Matthew 16:13
When Jesus came to the region of
Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the
Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah,
and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say
I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said, ‘the Son of
the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man!
Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in
heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my
Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will
give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be
considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered
loosed in heaven.’ Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone
that he was the Christ.
Food for thought!
Jesus asks his disciples, «Who do
people say the Son of Man is?» Jesus wants to know what they know about
him. Like Jesus, we all want to know who we are. We want to know what
others think of us. One thing is certain, NO ONE KNOWS WHO WE ARE, EXCEPT
JESUS. All the others call us many things, many names; I am many things for
many people, you're many things to many people. If you asked your friends who
you're, like Jesus did, you would here all kinds of answers, good and not so
good; it is all guesswork because no one can tell you who you are except the
Lord.
Only Jesus could tell Peter who
Peter was. And only the Father in heaven could tell Peter who Jesus
is: «Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! No mere man showed this to you.
My Father in heaven showed it to you.» The disciples tried and ended up calling
Jesus all sorts of names that every body called him: «Some say John the
Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets»
Then Jesus asked them and us,
«But what about you? Who do you say I am?» Simon Peter answers, «You are the
Christ. You are the Son of the living God.» Jesus replies, Here is what I tell
you. You are Peter. On this rock I will build my church. The gates of hell will
not be strong enough to destroy it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of
heaven. What you lock on earth will be locked in heaven. What you unlock on
earth will be unlocked in heaven.»
Wow! What a revelation about
Peter. Lucky Peter, whom Jesus told who he was. But in order to tell him
so, Peter had to tell Jesus who he is. Please, notice that as soon as Peter
told Jesus, Jesus told Peter; as soon as Peter says who Jesus is, Jesus tells
Peter who Peter is: «Here is what I tell you. You are Peter...» Until this
moment, Peter did not know really who he (Peter) was or what lay ahead for him
until Jesus started to reveal Peter to Peter. And Jesus did not start to tell
Peter until Peter started to tell Jesus. So, the principle is clear: tell Jesus
and Jesus will tell you, answer Jesus and Jesus will answer you, know Jesus and
Jesus will make you know yourself, give to Jesus and Jesus will give to you...!
Now, it is your turn, try
it. Jesus is the key that opens each one of us. We are all mysterious, and
without Jesus we never come to know ourselves, we never come to know life,
death, suffering, loving. We are sealed people, we are closed books, and only
Jesus has the key to unseal and open us.
Then I saw a scroll in the right
hand of the One sitting on the throne. The scroll had writing on both sides. It
was sealed with seven seals. 2 I saw a mighty angel calling out in a loud
voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" 3 But
no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll. No one
could even look inside it. 4 I cried and cried because no one was found who was
worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me,
«Do not cry! The Lion of the tribe of Judah has won the battle. He is the Root of
David. He is able to break the seven seals and open the scroll.» (Rev.
5:1-4)
Before we go: Jesus asked his
disciples, Who do you say that I am? Let us ask Jesus the same question: Jesus,
what do you say that I am? I hear many things about me, but YOU, who do
you say that I am?
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