Rekindle Our Identity in Jesus Christ
I went for confession some weeks ago when I was feeling burdened and interiorly restless. After I had confessed my sins, the priest said to me, “My brother priest, no matter what you are going through in life, never forget who you are in Christ Jesus by virtue of your baptism and priestly ordination.”
His words reminded me that I was first and foremost a child of God. I was vainly trying to find my identity in my status as a priest, or in my duties as a spiritual director, confessor, lecturer, or formator of priest and religious. Ignoring my identity as a child of God only left me weighed down and afraid. But when I give rightful place to this identity that I had in Jesus Christ, I began to experience so much peace, hope and strength to face the struggles ahead. It felt like Jesus was the one doing the heavy lifting.
When Jesus was transfigured on mount Tabor, the Father declared, “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.” This statement shows us three things about the sonship of Jesus Christ.
Firstly, Jesus belonged completely to the Father. The Father referred to Him as “my beloved Son,” and Jesus in turn always referred to God as His Father. He affirmed a mutual and perpetual belonging between Him and His Father that extended to all that they both possessed, “All that is mine is yours, and all that is yours are mine.”(Jn 17:10)
Secondly, Jesus belonged to the Father as a son. He did not belong to the Father as a slave but as son who was unconditionally loved and cherished by His Father, “For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all that He Himself is doing.”(Jn 5:20) The filial relationship with the Father endures even in times of sorrow and pain as shown in Jesus prayer to the Father when His Passion was imminent, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you” (Jn 17:1).
Lastly, Jesus was focused on pleasing the Father with all that He had throughout His earthly life. He never used His powers to please Himself in any way. He used all to fulfill the mission that the Father had given Him, “He who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to Him.”(Jn 8:29) He overcame all temptations because this desire to please the Father alone in all things was His greatest and fundamental desire. Thus, He replied to Satan during His temptation, “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4).
These affirming words of the Father will sustain Jesus Christ to face His approaching passion and death. He did not give in to discouragement or quit because of the pain that was imminent. He faced and overcame all these because He is a beloved Son of the Father and He lived accordingly. Rooted in this identity, Jesus was completely certain of final victory, “Do not tell this vision to anyone until the Son of Man is raised from the dead” (Mt 17:1-9).
The Father also commands us to “listen to Jesus” because only Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, reveals to us our identity as children of God and gives us the grace to live according to this identity, “To those who did accept Him He gave power to become children of God” (Jn 1:12). No other thing or person on this earth can reveal that identity to us and give us the grace to be faithful to it always.
