“Who Do You Say that I am?”
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time- A
Jesus loved a good, piercing question. Certainly, some of them were rhetorical, leaving people in a tongue-tied state. Some of them required a response right then and there. All of them were meant to go straight for the heart. “Who do the people say the Son of Man is?”
At the time, there were lots of rumors about who Jesus was: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah (v.14). The disciples knew from the Prophets that the Messiah would have a “vast” dominion and establish a kingdom with “justice and righteousness” (Isaiah 9:7), but they didn’t know how this would play out specifically.
Jesus did not ask the disciples who people thought the Son of Man was because He needed to know. It was a tool for unearthing His second question: “But you… who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). In the end, it does not matter what everybody else thinks. Each of us must answer Jesus’s question for ourselves.
“So, who do you say that I am?”
For any one of us to answer this question we need to sit and reflect on our own life journey. Who Jesus is to us, I believe, changes due to life’s circumstances. None the less, at any stage of our journey we should all be able to answer this question in a few words.
Have you ever just sat alone in a room and pondered this question? What comes to mind? Friend? Lover? Companion? Teacher? Healer? Defender? Forgiver? Your Light? Your Guide?
It’s easy for us to say: “Jesus is Messiah” or “Jesus is Peace” or “Jesus is a host of other titles because others, or our church tradition has told us that. But when we sit and reflect on who Jesus is to us it requires a “relationship with Jesus” to define who Jesus is to us, and for everyone he is defined differently.
I took a Spirituality Class on my Sabbatical in 2005, and we were asked this question. We then moved into small groups and discussed our responses. When I said that Jesus was my lover, a woman said: “Father that doesn’t sound appropriate. I asked her why not? She said because only married people can become one another’s lovers. I responded that she did not know the Jesus that I know.
When we form and nurture a relationship with Jesus, that relationship can take on the characteristics of any type of relationship. We should not define it by other relationships or by what people tell us it should look like. Our relationship with Jesus is defined by how we know him, how we relate to him, how he reveals himself to us.
Simon Peter was convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, “the Son of the living God” (v.16), and Scripture tells us that he did not just get the answer right by chance. It was the Father, not “flesh and blood,” that had done its work in Peter and revealed this divine knowledge (v.17). Peter’s response came from his knowing, living with, traveling with, hearing, and witnessing the miracles and stories of Jesus.
As you go about your upcoming week, spend some time in thought and ask yourself: “Who is Jesus to me?” “Who do I say Jesus is to me? You may surprise yourself in what images or thoughts come to mind when you ponder who Jesus is in your life. Then, do not be afraid to share that Jesus with others!