Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the gospels people often ask questions of Jesus. Sometimes it is because they are mystified by him. At other times it is because they sense that he knows more than they do. Jesus also asks questions of others. In the gospel of John, Jesus meets with Martha just after her brother, Lazarus, died, declaring to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even if they die will live, and everyone who loves and believes in me will never die’. He then asks her, ‘Do you believe this?’ We can hear this question as addressed to each of us. When I read this gospel as part of the prayer service in a funeral parlour or in the home of the deceased, I am often struck by how often some of those present spontaneously answer ‘Yes’ to this question of Jesus, even before I get to read Martha’s answer. They hear the question as addressed to them.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus addresses two questions to his disciples. The first question was easy for his disciples to answer, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ We could probably give our own answer to that question easily enough too. We could at least make a guess at what other people are saying about Jesus. However, the second question Jesus asks his disciples is a more probing one, ‘But you, who do you say I am?’ This is a question that is addressed very personally to the disciples, and is addressed very personally to each one of us. This is a more difficult question to answer than Jesus’ question to Martha, ‘Do you believe this?’ It doesn’t lend itself to a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Who do I say Jesus is? That question requires some thought before we answer it. It is a question that invites me to reflect on my image of Jesus. Who is Jesus for me? What role does he play in my life? This question can give rise to different answers at different times in our lives. It depends on our relationship with the Lord at any particular time. How we answered that question as children is different to how we might answer it as adults. How we answer it in old age may differ from how we answered it in middle age. Our relationship with the Lord can change over the course of our lives. There may be times in our lives when he is a very faint presence. Then there may be other times when he is very central to our lives. I am often drawn to the words of a chant by a modern religious composer, ‘You are the centre, You are my life, You are the centre, O Lord, of my life’. We may aspire to making the Lord the centre of our lives, but he can get pushed to one side for a whole variety of reasons.

When Jesus asks the question, ‘Who do you say I am?’ of the disciples, Peter came forward and answered it on behalf of the others, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God?’ At this time in Peter’s life, Jesus was at the centre of his life. However, very soon Peter drifted from the Lord. He failed to keep watch with him in the garden of Gethsemane; he publicly denied any relationship with Jesus in the courtyard of Pilate; he deserted Jesus in the hour of Jesus’ passion. In today’s gospel reading, when Jesus addresses Peter as the rock on which he will build his church, he must have known that Peter was a very flawed human being. Yet, he entrusts him with great responsibility. The image of ‘keys’ suggests authority and the language of ‘binding and loosing’ suggests a teaching authority. Peter is given a special responsibility for interpreting the teaching of Jesus for the whole church and in doing so to help open up doors to the kingdom of God for all. Peter went on to show himself to be anything but rock-like in his commitment to Jesus. Yet, Jesus remained faithful to him. As risen Lord he renewed Peter’s role as chief shepherd of the church. Although Peter’s relationship with Jesus waxed and waned, Jesus’ relationship with Peter remained constant. Although Peter was often faithless, Jesus was always faithful.

The way Jesus related to Peter reveals something important about he relates to each one of us. How we relate to the Lord can change as we go through life. His role and influence in our lives can vary greatly from one stage of our lives to another. Yet, how the Lord relates to us does not change over time. His love for us is constant and faithful. In the words of today’s psalm, we can all say to him, ‘I thank you for your faithfulness and love’. Because the Lord looks on us with the eyes of love, he can see the good we are capable of doing. No matter how we answer the question, ‘Who do you say I am?’ the Lord has a loving purpose for our lives. He calls each of us in our own way to be a rock on which others can rely, to be good shepherds to one another, to help open up doors to the kingdom of God for one another.