But Who Do You Say I Am?
A Reflection on this Friday’s Gospel (Luke 9 :18-22) 27 September 2024
“Who do YOU say that I am?” Jesus’ question is not just for the twelve disciples. It is a question that echoes across time to us today. The Lord is inviting His disciples; past, present, and future to declare who He is. It is very personal! How I answer this question, within the depths of my being, must dictate how I live my life. For if He is the “Christ of God,” I must set aside all the world’s views and opinions of who Jesus is and pledge every ounce of my strength to calling the world to love and conversion. To answer the question, “who do you say that I am,” I must commit. The ambivalence and relativism that pervades our times is not an option.
Christ means “anointed” and is both a designation of honor and office. In the Hebrew Scriptures, prophets (1 Kings 19:16), priests (Exodus 40:13-15) and kings (1 Samuel 9:16) were anointed. God chose prophets, priests, and kings for special responsibilities, recognizing God’s sovereignty. In the case of the prophet, to speak truth into the world. In the case of a priest; to assist in reconciling the people with God. In the case of a king; to sacrificially serve God’s people. In every case, anyone who is “anointed,” has the responsibility to set aside all that we are attached to in service of God. This calling sits at the heart of every Sacrament of Vocation.
To declare that Jesus is the “Christ of God” is to name Jesus as the perfection of all the prophets that came before. Jesus is not just one who speaks truth but is truth itself. To proclaim Jesus as “the Truth” is to assert that Jesus is Lord; in Latin Dominus, in Greek, Kyrios, in Hebrew, YHWH, God. Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6 NABRE) If Jesus is Lord of our lives, His truth must dominate our every action. In the words of St Vincent De Paul, whose memorial we celebrate today, it is to, “have no desire to choose our own paths, but walk in those which God may be pleased to prescribe for us.” (St Vincent De Paul, 164)
To believe that Jesus is the Christ is to comprehend that He is the anointed High Priest. He not only calls the world to “repent, and believe in the gospel,” (Mark 1:15 NABRE) He makes our reconciliation possible through His passion and death on the cross. He is both the offeror of the sacrifice and the sacrifice. Knowing that the world can be reconciled, how can we do anything less than bring that possibility of reconciliation with God, the Gospel, to the world? (Matthew 28:19–20)
To accept and declare Jesus as the Christ is to assert that Jesus is the perfection of the office of king. He is not a king that demands the blind obedience and sacrifice of His subjects; a slave – master relationship. He is the ideal king, one who sacrifices Himself to save His people. He is a king who calls His people to sacrificial love and models that love. Jesus tells His disciples, “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28 NABRE) Just so, we must serve.
I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.
(John 13:15 NABRE)
We, who through Baptism are adopted into the family of God, have been given a share in Jesus’ mission as “the Christ of God,” anointed prophet, priest, and king. As in all things with God, we have a choice. Either Jesus is the Christ of God, the Lord of our life, or He is for us no God at all. We cannot be half-way in.
In the Book of Revelation Jesus describes Himself as one who stands knocking at the door of our hearts. We must come to a decision every day as to the question, “Who do you say that I am?” The door cannot be opened half-way. It is either open or closed. Jesus tells us:
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne, as I myself first won the victory and sit with my Father on his throne.” (Revelation 3:20–21 NABRE)
The Lord is at the door of every heart. He knocks to be let in. May we, with every passing moment, “offer ourselves to him to do and to suffer all things for his glory and the establishment of his Church.” (St Vincent De Paul, 164) For, Jesus is the “Christ of God.”
Endnotes
St Vincent De Paul, and Louise de Marillac. Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac: Rules, Conferences, and Writings. Ed. Frances Ryan, John E. Rybolt, and Bernard McGinn. New York; Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1995. Print. The Classics of Western Spirituality.