"Who Do People Say That I Am" Luke 9

A Homily for the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)
Mark Payne, OSB

What if you and I were with the disciples when Jesus asked them today, "Who do people say that I am?" Would we instantly declare our faith in Jesus as the long-awaited savior of Israel? Or would we follow the example of the Pharisees and test his wisdom and his patience and his power? Or would we turn away, as did Judas and the crowds, as did Pilate and Herod?

I, for one, am just as glad that I grew up in a believing home and can rely on two thousand years of faith-tradition to help me to believe that Jesus is the image of God and the redeemer of the world. It's a little scary to think what answer I might have made on the day Jesus asked his disciples the question.

The question "Who is Jesus" is raises the equally important question, "Who Am I?" Am I an accident of the system of natural selection through which all of earth's plants and animals evolved? Am I a unique creation of God intended for a blessed life in the kingdom of God? Am I doomed to extinction after death or will I enjoy life forever?

Catholic tradition insists that we never can know why some people believe while so many others, intelligent, good-hearted, and happy people, do not believe. . .at least not yet. Faith is a gift. Yes, faith is offered to everyone and salvation is intended for everyone but faith is not granted to everyone in the same measure or at the same predetermined stage of life. Faith is a free offer that can only be freely received.

The apostles "saw and heard" Jesus for some long time before they were ready for Jesus' question, "Who Do You Say That I am?" Since faith is more a matter of the heart than of the mind, it does require time and it also requires a great deal of trust. In addition, as Jesus pointed out, there is a great deal of suffering involved in the work of salvation. Immediately after the disciples declared their faith in him, Jesus revealed that he will be rejected and he will suffer much. His disciples can expect no better treatment.

If Jesus is the central figure of all creation, then I, sorry to say, I am not the central figure of all creation. If all people are brothers and sisters of Jesus, then I had better treat everyone I meet as a most important and dearly beloved relative. This is not easy. Sometimes we look around ourselves on the street or in a room or maybe even in church and we wonder how we will ever be able to tolerate being with these people forever and forever. Of course, they may wonder the very same thing about us. But Jesus is clear and the faith-teaching of the church is clear: All people are heirs of God's promise of eternal happiness and all people are one in Christ. Male or female, rich or poor, dark skinned or light, in God's eyes each person is most beautiful and most valuable and we had better treat them that way. Our answer to Jesus question, "Who Do People Say That I Am?" determines also our answer to the question, "Who Is Everyone Else?"

If the disciples of Jesus are correct today and Jesus of Nazareth is himself the one promised redeemer of all people, then we humans are not going save ourselves, either by our intelligence or our good looks or by our good ideas. We will not be made happy by digital technology, political systems, or the power of armies. We humans will be saved, as Psalm 63 tells us today, only by sharing with each other the kindness, the power, the assistance, and the forgiveness of God. Furthermore we will be saved not one by one, not me first and you later, but rather all of us together.

Christian life, then, is a dress rehearsal for what is coming at the end of time and for what has already begun in Jesus' resurrection. Christian life is the receiving all good things both from God and from one another and the sharing of all good things with everybody else. Who is Jesus Christ? Who are my brothers and my sisters? Who am I?