TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

[cappie]

 

Caesarea Philippi was outside Galilee it was a town with a history. It had once been a great centre of the worship of Baal. On the hillside rose a gleaming temple of white marble which Philip had built to the godhead of Caesar, the Roman Emperor, the ruler of the world, who was regarded as a god. And so it is an amazing thing that it was here of all places that Peter saw in a homeless Galilean carpenter the Son of God. The ancient religion of Palestine was in the air, the Jordan would bring back to memory episode after episode in the history of Israel and the conquest of the land. And clear in the eastern sun gleamed and glinted the marble of the holy place which reminded all men that Caesar was a god.

There, of all places, as it were against the background of all religions and all history, Peter discovered that a wandering teacher from Nazareth, who was heading for a cross, was the Son of God.

Our gospel story starts with Jesus posing a question to his disciples: “who do people say I am?” “Some say you are the resurrected John the Baptist, Elijah who is to come again, others say you are one of the other prophets.”
Then Jesus wants to know what the disciples think of him. He asks: who do YOU say I am?” Peter, of course (who else), is the one to speak up: “you are the Messiah.” Jesus’ response takes us by surprise. Mark’s Jesus is not pleasantly surprised at Peter’s answer. Instead he says: “Shhh.” It says in Verse 30: “And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.”

And as the conversation continues we may begin to understand why. Peter has a completely different expectation of what the Messiah ought to be about. The text says he rebuked Jesus: “what do you mean you will have to suffer and be killed? Wait a minute, that’s not what’s supposed to happen to the Messiah!” According to Peter’s version, the Messiah was to triumph over the Roman government, leading Judea to establish itself once again as an independent nation, within the old border lines.

Jesus, in turn, rebukes Peter: “you can’t even look beyond the here and now, can you?” God’s kingdom is of a different, divine nature. From a human viewpoint, the Kingdom appears to be upside down. It’s about suffering in this life for the sake of the Kingdom. And guess what? You are asked to take up your cross as well. In fact, you must be willing to risk losing your earthly life, and in doing so you will find real life, even eternal life.

I wonder if Peter’s attitude is so different from the attitude of the church today? What if Jesus asked us today: “Who do you say I am?” What would our answer be?

We may not even realize that what we’re really doing is exactly what Peter is doing–namely telling Christ what he is supposed to be like. I have a feeling most of us have a problem with who Christ really is, with the way Christ chooses to do things; we humans have a problem to let God be God.

A prayer by a three-year old Norma goes something like this:
Dear God, did you mean for giraffes to look that way, or was that an accident?

Already, at this tender age we can find rudimentary evidence of a basic human condition–a quarrel with God. Norma would not have made giraffes the way God made them–and perhaps, neither would we.

The truth is: God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and God’s ways are not our ways. If it was up to us, Christ would be exactly the way we wanted him to be. We read the Scriptures about Jesus and we cut and paste our own view of him–to suit our life-style and our theological preference.

In one sense our theologizing of Christ, our different answers to the question “who do you say I am?” is understandable: Jesus is Immanuel–God with us. But, we often forget that our view of God is not necessarily the whole picture of God. God-with-us doesn’t mean God-according-to-our-view.

The followers of John the Baptist saw Jesus as his reincarnation, members of the prophetic movement saw him as the prophet, and members of the apocalyptic movement saw Jesus as Elijah who had returned.

Yet, we need to realize that it’s no use to “box in” Christ, to try to control him, or to quarrel with him. Jesus asks us to give up these attempts, and just . . . surrender. Let God be God!

And surrender is what this text is really all about. Jesus says: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Surrender to the point of self-denial. To let God be in charge of our lives.

Notice that Jesus questions the apostles today “along the way.” They are on the way to Jerusalem, where the Lord will lay down His life. We, too, are on a journey with the Lord.

So, however you answer Christ’s question: “who do you say that I am?” keep in mind that this question is loaded. Christ does not necessarily want to know our opinion about him, but he rather want to know about our commitment to him. Are we willing to give up our quarrel with Christ and let him be in charge? Are we willing to surrender our lives to Christ?

 

Edited September 12, 2015 by cappie