WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

 *Sunday, August 27, 2023* 


21st Sunday in Ordinary Time A


First Reading. Isaiah 22: 19-23

Psalm. 138: 1-3, 6 and 8 (R.  8bc)

Second Reading. Romans 11: 33-36

Gospel. Matthew 16: 13-20


TOPIC FOR REFLECTION


 *JESUS IS THE MYSTERY OF GOD'S KINGDOM* 


Wait a minute...

***Please if you are God's secretary, can you raise ☝️your hand? 

***Are you God's counselor? If you are please tell me

***Are you His consultant, architect, or the engineer who designed the universe?


Anyway, if I may ask, 

1. Who can tell the history of God?

2. Who created God?

3. Who knows His rising and going to bed?

4. Whom did God consult among us before creating the universe?

5. Who was there when He created the universe and its inhabitants? 


I Guess no one can attempt the above questions, and more reason St. Paul in his letter to the Romans made it clear to them that God is the source of all that exists, trying to remind them of the mysterious saving grace He granted to the Israelites from the beginning. 


So, St. Paul tactically made it clear that the wisdom of God is a mystery that no one can unravel. Hence, he went further to say...


How great are God's riches?

How deep are his wisdom and knowledge? Who can explain his decisions? 

Who can understand his ways?


As the scripture says: “Who knows the mind of the Lord?     

Who can give him advice?

Who has ever given him anything, so that He had to pay it back?


For all things were created by him, and all things exist through him and for him. 


My dear, here are some questions for us to ponder on...

1. Who can unravel the mystery of God?

2. Who can tell the thought of His mind?

3. Who was present when He was about to create the universe?

4. Who among us advised Him to create the universe?

5. Who can measure the wisdom of God?

6. Who can quantify His knowledge? 


My dear, let us not prolong our discussion, the fact is that no one born of a woman can unravel the mystery of God, no one is as wise as God, no one knows His mind, and not a single person can say, I KNOW GOD, rather GOD WILL SAY MY CHILD, I KNOW YOU.


Therefore, it is based on the above explanations and the self-introspective questions that made Jesus ask His disciples one-on-one regardless of what people say, Who do you think I am?


Hence one after the other, they were saying what other people perceive Jesus to be, that He is John the Baptist, one of the prophets, etc., but it was Peter who says, Jesus is Christ, the Son of the living God.


Immediately, Jesus told Him that it was not flesh and blood who revealed it to Him, but God in Heaven revealed it to him. So, based on the revelation, Jesus immediately commissioned him to be the head of the Church.


Jesus went further to say, that no gate of hell shall prevail over it. Invariably, the Church can never die, because Jesus is the Church in which He stood firmly on the rock which is Peter as His Vicar.


More reason, the Church received the mandate that, whatever is bound on earth, is bound in Heaven, and what is loose on earth is loose in Heaven-------- The power of confession.


Finally, it can be deduced that no one can know God, except the person to whom God chose to reveal Himself, and we are lucky as Christians that God revealed Himself to us through the Church. 


So, I ask you, who do you say God is to you?


Please, drop your answer in the comment section, and share it for others to participate.


 *Peace ✌️ be with you.* 


 *Rev. Fr. Segun Oladeji, CRS.* 




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