Who do you say that I am?

XXII “C” Luke 9, 18-24 Once when Jesus was praying in solitude,* and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Messiah of God.” He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone. He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”l Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily* and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

Today’s Gospel asks the key question for those of us who are disciples of Jesus. “Who is Jesus?” It is good to know our catechism and scripture and know what is taught about Jesus, but that isn’t the question that Jesus is asking us his disciples today. The disciples at first respond by saying, “this is what everyone is saying about you.” But Jesus asks them directly, Jesus asks you directly, “But who do you say that I am?” We are nearing the halfway point in Luke’s Gospel, the disciples have been following Jesus for some time now. Why do they follow Jesus? Why do we follow Jesus? Jesus wants to know why we have left all to follow him. The second part of today’s gospel is the invitation to follow Jesus and the warning of what we will lose if we follow Jesus. So that is why it is so important to anwer the question, “who do you say that Jesus is?” I want to take a few moments right now to answer the question. I invite you to close your eyes and imagine the scene. You are walking with Jesus, walking with Jesus in the midst of this community and Jesus turns and looks you into the eyes and says, “Who do you say that I am?” Take a few moments to answer the question. Remember you aren’t answering a catechism test. You aren’t worried about being accurate. You are telling Jesus who he is for you. Now I would invite you to share your answer with the person you are sitting next to. Tell them who Jesus is for you. Tell them why you have left everything to follow Jesus. In reflecting on this question, who is Jesus for me. I know that he is fully human and fully divine. He is God and also man. For me, Jesus is my companion on the journey. As we walk together he is very human, very real. He is the one who is walking with me. He is all powerful but I meet Jesus in my weakness and his weakness as well. He has suffered, more than I will ever suffer. He knows pain and loss. He wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus, he probably had to bury his father Joseph and comfort his mother Mary. Jesus had worries and concerns just like I do. Yes, he was the son of God but I don’t think that this made things any easier for him. Because of his humanness it makes it easy to walk with Jesus. To share with him my concerns and anxieties, but joy and excitement. To just know that I am never alone but he is always at my side. Yet Jesus is also fully divine. Because of this I believe that Jesus calls and helps me to be my very best. My dad always said, If you want to be better hang out with people who are better than you are. Hanging out with Jesus helps me to be my very best. We must not deceive ourselves. Each one of us must place ourselves before Jesus, allow ourselves to be looked at directly by Jesus and listen to his question from the depths of our souls: who am I for you? Who do you say that I am?