Then Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you: you are Peter – the Rock; on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly commanded his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
(From the Gospel according to Matthew 16:13–20)
Little Stones
Every year, as summer ends, the liturgy offers us a wonderful question from Jesus for our reflection. Each year, the events described by a different evangelist in the region of Philip of Caesarea resonate in our hearts as an important decision requiring great responsibility: “Who do you say I am?” This is not about other people’s opinions, not about what we have heard somewhere, not about traditions we follow, and not about belonging to the majority.
Jesus’ question is like a fishing hook that, diving into the depths of the disciples’ souls, tries to catch the right answer: “You, owners of the abandoned boats, you who have walked with me for several years, you, my chosen friends, tell me, who am I to you?”
Jesus is not looking for words, but a living relationship; He does not need precise definitions, but the ability to commit: what happened to us after we met Jesus? The Lord’s question is similar to the one lovers ask each other: “How much do I mean to you? What place do I hold in your life, how important am I to you?”
The Lord’s question is similar to the one lovers ask each other: how important am I to you?
The Savior does not need the apostles’ or our answer to hear that He is greater than other prophets. No, what matters to Him is to know whether we are in love, whether we open our hearts to Him. Christ lives not in our words, but in the heart, in what burns us from within. Our heart can be God’s cradle or God’s grave…
In the apostle Peter’s answer, we can distinguish two things. First, he says: “You are the Messiah.” This means the powerful hand of God that embraces, caresses, and leads to freedom. Then he adds: “You are the Son of the living God!”
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Jesus is the One through whom life comes, a miracle that allows the earth to bloom, a source from which flows a powerful, inexhaustible, and unlimited stream of grace.
“Blessed are you, Simon Peter – the Rock”… Peter, revealing the holiness of Jesus’ person to himself and others, also learned something about himself.
We could do the same. Every time we approach Jesus and pause for prayer, we can also try to understand who we are and why we live on this earth. Perhaps we could call ourselves a small rock? Even if we are not as big as a millstone, we are more like a small pebble, yet we know and understand that Jesus needs even the smallest stone.
“Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”… This is not only about the ability to loosen sins or excommunicate hostile people. It is more a revelation that heaven and earth unite in us.
This is transformative power, bringing God to the world, and the world to God.
Jesus did not come to give new powers to people, but first of all to overturn the existing system of power and service. He brought people not power, but the possibility to transform themselves and the world even in the worst, dirtiest, and most corrupted human situations. We are empowered to do what only God can do: forgive enemies, transform pain, draw near to our neighbor, live a sacrificial life, do what is already part of eternity.
This is transformative power, bringing God to the world, and the world to God. Each of us has it: a small pebble on which a piece of the new world is built…
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Adolfas Grušas
