Fr. JC Maximilian

“Who do people say that I am?” Jesus has been asking people this question for nearly two thousand years. If you go to the Christianity section of any large bookstore you will see a variety of answers to this question: magician, social revolutionary, itinerant preacher, philosopher, best friend, and “marginal Jew.” OK, these are just some of things that so-called scholars say about Jesus, and to be fair, one would really need to read their books to get a fair understanding of what they mean when they use these labels for Jesus. So, who do the average people think that Jesus is?

For many Jesus is the Cosmic Problem-solver. For most of their lives they give Jesus very little attention; maybe going to church on Christmas and Easter, but not really having much of a relationship with Him. But when there is some difficulty or problem in their life – maybe they are looking for work, maybe when they are facing an illness – they suddenly turn to Jesus in prayer asking Him to make everything all right.

For others Jesus was just some ancient rule giver. For them, they do not like being told how to live their lives, especially by someone who lived so long ago. They just do not see Jesus as being relevant for the modern world.

For others Jesus was a great philosopher, especially in terms of social teaching. They still see His teaching as being important for the world today, especially in terms of addressing many of the social ills in the world. If only more people would follow Jesus’ philosophy then there would be no war, no poverty, no discrimination.

Then there are those who see Jesus just as a friend, one whom they can always talk to, but not much more than that.

Just like the apostles’ answers of “John the Baptist,” “Elijah,” or “one of the other prophets,” these more contemporary answers may have some element of truth about them, but they are far from sufficient. Jesus IS so much more.

St. Peter makes the profound statement, when Jesus asks the apostles “who do you say that I am?,” that Jesus is the Christ. We use this title for Jesus so often, to the point that some people mistakenly think that Christ is Jesus’ last name, but do we really understand it? Like St. Peter, we say that Jesus is the Christ, but we really do not understand what that means and try to impose our inadequate meanings to it.

“Christ,” or in Hebrew “Messiah,” means quite simply “anointed.” Looking through the Old Testament we see that when God had set someone apart to serve as priest, prophet or king, they were anointed with olive oil. This was a sign that God had imparted to them His gifts so that they would be able to do His will for the good of the people.

Unfortunately, as we hear in today’s Gospel reading, too often we think not as God does, but as human beings do. By the time that Jesus was walking on the way with His apostles and asks them that question, the term “Christ” or “Messiah” had come to denote an anticipated leader who would restore the Kingdom of Israel to the glories of King David. We must understand that from the heights of being a respected nation during David’s reign, Israel had fallen to being one of the lowest of all peoples: ten of the tribes had been sent into exile by the Assyrians and forever lost, the remaining two tribes were conquered and taken into exile by the Babylonians, and then rule by the Persians, Greeks and finally the Romans. The Messiah that the Jewish people were anticipating would be unstoppable because he would be sent from God. He would make them a great nation again, freeing them from foreign rule. They were projecting their desires onto God’s Word. All they needed to do was read from the Prophet Isaiah, who we hear in today’s first reading, “The Lord God opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back.” In other words, the Christ would seek only to do the will of God — would see with God’s eyes, hear with God’s ears. Or as has been revealed to us, He would be God-With-Us.

Jesus tries to explain this to His apostles by telling them that He would be rejected by the leaders, made to suffer greatly, and then be crucified, but Peter’s very human will once more tried to project his desires on the will of God. Peter was no worse than the other apostles; he was their spokesman. He said what they all thought. For them, only this world mattered, so freedom was political, social, and/or economic freedom, and a messiah that would lead them to that kind of freedom would be powerful and unstoppable. Certainly not one who would be crucified. However, Jesus sees the ultimate Truth; namely what really enslaves us is sin, and true freedom is living according to God’s will, both now in this life, and for all eternity in the next. Jesus’ way is the Cross.

“The cross of Christ continues to be a scandal for many today. While athletes deny themselves many things and undergo grueling training that causes them to be considered heroes, followers of Christ are considered fanatical reactionaries for promoting the natural law and practicing necessary self-denial. The cross is a folly and a scandal to the sensual and the rationalistic. Even amid those who call themselves ‘Christians’: They are willing to follow Christ to Tabor, they are willing to embrace one who utters the beatitudes and calls himself the Good Shepherd, the Son of God, the Son of Man who has come to save, not condemn, but often the invitation to join Christ in Gethsemane and at Calvary goes unheeded” (Ermatinger, Sacerdos: Homilies, Cycle B, August-September 2006, p. 27).

Today’s Gospel reading makes it very clear, the Cross is NOT an option for the Christian. If we are going to call ourselves the followers of Jesus we MUST take up the Cross. It is on the Cross that we see unlimited love, a love that truly seeks only the best for the beloved without counting the cost. While our Blessed Mother may stand in sorrows at the foot of the Cross, it is because she sees that her Son’s love does not fill the heart of all people, rather selfishness and sin still lives in the hearts of so many. Yet as she stands in sorrow, at the foot of the Cross, she who is the model of the Church, exults in the Holy Cross, as the Church celebrated this past Thursday, for it is by His Holy Cross that Jesus redeems the world.