Homily Raymond

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From: Raymond . .
To: - - -
Sent: Tue, 22 June, 2010 18:43:13
Subject: WHO DO MEN SAY I AM?

WHO DO MEN SAY I AM?

Jesus could not, of course, just have blurted out from the start that he was Almighty God, come down in the flesh into this world. He had to take time to prepare the minds and hearts of his hearers for such an awesome message. He did so in many different occasions, gradually building up a picture of himself in the minds of his disciples. One of these occasions was when his disciples had been contemplating him praying alone in their presence.

St Luke tells us that on that occasion Jesus asked this question of them: “Who do men say I am?” In order to understand the connection between the disciples observing Jesus at prayer and his asking them: “Who do men say I am?” I think we must compare this scene to the scene where the sick woman touched the hem of Jesus garment and was instantly cured. Jesus, on that occasion, immediately turned round and asked the question “Who touched me?” The disciples were astonished that he should ask “Who touched me?” because the crowd was pressing so close around them that they could hardly move. But Jesus insisted: “I felt power go out of me”, he said. Then the poor woman came forward trembling and confessed that it was she who had touched him. St Luke tells us that not only did Jesus feel the power go forth from himself but also the woman felt the power come into her own body and heal her instantly. So there was a two way traffic, as it were: Jesus felt the power go out of him and the woman felt the power come into her.

Now to get back the scene where Jesus asks his disciples “Who do men say I am?” Let us remember that they have just been watching him communing privately with his heavenly Father and the occasion must have made a very deep impression on them. The scene has echoes of the ‘Transfiguration’ when Peter was so moved that he blurted out “Lord it is good for us to be here”. Perhaps Jesus felt that the tremendous communion between him and his heavenly Father was such that, in some way, it came across to the disciples and they were being given a glimpse of the wonder of his identity. Perhaps they could not spell it out precisely but they knew they had witnessed something altogether otherworldly about him and so Peter could only blurt out the words without fully understanding their meaning. But that was enough for Jesus. He knew that this was another step towards the fullness of the truth about himself.