“Who do you say that I am?” Such a powerful question coming from Our Lord today in the Gospel. Met with confusion over who this Jesus is, many people murmured about Him. So Christ asked His closest followers who the crowds said He was, He asked what people were saying about Him. “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets,” they responded. “But who do you say that I am?” Jesus responded.
As He asked the apostles thousands of years ago, so He asks us today. Who do we say that He is? Some of us may say He is God, Lord, Savior, Redeemer, or King. Some may say He is justice, mercy, love, or compassion. Some may say He is friend, brother, or mentor. But who do we say that He is? Who is Jesus Christ for us? What is our personal relationship with Him like?
On the flip side, there’s another question worth asking: who does Jesus say that we are? We spend a lot of time describing ourselves to other people in plenty of different ways and these things are not bad whatsoever. But the more important description is the one Our Lord has for us, so we are led to ask who does Jesus say that I am? If we know what Our Lord thinks of us, then no other contradictory opinion matters, for we know who we really are in His eyes.
So I encourage you to ask yourselves these questions today and in the days to come. Who do you say that He is? Who does He say that you are? Bring those questions to the Lord in prayer, too, and see if He can help you figure them out, for flesh and blood will not reveal these answers to us, but only our Heavenly Father. Ask the Lord these questions; the answers might just astound you.
