REFLECTION
WHO DO YOU SAY JESUS IS?
(From the Gospel of the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time)
José Nieto
Can you imagine Jesus asking this question to you in front of everybody else at church on a Sunday mass? What would you say? Most probably we would give an answer like Peter’s - "Jesus you are the Christ! Jesus, you are the messiah, the King!"
And there is no reason why Peter or anyone of us would not answer in this way, unless Peter’s concept of messiah would be the wrong one. Could we also be wrong about what kind of messiah Jesus is?
Indeed, Peter is mistaken about Jesus’ messianic identity. It is true, of course, that Jesus is the messiah, the Christ. But when Jesus explained the suffering and the road to the cross he would have to undergo, Peter’s idea of a triumphant messiah becomes an obstacle for Peter’s understanding. For him, the idea of suffering and dying does not belong to the idealized messiah that he confessed just few verses before.
Like Peter, we can also be caught up with the wrong idea of Christ. Sometimes we can even accommodate Jesus’ role to our convenience, thinking according to our logic but not as God would. A clear example is when we think of Jesus as a judge and not as a merciful Lord. It may happen that our logic would demand to think of Jesus as a punishing judge for those who do not follow the law. This would be the way of human logic. But in God’s mind, human judgment falls short compared to his infinite mercy and love. Sometimes our way of thinking demands a logical consequence for a cause. But in God’s eyes, we are always seen as his most precious creation, those who were made in his own image. When thinking about Jesus, and who he is, we should always be aware that his love will always overcome any of our human expectations.
So, before we get the wrong idea of Christ, we should ask ourselves - Am I thinking like God does or as humans do, when answering the question, who do you say that Jesus is?
