“Who do you say I am?”

In today’s Gospel, the Lord aware of the discussions about him and the blindness of the people about his identity, wants to also know the thoughts of his disciples regarding his identity. He asks them: “Who do people say I am; [and] you, who do you say I am?” This question is equally applicable to us – Christ’s contemporary disciples. Jesus us asking us this Sunday: “Who do you say I am?” Sadly, many Christians have a skewed perception of God – perceptions tarnished by our backgrounds and experiences; others have distorted views of God influenced by ignorance. However, the living true God exists regardless of our wretched perceptions of him. Our goal as contemporary disciples of Jesus should be to align our understanding of God with the truth of who he really is.
“Who do you say I am?” Like Peter, we cannot offer a response relying on human strength. Hence, like Peter, we ought to seek God’s wisdom. We ought to invoke the Spirit of God to aid us, thereby revealing to us that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Failure to invoke the Holy Spirit, would lead to wrong and distorted perceptions about God. We read in the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians that “No one can profess that ‘Jesus is Lord’ except through the Holy Spirit.”
Only the Spirit of God, in his infinite wisdom, can make Christ fully known to us. Peter got the answer not through his own “human” power, but through the grace of God. Beloved, in order to be blessed like Peter, we must declare: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. To him be all the glory.”