REFLECTION

WHO DO YOU SAY JESUS IS?
(From the Gospel of the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time)
José Nieto

Can you imagine Jesus asking this question to you in front of everybody else at church on a Sunday mass? What would you say? Most probably we would give an answer like Peter’s - "Jesus you are the Christ! Jesus, you are the messiah, the King!"

And there is no reason why Peter or anyone of us would not answer in this way, unless Peter’s concept of messiah would be the wrong one. Could we also be wrong about what kind of messiah Jesus is?

Indeed, Peter is mistaken about Jesus’ messianic identity. It is true, of course, that Jesus is the messiah, the Christ. But when Jesus explained the suffering and the road to the cross he would have to undergo, Peter’s idea of a triumphant messiah becomes an obstacle for Peter’s understanding. For him, the idea of suffering and dying does not belong to the idealized messiah that he confessed just few verses before.

Like Peter, we can also be caught up with the wrong idea of Christ. Sometimes we can even accommodate Jesus’ role to our convenience, thinking according to our logic but not as God would. A clear example is when we think of Jesus as a judge and not as a merciful Lord. It may happen that our logic would demand to think of Jesus as a punishing judge for those who do not follow the law. This would be the way of human logic. But in God’s mind, human judgment falls short compared to his infinite mercy and love. Sometimes our way of thinking demands a logical consequence for a cause. But in God’s eyes, we are always seen as his most precious creation, those who were made in his own image. When thinking about Jesus, and who he is, we should always be aware that his love will always overcome any of our human expectations.

So, before we get the wrong idea of Christ, we should ask ourselves - Am I thinking like God does or as humans do, when answering the question, who do you say that Jesus is?

REFLECTION

A MARRIAGE FEAST

A marriage feast is another image Jesus uses to talk about the Kingdom of God. A feast where God will provide for all peoples rich food and choices of wine! That sounds good like a nice party! The Hebrews, like other peoples of the ancient Near East, were enormously fond of social feasting. Nevertheless the parable that we read in today’s Gospel (Mt 22,1-14) contains one of the most enigmatic passages on the Gospel: the guest without the wedding garment? How can we interpret this passage, which left us somehow with a bittersweet flavor? Some answer may be found if we take a look at the historical context of the parable.

A marriage feast included wine drinking, as we see in the story of Cana. And if the banquet was large a second invitation was usually sent on the day of the feast, and also a servant escorted the invitees to the feast. The host welcomed the guests with a kiss, and their feet were washed because of the dusty roads (remember the story of Jesus and the woman that washes his feet in the house of the Pharisee that invited him for a banquet?). Following this, the guest’s head was anointed, as well as sometimes his beard, his feet and his clothing. The people invited were seated according to their respective rank and their hands were washed. But the most relevant event for us now is that when someone was invited to a marriage feast and banquet, the host of the feast provided robes and garments for the guests, which were worn in his honor and as a token of his regard. Here we have the problem! This guest didn’t want to use the garment that the host gave him to wear!

I believe we do that sometimes. When God invited us to his feast of life, he gave us a garment; the garment that God’s children must use, a garment made out of love and mercy. How often do we use that garment? Do we use it at all? If we have answered a yes to his invitation, it would be nice if we use the garment he gave us to wear in honor of Him, who is all love and all mercy!

José Mario Nieto