Proper
16 :: Isaiah 51: 1–6 / Psalm 124 / Romans 12: 1–8 / Matthew 16: 13–20
This is the homily given at St. John’s,
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, August 23, 2020.
“GOD ON THE ONE SIDE AND CHALLENGES ON THE
OTHER”
(Homily
text: Matthew 16: 13–20)
In this
morning’s Gospel reading, we hear Jesus ask His disciples, “You do you say that
I am?”
And it’s
worth remembering that it is Peter who speaks up with the answer, “You are the
Messiah,[1] the Son of the living God”.[2]
Let’s set
aside Jesus’ question and the disciples’ (and Peter’s) answers for a moment, in
order that we might set the stage for this interchange.
Jesus and
His disciples are now in the northernmost area of the Holy Land, near the city
of Caesarea Philippi, and somewhere along the way, Jesus asks those with Him,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The disciples offer some ideas,
perhaps ones they’d heard people utter: “Some say John the Baptist, but others
say Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
But then,
Jesus narrows the questioning down, saying, “But who do you say that I am?”
As the
disciples had been in Jesus’ presence, watching Him interact with people,
watching Him perform miracles, watching Him heal, watching Him reach out to the
outcasts of that day, they were being educated and prepared for the ministries
that God had in mind for them once Jesus had been raised from the dead, and
after He had ascended into heaven, and after the Holy Spirit had come upon them
and upon the Church at Pentecost.
Jesus’
pointed question is one of the significant milestones in their preparation.
They had to know exactly who He is. That knowledge and conviction would be
essential for them to be effective witnesses to what God was doing by sending
Jesus Christ among them.
Let’s
return, now, to the question which was posed to the disciples, and which is
posed to you and me and to everyone: “Who do we say that Jesus is?”
How we
answer this question will determine, to a significant degree, how we live out
our relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
If we say
that Jesus is some significant human being in human history (after all, that’s
the sum total of the disciples’ answers to Jesus’ question), then we might
conclude that all that is necessary for us to live a good life is to emulate
Jesus’ actions, His compassion for others, and His especial concern for those
on the fringes of society. We might conclude that Jesus simply wants us to be
“good people”, doing “good stuff”.
On the other
hand, if we say that Jesus is God, God with us (Emmanuel), then we might say
that what matters in this world isn’t this present-day world at all, but the
things of God. Some Christians down through time have taken that approach,
wishing mightily that the Lord would return (sometime soon), and would set
aright all the things that are wrong with the everyday world. Such an approach
denigrates our everyday lives, setting the concerns of the world, and
especially those in dire need, aside.
But what if
we say that Jesus is both God and human? I believe that both elements of Jesus’
true identity are contained in Peter’s answer. Peter affirms that Jesus is the
promised One, the Messiah, the One who would come to offer hope to a
beleaguered people. He also affirms that Jesus has a unique relationship with
God the Father.
(OK, we’ll
have to add that Peter’s confession, pointing to Jesus’ humanity and His
divinity, would not come into a full understanding for many years, about 450
years, in fact. It took the Church that long to come to a statement about
Jesus’ true identity as being God and yet, human. It was the Council of
Chalcedon, meeting in the year 451, that finally formulated the Church’s
belief. Along the way, there were many challenges to that understanding,
challenges that prompted the Church to determine exactly what it is that
Christians ought to believe and maintain.)
But I digress.
If we
maintain that Jesus, the Christ, has a dual identity, divine and human, then we
can maintain that God continues to have a deep and abiding interest in the
everyday lives of people everywhere. How can we say this? Simply because of
Jesus’ resurrection, which guaranteed His continued life, an event which makes
it possible for Him to be present in every time, in every place, and in every
circumstance. And if we maintain that Jesus is fully human (who rose from the
dead with his physical body intact … something you and I will do ourselves
someday), then we can say that He cares deeply about the mundane, everyday
“stuff” of life. Yes, even the little stuff.
Such an
understanding casts the challenges of everyday living in a new, completely
different light. What it signifies to us is that this life is worth living, in
large measure because Jesus is active in it. Such a gift is God’s to give, one
that we receive by asking for it.
AMEN.
[1] The word “Messiah” comes from the Hebrew.
“Christ” comes from the Greek. Both words mean the same thing: “anointed”.
[2] Peter’s confession is remembered on a major
feast in our liturgical calendar on January 18th every year.
