November 13, 2020
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. – Matthew 16:15-17
There comes a moment, when we go beyond knowing the stories of Jesus, to truly knowing Jesus. When Jesus was traveling with his chosen disciples, this time came while traveling, they had seen the miracles, heard the parables, but in this moment, Jesus askes them directly, “who do you say that I am?” Jesus is making a change in the way he interacts with his disciples, as he is about to begin their preparations to be the heralds of the gospel. Yet, all of the teaching will be hinged on this moment of belief.
Simon, who is called Peter speaks, and seemingly he and all the disciples have their eyes and hearts opened to truly see the one who is, and was, and is to come. They see Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
In that moment, they made their choice to truly follow God, to be committed because of this answer. In the same way, we all make that choice. We choose God, because we realize that God first chose us. We begin to learn and understand that our choice calls us to be committed to Christ, to emulate Christ’s love, forgiveness, and mercy in our lives. In doing so, we gain a divine mark, or some might say we regain that divine image in which we were once created.
Jesus responded to Simon’s answer, that He is to now be called Peter and that he is blessed because the answer he gave could only come from that divine mark, it had only been revealed by the Father in heaven not by flesh or blood, not by study or education, but only by God.
We, too, have our Ah-Ha moments, those times when our eyes and minds are open to the divine inspiration of God. In these moments, we are no longer our own but belong to Christ and live new lives for the purpose of the kingdom of God. Our responsibility, in this purpose, is to first share in all that we have and do out of love for God and love for neighbor. The divine mark pushes us beyond what we could learn or understand in our conviction of sin. It also causes us to react to all situations out of love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness. We are called to share this love to all whom we meet, because our identity is found in Christ who loved the world so much that He gave of Himself that all might be redeemed through His blood. We are the agents of this love, and each of us are marked to share it.
Jesus calls us to understand this love, to claim who He is, and allow it to be true in us. We claim him as the author and perfector of our faith as we allow that divine mark to the Holy to arise an “Ah-ha” moment in us, transforming our lives into a reflection on His, sharing in God’s love, grace, and mercy, building towards the kingdom that is already and still to come.
Grace & Peace,
Sam