Word to the Wise
Friday, September 28, 2007 - Sts. Dominic Ibanez, James Tomonaga, Lawrence Ruiz OP et al. - Dominican Martyrs of Japan
[Haggai 2:1-9 and Luke 9:18-22]"But who do you say that I am?" Peter said in reply, "The Christ of God." He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone. He said, "The Son of Man must sffer treatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.
When I meet the friend of a friend for the first time and hear the expression, "I've heard so much about you!", I get a little worried! I just have to trust that my friend has been reasonably "truthful!" Expectations can shape the initial meeting! Jesus' can see that Peter has a notion that can be dangerous. Peter is right for the wrong reasons. That's why Jesus doesn't want him going around saying: "Guess what? Jesus is the Christ of God!" Peter's notion of the kingdom is a political one based on a human popular idea of monarchy, etc. That is definitely not the kingdom that Jesus is trying to preach or that he has spent so much time trying to teach to the apostles before sending them out! Much of the theological controversies that have occurred in the field of Christology have centered on erroneous notions in human minds as to who Jesus is and what was his mission? Some folks thought of him as God in a skin suit. Some thought of him as a nice guy that God adopted but not divine. Some have seen him as a social reformer and others as simply a martyr for religious truth. None of these categories (nor many others) has prevailed. But it is clear that people had a variety of interpretations very early on. The official teaching is found in the Nicene Creed that we recite every Sunday. Although the Kingdom of God is a big reality, the identity of Jesus is at its core and we have to be careful about imposing our own notions onto Jesus. There's a fair amount of latitude for one's personal relationship but as Peter discovered, we can be way off! Staying close to scripture and Church tradition as the foundation will generally keep us "real" about Jesus. AMEN
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