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Fr. Leo Pabayo .

WHEN Jesus asked the disciples about what the people were saying about him, the answers of the disciples varied. “Some say that you are John the Baptist. Others say that you are Elijah, still others say that you are one of the prophets.”

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At the time that Jesus asked this question, John the Baptist had already been killed by Herod. Elijah and the other prophets also passed away. Moses who was also considered as one of the greatest prophets and the founding father of the Jewish nation had also passed away without having entered the promise land.

The next question of Jesus was: “But you, who do you say that I am?” Peter replied by saying, “You are the Messiah.”

The Messiah was the long awaited Savior of Israel and consequently, also of the world as the prophets above had prophesied. (The Greek word for Christ was Messiah). Peter got the answer to the Lord’s question partly right. But the words of Jesus that followed, also showed that Peter was partly wrong in his answer. Peter did not really know enough who and what the Messiah really was as prophesied by the prophets and how he would save the Chosen people and the world.

Many ideas about the Messiah had been circulating around before this Gospel episode happened. The Jews or the Israelites believed that the time had come for Messiah or the Christ would already appear and realize their hope of salvation from all the powers in the world that had oppressed them. For the Jews, it was particularly the Roman Empire that ruled the world that they believed the Messiah would overthrow and liberate them from. The other powers in the world that oppressed them in the past would also be conquered by the Messiah.

In the version of St. Matthew of this of this episode in St. Mark‘s Gospel, Jesus Christ says more to Peter in addition, “Blessed are you Simon Bar Jonah because God himself has revealed this to you.” In other words Peter was not merely talking from hearsay but actually from what God the Father in heaven has revealed to him.

If we situate the Gospel of St. Mark and St. Matthew in our world today where Jesus Christ is certainly very present, the same kind of dialogue with His disciples today will be taking place.

Like the disciples then, we, who claim to be disciples of Christ now, are being asked by Our Lord about who and what the people in the world, are saying about him. You the reader who is presently a disciple of Christ may well be one of those being asked by the Lord today about what you have been hearing about or learning about Jesus Christ today.

There has been much that have been said or are saying by people in the world today about who Jesus Christ really is.

And finally, as disciples we are being asked by the Lord what we are thinking and saying not from hearsay but from our own personal conviction and faith about who Jesus Christ is for us today.

Just like the time when this Gospel was written, Christ taught the disciples that the “the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the Scribes, (as well as the other powers in the world like the Romans then and those who have been given by God the authority in the government to decide on the fate of Jesus Christ and his disciples today according to His wisdom and according to his will.

Like every believer in God today, when Jesus talks about how Christ will actually save the world, many of us, like Peter would be shocked at what Jesus said. In the Gospel passage we just read, Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked him for what He just said.

At this, Jesus told Peter “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does but as human beings do.”

At these words of Jesus, we need to really pause and give ourselves a very long time to ponder just what Christ, the Messiah meant when he said, “You are thinking not as God but as human beings do.”

Many ideas about God are circulating in the world today from the point of view of man. It may be said that many of these ideas have some good in them. In fact, many of us who are preachers of the Gospel get some consolation from these ideas circulating in our world today. If we listen to and read about the many ideas about God we can be confident that God himself would be pleased with many of these ideas. Some of them have been written and discussed by reputable thinkers and philosophers and theologians.

But in the Gospel, we just we realize that Christ is asking for more from the disciples. We will therefore need to pray more and meditate more on the meaning of the words of Christ as He speaks more to Peter and the disciples about how he will bring about the salvation from the world’s woes as the prophets prophesied. This is necessary for us to learn to understand and experience more with love and joy the salvation that Jesus came to the world for.

In the Gospel, Christ, after telling Peter and his disciples about the suffering he will undergo, concludes his talk with them by saying, “He will rise after three days.”

When this Gospel is read by the priest at Mass, he ends by saying “This is the Gospel of the Lord” or the “This is the Good News of the Lord.” It is Good News. In other words it is meant to give us the ultimate love and consolation that we are looking for from God and in Jesus Christ his Son.

As we read this Gospel passage and meditate on it, let us always remember that these are words of salvation from Christ brings with them also the call to us the bear the crosses in our lives that He asks us to bear to gain the love and joy that are their fruits.

What are these crosses and what are their fruits? That depend on what our calling in life is.

There is a paradox contained in this Gospel passage that Peter did not yet fully understand which Jesus Christ rebuked him for. He would understand as well as the other disciples then and we or us now because in Christ’s rising from the dead He has given us the Holy Spirit who is the true light that enlightens us and whatever we need to do in this life to gain the new and eternal life beginning now and forever.

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