Mt 16:13-19
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, 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. 18And 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. 19I 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.”
Who do people say that the Son of Man is? Jesus questions the disciples on three levels. First, who do people say I am? What people tell of us may not be totally true, but their impression of us may have some grain of truth. It may help to consider their reactions to us even if we can take these with a grain of salt.
Second, who do you say I am? This is more personal. How we know, understand, and relate with one another is very important.
But there is a deeper level of knowing. It is what no mortal has revealed but God himself has made known. This is the third level—how God looks at us. In the end, how God sees and knows us is what matters most. Who we are before him, his love and mercy for us personally, will have more weight than what others say or what we know about ourselves.