TEXT: The Gospel according to St. Matthew 16:13-20

Each one of us must come to that point in our personal spiritual pilgrimages where we must decide who Jesus is.

Is Jesus a mere prophet like Jeremiah, Elijah or some other prophet?

Is he just a good teacher?

Each of us have a relationship with God that must in some way be verified within us.  St. Augustine said that the heart of man is restless until it finds its rest in God.  I think there may have been such a time in the hearts of his disciples when they questioned who Jesus was amongst themselves.

I found it so, as a disciple of Jesus, where I questioned within my soul who Jesus was for me.  How had God revealed himself in Jesus?  The Evangelists (Gospel writers) spoke in various ways about him, some spoke of Jesus as the Messiah of Israel (Matthew), some spoke of him as the Son of man, the servant of the Lord, the Son of God, the Son of Mary, etc.

These are all valid titles for our Lord Jesus Christ, and, many more.  But, who is Jesus to you and me, personally?

Have you found out within your soul the reality of Jesus Christ?

Are you satisfied in God?

Have you found your rest that comes only by good relationship with God through Christ?

Jesus and the disciples had come to Caesarea Philippi, and he turned to his followers, and he asked them the most important two questions of their lives.

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?"
14  And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

We hear our Lord always, it seems, go from the general (who do men say that I am?) To the specific, (who do YOU say that I am?)

This passage leaps out at me, beloved of God.  WHO is Jesus for me and you?

We have the answer in the words of Simon Peter, and, those words establish a first Confession (acknowledgment) for us to follow throughout the era of the Church through eternity.

16 Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

"YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD."

Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ that Peter made this confession, the great confession that secured for us the knowledge of this Great Salvation we have in "Jesus" (which means, "Yahweh is Salvation").

Jesus is the Messiah (anointed One), the Son of not some old, dead, Old Testament God.  God is the God of the living and not the dead.  God is alive!

This brings us joy, rejoicing, blessedness, happiness!

So, our Lord answered Peter.

17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

It is God that reveals to us in grace all truth.

Without God we are helpless.

God seeks us out and finds us.  And, we are given the graces to have the faith to trust in God.  We have been and are continually "graced" by God to come to God through Jesus.

St. Francis de Sales said -- "The grace of God supplies the void, and where there is less nature there is more grace."  (Letters to Persons in Religion, 5, 9)

Human beings can only go so far in their own natures to discover God.  We need the help of God to discover God’s fulness.  (See St. Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologica, I-2, 109, 2)

Finally, it was St. Ambrose who said -- "Every holy thought is a gift of God, the inspiration of God, the grace of God."  (Concerning Cain, I, 45)

So, Jesus says this to us with Peter.  (And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.)  It is of interest that Jesus uses the full name of Peter -- "Simon Bar-Jona," meaning -- "Simon son of Yahweh is gracious .")
Yes, the Lord is gracious.

Therefore God gives the Church the gift of Peter and upon that rock (Cephas) he will build his Church.

The gracious God turns from Jesus to Peter’s confession and then to Peter himself, as if to say that it is impossible to out give God.

He gives and he gives and he gives evermore to those who respond that he calls according to his purpose.  (Romans 11:29) -- For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.

Peter has responded.

Now, God calls to Peter and his successors, giving gifts that are irrevocable.

18 And I tell you, you are Peter,  and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.
19  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Many, as I once did, pass over these clearly Catholic passages of Holy Scripture and gloss over their clear meaning.

How happily I have found these truths to be so.

It has been so for close to 2000 years since they were uttered by Jesus.

Who is Jesus?  He is the One who is proclaimed by Peter and all who trust in Christ -- "YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD."

He is the One who ESTABLISHED his Church upon Cephas (rock) and gave Peter and the disciples gifts that were meant to keep the Church stable and alive in God.

Surely it is so for the successors of Peter -- "Let grace be the beginning, grace the consummation, grace the crown."  (St. Bede the Venerable, Canticles Cant., I)

It is grace that is continually given by God that will make the Church, the Holy Father and Magesterium remain intact through eternity.  Hell will not prevail, because God is victorious in Jesus!

So, then,

20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Why?
Because, there was to be the Cross before the Crown.

For all of us who confess this Lord Jesus Christ, there too, will be the Cross before the crown.

St. Thomas Aquinas said again, "Grace has five effects in us: first, our soul is healed; second, we will good; third, we work effectively for it; fourth, we persevere; fifth, we break through to glory."  (Summa Thologica I-2, III, 3)

May we through the Mediatrix of all graces work through in the graces of God through Jesus Christ, her Son to glory in that place prepared for her by God in the wilderness.



Deus et Sanctissima.