What About You?

The landscape of Galilee today, has not changed dramatically since the days when Jesus walked with his disciples near the lake . . .

Once again the disciples are with Jesus when he is praying privately. Jesus turns to the disciples and asks a direct question “Who do the crowds say I am?” Luke 9:18.

Some say you are John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the old-time prophets brought back to life. Hearing this, Jesus asks his disciples a personal question:

“But what about you? Who do you say I am?” (Luke 9:20).

Peter responds with a personal answer: “God’s Christ,” meaning God’s anointed One, the long-awaited Messiah. 

Jesus cautions the disciples, he “strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone” (Luke 9:21).

What was Peter’s understanding of Jesus at that moment?

 “For Peter, Messiah was a title of a glorious personage both nationalistic and victorious in battle. Jesus on the other hand, saw His destiny in terms of a suffering Son of man and Servant of God”

(Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Nashville, Tennessee, 2003).

Jesus makes who he is crystal clear to his disciples: 

“It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the religious leaders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and on the third day be raised up alive” (Luke 9:22 Message).

“Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering: embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self.

“What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I’m leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels” (Luke 9:23—27 Message).

As William Barclay writes, “It is never enough to know what other people have said about Jesus. A man might be able to pass any examination on what has been said and thought about Jesus; he might have read every book about Christology written in every language on earth and still not be a Christian. Jesus must always be our own personal discovery . . . Christianity does not mean reciting a creed; it means knowing a person”

(The Gospel of Luke, Translated with an Introduction and Interpretation by William Barclay, Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky, 1975).