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Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea
Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say
that I am?” Mark 8:27
In answer to this question, the disciples informed Jesus that some
thought He was “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one
of the prophets.” But then Jesus asked the disciples who they
thought He was. It was Peter who responded by saying, “You are the
Christ.”
As we ponder this exchange between Jesus and the disciples, try to
hear our Lord ask you the same question. “But who do you say that I
am?” Though you most likely will find this easy to answer on an
intellectual level, don’t answer it too quickly. Think about it.
Deep within your soul, what do you believe about Jesus?
Though Peter’s answer is the correct answer, it’s important to
ponder what that actually means. This is especially evident by the
fact that as soon as Jesus began to explain His mission as the
Christ, Peter could not accept it. Jesus explained to Peter and the
other disciples that, as the Christ, he would “suffer greatly and
be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and
be killed, and rise after three days.” In other words, Jesus wanted
the disciples to understand the essence of His mission. His mission
was one in which He would become the sacrificial Lamb of God and
die for our sins. But this was too much for the disciples to
immediately understand, accept and embrace with gratitude.
Do you understand, accept and embrace this primary mission of
Jesus? Do you understand that because of the sins you have
personally committed, you need a Savior? Do you understand that the
consequences of your sins are death? Eternal death? And do you
further understand that it is only by Jesus’ death that all sin and
death are destroyed?
Sometimes we can fall into the fallacy of thinking that Jesus is
only an inspirational figure Who teaches us how we should live. And
though that is true, Jesus is so much more. He is the one and only
way to Heaven. Without His death and resurrection we cannot attain
Heaven. He is the one and only Savior. The Lamb Who was slain for
our sins. The one and only source of eternal redemption. The
exclusive bridge between Heaven and humanity. And though you might
understand this intellectually to a certain extent, your faith in
this fact must enter deeply into your soul so that you can believe
it and embrace His gift of eternal salvation within the deepest
core of your being. This takes a radical understanding, acceptance
and embrace if we are to truly receive the gift of Jesus’
life.
Reflect, today, upon how you would answer this question from our
Lord. “Who do YOU say that I am?” If you are to answer this
correctly, then it requires that you continually deepen your
understanding, acceptance and full embrace of the saving mission of
our Lord. Though this is a lifelong process, we must never stop
entering more deeply into this divine mystery and gift so that we
will become completely transformed by the life, death and
resurrection of He Who is the Christ of God.
Saving Lord, please open my mind and heart to You more deeply
this day and every day of my life. May I continually go deeper in
my faith and understanding of You and Your divine mission of
salvation. As I do, please transform me more and more so that I
will be more fully disposed to receive all that You came to bestow
upon me. Jesus, I trust in You.
Source of
content: catholic-daily-reflections.com
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Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Public domain, via Wikimedia
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