DO YOU KNOW HIM OR ABOUT HIM?

DO YOU KNOW HIM OR ABOUT HIM?

Homily for 12^th Sunday in the Ordinary Time, Year C

Holy Names of Jesus & Mary Catholic Church

Memphis, TN, USA

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

During one of the most crucial moments in the life of Jesus, the Lord had asked his disciples a crucial question that deserves a crucial answer: “Who do the crowds say that I am?” Jesus asked this question when he was about to head towards Jerusalem. He knew very well what waited him there. He knew he was going to Jerusalem and from Jerusalem to the Cross to die. And he wanted to know before going, if there was anyone who knew who he was. Wrong answers about who he was would have disappointed and frustrated him. Jesus was not expecting a complete and an intelligent comprehension of him. But he expected people to have a hint of who he was through his words and deeds.

Now some people thought Jesus was John the Baptist, others thought he was Elijah, yet others thought he was one of the ancient prophets that has come back to life. Not fully satisfied who the crowds said he was, he turned to his disciples who ought to know him: But who do you say that I am? Peter, on behalf of the disciples declared: You are the Christ of God.

The disciples of Jesus like the crowds had grown up expecting from God a conquering king who would lead them to conquer the world. But Jesus was the King, but not the type of king being expected. Peter and the other disciples must have been filled with excitement of being associated with the messiah who will conquer the world. But Jesus shocked and disappointed them when he told them that the God’s anointed one had come not to conquer nations with weapons of mass destruction, rather he has come to conquer nations with the weapon of mass salvation, and that weapon is the Cross. He has come to die upon a Cross so that people of every nation, language, tribe and tongue might be saved.

Now Jesus started this dialogue with a question “Who do people say that I am?” Thereafter he asked his disciples “Who do you say that I am?” It is not sufficient to know what other people have said or written about Jesus. Someone can make an A+ in any examination on what authors and believers have written and said about Jesus and still not be a Christian who knows Jesus. Knowing what others have written and said about Jesus is needed for intellectual knowledge of Jesus and for the best possible way to speak about him; but ultimately Jesus should be a personal discovery. As Christians, we should not be contended knowing about Jesus, we must know him. We must encounter him. It is this encounter with the Lord that changes lives. We must have a profound experience of the Lord. Jesus would never ask us “Can you tell me what others have said and written about me? But he will ask us “Who do you say that I am?” The Saints are people like us who have a deep and profound experience and relationship with Jesus. Christianity is not only about reciting a creed; it is about knowing a person- Jesus the Good Shepherd.

After disappointing his disciples of the fate and the destiny of the anointed One, Jesus shocked them more by declaring:

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he (she) must deny himself (herself) and take up his (her) cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his (her) life will loose it, but whoever looses his (her) life for my sake will save it.”

But what does it mean to deny oneself? Let’s recall the denial of Peter. When Peter denied Jesus, he had said “I do not know the man.” To deny ourselves therefore is to say “I do not know myself.” It is to deny the accidents of our existence and focus on the essence of our being. The essence of our being is who we are- peopel created in the image and likeness of God. When we are in touch with who we are, we realize that it is no longer us but Jesus Christ. It is this discovery that let St. Paul to declare “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Jesus also enjoined his disciples to take up their cross daily and follow him. To take up our cross means to be prepared to face and confront the difficulty associated with being loyal and obedient to Jesus. To take up our cross means being ready to endure the worst that people can do to us for the sake of being true to him. It means being ready to refuse to be intimidated by those who persecute us because we belong to Jesus. It means saying no even when it is most difficult to say so to those who want us to betray him. Being true to Jesus will bring some rejection and castigation. Those who hate your simplicity, your honesty, your faithfulness and your tidy moral life will come to paint you bad. It is usually said “If you cannot beat them, join them.” But if you refuse to join the bandwagon, they will come after you. But refusing to join the bandwagon of immorality instead preferring the castigation and hatred is part of the cross.

“Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it…” God has given us life, not to horde it or to keep for ourselves. We are given life to spend for others. Therefore the question is no longer “How much can I get”, but “How much can I give?” It is no longer “What is the safe thing to do? but “What is the right thing to do?” Life is not only about me, but about others. But ultimately, it is all about Jesus the Lord of life. And there is a connection between giving our life to others and giving our life to Jesus. There will be a reward for doing that. If we are true to him in time, he will be true to us in eternity. If we follow him in this world, in the next world, he will count us as one of his people. But if we disown him here on earth by the way we live, even when we confess him with our lips, he will disown us.

Do you know Jesus or about Jesus? Those who know about him only speak about him detachably; but those who know him, live him out in their lives. They are the ones who have encountered him. Just like the story of the poet and the monk, they don’t only know the psalm, but also the shepherd.