Who do YOU say I am?

June 23

Read: Mark 8:27-9:1

Who do YOU say I am?

“And (Jesus) asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”

This is the fundamental question Jesus asks all of us: “ But who do YOU say that I am?” Jesus cuts through the noise and speculation to get to the heart of the matter… your heart of the matter. He is not really concerned with what the “other people” are saying… he doesn’t really need you to tell him what your pastor says, or your spouse says, or what you friends say, or even the article you read… he is asking YOU.

It was Peter who answered first. A question proposed to the group and Peter hops in… blurts out…”You are the Christ.” (v.29) We don’t get what the rest of the disciples thought. We are not sure what their take was… but we do know Peters. What did it mean for Peter to say Jesus was “the Christ”? What does this look like for him, not in some theoretical sense but in real, tangible terms? For Peter “the Christ” is the “anointed one from God”, the “messiah”… the one that God had promised would come and save his people. The messiah is the one who would redeem God’s people… make them whole again… and ultimately usher in the Kingdom of God. We know this last part is indeed dead-center in this discussion because Jesus makes reference to this very thing in Mark 9:1.

Jesus is the real life, in person, fulfillment of God’s promises to one day make US right as well as make right ALL THINGS in his creation. The Messiah marks the beginning of this world being invaded by the Kingdom of God. Peter had expectations that “the Christ” would bring with him the solution for his sins… his brokenness. He was right! Peter had expectations that “the Christ” would start a revolution in this world… introducing a new “kingdom” with a new “King”. He was right! Peter hoped that “the Christ” would put an end to his suffering… and end to war… and end to evil and oppression. He was right; but not in the time or way that Peter expected. Like the blind man immediately before him - Peter was being Jesus for the first time as “the Christ” but his view was “blurry”, imprecise, and lacking clarity. Jesus was going to need to bring it in to focus!

Before we look at the rest of this passage tomorrow, I want us to stop here and respond to the question for ourselves. Imagine Jesus asks YOU “Who do you think I am”? What is your answer? At the deepest parts of who you are, how do you respond? If you say - like Peter - “the Christ”… what does that mean to you? Jesus is indeed the one that paid the price for my sins. Jesus is the one in whom I find “new life”. Jesus is the “anointed one of God”, promised from ages ago, who is ushering in the Kingdom of God and calling us to “rule with him, like him, and for him!” (Thanks Jim Thompson for coining that concise phrase for me!) We cannot let anyone else answer this question for us… it is just between Jesus and Us as individuals. “But who do you say that I am?” I wrestle with this question at times. I say Jesus is my hope… but realize that I am afraid and placing my hope in money, or politics, or some other man-made institution. I say that Jesus has made me a new creation, but I feel torn at times by the person I used to be.

I think this is why Jesus asks the question in the first place… to get us to think. To stop us in our tracks… to introduce a big ‘ol record scratching sort of moment! In these moments what bubbles to the top is our flawed thinking… and just like Peter (who we will look at tomorrow) it exposes the ways we have been duped by Satan! Jesus loves us enough to create the opportunity to be wrong as well as to rebel that moment and lead us into truth. Jesus is refining us at a heart level… and forcing us to think we WE truly claim him to be. This process is ONE of the ways he brings our view of him into FOCUS. Remember, he does not leave us with “blurry vision”. Love you guys. - JDP