JESUS IS THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD

XXI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: Mt 16:13-20

For the past two thousand years, the Church has been proclaiming in all possible ways the truth that is the reason of her existence: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And all Christians agree on this proclamation, be it Catholics, Orthodoxes, Protestants or Pentecostals.

The belief that Jesus is the Son of God is the only reason for the existence of the Church, and it is the only reason for the existence of thousand of martyrs throughout these two thousand years of Christianity. This belief sets us apart and makes us different. It is not a belief which comes from human wisdom, be it traditional wisdom, philosophy or scientific investigation. This belief is the fruit of an encounter with Jesus Christ who establishes with us a personal relationship of love, which gives meaning to our human life and destiny. As we walk the paths of life with him, we come to recognise that he is the Saviour and the giver of life. In him we find life, because he came so that we may have life, and life to the full (Jn 10:10).

Going through the same experience as Peter, we are able to proclaim as he did: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16). This faith is the rock upon which the Church is built, and we can find this proclamation of faith repeated through the writings of the New Testament. Mark begins his book with this title:  “The beginning of the good news (gospel) of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mk 1:1). In the gospel of John, the proclamation made by Peter is made by Martha, who said: “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world” (Jn 11:27). And in his first letter, John makes it clear: “God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.” (1 Jn 4:15), and again: ”Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 Jn 5:5).

When we reject Jesus or consider him only as a man of wisdom with a revolutionary mind, we fall back into the traps of this world, leading a hopeless life with no other future but death. Only Jesus, the risen Lord, being the Son of the living God, can create us anew. He is the resurrection and life (Jn 11:25), and in him we can find life.