Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 16, 13-20
Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and
he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said in reply,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply,
“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Then he strictly ordered his disciples
to tell no one that he was the Christ.
Jesus’ identity
You should always be clear about who Jesus is and the relationship you have established with Him.
It is very easy to get carried away by what people say and it is very easy to buy yourself a “God” that the world sells you. We could talk of three types of “Jesus” that are on sale in the world today:
1. Jesus, the stepmother. This is an image of a punishing God, one who only delivers justice and keeps score. He is a scorekeeper of sorts. For some, He might become a soccer referee who keeps up with what they do and gives them a red or yellow card, depending on the circumstance. This is a God that you are afraid of because if you don’t do things a certain way, do not pray a certain way, don’t go to mass, He is going to punish you or is not going to listen to you.
2. Jesus, the lamp. Another image is Jesus as an Aladdin of sorts; only that instead of rubbing a lamp, you need to pray a lot in order for Him to give you what you are asking for. You pray and pray until He gives it to you. God, please help me with this. I want to have this or that. You turn God into a genie’s lamp that will grant you what you want.
3. Jesus, the secretary. And still another image is that He is the one who adapts everything according to your idea and who obeys your orders. You tell Him what you desire and ask Him to prepare it so that everything turns out the way you want. In other words, you are the pilot of you life and God is your co-pilot.
Finally, in Peter’s words we see the God that Christianity proposes to us: a living, close, liberating, saving, and healing God. A God that shows you the way of humility, of diminishing yourself, of serving, of making yourself small so the God can grow and speak to your heart. Relating to God in this way changes your life.
Remember that something good is on the way!
God bless you, be with you and protect you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
