‘Who do you say that I am?’

September 13, 2018
Deacon Faiva Po’oi

In the first reading we hear the confident words of a faithful servant. He knows God is always there to help. In the second reading, we learn that true faith requires us to perform good deeds. In the Gospel, Jesus predicts his suffering, death and resurrection, causing a serious conflict between Jesus and Peter.

Jesus asked his apostles, “Who do you say that I am?” In reality, however, this question is also directed to each one of us. Who is the Messiah in our lives? We may discover that we are like Peter, who recognized Jesus as the Christ, but then sought to change him.

In this Gospel, the disciples had their first glimpse of the cross. Jesus began to tell them that he must suffer and die and rise after three days. This shook their faith in him to its very foundation. Peter even took Jesus aside and began to argue with him. What a strange turn of events! To say in one breath, “You are the Christ,” and then in the next breath to tell the Christ that he is making a mistake is, to say the least, a strange kind of faith.

Peter may have been the first disciple who tried to reform Christ, but he was certainly not the last. In the 12th century, the crusaders tried to make Jesus into a warrior who delighted in the slaughter of Muslims. In more recent years, members of the Ku Klux Klan have tried to make him into a middle class, white American. Today, many are trying to make Jesus the force behind political policies.

The tendency is not malicious in itself. Quite the contrary! In many cases, it grows out of our admiration for Christ. He is our ideal. His name is held in such high esteem that we want him on our side. If we have a stake in the status quo, then we make him a defender of the status quo. This is a compliment of sorts, but it can also be very demonic.

Keep in mind how Jesus reacted when Peter tried to divert him from the way of the cross. He confronted his friend with the fury of a thunderstorm, and said “Get out of my sight, you Satan.” It is serious business indeed for us to attempt to make Jesus in our image rather than allow him to make us in his.

The center of this whole confrontation was the cross. It was the cross that troubled Peter, and it is the cross that troubles us today. We want to follow Christ, but we want to follow him without having to deal with the cross. This is understandable. To follow a crucified Christ is a demanding and sometimes dangerous way to live. For Peter and most of those first disciples, to follow Christ meant martyrdom. They died for their faith.

Martyrdom will not be a probable fate for most of us. The reality is, however, that the cross is more than a way of dying. It is also a way of living — a lifestyle to which each and every one of us is called. According to Father Richard Rohr, a very popular Franciscan speaker, to live the cross means praying the words: “Your kingdom come, my kingdom go!” It is something to keep in mind each time we pray the Lord’s Prayer.

To live the cross means sacrificing our wants and our wishes for the sake of others, especially the poor, the hungry, the forgotten, the marginalized, the sick, the elderly and those in jail. We are called to do that in ministries as well as in many little, undramatic ways. It may be something as simple as caring for a child or feeding the poor. Or it may be something as moving as holding the hand of a dying patient so that he or she will not die alone.

This is how Jesus lived. This is the way he calls us to live. Only one question remains: Will we try to make Christ in our image, or will we allow him to make us in his?

Deacon Faiva Po’oi serves at St. Timothy Parish.