[Is. 22:15, 19-23; Rom. 11:33-36; Mt. 16:13-20]
We are all
familiar with the term identity crisis. It is a modern phenomenon that man
tries to find his own identity. Many today ask the question who they are?
In today’s Gospel Jesus
confronts his disciples with a very
difficult question. The opinion of people
about him, and their personal opinion about him. It is of the most
dramatic interest to see where Jesus chose to ask this question. There was
no district that had so much religious association like that of Caesarea
Philippi. Caesarea Philippi had many temples of ancient Syrian gods. Caesarea
Philippi was considered to be the birth place of the Syrian god Pan.
Caesarea Philippi was considered to be the source of Jordan. In
Caesarea Philippi there was the great temple of white marble built to the
godhead of Caesar. Against this background of the world’s religions in
their history and their splendour, there stood a homeless, penniless Galilean
carpenter, with twelve very ordinary men around him. It was the time the
orthodox were actually plotting to destroy him as a dangerous
heretic. He stood in that area littered with the temples of the Syrian
gods; in a place where the history of Israel crowded in upon the minds
of men; where the white marble splendour of the home of Caesar-worship
dominated the landscape. There stood this amazing carpenter and demanded a
verdict from his disciples. He asked them what people were saying
about him, and who they took him to be.
Some thought that he was
Elijah. Some thought he was Jeremiah. Some thought that he was John the
Baptist. Some thought that he was one of the great Prophets. For the
people he was a healer, a miracle worker, a compassionate teacher, and a person
who was able to feed them. When the people identified Jesus with Elijah
and Jeremiah they were paying him a great compliment and setting him
in a high place. Then came the most important question, “Who do you say I
am?” With this question Jesus reminds us that our knowledge of Jesus must
never be at second hand. A man might
know every verdict ever passed on Jesus; he might know all the
Christology; he might know every teaching about Jesus; he might by-heart every
commentary on the teaching of Jesus; he might analyse the historical
background of every utterance of Jesus. But Christianity never consists in knowing
about Jesus; it always consists in knowing Jesus. Jesus demands a
personal verdict from every Christian. “Who do you say I am?”
When this question was
addressed to Peter, his answer was, “You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God.” We do not know what was the idea of Peter about Jesus. He might
have conceived Jesus as the son of God who came to abolish the rule of the
Roman Empire and restore the Kingdom. Or he might have conceived him as
spiritual reformer; but the experience of Peter made him a different man. On
the day of Pentecost, this ignorant fisherman addressed multitudes who
spoke different languages, but they heard him in their language. He stood
before the rulers and authorities and declared his loyalty to his
master; he accepted imprisonment for the sake of his master; and
finally he embraced death on the cross.
For the last 20 centuries
this question has been repeatedly addressed to a number of Christians; and
their lives depended on the answer they found for this question. During the first three centuries, the Church
boasts about eleven million martyrs who fertilized the tree of faith with their
blood. The martyrs are the most intriguing and most beloved saints of
Christianity. Our most popular and beloved saints, with innumerable churches
dedicated to their names, are those who died for the faith, like St. George,
St. Sebastian, St. Stephen, St. Catherine, St. Barbara, and the forty martyrs
of Sevastia.
Neomartyr Michael Paknanas
was less than twenty years old, and he worked as a gardener in Athens in the
1800s. The Turks, who enslaved Greece at the time, were trying to convince him
to give up his faith. When flattery and wealth failed to persuade him, they put
to use some of their more convincing standard missionary work by torturing the
teenager. When all the tortures proved to be futile, the executioner was
preparing to behead the young man, but at the same time he was feeling some
compassion for him. So he began cutting his neck slowly with the sword by
administering very light blows, while asking the martyr to reconsider. The
martyr's response? "I told you, I am a Christian. I refuse to give up my
faith." The ax-man struck with another light blow to make some more blood
flow, to possibly convince him. The martyr repeated, "I told you, I am a
Christian. Strike with all your might, for the faith of Christ." This
totally aggravated the executioner. He did exactly that, and St. Michael was
sent to the heavenly mansions.
These are the people who
understood who Jesus is? And what is his place in their lives? The four
Gospels are filled with demands straight from the mouth of Jesus Christ. These
demands are Jesus' way of showing us who he is and what he expects of us. He
expects an answer from each one of us, “Who is Jesus for us?”
When Peter had made
the great discovery, Peter was given the great privilege and great
responsibility. It is a discovery which everyone must make for himself; and,
when he has made it, the same privilege and the same responsibility are
laid upon him.
There is a beautiful story
about pencil. The pencil maker took the pencil aside, just before putting it into
the box.
"There are 5 things
you need to know," he told the pencil, before I send you out into the
world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best
pencil you can be."
"One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone's hand."
"One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone's hand."
"Two: You will experience
a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better
pencil."
"Three: You will be
able to correct any mistakes you might make."
"Four: The most
important part of you will always be what's inside."
"And Five: On every
surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the
condition, you must continue to write.”
The same applies to each
one of us too. When we find an answer to Jesus’ question who he is for us,
we will be able to make ourselves useful to our contemporaries. We have to
undergo the process that the pencil undergoes.
One: We will be able to do many great things, but only if we allow ourselves to be held in God's hand. And allow other human beings to access us for the many gifts we possess.
Two: We will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but we'll need it to become a stronger person.
Three: We will be able to
correct any mistakes we might make.
Four: The most important
part of us will always be what's on the inside.
And Five: On every surface
we walk through, we must leave our mark. No matter what the situation, we must
continue to do our duties to the best of our abilities.
May God help us in our
endeavours.
-Satish