Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest | USCCB
In our gospel for
today, the Lord is putting his disciples to the test. “Who do people say that I am?” Their response is, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” Then Jesus asks a more direct question:
“Who do you say that I am?”
Peter answers
correctly, “The Christ of God.” Then Jesus says something that I find a bit
odd: he directed them not to tell anyone. Then he went on to indicate that he
will be killed by the chief priests and scribes and rise on the third day. This
was his reason for being here: to suffer and die for our sins. Then rise on
Easter Sunday morning.
My take on the part of
not telling anyone at that time is that his mission wasn’t quite finished yet.
He still had things to do before going to Calvery to fulfill what his Father
had called him to do. It was after he rose on Easter Sunday, once He was facing
his disciples and they were experiencing the risen Lord, that he would tell
them to go and make believers of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit.
In our relationship with the Lord, we know full well
that Jesus is the Christ of God. We are called to develop that relationship
with him by our daily prayers, our daily meditation on scripture, our regular
reception of the Sacraments of the Eucharist and confession and doing our works
of mercy and charity towards others. We are called to bring Christ into the
world by how we live our lives in loving God and loving others. We are to be a
visible sign of Christ’s presence in the world.
Let us always remember to keep Christ in the center of
who you are and when approaching the Lord in Holy Communion, let us silently
say to him, “You are the Christ of God.”
From Arlene B. Muller
ReplyDeleteI think one of the main reasons that Our LORD chose to keep His identity as the Messiah (Jewish term) or CHRIST (Greek translation) was that in this, His first coming, His role was not what most people would have expected of the Jewish Messiah.
The Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament includes two separate kinds of prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. One set of prophecies focus on Our LORD'S earthly ministry of teaching, preaching & healing & on His suffering for the sins of His people & of the world. We clearly see these prophecies in the book of the prophet Isaiah: part of Isaiah 61 that He proclaimed & declared fulfilled in His preaching in the synagogue at Nazareth & the various "suffering servant" passages in Isaiah 42. Isaiah 49, & ESPECIALLY the explicit passages in Isaiah 52 & 53 that were fulfilled in His Passion, Crucifixion & death!
Most people of Our LORD'S ministry on earth did not relate the "suffering servant" passages to the Messiah but were looking for an earthly king like King David who would conquer Israel's enemies & restore the earthly kingdom to Israel. That is probably why St. Peter was scandalized when Our LORD predicted His suffering & death & remonstrated Him! When asked by Pilate if He was "the King of the Jews", Our LORD responded "My kingdom is not of this world." Even after His Passion, Crucifixion, death, Resurrection & 40 days together following His Resurrection, Our LORD'S disciples STILL asked Him just before His Ascension into heaven if He was going to restore the kingdom to Israel NOW (probably meaning FINALLY). Current Messianic Jewish Christians now recognize the two separate prophecies of "Messiah ben Joseph" vs "Messiah ben David" distinguishing Our LORD'S first vs second Coming. But while Our LORD JESUS walked the earth, the Jewish people of His time only equated the term "Messiah" or CHRIST with a totally earthly & victorious earthly king & kingdom.