"Who do you say I am?"

Scripture: Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God." Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:18-27)

Observation: This passage immediately follows the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. So Jesus takes an opportunity to give his disciples a little survey. He asks them one simple question, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" They immediately they respond with answers such as "John the Baptist" or "Elijah" and "one of the prophets from long ago". Then Jesus slaps them with a tough question one of those break checks. It was one of those back to reality moments. He says, "But what about you, who do you say I am?" I can just imagine them looking around at each other, "Ok Regis, can I use a life line?" They decide to phone a friend, whose name is Peter. He answers "You are the Christ of God", Final Answer. Peter had just won one million denari.

Application: The important part of this passage is the two questions that Jesus asked. There are a lot of people who have a lot of different views of who Jesus was and is. Some people think that "Jesus is my homeboy". Others say that Jesus was the "husband of Mary Magdelene". More recently people say that he was a "sweet infant Jesus with his golden fleece diapers, watching his Baby Einstein videos". The list goes on and on. But the most important question is not, who other people say Jesus is, the most important question is, who do we say that he is. We can live our lives on this earth and miss who Jesus really is. We can believe what other people say about him and not take the time to read scripture and found out who the REAL Jesus is.

Prayer: Jesus, you are Lord and King over ALL! I confess that my life does not always proclaim who you are. I thank you for being who you are and your love for me. Give me the strength to live my life for you. My life is yours and it is only for your glory that I live, Amen.

Matchless: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXjA01Q82oA&feature=related