Who Do You Say I Am?

 As we continue this series on looking at questions that God asks, which call for an answer, today's brings us to a question Jesus asked of His disciples. "But who do you say that I am?" As our plan, we will first look at the context and then at what this means for us in our lives.

Today's question is recorded in the different Gospel accounts. For our purposes, I will propose reading Luke 9:18-22 to capture the context of the question. Briefly speaking, Luke 9 begins a significant transition for Jesus. Up to this point in Luke's account of Jesus' life, Jesus has been ministering and teaching. Shortly after our brief reading, Jesus goes up on the mountain, is transfigured, and then comes down with His eyes set to go to Jerusalem to pay the price for the redemption of mankind and the initiation of the new creation. So this question comes up at a rather significant time.

Jesus has demonstrated great authority in teaching and in giving signs in the form of miracles. Great crowds are drawn to Him, and as they hear Him, and as they see these signs, these crowds are starting to form an opinion of Jesus and of who He is. Most of these people likely only hear Jesus once or twice, or see a few of His signs. Really, only the disciples get to see a larger picture of Jesus and what He is doing. So Jesus starts off this question with a primer question to the disciples. "Who do the crowds say that I am?"

The disciples give some of the various answers that they have likely heard being uttered among the groups of people coming to see Jesus. These answers show that the people have an idea of who Jesus is, but it doesn't seem to be the most complete. Again, the people haven't seen everything that the disciples have seen. John the Baptist is suggested. Elijah come back to life and performing powerful signs is an idea floated out there. A variety of other prophets is offered.

Then Jesus makes it personal for the disciples. "Who do you say that I am?" And Peter responds with a statement that becomes the rock of Christian confession. You are the Christ of God. We hear an echo of this later in Paul's writings when he writes that whoever confesses with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead will be saved. A strong, powerful statement of faith.

It's a great exercise to look at these questions and to dig into Peter's response. It helps us see Jesus a bit more clearly. However, it also becomes a question that we find ourselves needed to come to grips with in our lives. Who do you say that Jesus is?

This is perhaps one of the larger questions we face as a Christian. Most of us probably have a pretty good answer to that question, at least from an intellectual standpoint. We answer that Jesus is God's Son. We confess that He is the Savior of the world, and that He has forgiven my sins through His life, death and resurrection for me. Though we may not completely understand how, we read that He, the Father, and the Spirit are one God, though three distinct persons, and that Jesus Himself is both fully God and fully human.

The intellectual part of that confession is important, as it demonstrates that we understand God's speaking about Himself to us. Yet, Jesus also has us go beyond that intellectual understanding to speak to our whole self. He is our Redeemer, but that calls for us to consider our lives and from what He is redeeming us. 

So here is a little exercise to help bring this home more. Take the time to actually write out some ways that you would answer Jesus if He asked you this question personally. Yes, write out the intellectual parts of it. But then, dig a little deeper. Ask yourself what this answer means for you. What does your answer say about who you are in relation to Jesus? What areas of life does this cause you to look at a little differently? Are there changes that such an answer calls for? How does this help you grow closer to Jesus?

Who do you say that I am? As you answer that question, I pray that the action of answering may serve to draw you into a deeper relationship with the one of whom you are speaking.