Ordinary 21

The Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

2020 – Cycle A

Isaiah 22:19-23; Psalm 138; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16:13-20

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

We don’t think of Jesus second guessing himself, do we? What other reason would make you ask that question unless you were unsure of yourself?

But consider the Gospel record. Jesus’ family thought he was out of his mind. On one occasion they came to take him away. Numerous times it is recorded that the scribes, religious scholars, thought he was possessed by demons;in fact, accused Jesus of using such evil powers to expel demons. After a miraculous event, rather than wonder, an entire town implores him to leave. His hometown of Nazareth found his teaching all too much for them, a stumbling block – hometown boy does not make good. His own disciples often ask, “Who is this…?” The cry of “blasphemy” that is, sacrilege, is at times heard shouted out in regard to his actions.

Jesus seems to be fully aware of what people were saying about him, that he was a glutton and a drunkard. They didn’t like the people he hung around and ate with; traitorous tax collectors and public sinners. Did he know, or at least surmise, people were plotting to have him arrested and executed? They did it to his cousin, John.

If in a similar situation, wouldn’t you ask your closest friends what people thought of you?

On the other hand, the crowds loved Jesus. They gathered in large numbers. And even though some did walk away, the Gospels use words like spellbound, amazed, filled with awe, and astonished to describe their response to Jesus. They gather to be cured, to listen to him teach and to be fed. The people thought he was a prophet like John the Baptist, Elijah, or Jeremiah.

But crowds are fickle. We turn on entertainers, politicians, sports celebrities, leaders, on a dime. Crowds cannot be trusted.

What is our image and reactions to Jesus as compared with those found in the Gospels? Is your Jesus the statue or painting of the Sacred Heart in our church? The bloodless corpse on our crucifix? The infant on the Virgin’s lap?

What is your response to Jesus?

Have you ever been offended by anything Jesus said or did? Have you ever been scandalized? After the sexual abuse crisis in the Church, we all know what scandal feels like. Have you ever been scandalized by anything Jesus did or taught?

If not, we might want to ask, why not, because everyone else seems to be affronted or insulted by his teaching, by who he hangs around and eats with, by the presumed source of his authority and power.

And yet people do get offended and walk away when Christians make connections; connections between who Jesus hangs around with today. Connections between Jesus and the children and families caged by our government along our southern border. Connections made between Jesus and the women and men in our prison system. Connections between Jesus and the poor, refugees and immigrants.

If we are not scandalized by Jesus than do we know the Jesus of the Gospels or the Jesus of our devotions? If we are not offended by Jesus asking us to radically change our priorities and the values that undergird our lives rather than just being told how good we are than do we know Jesus, the Son of the Living God who was crucified along with those who are rejected by society; rejected by us?

Is Jesus simply a good man, a wonder-worker, a philosopher, a teacher, a socialist, a blasphemer, a rebel, a whatever we or any age want him to be?  Or is Jesus beyond the labels we place upon him?  When we label people, are we not trying to shape the shapeless, coopt the other?  Labels make us feel comfortable and make the other more acceptable to us.  Is it not the same with Jesus? The Gospels portray a Jesus very different than what we want him to be. He scandalizes and offends people by his teaching, the people he associates with and his actions in the name of the God of Israel.

Therefore what seems like a harmless question may not be. “Who do you say that I am?” Will our answer be rooted in our experience of Jesus which could be off-putting, scandalous and offensive, raising more questions, “Who is this…?” than answering. Will our answer arise from a dialogue with the Crucified One? Will our answer make us comfortable or challenge us?

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PLEASE NOTE: Homilies presented here are also being videotaped and put up on the Saint Mary, Oneonta website: http://www.SMCCOneonta.org.