Who Do You Say That I Am?

Thursday, August 7, 2025

Nm 20:1-13; Mt 16:13-23

Today’s Gospel highlights personal relationship with Jesus as a mark of our discipleship. 

Jesus’ question and Peter’s answer show how discipleship thrives on our relational encounters with Jesus. 

When Jesus turns one of his questions into something personal, Peter’s answer shows why it is important to love the Lord. 

As such, we get two powerful insights from Peter’s answer. 

1. His Personal Conviction: Peter’s answer that declares Jesus’ divinity reveals his personal knowledge about Jesus (of course, with the help of Divine Revelation!). However, Jesus’ question transcends the knowledge dimension as it demands a personal reflection. Accordingly, Peter’s answer demonstrates that the Lord was looking for an answer that would come out of personal conviction without merely reflecting some public opinion about him.

2. His Love for the Lord: Peter’s answer does not merely reflect his knowledge about the Lord but declares his love for him. It is the manifestation of Peter’s love that moves the Lord to say, ‘And so I say to you…,’ thus leading to the conferral of leadership upon Peter to lead his church. One can understand Peter’s love for the Lord in the way he resisted the cross for someone he loved so much. Though he faltered, Peter’s love for the Lord remained intense till the end of his life.

Peter’s answer underscores the fact that discipleship is about answering the Lord from the depths of our hearts. 

More importantly, our answer should be and become our life. 

Let us pray that we may understand discipleship as falling in love with the One who loves us already.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar