21st Sunday in Ordinary Time: Jesus' Identity - "Test" or "Quest"?

In the last fifty years there has been a search in scripture circles called the "quest" for the "historical Jesus." This basically means that scripture scholars have been attempting to piece together a portrait of the Lord that is as historically accurate as possible. Many of us might say to ourselves, "Duh! Simply go to the Gospels!" As common sensical as this might seem, it isn't quite that easy! If you read the Gospels one after the other, you'll very quickly arrive at the conclusion that they aren't in perfect agreement with all the details surrounding Jesus' life. The reason why they aren't in perfect agreement is because the Gospels aren't historical documents as much as they are testimonies of faith in Jesus. This doesn't mean they don't report historical facts about the Lord, but they do much more than this. They basically relate who Jesus was and what his message meant to the people of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John's communities. This therefore makes the "quest" for the historical Jesus not as straightforward as one might think!


The quest for Jesus didn't begin with 20th century scripture scholars, nor did it begin with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It began, as a matter of fact, with Jesus himself! Now, I know what you might be thinking: Jesus knew exactly who he was from very early on and it was just a matter of everyone else finding this out! The problem that this poses, however, is that no human person can come into an absolutely precise awareness of his/her identity without the aid of others. No one is born with a script! To suggest that Jesus was born with one undercuts his humanity and sets him far above those of us mere mortals who have to struggle day in and out with the basic and gut-wrenching question of, "who am I?" and "what does my life mean?"


In today's Gospel Jesus poses a question to the apostles: "who do you say that I am?" (Mt. 16:15). One way to approach this question is to assume that it was a test of faith for the apostles. Either they "get it" or "they don't." However, what if this question was also a test for Jesus? Certainly Jesus was tested: he spent 40 days out in the desert prior to beginning his public ministry being tempted by the devil (Mt. 4:1-11). In putting the question to the apostles, "who do you say that I am?" Jesus may very well be looking for an affirmation of what he has long since suspected: he is the anointed one of God and the Son of Man who will ultimately lay down his life for his friends. Why is this a test of faith? It's a test of faith because once the disciples affirm what he suspects, there is no going back. It's one thing to have private beliefs about one's identity, it's quite another to have that identity reflected and affirmed in the eyes of another. Once something like this transpires, than you become accountable to someone else's beliefs about you.


This weekend I saw the movie, The Help. It tells the story of a young, aspiring, white journalist nicknamed "Skeeter" who dares to "go out on a limb" to tell the story of black maids in segregated Mississippi immediately prior to the Civil Rights Movement. However, to tell the story of the maids, she has to find some who are willing to venture out on the same precarious limb. Skeeter initially meets with resistance by many maids who are understandably afraid for their welfare. However, after hearing an inspiring sermon at a Church service, one of the maids named Abileen decides to put her faith into action by telling her story. Soon thereafter, other maids come forward to tell their story. In a very real sense, by telling their stories these maids were posing the question, "who do you say that I am?" to one another, to Skeeter, and, indeed, to the entire U.S. society. The entire movie is really a profound parable about the quest for identity, dignity, and solidarity. The movie The Help illustrates very much what today's Gospel does: to arrive at an appreciation of who we are and what our life's meaning is, we must risk ourselves by asking the question, "who do you say that I am?' and allowing the answer to be reflected and affirmed in the eyes of others. Pat