The most important question

 

The gospel I reflected on this evening today is one that, for me, proves the adage, “The Gospel is ever new.”  The “newness” isn’t that the words we read or hear were never there before (and thus new).  Rather, the “newness” is that I have changed, and the gospel passage is being heard, in a sense, by a new me.

For instance, when today I read, “Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” (Luke 9:18)

I think it’s interesting that Jesus was both “praying in solitude” and that “the disciples were with him.”  I drove for hours at a time for many years in my career; when I retired, I made the decision that I didn’t want to do a whole lot of driving anymore.  So on longer car rides with my family, I am usually a passenger in the back seat.  I often take this time, with my family around me, to ‘pray in solitude’ while enjoying the countryside, as they converse back and forth.  Prayer gives me a feeling of happiness and fulfillment.

Throughout our lives, we’re constantly looking for fulfillment in one form or another.  We want to be happy.  We want enjoyment in life.  We have a natural desire for happiness that we’re constantly seeking to fulfill.  To me, the greatest happiness comes by sharing in the deep human prayer of the Son to the Father.  Prayer, true prayer, is the answer to our deepest desire.

Getting back to the gospel (Luke 9:18-22), Jesus first asks His disciples a factual question, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”  The people who have been listening to Jesus consider Him a prophetic presence like John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the ancient prophets.  They see Jesus as a man of God and thus special like the prophets were.

Then Jesus asks the disciples a much more difficult question, “who do YOU say that I am?”  Peter articulates the truth about Jesus: “the Christ of God.”  In Matthew’s version of this story (Matthew 16:13-17), Jesus is amazed at Peter’s answer and acknowledges that Peter’s insight into Jesus (that He is the Christ, the Messiah) doesn’t come from his own thinking.  Jesus recognizes that Peter’s insight comes from God.

Jesus’ questions come to us as well as to the disciples.  We can say fairly clearly what the scholars, for example, say about Jesus – who He is, what He did, when He lived, what were His accomplishments, joys, sorrows – but the real question is who I, like Peter, say that Jesus is.

The answer to that question is found in the ongoing and deepening way that I understand and express who Jesus is for me as I am right now.  The question and the answer are both part of the ongoing relationship that I have with Jesus.  And since it’s part of that most important relationship in my life, it’s constantly revealing more and more of the wonders of who Jesus is for me.

This is why the encounter with Jesus is always new.  The encounter with Him reveals to me who I am in relationship to Him.  I need to hear and answer that question (Who do YOU say that I am?) not just once or twice, but constantly.

The “Who do YOU say that I am” question challenges us again and again.

We need to be as bold as Peter in answering Jesus’ identity question.  We need to open ourselves to God’s own teaching our hearts who Jesus is for us.  Then we can be impelled to live our lives out of the truth of the answer.  It’s the most important question we’re called on to answer because it defines our ongoing relationship with Christ.