24th Sunday of Year B September 13,2009
To Know Jesus
The reading from Mark's Gospel for today is deliberately confronting. It is designed to make us
uncomfortable when in effect it poses the question to each one of us, who is Jesus? Do we really know
Him?
As Jesus gained a popular following, and his reputation grew among people of all classes and
persuasions, controversy about his identity emerged. Was he John the Baptist who had come back to
life? Was he a prophet from of old? Was he a fraud whom the Prince of demons used to deceive the
people? Who was he, then? And where did his remarkable authority come from?
The gospel shows Jesus provoking a personal answer from those about him. After some serious
discussion with them about the various ways in which people were viewing him, we can imagine him
looking into the eyes of the disciples, and putting the big question to them: "But you, after being with me
all this while, and seeing my works and hearing my words, who exactly do you say I am? This question
surprised them. It caught them off guard - and at a loss to answer. Today, we can imagine Jesus looking
into our eyes with that same piercing look, and asking a similar question: "But you, after all these years
as a faithful Catholic in prayer, in communion, and being engaged in all kinds of church and social causes
on my behalf, who do you say that I am?"
How would we reply? What would our most honest answers sound like? It is not unlikely that we would
fumble in expressing exactly what we wanted to say - as was the case with the disciples. Yet a
rigorously honest answer on our part is very important. The way we respond has profound implications
for the way we live. The question Jesus asks probes the heart, just as the answer we might give arises
out of our deepest experience of life, love, death and suffering.
Like Peter, we may answer, "You are the Christ, the Anointed one of God", and be praised by Jesus.
But also like Peter, we probably would not have understood what was involved in the answer we give.
There is always the problem of Jesus not fitting into our expectations. Peter had vigorously objected to
what Jesus had predicted to be his fate: to be condemned and executed. For that, Jesus rebuked him for
closing himself to the mystery of God's way of acting for the world's salvation.
It follows, then, that if we really want to know who Jesus is, we must take up the crosses of life as part
of God's providence. That is the path of the true disciple.
To know Jesus is a lifelong task of searching and personal discovery. Peter took a whole lifetime to
know and understand him. It ended with his crucifixion in Rome. Jesus will never fail to surprise us in
revealing his presence in our lives. Yet to know Jesus intimately is ultimately a most precious gift of grace
from God. It is a gift that God never fails to give to those who ask.
Bemard Teo CSsR
© Redemptorists 2009
**********************************************
To Know Jesus
The reading from Mark's Gospel for today is deliberately confronting. It is designed to make us
uncomfortable when in effect it poses the question to each one of us, who is Jesus? Do we really know
Him?
As Jesus gained a popular following, and his reputation grew among people of all classes and
persuasions, controversy about his identity emerged. Was he John the Baptist who had come back to
life? Was he a prophet from of old? Was he a fraud whom the Prince of demons used to deceive the
people? Who was he, then? And where did his remarkable authority come from?
The gospel shows Jesus provoking a personal answer from those about him. After some serious
discussion with them about the various ways in which people were viewing him, we can imagine him
looking into the eyes of the disciples, and putting the big question to them: "But you, after being with me
all this while, and seeing my works and hearing my words, who exactly do you say I am? This question
surprised them. It caught them off guard - and at a loss to answer. Today, we can imagine Jesus looking
into our eyes with that same piercing look, and asking a similar question: "But you, after all these years
as a faithful Catholic in prayer, in communion, and being engaged in all kinds of church and social causes
on my behalf, who do you say that I am?"
How would we reply? What would our most honest answers sound like? It is not unlikely that we would
fumble in expressing exactly what we wanted to say - as was the case with the disciples. Yet a
rigorously honest answer on our part is very important. The way we respond has profound implications
for the way we live. The question Jesus asks probes the heart, just as the answer we might give arises
out of our deepest experience of life, love, death and suffering.
Like Peter, we may answer, "You are the Christ, the Anointed one of God", and be praised by Jesus.
But also like Peter, we probably would not have understood what was involved in the answer we give.
There is always the problem of Jesus not fitting into our expectations. Peter had vigorously objected to
what Jesus had predicted to be his fate: to be condemned and executed. For that, Jesus rebuked him for
closing himself to the mystery of God's way of acting for the world's salvation.
It follows, then, that if we really want to know who Jesus is, we must take up the crosses of life as part
of God's providence. That is the path of the true disciple.
To know Jesus is a lifelong task of searching and personal discovery. Peter took a whole lifetime to
know and understand him. It ended with his crucifixion in Rome. Jesus will never fail to surprise us in
revealing his presence in our lives. Yet to know Jesus intimately is ultimately a most precious gift of grace
from God. It is a gift that God never fails to give to those who ask.
Bemard Teo CSsR
© Redemptorists 2009
**********************************************
