A grace of revelation is needed if we are to confess that Jesus is God, flesh and blood cannot reveal this. The human mind and of itself is not equipped to proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth is God incarnate – true God, true man. God made man. Of course, many have recognised that Jesus is a great moral teacher and one of the most impressive and significant people in human history.
Atheists, men, and women of good will and believers of other faiths recognise Jesus’ greatness. But that is not the same as worshipping him as God from God, light from light, of one being with the Father. This grace, which even we may take for granted, is a special gift for the Father. There is a way in which we need to ask ourselves this question every day. Who do you say Jesus of Nazareth is? Our prayer and reading of Scriptures are rooted in the quest to answer this question, asking the Holy Spirit to grant us the secrets of revelation, ‘the secret thing (belonging) unto the Lord’, which we will spend the rest of our lives plumbing and quarrying. As we bow before this mystery, we will hear God say to us: ‘I am God, and there is no other. I make known the end from the beginning, for ancient times, which is still to come.’
Despite Peter’s confession it is sobering that the rock upon which the Church was built was the same man whom Jesus identified as being, unwittingly for sure, a vehicle for Satan: ‘Get behind me Satan!’ We all stumble, fall, get confused and are led astray. This is why this grace of revelation needs to be cultivated and protected. The devil is like a roaring lion looking to devour our faith; erode it, diminish it, and undermine it. Stand firm; resist the evil one and he will flee. Jesus is God made man; he became man that we might become divine and share in the life of the Blessed Trinity.