Knowing Jesus: Key To Your Salvation

𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝟐𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓𝐒. 𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐀𝐔𝐋 𝟏

𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐀𝐜 𝟏𝟐:𝟏-𝟏𝟎 𝐑

𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟑𝟒:𝟐-𝟗 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦.”

𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟐 𝐓𝐢𝐦 𝟒:𝟔-𝟖, 𝟏𝟕-𝟏𝟖

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟏𝟔:𝟏𝟑-𝟏𝟗

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒌 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉.” (𝒗.18)

         If Jesus were to stand before you now and asks the same question he asked of Peter: “𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝑰 𝒂𝒎?” (𝒗.15) How would you respond? How about those of you who belong to charismatic and renewal communities or those belonging to parish organizations? What about those who turn a deaf ear to God’s call for them to serve? How about those who hold positions of leadership in church organizations?

         While we all can draw from the availability of new media tools to provide us with the means to know who God is, it may actually be a disadvantage because there is also the probability that we can get stuck and get mired in just acquiring a head knowledge of God rather than knowing God in a more personal way and his great plan for us.

         I once facilitated a Teachers Development Program for the covenanted members of the BLD Jaro District in Iloilo and I really enjoyed the time spent with them. There were 30 participants, and these were probably among the most attentive, receptive, open and enthusiastic batch of TDP participants that I met. And to the question in this Gospel, I believe these members from BLD Jaro knew perfectly well who Jesus was and is. It also helped that BLD Jaro then had a very supportive and loving Spiritual Director in Rev. Fr. Butch Espeleta.

         What we have today is a very interesting Gospel passage because here we see Jesus beginning to get worried that his teachings have not taken root among his disciples amidst the very little time left in his earthly ministry and so he decides to make a headcount who among his disciples know him.

         That Jesus chose to go to Caesarea Philippi is also packed with reason. To be able to determine what his disciples know of him, their subconscious must be at peace and this region is outside the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas.

         Caesarea Philippi is also a non-Jewish region where there are numerous temples or places of worship that do not exactly conform to the religious standards that Jesus was trying to establish among the Jews, but which are of historical value. It is against this temporal backdrop that Jesus wanted to know from his disciples if they really know him and the setting he chose should provide his disciples with a comparative view of the world and its religions and the divinity of Jesus himself.

         But when Jesus first posed the question: “𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒔?” (𝒗.13) Jesus received divergent points of view as some said he was John the Baptist; others say Elijah and others Jeremiah. Again, there was a reason for these differences of opinion borne out of the refusal of the Jews to acknowledge him as coming from God. While many Jews were amazed at his teachings, Jesus was not received as the Messiah but placed him in the category of prophets who merely herald the coming of the Messiah.

         No man in those days can confess who Christ was except from the revelation coming from the Father (𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 11:27𝒇𝒇) and those who witnessed guided by the Spirit (1 𝑪𝒐𝒓 12:3).

         Friends, knowing Jesus is probably the most important thing you need to know in life because the right confession of faith and knowledge of and about Christ is the key to salvation (1 𝑱𝒏 2:22-23; 5:10).

         After listening to the different interpretations as to how he was perceived to be by the people, Jesus now turns to his disciples probably to make sure that his disciples have absorbed everything that he has said and seen what he has done because if they have not at least understood, then it will reduce to waste everything that he has done so far.

         As in the feeding of the 5,000 which Jesus could not have done so by himself, he needs his disciples to continue his mission of spreading the Good News to the world. Today, he also needs us to keep the Church alive. Which is why Jesus had to ask Peter and he is also asking us now: “𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖? 𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒎?” (𝒗.15)

         From wanting to know what others know about him, Jesus now turns to his own flock to make sure they “know” him. In both the Hebrew and Greek language, to "𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰"a person is not just to know about his persona, his family lineage, his ethnicity or his profession. To "𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰" is to get into the person himself, to empathize with him, to get to know his feelings.

         In other words, to “know” is to be one with the person. This is the rationale behind the question that Jesus asked of his disciples. And this is the same question that Jesus is asking all of us. Do we really “know” him? Do we “know” what is in his heart? Do we “know” his thoughts, his emotions, his goals and mission, the Words he spoke and which were handed down to us from generations to generations?

         This is important because it would be pointless for us to join in this crusade of spreading the Good News if we do not know the person we are trying to introduce to the world. Like Peter who, blessed by the Father in heaven, made the great discovery that Jesus “𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑮𝒐𝒅” (𝒗.16) we, too, must on our own accord, discover what Peter discovered.

         This should now become the foundation of our faith because Christianity is not just about knowing about Jesus, but it is rooted in being one with Jesus because this is the only way that we can let others get into the heart of Jesus. God’s revelation moved Jesus to designate Peter as the rock who will help build the Church that Christ will establish but there shouldn’t be any debate at all that Jesus is the rock himself.

         What I deem to be important in this passage is the matter of binding and loosing. These phrases are parabolic in a sense because it describes the custom of the Jews in deciding which need to be bound or prohibited and which can be loosed or allowed. But when Jesus addressed Peter saying: “𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒚𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏” (𝒗.19) Jesus gave Peter the responsibility to make decisions for the Church.

         This same responsibility is what has also been passed on to us today. Leaders and members of church organizations are always being asked to make responsible decisions that impact the Church as a whole.

         One of these is to make sure that we all live in peace with one another, not insisting on the righteousness of one’s actions against the other but communal living in which we all recognize the strengths and weaknesses of one another.

         Life in the Church is not about imposing our ideas, thoughts, perceptions, feelings and our will on the other be it in an apostolate or ministry, but in living as one thoroughly accepting the fact that while one is different from the other, we have all been predestined to be God’s adopted sons through Jesus Christ. This is the reason why we need to constantly examine our motivation for we may be veering away from what God wants and giving in to what we want.

         As members of the Church, we all share in the same glory of God in union with the Rock who is the foundation of our faith – Jesus Christ Our Lord. The New Testament describes the church, the people of God, as a spiritual house or temple with each member joined together as living stones (1 𝑷𝒆𝒕 2:5). Thus, faith in Jesus Christ turns us into rocks and spiritual stones and Our Lord Jesus will definitely test each one of us with the same question: “𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒎?” (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 29, 2025)