Jesus: "And Who Do You Say I Am?"

Passage to be read: Matthew 16:13-20

Then Jesus asked them, "And who do you say I am?"

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

(Matthew 16: 15, 16)

Who is God in our lives? What is that exciting connection that we have between Him and us? Ever pondered on that life-changing question? God wants you to be clear about that! He wants you to be assured of what He is for you. And I believe it is a good moment for us to spend some time in realizing who God is in our lives. 

In the passage we have read today (Matthew 16:13-20), we find Jesus, asking an interesting  question to his followers "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" Jesus receives various answers from his followers - the kind of answers that they came up with their general knowledge of their 'present times.' They answered "some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah, and still others say you are Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

"Some say… Others say… Still others say…" The kind of Wikipedia and Google answers that anyone would find about Jesus, if it was today, and that is what the people's opinion or the public opinion of Jesus was. They knew ABOUT Jesus, they have heard about Him and they still do not know Him in person. And, I believe, Jesus asked that brainstorming question to his followers, just to make them realize how much more he expects from them. God wants us to KNOW Him in person.

Then Jesus asked them, "And who do you say I am?" (Matthew 16: 15) A question that goes deep into our hearts with a bold question mark. It is God's call for us to look back and search in our lives and realize, who is God in our lives? What is our understanding of God in our lives? We, being his own followers, how intimate and close are we with him? God is asking us today. "Dear ……………………. (put your name in the blank space), who do you say I am? How much do you know me?

And when Jesus asked this precious question, Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Wow… What an answer! All these moments of travelling, sharing the food, the shelter and ministering together with Jesus has brought in the learning that Peter had to receive. How convinced and sure was Peter about whom he was following. And look at the importance of that response. 

Knowing God in person by our search, understanding and conviction becomes the foundation for God to use us in a mighty way. Jesus knows that Peter had spent time in trying to understand who was this Son of Man he was following and Jesus also knew that the Father in heaven had shown this to Peter (Matthew 16: 17). 

Peter did not depend on what he heard ABOUT Jesus! It was not enough for him. He had gone further. He had spent moments of venturing in the search of "who is this Son of Man in my life?" and he has waited on the Lord for an entire season and the Father in heaven had shown him that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God." What followed this was history! And a history that even the power of death could not and will not be able to defeat (Matthew 16: 18). 

This one conviction in Peter's life was the only thing that Jesus wanted to know, to build the church on this rock! 'The Peter' with a strong conviction, and a personal knowledge of who Jesus is, was chosen as the rock on which God built His church! Peter knew Jesus in person and he knew what Jesus meant to him…

My dearest friend in Christ, today God is giving you the same calling. He is inviting you for a personal relationship with Him. Not a relationship that is based on the knowledge that someone else has given you about Jesus. Not just what you have read in the books, heard in the sermons, watched in the videos or even noticed on the social media walls. But a personal conviction of who Jesus is. A personal realization of what is the mighty movement of God in your life. A personal understanding of God in your life. Only then, your history-making with God begins. You become a history maker!

I pray that God will help us to know Him in person. Understand Him more and more. And let us wait at the feet of the Lord and learn the meaning of His movement in our lives. I pray that we will make further attempts to know Him in person, more and more, and to join with Him in sharing His love for this world, day after day.

May God bless you.

Yours in Christ,