But who do you say that I am?

 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"  So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

- Matthew 16:13-20

Yesterday we read that the Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.  He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.'  Hypocrites!  You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.  A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah."  And He left them and departed.  Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.  Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?  Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?  Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?  How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?  -- but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"  So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"   "Who do you say that I am?" is the greatest question a person can ever face, my study bible tells us.  Indeed, when we consider the controversies and counsels and various heresies throughout the history of Christianity, it all seems to center on this question.  Indeed, the answer defines Christianity.   We note that Jesus first draws out erroneous opinions about Himself.  He does this to identify these incorrect ideas, as a person is better prepared to avoid false teachings when they are clearly identified.  Indeed, in later debate throughout the centuries, this would be a method used by theologians.

 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Peter's correct answer to Jesus' question prevents the Christian faith from being simply another philosophical system or path of spirituality.  It names Jesus as the one and only Son of the living God.  This is an absolute and eternal reality, and embeds the Incarnation as the central act of history, lending myriad and ongoing meaning for human beings.  This position excludes compromise with other religious systems, my study bible says.   Christ means "Anointed One," and is equivalent to the Hebrew title "Messiah."

Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."  Peter's answer about Jesus' identity cannot be achieved by human reason.  It is only understood by divine revelation through faith (1 Corinthians 12:3).  This statement about Peter is a play on the word for "rock" in both Aramaic and Greek (petros/petra).  The rock, my study bible says, does not refer to Peter per se.  Rather it refers, in the words of St. John Chrysostom, to "the faith of his confession."  The true Rock is Christ Himself (1 Corinthians 10:4), and the Church is built on the faithful confession of Christ.  The gates of Hades are the powers of death.  In the Old Testament, my study bible notes, gates suggest a fortified city (Genesis 22:17; 24:60; Isaiah 14:31).  By shattering its gates, Christ opens the stronghold of death to set free the souls of the righteous.  My study bible adds that so also, the Church shall not be stopped in her proclamation of salvation.  Church (ekklesia) is used as a term only twice in all the gospels, here and in 18:17.  This Church is the true Israel and the Body of Christ; her citizenship is heavenly. 

"And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.  Keys of the kingdom refers to a special authority that will be given to both Peter and the other apostles after their Resurrection (see 18:18; John 20:23).  My study bible adds that Peter was not a leader "over" the others, but rather among them.  At the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) this was confirmed.  There, the apostles and presbyters met as equals, and Peter advised, but James presided.   Peter's role should neither be exaggerated nor diminished in accordance with the New Testament witness.  Binding and loosing refers primarily to the authority to "absolve sins" according to St. John Chrysostom; see also John 20:23.  But, my study bible says, it also includes all the teaching, sacramental, and administrative authority of the apostles.  Apostolic succession is meant to continue to transmit this authority to the bishops of the Church, and continues in effect today.

Here in today's reading is the central question of Christianity, and even for the world.  Who is Christ?  "But who do you say that I am?" is an even more important, and personal question.   Depending on our answer is our orientation to life, to the world, to all the cosmos, even to ourselves.  The Incarnation -- Christ the Son incarnate as human being and born as Jesus of Nazareth -- becomes not just the central question of Christianity.  It becomes the central focus of the purpose of our lives.  The Son born as human being indicates that all of our lives in this world, and all the material reality of who we are:  our bodies, our surroundings, our planet, and all of creation, is glorified in this Incarnation.  The Son, purely divine, takes on human nature.  He will even take on death in order to transfigure and defeat its power over human beings, giving us the capacity for eternal life.  The Incarnation of Jesus Christ declares that everything that is created is good -- it is made for glory.  Up until the Incarnation, there were all kinds of philosophical systems that declared the divine or heavenly good, but the material as bad.  Because of our separation from God, because of sin, our bodies and material life were seen as "pulling down" a better nature.  Temptation that is possible through our senses and experience of life was seen as confirmation that material life is inferior and "bad."  But the Incarnation changes all of that.  Sin is a product of separation from God, not of our bodies.  Ascetic practice is meant for the body, not against it.  Moreover, the experiences of the mystics throughout the centuries of our faith confirm that our very senses can be transformed to encounter God in inexplicable ways.  All of this is to say that the Incarnation gives us a perspective on our faith and its purposes.  How else do the fruits of the Spirit manifest in human beings, in the here and the now, except that body, soul, mind, heart, and strength are all one, with a central root in Creator?  How else should we see all the marvelous healing miracles of Christ, whether they be exorcism or healing blindness, lameness, deafness, etc. except to understand the connection between body, soul, and spirit in relation to Creator?  Jesus' Incarnation takes it all on, takes it all in, glorifies it all, even our suffering takes on purpose and meaning because Christ is both divine and human.  We participate in the life He brings into the world.  We participate in His life, death, and Resurrection only through the possibilities of the Incarnation.  And that is why Christianity is important, even essential to understanding life in our world and its basic goodness and capacity for restoration in relationship and union with Creator.  The Incarnation confirms that we are created in God's image; and it teaches that we are free to grow in God's likeness through the fruits of the Spirit working in us.  The Incarnation means that there is not a moment of our lives that is lost to meaning.  That is, every choice becomes important, because every choice that He made was important -- and His life is the example for all of His disciples.  Jesus as Christ brings us as close to God as we can possibly be, and ties the divine into our world, giving illumination to everything.    He has made it possible for us to live in that light and share in it and be a part of its illumination of the world (5:14).  He has commanded us that we do so, even as each one is faithful:  "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (5:16).   His Incarnation has taught us that we are never alone, just as He was not alone, and it made possible the sending of the Spirit for us.  Let us be always grateful and remember what He is here for when we doubt the value, importance, or meaning of our own lives and choices.