Who is He - (Lk 9:18-22)
The analyzed fragment of the Gospel of Luke is, like in the case of other Synoptics (Mt and Mk), placed in the very center of the book and constitutes a certain climax and a turning point between the two great parts of the Gospel. The first, which describes Jesus' activity in Galilee, may be entitled: Who is He? (cf. Lk 4:14 – 9:50) The disciples who follow Jesus look at his life and deeds, listen to him and ask themselves this question. The inhabitants of Nazareth (cf. Lk 4:22), the Pharisees and rabbis (5:21; 7:49), and even Herod Antipas (cf. Lk 9: 9) also ask the same question.
The Messiah is so different from human ideas about Him that also John the Baptist asks: " Are you the one who is to come...?" (cf. Lk 7:19). The answer to this question is given by Peter on behalf of the disciples: You are the Messiah of God. This answer, however, remains incomplete and the disciples must be open to further revelation of Jesus that He will make. Now Jesus will reveal to them his deeper mystery: the mystery of broken bread, his death and resurrection (S. Fausti).
The second part of Jesus' public ministry (cf. Lk 9: 51-21: 38) is a description of the road to Jerusalem, during which the disciples discover what kind of Messiah Jesus is and must understand that the identity and mission of Jesus as God's anointed is completely different from the ideas about the Messiah, firmly inscribed in their minds and of all Israel. Jesus begins to talk about the necessity of the cross and that the Messiah will not reach for political power in Jerusalem, but that he will be victorious over evil precisely by taking upon himself the sins of people and that he will accept death to overcome it. The Disciples will learn slowly and with difficulty that Jesus is not going to live up to their expectations of temporal power and world domination, and that His divine power finds its greatest expression in accepting the cross.
In the structure of the pericope Luke 9:18-22 it is worth noting a triple answer to the question "who is he": - the crowds answer: one of the prophets (v. 19); - Peter replies: the Messiah of God (v. 20); - finally Jesus speaks of himself that he is the Son of Man - the suffering Servant of the Lord, rejected and killed, and at the same time the Judge of the universe standing at the right hand of the Almighty (v. 22; cf. Dn 7: 13-14). Verses Lk 9:23-24 belong to another pericope - Jesus' instruction on the necessity of the cross in the lives of his disciples.
In the first sentence of today's Gospel, Luke, with masterly brevity, indicates three dimensions of Jesus' life and ministry, or in other words, the three basic relationships in which he remained (cf. Lk 9:18):
1. First and foremost is his relationship with the heavenly Father: he prayed alone. Reading Luke, we can easily see how the Evangelist loves to emphasize that Jesus' prayer preceded all the important moments in Jesus' activity and was a source of strength for him.
2. The second relationship is the bond with the community of the disciples: and the disciples were with him. Luke does not emphasize the "training" of the disciples for apostolic works, but something more fundamental: their "being with him." Mark emphasizes the same in his description of the calling of the twelve: literally, he made the twelve to be with him (cf. Mark 3:14).
3. The third dimension in Jesus' life was his being among the multitudes and serving all those who were hungry and suffering, physically and spiritually (cf. Mk 6:34; Lk 9:11).
The difference between the crowd and the disciples was that the latter had a real relationship with Jesus, shared his way of life with him, and talked a lot in private. As a result, they were open to formation in Jesus' school and were able to see the difference between what Jesus taught them and their own expectations and beliefs. The people in the crowd, meanwhile, were primarily consumers of Jesus' miracles, but received little from His teachings. They were unable to discover in Jesus the Messiah and the Son of God, nor to listen to him (cf. Lk 9:35), especially when He spoke of the Gospel of the Cross.
In the light of this pericope, it is worth asking yourself a few questions: What is my relationship to Jesus? To what extent do I meet the criteria of His disciple, or maybe I stand in a crowd and it is enough for me to belong to His "clientele"? Do I see a difference between what Jesus teaches and what is in my head? This difference marks the space of my conversion. What decision will I make to follow Jesus in a more real way and not my own way?
If, we confess the Son of God and our Savior in Jesus, we must remember that, although Jesus only passed his Good Friday once, when he redeemed us. However, we must be prepared for the fact that the cause of Jesus sometimes experiences its Good Fridays. Blessed are all those who stand firmly by Jesus also in those days when to the eyes of this world it seems that His cause is losing. Because if the case of Jesus sometimes looks like a loss, it is not because Jesus is weak or because he is not the Son of God, but because He is patient and full of mercy. That He is the Love who wants us to give ourselves to Him in full freedom.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george