Who do you say that I am?

Gospel: Mt 16:13-19

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022224.cfm

During Jesus’s time, the people of Israel were looking for the Messiah or thinking that he already come. With the captivity they were experiencing, they felt that they needed redemption. The disciples gave Jesus lots of examples of what people were thinking. Jesus then asks “But who do you say that I am?” Peter quickly responds by calling him the son of the living God. It is with those words that Jesus says that Peter will be the rock on which he will be his church.

When it comes to our faith, we can be quick to analyze and explain our faith, that is not what God seeks. It was in this simple understanding of Peter that Jesus gave him authority. Peter didn’t recite a creed or write a book of theology, he simply said that Jesus was the son of the living God. Jesus did not give credit for this knowledge to Peter but said that it was provided to him by God.

There is beauty found in the simple and direct. True knowledge goes beyond words. It is not our knowledge that saves us, but our relationship. Help us to slow down and find beauty in the simplicity of faith like Peter.