarity of the Church. This will take different forms within all our lives, but the basic parameters have been laid out in the public life of Jesus.