The Good Teacher

Jesus, like the good teacher he was, always tried to
encourage the disciples to reflect more deeply on the meaning
of their experience of him. They, like the rest of us humans,
could get caught up in the concerns of the moment and never
take time to reflect on the heart of his message and mission.
So, in this weekend’s Gospel we see Jesus taking them
aside and asking them some questions to make them think.
Who do the crowds say he is? A variety of answers are put
forward by his disciples. There are names from the past,
attempts to identify him with important characters in the story
of Israel. Jesus is then able to ask the crucial question. Who
do they, his disciples, say he is?

Peter leaps in with the most accurate of responses. He is
the one who is awaited, the Christ of God, the Messiah.
Whether we realize it or not, our own mission depends very
much on how we answer Christ’s question! Who do we say
he is? Put another way, what is our image of Christ? What is
our image of God?

My image of God could be of a distant, punishing God
who is always waiting to catch me out and rebuke me. Or he
could be an abstract concept, the unmoved mover. He could
also be a close friend, loving and uplifting, particularly when I
am low. But does my God challenge me, asking me to live out
the same pattern that we see in Jesus? And when he makes
this challenge does he leave me on my own, or is he my
companion on the journey, not asking me to do anything
except what he himself has already undertaken?
These are not always easy questions for us to answer, but
we have to answer as honestly as possible because in doing so
we are not just making a statement about God’s identity; we
are also making one about our own. We are allowing God to
ask us the question: Who are you? Are we really Christ’s
disciples, and how do we understand our mission?
Just as Jesus explores the question about his identity
through his life and death, so must we! It will only be
answered in how we actually live out each moment until that
instant of death when we join ourselves to Christ completely!
Happy Father’s Day!