8-23-26, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
In
last week ‘s gospel, we saw Jesus leading
his disciples into the pagan territories of Sidon and Tyra to teach a lesson. Last week, it was to teach them that God‘s
house, is a house of prayer for everybody, Jew, and non-Jew alike. This week he leads them into an area known as
Caesarea Philippi. This was a gentile
area North of Israel, where people worshiped all sorts of different gods Roman,
Greek, et al. In this area away far from
the Jewish authorities and the criticisms of the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus
wants his disciples to see him in a new light. So, first he asks them “Who do others say
that I am.” It is interesting that in their answers they
refer only to people who have died (i.e., John the Baptist, and long- ago
prophets). Then, he looks at his
followers and asks them, “What or who do you think I am. What do you see when you look at me?” The gospel writers do not
tell us a lot about the responses to that particular question other than what Peter’s
response was. Peter looks at Jesus, and
in that moment, he is graced by God, the Father, to understand who Jesus truly
is, the Messiah, the Son of God. It is
almost like that transfiguration moment which James, John, and Peter
experienced on Mt. Tabor (see Matthew
17:1–8, Mark
9:2–13, Luke
9:28–36) when they
see Jesus in all his glory as he truly
is. Referring to Jesus as “The
Son of God” is a remarkable response from Peter because at this time in the
Jewish religion, Jews did not think of God in familial terms such as, father
and son. Although in some of the ancient
writings of the Old Testament God is described in the personification of a
parent. “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child
of her womb? Even should she forget, I
will never forget you (Isaiah 49:15); "Is not he your Father who brought
you and formed you?"(Deuteronomy 32:6); "But
now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter"(Isaiah64:8) 1 But for
Peter to look at Jesus and to see in him, the sonship of God is remarkable and is
only possible by the grace that is given to Peter to see Jesus in that totally new way. We might say it is almost another “transfiguration
moment.” A moment in which Peter looks at Jesus and
sees put onus for who he really is – not only the promised one, not the
carpenter from Galilee, but even more “The very Son of God.“ When you look
into the mirror in the morning to put on your makeup or to shave, do you ever
reflect on who it is that you see in that mirror? Do you see only a person with a certain
history that has brought you to this moment of awareness? Do you like and admire the person you see in
the mirror? Do you ever see in the
mirror, looking back at you, that this is “a child of God. “ Isn’t it true that often the way you see
yourself is also the way you may see your neighbor? “There is an interesting story that was reported several years ago when
the Washington Post, a prominent newspaper in Washington, DC., conducted
one of the most unusual social experiments in modern journalism. During the morning rush-hour in Washington
DC., they had a young man wearing jeans, a long sleeve T-shirt, and a baseball
cap and carrying a violin case take his place inside the metro train station
there in Washington DC. He opened his
case and began to play. For the next 43
minutes thousands of commuters hurried past him. Most kept their heads down, with the intent of where
they were going. They scarcely looked in
his direction. A few people slowed for
a moment before continuing onto their train and work. Children were the only ones likely to stop,
but even with them, anxious parents tugged them along as if the man was not
there at all. They didn’t have time to
spare. By the end of the performance, 43
minutes later, only a handful of people had paused to listen to the music. The
violin case contained only just a few dollars in tips. However, nothing about the music or the
musician was ordinary. The violinist was
Joshua Bell, one of the world’s most celebrated concert musicians. Just days earlier, he performed to sold-out
audience in Boston. People there paid
more than $100 a seat to hear Joshua play.
Even the violin that he played that morning in the subway was extraordinary, a Stradivarius, a violin in fact, worth millions of
dollars, but no one noticed. The music had not changed from the day before. The
musician had not changed. What changed was whether people stopped to recognize
what was standing before them. Most assumed he was only a man playing for a
spare change in the subway station and most determined he hardly deserved a
second glance. Yes, greatness had been there all along. Only most of the people did not see it. What is so compelling about the
gospel is not that Jesus became the Christ by Peter's confession. No, he was
the Christ all along. Only people could
not see what God was doing in and through him. Only Peter was graced in that moment to see
Jesus for who he truly was.2 Perhaps
then, the gospel asks us to reflect from the reality of our life situations, whether
we are at home, with friends, or on the job, or sick in a hospital bed, when we
think of Jesus, when we look at Jesus in
our mind’s eye, who is it that we see? That
day in that pagan environment of Caesarea Philippi when Jesus asked, “Who do you say I am for you?” Peter
was gifted with a new understanding of Jesus.
God, not our parents, not our
pastor, not our church, but God in and through Jesus asks us, on this 21st
Sunday of ordinary time to look in a prayerful reflection at Jesus and to
answer for Jesus and for ourselves, who is he for us? The answer will be found not by what are
parents say, or our priest says, or even what our Church says about who
Jesus is. The answer ultimately will be found, as it
was for St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Francis in how we are willing to live out our lives based on our understanding of who
Jesus is for us. The answer to Jesus ’s question will be
expressed not so much in words as it will be seen in our relationships with
others, and in the sacrifices, we are willing to make because of that belief in
who Jesus is for us. That specific grace-filled-vision that was given to
Peter by which he understood who Jesus truly
is, will also be given to us so that we to, with Peter, and all of rest of
Jesus’ followers may attest one day to the glory of the Father in and through
Jesus Christ, that he is the only begotten Son of God.
1. https://www.bing.com/search?q=god+referred+to+as+father+in+old+testament
