Who do YOU say that I am? ~ reflex on Luke 9:18-22

Jesus was “praying in solitude” but the “disciples were with him.” This draws an interesting picture and an insight into Jesus’ Heart. He is alone but not alone. He needs to pray to the Father in solitude. It is this connection with the Father that keeps him focused on his mission. It is this lifting up of his human heart to the Father that allows him to know and do the Father’s will, which is his very “bread,” as he says elsewhere (Jn 4:34).

But he cannot always get away from everyone in order to be physically alone, so sometimes the disciples were able to observe him praying (which is why we know it happened). What must this have looked like? And what must the Apostles have thought when he looks at them immediately after this prayer and asks them two questions that he asks us as well: Who do others say that I am? But who do YOU say that I am?

Much has been said about Jesus in the 2000 years since he was crucified and rose from the dead. Some of it has drawn us to appreciate the magnificence of his preaching, the generosity of his life, the humility of his demeanor, or the prodigal love of his Heart. Some of it has focused on chipping away at the veracity of the Gospels, suggesting they are mythologized tales intended simply to encapsulate a universal truth. Some of it has been written to draw us into greater devotion to aspects of Jesus’ life and mission and to surrender our own lives to him.

These are things that others say about who Jesus is.

The pivotal question is: What is TRUE about Jesus? The next immediate question is whether we profess that truth about Jesus fully in our hearts and minds and lives.

We can take the answer of Peter – “the Christ of God” – but we must make sure we also accept all that the answer implies. If Jesus IS the Anointed One of God, then we must also profess Him to be the Master, the Light of the world, the Good Shepherd and the Gate, the True Vine, the Way and the Truth and the Life, the Lord of the Universe, the Source of all Holiness, the Redeemer of all Mankind, Incarnate Love, God the Son, the Living Bread come down from Heaven, Fulfillment of every prophesy, the One by Whose stripes we are healed, the Crucified One, the Pierced One, the Risen One, the Bridegroom of the Church, the Eternal High Priest, the Just Judge, the One Who Makes All Things New, and more.  

And if Jesus is all these things and more (and he is, and you surely believe it to be true because you are reading this), then what is our right and just response?