Coffee With God

Reflection: Luke 9:18-22

From the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry – with the temptation in the wilderness, the devil tried to get Jesus to confess his true identity. We read in the gospels, that the devil was telling Jesus: If you are the righteous one, if you are the Son of God, do this! Do that! Show to the world your powers…. And then, after several healings or in a few encounters, the demons were shouting at him with these very words: “You are the righteous one! You are the Son of God!”. But the gospel says, “he silenced them”. In his reflections on the passage, Pope Francis had commented that “The devil is intelligent, he knows more theology than all the theologians together”. And so he wanted Jesus to confess: “I am the Messiah! I have come to save you!”. This confession, would have caused great confusion in the people. It is in this backdrop, Jesus tests his disciples about their understanding of him. Jesus wants to know the public opinion about him as well as the understanding of the disciples. The public indeed regarded him as a man from God – a Prophet. Yesterday we listened to the anxious voice of Herod Antipas. Herod was perplexed because he didn’t know whether this Jesus was John the Baptist or another. But how about the disciples of Jesus? Peter was spot on with his answer. “You are the Christ.” Here too, Jesus wants to protect his identity. In the writing-style of John the evangelist, we could say, His time had not yet come to reveal himself. So he directed them not to tell this to anyone. Pope Francis indicated that the only time Jesus allows the crowd to speak of his identity is on Palm Sunday. It is the beginning of the final march. And Jesus prepares the hearts of his disciples and the people to understand this mystery of God’s great love which will be fully revealed on the Cross”. We cannot understand Jesus the Redeemer without the Cross”. That’s why it is during the crucifixion scene that Luke records the first confession of the identity of Jesus as Messiah – and it is done by the good thief: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Another confession of faith would happen immediately after the death of Jesus, this time by the pagan centurion” who witnessed the death of Jesus: ‘Truly this was the righteous one!’ This is the experience of everyone who comes to believe in Jesus – step by step he prepares us to understand him well. And he prepares us to accompany him with our own crosses on the path toward heaven”. This is the only way to understand the identity of Jesus – the Way of the Cross.