Who Do You Say I Am?

Luke 9:18-36

As the ministry of Jesus continues, the subject of his identity becomes more and more pressing for his followers and his opponents. The disciples and other followers of Jesus had a front row seat to the everyday miracles that Jesus performed. Furthermore, many of them had decided to follow Jesus believing that he may be the messiah they were waiting for. Jesus opponents witnessed many of these same events, but instead of becoming his followers they became more and more convinced that Jesus needed to be stopped. The life and ministry of Jesus confronts us all with the question: who is Jesus?

When Jesus poses the question to the disciples: "who do the crowds say that I am?" (Luke 9:18) they offer the rumors and speculations they must have heard throughout their journeys: John the Baptist, Elijah, a resurrected prophet, etc. But then, Jesus turns the question to the disciples personally and asks: "who do you say that I am?" (Luke 9:20) Peter answers correctly that Jesus is the messiah. It must have been a proud moment for Jesus! His disciples were beginning to truly understand what God was up to.

With this foundational knowledge, Jesus then proceeds to share the next stage of their development: a life of self-denial and sacrifice.

If any want to be my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.  Luke 9:23-24

 

Now that the disciples began to understand who Jesus is, they needed to more deeply comprehend what following him would really entail. For the disciples and us, following Jesus will not involve worldly benefits like riches and power. It will not involve a comfy cozy bourgeois lifestyle in the suburbs; no following Jesus means we must die to self and rise to Christ daily. We must be willing to put our own agendas and sinful desires in their rightful place, and put God's vision for our life first. This is tremendously difficult and many Christians have attempted to soften Jesus' words, thinking that self-denial and taking up one's cross are only metaphorical. For me, I believe the life of discipleship is tremendously challenging and rewarding. In some key decisions in my life and ministry I have had to deal with this call of discipleship. When I have humbly stepped back from what I wanted or was convinced was right and trusted God to lead, things went much better. When I insist on going my own way it has been an uphill battle. The key in Jesus' teaching here is the word "daily." We must daily, by the grace of God, deny ourselves and seek God's will. It is not easy, and the disciples failed many times, but it is a beautiful way of life.

The question of Jesus' identity remains one we each must answer, a question that no one can answer for us. So, who do you say Jesus is?
The second question becomes: what difference does it make for you? How will you live your life in response to who Jesus is?