Who Is Jesus in Your Life? — Silvio José Báez, ocd
In the Gospel we’ve heard this Sunday, Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Mt 16:13). The disciples tell him that people identified him with some of the prophets of old (Mt 16:14). The people see in Jesus someone who lives in deep communion with God and speaks in his name, who is close to the people and willing even to suffer in serving God’s cause. They’ve recognized something true about the Master, but they haven’t yet grasped the depths of his mystery.
Jesus doesn’t reject what the people are saying, but he immediately turns to the disciples and asks them, “But who do you say that I am?” (Mt 16:15). The disciples, whom Jesus has chosen and who’ve been walking with him for about two and a half years, should know him. Jesus doesn’t want those who follow him to do so unthinkingly or superficially; they must know him deeply. But Jesus’ question doesn’t belong only to the past. It continues to resound today and reaches each one of us. It’s the decisive question for those of us who call ourselves Christians: Who is Jesus for us, for you, for me?
The temptation is to answer hastily with a formula we’ve learned, saying that Jesus is the “Son of God,” the “Redeemer,” the “Savior” of humanity. These are all correct theological titles, of course, but we can say this without them touching our lives. Jesus isn’t asking us to give a precise definition of who he is. He’s asking about our hearts, about the attitude we truly have toward him. It’s not a matter of saying who he is, but of examining our personal relationship with him.
What Jesus means in our lives is the most important question on our journey of faith. To be a Christian means, above all, to have encountered Jesus and to live in intimate union with him. It isn’t enough to know him by hearsay; it isn’t enough to settle for what’s been handed down to us about him; it isn’t even enough to do things for him. Jesus wants us to know him personally and to live in friendship with him. His way of life must fascinate us deeply. His freedom must become contagious, and his passionate love must draw us to him. How well we know Jesus is revealed above all in our moments of prayer, when we become silent in order to listen to him and entrust ourselves confidently into his hands.
We’ll never know Jesus completely. Just when we think we know him, he slips from our grasp and breaks through all the limits we try to place around him. Jesus isn’t someone to be possessed, but someone to be followed, trusted, and hoped in. We’ll come to know him only if we let him bring us to birth again and again through the power of his Spirit, set us free through his word, and forgive and heal us through his love. We’ll come to know him through the humble effort to follow in his footsteps each day, daring to leave behind our comforts and selfishness, acting with interior freedom, and always being willing to lose for love’s sake.
When Jesus asks the disciples this question, they remain silent, and only Simon Peter speaks: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16). Peter identifies him as Israel’s long-awaited Messiah, the one sent by God to transform humanity according to his loving plan. He recognizes him as the Son of the living God, the God who desires all human beings to live and be saved. Peter has seen the face of God in the face of the Master; he has perceived in his words the way to fulfill God’s dream; he has discovered in Jesus’ actions the merciful and saving hand of God.
In response to Simon Peter’s answer, Jesus says to him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of John, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven!” (Mt 16:17). Simon hasn’t reached this answer through his own reasoning, but through God’s interior action in his heart. No one can know God unless God himself makes himself known. Jesus immediately makes him a promise: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church” (Mt 16:18). Peter’s faith is the solid rock upon which Jesus promises to build his Church, although the living stone that supports the entire structure is always Christ, the one foundation and the true rock (cf. 1 Cor 3:11; 10:4).
The Gospel moves almost naturally from Jesus to the Church, from the question about the Master to the revelation of the mystery of his community. The Church isn’t a human project. She was born and continues to live in history because Jesus willed it, and he’s her builder. Jesus says that “the powers of hell will not prevail against her” (Mt 16:18). Here, “hell” doesn’t mean the hell of eternal damnation, but Hades, the biblical image of the dark forces of evil that seek to drag the Church to destruction. Jesus assures us that the Church won’t be defeated by evil.
Jesus assures us that the Church may be slandered, hated, and persecuted, but she can never be destroyed. The Church often makes people uncomfortable because she defends life and justice; she’s a critical voice against every absolute power that fails to respect human dignity, and, in the image of Jesus, she stands beside the poor, the victims, and those cast aside by the world. When the Church is dragged into suffering and darkness because of this, she isn’t suffering defeat; she’s becoming more like her Lord. The one thing that could weaken or disfigure the Church isn’t the persecution that comes from outside, but the fear that arises within her and silences her prophetic voice.
We shouldn’t be surprised that totalitarian powers seek to take possession of the Church and place her at the service of their own interests, but their attempts to control the community of Jesus will always fail. They may intimidate, threaten, spy upon, imprison, and exile members of the Church, but they won’t prevail against her. No matter how harsh the persecution may be, those of us who believe in Jesus are certain that the dark forces of evil will never have the last word. Jesus assures us of this. The Church is in his hands and under his protection. Let us not be afraid.
Today’s Gospel ends in silence. Jesus orders his disciples not to tell anyone that he’s the Messiah (Mt 16:20). Through this silence, Jesus creates a space within our hearts where each of us can answer him personally: Who is Jesus in your life as Messiah and Son of God? What does this Church, which Jesus chose to found upon Peter’s faith and which today is being slandered and persecuted in so many places, mean to you? Jesus awaits our answer.
Silvio José Báez, o.c.d.
Auxiliary Bishop of Managua
Homily, Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, 23 August 2026
Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.
Featured image: This detail of the mosaic of Christ Pantocrator (“ruler over all”) comes from the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul. It is the central figure of the so-called Deësis mosaic (Δέησις, “Entreaty”) which probably dates from a relatively late 1261. It is considered by many to be the finest mosaic in Hagia Sophia, which until 1453 was the great church of Constantinople. Image credit: soerfm / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
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