Who do you say I Am?
And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the people say that I am?” They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again.” And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.” — Luke 9:18-20
One thing that I hate doing when I’m in group settings is ice breakers. If you have never had to do one it’s when people go around the room and say something about themselves to give some special insight into what kind of person they are. I always end up feeling like I’m not sure what to say about myself and of course whatever I do say always feels goofy.
Well here we have Jesus doing what kind of feels like an ice breaker if you will but in the opposite way. We see Him asking His disciples who people say He is. Now this particular question is being asked after many miracles and a really big one in particular right before this with the feeding of the five thousand. Now unlike an icebreaker Jesus isn’t wanting to know if everyone knows little things about Him. He also isn’t asking if the people like Him, as if He's insecure about himself. He is asking a question that has eternal significance to make a point and to teach not only the disciples but us as well about who God is and how we see
So we see Jesus start off with Who do the people say I am?
Now The thing I find most interesting is the things being said about who Jesus is. I find the responses really aren’t very different than what we usually see today. See so many people looked at Jesus and saw just another preacher or you could even say a good teacher maybe. I mean some did say Elijah the prophet or even John the Baptist but if we look at how the prophets were treated that’s not really saying much.
Now after this we see Jesus drill down a little further and ask the disciples, who do you say that I am?
Now This is a loaded question for all of them and as we see they all got real quiet, except for Peter. Peter just comes right out as Peter always does and says you are The Christ of God. See Peter was able to see, through the Holy Spirit what so many people and sometimes even some believers can miss or maybe don’t want to see, that this was not just another man or just a good teacher or even an amazing prophet, but that He was and is The Living God in human flesh.
We see this very truth in Isaiah chapter 9 which was written 700 years before Jesus.
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.
— Isaiah 9:6-7
This question not only forces all of us to face the reality of our eternity and where we will spend it, but it forces us to look at all of life through who God is. The question reminds us all that there is a side and we have to choose because there is no middle ground with Jesus.
So today Jesus asks all of us as He did His disciples Who do you say that I am?
