Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 4, 2022
Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi
and he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
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.
And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Then he strictly ordered his disciples
to tell no one that he was the Christ.
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly
from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,
“God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”
He turned and said to Peter,
“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Reflection
Today’s gospel appears to have two unrelated passages. Why not end with the first part with Simon Peter winning the day and Jesus honoring him as the rock of the Church? But the passage then shows Peter in a different light altogether.
This is a bit of a puzzle—Peter gets it incredibly right and then incredibly wrong. Perhaps one way to contemplate this tension is to view it as a deepening of Peter’s understanding of Jesus as the Christ.
In the first part, Peter proclaims that Jesus is the Son of the living God. In the second part, we get the beginnings of the more profound revelation of God’s wisdom through the suffering and rising of Christ.
In the second part, we confront the prediction of Christ’s Passion and resurrection, and Peter will have none of it. How can the Christ suffer, be killed, and rise on the third day? He understands who Jesus is but, in the end, does not fathom the depth of Jesus’ revelation—the profound revelation of God’s goodness and love.
The second part of the gospel points to an even deeper revelation than the acknowledgment that Jesus is the Christ, underscoring the incredible power of God. It points to the wisdom of God, which Peter was not quite ready to understand. “You are thinking not as God does but as human beings do.”
Due to the depth of God’s love for us, God has intimately identified with humanity to the point of becoming human, dying, and conquering death owed by people for sin.
Today, as we read the Word of God and receive the Eucharist, who do we say Christ is? Does the revelation of God’s love in the Word and Eucharist transform us to become more Christ-like for others?
May we deepen our understanding of God’s wisdom and love of the Passion and resurrection and be comforted and transformed by it.
Prayer
May the risen Christ help us to see through His eyes rather than with our limited vision. May we forgive as He forgave, call ourselves and others to transformative repentance, and give thanks for the graces that allow us to live His life here on earth. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.