Who do they say the Son of Man is...

Mt 16:13-20

Jesus asked his disciples...Who do they say the Son of Man is...”Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, while others say Jeremiah or some other prophet.”  “What about you” He then asked them: “Who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” What a powerful, clear and insightful answer!

But let’s think about the first question as Jesus asked it...”Who do others say that I am?”  If that were asked today what would the answer by? Who does the world tell us God is? Today we’d have to say that the world says God should be material gain, self satisfaction, rationalization, individualism, self righteousness. The world has a very different view today of who God is than we are taught.

When Jesus asked Peter the second question: “But who do You say I am”?... Peter’s answer was very clear ...”You are the Christ, the son of the living God”.  Put yourself in Peter’s shoes and ask yourself that question; that is: What would you say if Jesus asked you? But Who do you say that I am? Oh yes we say of course Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Lord, the Savior of the world and this is all very true.  

But to say You are the Christ, the Son of the living God as Peter did, is to say AMEN to all that means.  Amen to Jesus as the creator and model of the perfection of all creation who through the prophets, in His earthly life and through His Church teaches us how to live and to love by what He said and did.

Can we say AMEN to that and all it means for our lives?   It seems that we’re faced with a decision between the world’s definition and the definition that Peter gave over 200 years ago.

There’s a somewhat famous question I heard quoted for effect some time ago that’s always stuck with me, and you may be familiar with it, it goes like this: If you were accused of being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you? It’s an interesting question. It’s a question that many early Christian martyrs answered with their lives. I doubt we’ll be asked to sacrifice our lives like they did;  but we are put in situations every day where we have to make decisions about how to act.

Or we could ask ourselves that same question: Who do people say that I am? What would be the answer they would give? Do others recognize us as Jesus in how we live, in what we say and do? Because that is the clear challenge of Christianity, to live as Jesus taught in all we think, say and do when we are alone and when we are with others

So Jesus in asking that question “Who do say I am” asked it of each of us to think about for all ages.  Do we speak and act as Jesus would and as He taught us?  In other words does someone experience Jesus when they meet us and work with us and live with us?

Jesus calls us to see Him and to be Him and to bring Him to our neighbor, to our friends, our enemies, co workers, competitors, the weary, the needy, the hurting the sinful, the weak, the old, the young, perfect strangers and every person we ever meet.

So, as Jesus asks us, so should we ask ourselves and each other. We should be able to look at our neighbor honestly and ask him ...Who do you say I am? And hopefully hear You are Jesus to me.