Who Do WE Say Jesus Is?
When you think about it, it is a very interesting question that Jesus asks, Peter, the apostles and us this weekend. I mean, really, when was the last time someone came up to you and asked you who they were? Of course, what usually happens is that someone will tell us who they are, i.e. they will introduce themselves to us, and they will then ask who we are. We do not generally ask someone else to tell us who we are. So, you see, Jesus' question, no doubt, took Peter by surprise. The more I think about it, what an amazing question. I mean, really, why on earth or in heaven for that matter, why would Jesus, the Lord, the Messiah ask the disciples who they say that He is? Does He not know who He is? Why does it matter who they say He is? Does their answer to the question change who He is? Does their answer change anything at all? And, by the way, who else ever asks us who we say they are? Don’t people pretty much always make their best effort to tell us who they are and not the other way around? Jesus, by asking this question, like He does in so many other ways as well, pretty much turns the tables around, doesn’t He? By asking the question, He lets us know that it matters to Him who we say He is. He actually allows us to define Him for ourselves. Jesus asks us who we say who He is because He knows that the way we answer that question will determine the kind of person we will become and ultimately go a long way in determining whether or not salvation will be ours. I may not know much but I know that Jesus would not work out well in today's advertising industry. The last thing marketers want us to do is to define their products. They spend all kinds of money to define their products for us. But Jesus, the Lord of all, does things very differently. He spends no money. He runs no advertising campaign. He does not force us to accept who He says He is; He asks us who we say He is. Why? Because He is confident of who He is, because the only question that matters is who we say He is, because the way we answer that question will determine how we live our lives. That's why. So, who do you say that Jesus is? Try to answer it correctly; the way we answer it will very much determine who we are, and, by the way, Jesus is the only one asking.