When I was a child I used often to hear stories about people who were asked to stand up for their faith in far off mission lands. These might be situations where the church and the faith were being persecuted, or where people had suffered some severe tragedy which made believing in God very difficult. The purpose of these stories, even though they were of far away situations, was to make us more confident in our own belief. We knew that we had it easy and that believing in God was a normal thing to do in the world I was growing up in. The idea of choosing to believe in God became more real for me when I got to know people who had made a conscious decision to be baptised and become part of the community of faith, a member of the church. These are people who really had to face up to the question that Jesus put to Peter in today’s gospel: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
I have also met people who were baptised at a young age, grew up in the faith and then had to face a crisis about what they believed. It is seen often, for example, in the lives of young people who in their teenage years move away from the church and often want to explore what it is that they believe. These people too are trying to answer the question that Jesus put to Peter. However, for them it is a deeply personal question: “Who do you say that Jesus is?” Often these people return to the church later on in their life with a renewed faith and a deeper conviction that this Jesus they believe in is truly one who has made a difference to the world and who offers them a way of life which will lead to happiness. They develop a deep conviction that God loves them and will be a “rock” of security for them in their lives.
This gospel incident has the power to encourage people when they feel they need to explore the question as to who Jesus is. In fact, I suspect that most of us at various times in our lives must ask ourselves the same question; or, perhaps more correctly, we must allow God to ask that question of us. It is important that we face up to it so that Jesus does not become an idol of our own making.
Peter answers Jesus by saying, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”. In other words, Peter is saying that he now knows Jesus as the one who is God’s anointed, the one who does God’s will, and the one who shows the way to life in God. Peter is thus gradually coming to the conviction that Jesus is the one who is the saviour, that his message is so powerful that it can turn people’s lives around. Peter is also saying that he wants to remain as a true disciple of Jesus. It has taken Peter a long time to be able to say these things about Jesus. We know too that there will be other times when he will have to face up to the same question about Jesus. Even after the day he makes the profession of faith, when he seems so confident about Jesus, we know that just before the crucifixion he will deny that he even knew Jesus. Peter, like all of us, had to keep facing up to the question of who Jesus was and what difference that made to his life.
It is Jesus’ response to Peter’s words, however, which is most interesting. Peter is able to say what he has said because Jesus’ Father in heaven has revealed it to him. This is an important reminder to us that we can really only ever know about Jesus because of a revelation to us. In other words, to ask the question about who Jesus is is to find ourselves at an important moment where God will now reveal to us something more about Jesus and his significance in our lives. It is as though the way that God chooses to reveal himself to us is by our facing up to the questions, doubts and challenges that confront us at certain moments of our lives.
I suspect that Jesus knew that this process of coming to know him more clearly and more fully could be a painful process for many people. That is why he likened Peter to a rock which can give some sort of security in the midst of a lot of confusion. That is why he spoke of the church as a place where our faith could be nurtured, nourished, and encouraged. The role of Peter in the early church very quickly became one of strengthening others in their faith. I believe it is a role that belongs to every Christian community, especially when its members are facing up to Jesus’ question about who he is.
So perhaps there is a lot of encouragement that our community can take from today’s gospel. It is an important gospel especially for those of you who are the youth of the community. Don’t be afraid to face up to the question of who Jesus is and of what faith in him means to you. If you face up to it honestly God will reveal to you the truth about his Son and will help you to allow him to shape and guide your lives. God wants your faith to develop and mature in such a way that you become leaders not only in this community but also in the Australian society at large. It is through you that Jesus’ message of wholeness and holiness, of unity and reconciliation will be seen by our society. It is you who will help shape the future for us all. May your faith guide you in that task!
Fr. Gerard Kelly
