The Day the Mood Shifted

Mark 8:27-30, NIV - Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

 

                When Jesus asks, “who do you say I am?” he is asking for more than who the disciples SAY He is.  Jesus is asking them who they believe He is.  If I believe the man in the cockpit is really a fully credentialed pilot, I will get on the plane to fly to my destination.  If I believe that the woman diagnosing my health is a licensed and competent medical doctor, I will submit to the treatment plan she offers.  You can say anything you want about a person, but what you do based on who you believe them to be is what really matters. 

                At this point in the book of Mark, it’s been mostly miracles and healing since the disciples began their journey with Jesus.  The mood is about the change as we’ll see in the next several reflections.  The question put to the disciples by Jesus in today’s reading signals this shift in tone and brings what they really believe about Jesus into focus.  It is also Marks’s way of putting the same question to us today.  Who do we say Jesus is?   And just like Jesus’s first disciples, our answer makes all the difference.

                There are many ideas even today about who Jesus is/was.  If He’s a great teacher, then we will try to learn from Him.  If He’s simply a miracle worker and healer, we might ask for a miracle or healing for ourselves.  If He’s a prophet, we might want to check His prophecies against what has happened since.  But if Jesus is all this AND He’s the Messiah, than we will submit our lives to Him.  The way we live our life each day will be different if Jesus is our Savior and Lord.  So today (or any day) is a good day to ask ourselves the same question and spend some time reflecting on whether or not our everyday lives reflect our belief about Jesus.

 

Question:  Who do we believe Jesus is?  How are the decisions we make each day affected by this belief?

 

Prayer:  Jesus, show us what we believe about you.  May there be integrity between what we say about you and the way that we live.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people you know whose belief system is different than yours.

 

Song:   Who Do You Say I Am? – David Phelps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc0ZWBHIIfI

Matthew 16:13-20 - Who Do You Say That I Am?

 

Who Do You Say That I Am” - November 22, 2021

 

Matthew 16:13-20, NIV - When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.  And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

 

                Years ago, I visited the now abandoned town of Caesarea Phillipi, where the above conversation took place.  It was a Roman city built as a tribute to the Roman God Pan.  I remember gathering with the group I was traveling with at the bottom of a cliff where, carved into the mountain, were images and monuments created to honor Roman deities.  We read the passage above where Jesus asks His disciples, “who do people say that I am?”  We envisioned this question being asked in the shadows of carvings depicting pagan Gods and the question took on even more impact.  And yet today, amidst all the “gods” that vie for our attention and devotion, it seems just as impactful.  Who do people say that Jesus is?

                Even people who aren’t “churchy people” often have an opinion about who Jesus is.  Some say He is a great moral teacher, but nothing more than that.  Others say he was a good man whose wisdom still has relevance, but He was sadly deluded about being “the Savior of the world.”  Still others do believe Jesus was who He said He was, but their belief about Jesus never translates into living any differently than they would have if they had never heard of Jesus. 

                Chances are that, if you’re reading this, you are among people who would answer the way Peter did when Jesus asks, “yes, but who do YOU say that I am?”  Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God.   This confession of Jesus’s identity has formed the basis for the Church’s witness since the time of Peter.  Jesus is more than just a good man or wise teacher.  He is greater than any Prophet, even John the Baptist.  Jesus is God incarnate. He is Emmanuel, God with us.  He is the Lord of Lords, King of kings, the Alpha and the Omega.  Jesus is everything! 

                This conviction in Jesus identity that we hold two thousand years later is grounded in Peter’s confession in Caesarea.  Peter, as Jesus prophesies over him, does become the foundation for the church Jesus will build.  Peter is the first of apostles that carry on the ministry of Jesus after His death and resurrection.  And from the beginning in the first century until now, “Jesus is Lord,” is still the foundational confession of our faith.  But from time to time, I have to ask myself an important question.  Today I also ask you that some question:   

 

Questions:  “What difference does that confession make in my daily life?  How is the way I live different because I believe Jesus is Lord of all?          

 

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, after Peter confesses that you are the Messiah, you tell the others not to tell anyone until after your resurrection.  Perhaps it not until we realize that your death and resurrection is actually what makes you our Messiah that we can begin to understand who you really are.  Help us experience who you are for us so that our living may ever more reflect the truth about who you are.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people you know who do not know Jesus.

 

Song:  “Who Do Say That I Am?” – David Phelps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfvQcvKTPIw