In today’s gospel (Matthew 16:13-20), Jesus speaks to his disciples about his identity.  It is Peter who answers the question posed by Jesus – “who do you say that I am?”  After Peter correctly identifies Jesus for who he is, Jesus reminds his disciples that Peter’s revelation is a gift from God.  And of course this is a key message from this scripture passage –that our coming to know Jesus is a gift from God, that our God reveals himself to us because of his great love for us and his desire to enter into relationship with us.  

But today something else caught my attention.  After Peter’s reply – after Peter affirms Jesus’ identity, Jesus goes on to tell Peter something about Peter himself.  Jesus goes on to explain a bit about Peter’s identity and his call in life.  Jesus explains that Peter is a blessed child of God called to provide the foundation for the new Christian church. 

And maybe it is the same for us. 

Maybe, as it was for Peter, it is only after we affirm who Jesus is, only when we recognize Jesus as our Lord and Savior, only when that affirmation and recognition allow us to open ourselves to God – maybe only then can we come to realize our own identity and our call.   Maybe it is only once we acknowledge Jesus as the center of our lives that we come to realize the most basic aspect of who we are – beloved children of God, created by God out of love.  Maybe it is only once we acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and Savior that we can understand our call – to enter into relationship with God and to go forth to spread God’s love as we enter into relationship with each other. 

Like Peter, whose own identity and call were revealed after his profession of faith in Jesus, our own identity and call can become more apparent to us once we issue that same profession of faith.  And then as our relationship with Jesus deepens and our hearts and minds are more and more transformed to the ways of God, we can more readily live out that identity and call – living our lives as disciples of Jesus, faithful to his words, and in imitation of his example.