“Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asks. Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.” In the Gospel, we hear Peter make that profession of faith in Jesus. But even though Peter professed his faith in Jesus as the Messiah, it was a shock for him to learn that the Messiah would suffer, be rejected, and put to death.
In our 1st reading from Isaiah, we hear one of four prophecies about the one who would bring salvation through his sufferings. We can perceive in those prophetic words from Isaiah the sufferings and death of Jesus that were not to happen for another seven hundred and fifty years. But at the time of Jesus, no one made that connection between the suffering servant in Isaiah’s Prophecy and the Messiah. It was unthinkable for them that the Messiah would suffer. So, as we heard in the Gospel, Peter objected to Jesus having to suffer, be rejected, and put to death. Jesus told him he was not thinking as God thinks, but as humans think. It would take the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost for Peter to understand that Isaiah’s Prophecy was about Jesus. It was only with the insight from the Holy Spirit that he could make that connection. So, Peter’s original profession of faith of “You are the Messiah” had to grow and develop, and eventually become what we now call the Apostles Creed.
The Apostles Creed can be divided into twelve articles of our faith, which by a tradition recorded by St. Ambrose, corresponds to the twelve Apostles. This creed was used by the early Church in Rome asking any candidate for baptism if he or she believed in the articles of our faith. “Do you believe in God the Father?” “Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only son?” “Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?” etc., etc. Only after responding, “Yes” to each question on the twelve articles of faith were they then immersed in water for baptism. Since then, in more recent times, we’ve narrowed it down to the three questions that we ask a candidate for baptism, and then they, along with everyone present, recite the creed together: usually in the same question/answer format. For most of us, it was our parents and godparents who expressed the faith on our behalf when we were baptized, but we repeat that same expression of faith on our own each year during the Easter Vigil, and at Easter.
The Apostles Creed was expanded during the council of Nicaea, and so it is that expanded creed that we call the Nicene Creed that we profess every Sunday.
The faith that we profess, which is a gift from God, comes to us through the Apostles. Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asks us the same question and we respond every Sunday when we recite the creed, professing our faith.
Our second reading today reminds us, however, that we must profess our faith not just by words, but also by how we live. According to St. James, “What good is it my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith, but do not have works?” “Can faith save you?” What is faith? Is a human faith, such as many believe, that by only believing in Jesus Christ, they are saved? Or is it faith that involves setting our hearts on Divine things through spiritual actions?
If we see someone in need, a relative, a parishioner, a neighbor, or even a stranger and we say, “Go in Peace” without lifting a finger to reach out and help, what good is that? St. James goes on to say. Is that a spiritual action? Does it equal the love that Jesus had for others?
What good is faith if we neglect the promise that we made at confirmation? By the strength of the Holy Spirit, we were commanded to, “spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ; to confess the name of Jesus boldly and to never be ashamed of the cross, “So faith by itself if it has no works is dead.”
True faith is a living faith. It is a faith that bears the fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit. There is no such thing as an indwelling Holy Spirit who is dormant. The Grace of God is always at work. If we do not bear fruit, we do not have the Holy Spirit, and also, if we do not bear fruit, we do not have faith, because, as St. James tells us: “Faith without works is dead.”
After Pentecost, the Apostles professed their faith in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, in a new way. They were even willing to even suffer for Jesus. During Jesus’ Passion, the Apostles fled suffering, but after Pentecost and receiving the Holy Spirit, they considered it an honor to suffer for Christ.
After Pentecost, in the Acts of the Apostles, we see Peter living the words of Jesus that we hear in today’s Gospel: “Whoever wishes to come after me, must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” Peter was crucified upside down in Rome. He lost his life, but in losing it for Christ, he saved his life. Peter lived and died professing his faith in Jesus, “You are the Messiah!” Just like Peter, we also profess our faith, not just with words, but by how we live. For most of us, denying ourselves and taking up our cross is not so dramatic. Instead, it is in the small things of our everyday lives that we deny ourselves and take up our cross.
“Who do you say that I am?” Is a question we must each answer for ourselves, living our normal everyday lives. Every day, often, perhaps privately and unknown to others, we get to lose our life for Jesus, while in doing so saving our life.