Listen to the Sermon.
Amidst a long day of traveling, Jesus turns to his disciples and asks, “Who do you say that I am?”
Let’s stop the story in that moment and look around. Jesus is in the heyday of his ministry. In the chapter leading up to this passage, he has been feeding the thousands, healing people left and right, and teaching his sometimes-quite-dense disciples. He and his entourage are headed to Caesarea Philippi, and, as they walk, he asks the disciples who the people say he is. For that matter, who do his disciples say he is?
Maybe Jesus is taking a moment to evaluate whether his ministry is having the desired effect on the people he meets. Or maybe he is trying to figure out how ready the disciples are to continue without him. We don’t know. We can imagine the dead silence among the group just after Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?”
What are the disciples thinking? Is this a test? What if we give the wrong answer? Is there a right answer? How do I even approach that question? What words am I supposed to use? Gulp. [Looking at the scenery] “Hey, look at that cool bird.” [Looking down] “Well, would you look at that? I forgot to tie my sandal.” Maybe they are just looking around at one another, trying to decide who will dare to answer first? I imagine a long, awkward silence.
And then there’s Peter. He follows his instincts. Just like when he was the one to jump out of the boat and walk on the water (momentarily) to meet Jesus. He’s the first one to pipe up with an answer. Maybe he’s going with his gut. Maybe he just wants to reassure Jesus. Maybe he’s been thinking about how to explain who Jesus is for weeks. We don’t know. But he jumps right in, “You are the Messiah.” There. It’s out. Phew.
Messiah or Christ means ‘Anointed One.” The Messiah is the long awaited Savior of Israel, the one who will be the king anointed by God, like the kings of old. According to Jewish teaching, this Messiah will restore God’s holy and chosen people to their place of favor in the world. For Peter to call Jesus the Christ is HUGE!
With Peter’s proclamation, two things happen.
- Peter, and, by their silent assent, the other disciples have openly acknowledged Jesus as the Christ. Having traveled and watched and learned with him, they have witnessed healings that could only be done by someone with power granted by God.
- Jesus begins to talk openly about what will happen to the Messiah. For the first time in Mark, he gives details about his arrest, trial, execution, AND resurrection.
Having just openly claimed Jesus as the Christ, Peter is understandably upset when Jesus talks about the discrimination, hate, and violence leading to his death. When Peter privately challenges Jesus, Jesus in turn acknowledges the temptation of fear. Fear that holds us back from trusting one another, and from trusting in God.
Jesus goes on to tell the entire gathered crowd how to follow him, how to be disciples of the living God. It sounds so simple, and yet it is a daily struggle. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Mk 8:34)
Following Jesus means letting go of the fear that defines us, and taking up the cross of love as our guiding principle for all of life.
Who do you say that I am? It was a question for Jesus’ closest friends and followers in the gospel, and it is a question for us today. Who do we say Jesus is? And how do we live out that faith we profess?
What do we mean when we say, with Peter, that Jesus is the Messiah? Or Jesus is Lord? Or, in the words of the Creed, that Jesus is light from light, very God from very God, begotten not made?
Most of us don’t fully comprehend what confessing Jesus as son of the living God means for our lives – myself included.
It’s hard to find words to explain Jesus. And it’s hard to explain Jesus in words we can understand, that make sense in our everyday lives that are more filled with the produce aisle and 280 character tweets than big theological words and ideas. So we rely on titles and historical formulations, trying to capture the mystery and wonder of what God has done in and through Jesus.
All too often, these old and dusty words disconnect from our lived experiences. They end up keeping God’s wild and unpredictable love at arms’ length instead of capturing its capacity to transform our lives and our world. And they don’t really match our experience of knowing Jesus. Jesus remains inspiring and exemplary, but ultimately tame and safe – kind of like the prophets of old.
So, if we are following a Jesus who inspires us, who changes our lives, who makes us want to share what we have come to know about God with other people, then we need to be able to answer the question too: Who do we say Jesus is?
It takes courage to name our deepest convictions about Jesus, about our faith in a God who changes our lives. So here’s a way to think about it. How would you describe Jesus to someone who had never heard of him before? To a child, or a friend, or maybe even a stranger who happened to ask you about Jesus? It doesn’t have to be a 3-paragraph essay. Peter proclaimed his faith in just 4 words.
It can be daunting to think about putting words down, so I’ll go first. I think Jesus is God’s way of showing us how deeply God loves us and all people. God is so big that we have a hard time connecting with God, and so God came to be human like us, to share our hungers and hurts and joys, to show us how God feels about us. By coming to be with us, Jesus revealed God’s heart to us.
God’s heart aches with all who suffer with depression and addiction, abuse and bullying. God’s heart is upset and angry when human beings fail to recognize the reflection of the Holy in one another and resort to violence as a means of relationship. God’s heart is torn up in grief at the suffering of thousands who fear for their lives and homes because of war, famine and natural disasters. That same heart loves us like only an adoring parent can, wanting the very best for us and always eager to welcome us home in grace, forgiveness and love.
Jesus is more than that. I think Jesus came to show us what’s possible. Rather than give in to the threat of disease, Jesus healed. Rather than surrender people to demons, Jesus showed compassion. Rather than let people starve because there wasn’t enough to go around, Jesus fed everyone who was hungry. Knowing the infinite power of love, Jesus refused to be satisfied or limited by the status quo, and invites us to do the same. If Jesus’ life and death show us how much God loves us, then Jesus’ resurrection shows us that love is more powerful than hate and fear and even death. Jesus shows us that God’s love wins.
It’s like an elevator speech – 40 seconds to say what’s most important, most compelling, before the doors open again and your audience is lost forever. In two or three sentences of your own words, what would you say about who Jesus is? Is that the message people would take away from your life and choices? Will we change how we live our lives if we become more articulate about what we believe?
This isn’t a test. There’s no wrong answer. The first answer we give doesn’t have to be our only or final answer. We just need to be sure we can answer authentically for ourselves. Jesus doesn’t ask us to confess who he is for his sake. He asks us for ours, that we might be caught up in, transformed, and en-couraged by the power of his love and life.
Who do you say Jesus is?
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