Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. Matthew 16:13-20
In today’s reading Jesus asked the disciples “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” He got a lot of different answers. Jesus asked the question as He is trying to understand how people think in order to communicate with them. One of the important aspects of today’s reading is communicating effectively with those whom you are sharing the Word of God; you need to know their everyday experience with God. If you know what that perspective is then you will know how to communicate more effectively when preaching the Word so people will open their hearts to the Word of God. Listen attentively and engage those who are suffering, lost, and distant from God with love.