Who is Jesus?

Jesus asked the disciples, who do the people say I am?  They answered: some people say you are John the Baptist resurrected from the dead;  others say you are Elijah returned by the God who took him from earth to heaven in a fiery chariot pulled by fiery horses; and still others say you are one in a long line of great prophets.  People’s assumptions about Jesus were rooted in religious traditions and their expectations, but not always aligned with what Jesus was doing and who Jesus was being. 

Jesus posed the same question to the disciples, who do you say I am?  Peter responded, you are the Messiah.  In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus commends Peter for this answer. 

“You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven!”  Matthew 16:17

Peter correctly identified Jesus’ title!  After this, Jesus taught Peter and the disciples about the things God had called him to do as the Messiah.  He would

undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  Mark 8:31

Peter was terrified by this teaching.  Peter loved Jesus and did not want  him suffer and die.  Peter was confused and outraged by these predictions.   Religious tradition promised the restoration of Israel by the Messiah.  Peter expected the Messiah, like kings David and Solomon, to make life better by bringing an end to foreign occupation, ensuring right religious practices, enshrining justice in the government, and making the nation prosperous enough to care for orphans and widows.  Peter and the disciples had heard the objections raised by some religious leaders.  They had “ring side seats” to the conflicts between Jesus and some teachers and towns people, but, God forbid, these should result in the rejection and death of Jesus.  So a terrified Peter took Jesus aside.  Peter spoke with him privately to dispel confusion and deal with the outrageous predictions.  Peter chastised Jesus for his fatalism.  He promised to protect Jesus.  Peter tried to convince Jesus that God, who had given him the power to teach, heal and raise the dead, could empower him restore Israel.

Jesus had heard promises and predictions of earthly power before.  After his baptism by John, while on a 40 day and 40 night retreat, a former angel made a claim similar to Peter's.  That angel,

the devil, took Jesus to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, their wealth and their power.  And said to Jesus, “I will give you all these things…”  Then Jesus said, “Go away, Satan!  Matthew 4:8-10

Jesus uttered similar words in response to Peter,

Get behind me, Satan!  For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things. Mark 8:33

Peter correctly identified Jesus’ title, but made incorrect assumptions about what Jesus was doing and who Jesus was being.  Peter’s assumptions were rooted in religious tradition.  Peter allowed his expectations to confuse him.  Peter had set his mind on worldly norms and realities instead of eternal truths and possibilities.   God called Jesus to lay down his life so that others might live.  By laying down his life for others Jesus saved others and regained his life in a more powerful and enduring way.  Jesus’ life and ministry demonstrated that taking up one’s cross to follow him allowed believers to regain their lives in new and more powerful ways.  Who Jesus was and what Jesus was a road map.  Jesus was far more than a restorer of order, power, health or wealth.  Jesus was the way, the truth and the life. John 14:6

Who do you think is Jesus ?  What is Jesus doing for you?  As you consider your response, take care.  Like the people and Peter in Mark’s Gospel, we will be tempted to root our responses in religious tradition and find our expectations limited by our hopes and fears.  We are socialized to look for happy endings: a knight in shinning armor; the princess whose foot fits into a glass slipper; church services and Sunday schools that are well attended; priests who attract new members like a pied piper; and elected officials who strengthen the dollar, reduce inflation, restore the environment, protect free speech while shielding us from information that disturb us, and safeguard access to guns while protecting us from mass shootings.   Jesus is sometimes be found in happy endings, but Jesus is not limited to or called to generation happy endings.  His life and ministry model who we should be and how we should live.

Years ago, I had a confirmation class with 8 teenagers.  The final assignment for the students was to deliver an address during a church service.  In the address they were to describe who Jesus was for them.  One of the youth, I will call her June, said the Jesus walked with her as she  worried about her birth mother.  June was adopted by a heterosexual couple who could not conceive.  She told the congregation her parents were amazing.  They gave her the right mixture of care, discipline, love and direction.  While she felt secure in her relationship with parents she also worried about her birthmother.  She worried about the guilt, shame and grief she was suffering because she gave away, June, her baby.  She told us she prayed for her birthmother every day and shared her prayer with the congregation.  June asked God to let her mother know she was ok, well cared for, and loved.  June asked Jesus to give her mother peace.  For June, Jesus was a partner who shared her burdens and blessings.  June trusted Jesus to help her carry both worry for her birthmother and gratitude for her adoptive parents.  When June stepped down from the pulpit there was not a dry eye in the congregation.  June modeled for us who Jesus could be and how Jesus was guiding her.  From her address, it was evident that taking up her cross to follow Jesus had given her strength and wisdom beyond her 15 years of age.  After church I heard people complementing June and saying they wanted to trust Jesus the way she did.

Who is Jesus for you?  What is Jesus doing in your life?  Take up your cross and follow the Messiah.  Following Jesus can do infinitely more for you and those who know you, than you can ask for or imagine.