An Invitation To Read My Story - My Testimony

Seasonable Silence:

Peter's Confession to
Our Own Cross

A Reflection on Luke 9:18-22

The question that echoes through eternity, "Who do you say that I am?", pierces through the comfortable distance we often maintain with Scripture and demands a personal response. Peter's declaration that Jesus is "the Christ of God" was not merely an intellectual acknowledgment but a Spirit-inspired revelation that transformed his understanding of true discipleship. This moment represents more than theological accuracy; it marks the threshold where academic knowledge of Jesus must give way to the costly recognition of what following the Messiah truly demands. The Holy Spirit's work in revealing Jesus' identity to us is never separate from His work in preparing us for the implications of that revelation.

Jesus' immediate turn to speak of suffering, rejection, and death reveals the inseparable connection between His identity and His mission. The Messiah that Peter confessed is not the conquering king the disciples expected, but the suffering servant who must first bear the weight of human sin and divine judgment. This jarring transition from confession to cross serves as a perpetual reminder that our understanding of who Jesus is must always be shaped by the reality of what He came to accomplish. The cross was not an unfortunate detour in God's plan but the very heart of Jesus Christ's identity. He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and any confession of His lordship that bypasses Calvary fundamentally misunderstands both His person and His work.

The silence Jesus commanded makes profound sense when we consider the incomplete nature of any revelation that stops short of resurrection victory. As Cyril of Alexandria so beautifully expressed, there remained essential elements of the gospel story that would give full meaning to Peter's confession: the cross, the passion, the death, and most gloriously, the resurrection that would vindicate every claim of Jesus Christ's deity. A premature proclamation of Jesus as Messiah without the complete narrative of His redemptive work would have created confusion rather than clarity, hope without foundation rather than the solid rock of accomplished salvation. The disciples needed to witness not just Jesus' power but His willingness to surrender it, not just His authority but His submission to the Father's will unto death.

Today's gospel confronts us with the unavoidable reality that true discipleship requires us to take up our own cross and follow Him who first carried His. The crosses we bear in this life, whether light or unbearably heavy, are not arbitrary suffering but the means by which we participate in Jesus Christ's redemptive work and demonstrate the authenticity of our confession. The Holy Spirit who revealed Christ's identity to Peter is the same Spirit who now empowers us to live out the implications of that revelation, giving us strength not to avoid suffering but to endure it faithfully as witnesses to His truth. Our crosses become the very instruments through which the reality of Jesus' victory over sin and death is made manifest to a watching world, transforming our trials from mere hardship into profound testimony.


©2025 James Dacey, Jr., OFS