"Who do people say I am?" v.27
"Who do you say I am?" v.29
It is crunch time. The disciples have been with Jesus, they have seen him perform miracles, they have listened to his teaching, and they have seen him in homes and on the street as he interacted with people. Now comes the question "Who do you say I am?".
That is not an easy question to answer. Consider you own responses when someone asks you "What do you think about me?". We hedge and hesitate. Often we know that a blunt answer that focuses on any fault will bring offence. A blatant piece of flattery will be ignored, and we may be wary of offering too much praise in case they become too proud.
Jesus asked two questions.
The first was impersonal and non-threatening. What do other people think? Who do they say I am? That is easy to answer. No personal revelation needed, just reportage. No personal investment here, just information.
The next question required far more. It required that the disciples make a considered response and reveal publicly what they thought about Jesus.
For all of us this is a key question, perhaps even the key question.
Our view of who Jesus is will shape our lives.
- If he is just a figure of history we can read about him with minimal interest and ignore his teaching.
- If he is a great teacher we can learn from him, and select the teaching we apply to our lives.
- If he is the Messiah, God's chosen one, we may need to view him as a divine instrument and take his every word and action seriously.
- If he is the Son of God we raise the stakes again. He is divine, powerful, and an object of worship.
- If he is the Savior, we have a moral debt to repay for he has done something for us that we cannot do ourselves.
- If he is Lord we must respond with obedience.
Jesus asks the question: "Who do you say I am?"
Other readings for this week.
Prov 1:20-23
James 3:1-12
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