Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary time

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Simon Peter said in reply,
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus said to him in reply,
"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. 

A week after the Iowa straw poll we hear of Jesus taking his own poll of a sort. He asked, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Predictably, they have no clue. In matters of faith we cannot expect crowds of people to be wise or perceptive or knowing. However, when Jesus turns to his own disciples, he discovers that they have some insight. God has spoken to them, especially to Peter. If his knowledge is still vague, it’s a beginning.

In the gospel of Saint Matthew, up to this point, Jesus has spoken broadly to the crowds as his disciples listened. He has cured the sick, fed the crowds, walked on water and spoken of the Kingdom of God in glowing terms. He has created a sensation which, inevitably, must meet push-back. His enemies are growing daily angrier and more powerful. His question at Caesarea-Philippi marks a turning point in his career. From the far north of Israel he turns south and heads for Jerusalem and certain death. He will no longer speak openly with the crowds; rather, he will speak in secret to his disciples, preparing them for catastrophe.

Jesus’ question stands as a challenge to everyone who claims to believe in Christ, everyone who chooses this or that church to attend, everyone who claims to have knowledge of Jesus. Not any answer will do. It’s not good enough to suppose he is a prophet like Jeremiah, John the Baptist or one of the prophets. It’s not good enough to suppose he is a teacher like the Buddha or a holy man like Muhammad. Everyone has a right to his own opinions of Jesus but only those who accept his own self-understanding can be his disciples. We must say to him, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.”

Saint Paul, contemplating this mystery, exclaims, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!” How is it possible for flesh and blood to know this mystery? It is more than anything we can figure out. Typically we see only what we expect to see. Teachers must lead their scholars from one truth to the next, from addition to subtraction, from multiplication to division. But the knowledge of Jesus bursts upon us. We may have seen the dawn but we could not imagine the overwhelming brilliance of the sun until we were blinded by its light.

This is why the church believes in its own infallibility. No one knows who Jesus is unless the Father has spoken to them through our teaching, traditions and liturgies. Historians can tell us something of his time; anthropologists have interesting insights about his culture and religion; and psychologists are always entertaining; but their sciences do not reveal Jesus. That gift belongs to the Holy Spirit.

Saint Peter appears in the gospels as the spokesperson for the disciples. He expresses what the crowds – even democratic crowds and their elected representatives – cannot know. At Caesaria-Philippi the apostles are beginning to understand, although their understanding is vague and uncertain. That’s why Jesus “strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.” Their understanding must grow and mature and be tried in the crucible of Good Friday. In the sunshine of Easter Sunday and fiery glow of Pentecost they will enjoy the privilege of announcing their faith infallibly to the world.