Who Do You Says that I Am?
Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ." Mark 8:27-29 (NIV)
The two central or pivotal questions of the synoptic gospels are these: “Who do people says that I am?” and “Who do you says that I am?” These two questions are also the central or pivotal questions for us today.
Peter answered the question of “Who do you say that I am?” correctly, but then he demonstrates he really didn’t understand what he had confessed. When Jesus predicts His suffering and death (Mk 8:31) Peter takes Jesus aside to rebuke/correct Him—basically saying “That isn’t what I meant when I confessed You to be the Christ. You are not describing the Christ I believe in.” (Mk 8:32) Jesus then rebukes Peter stating: "Get behind me, Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." (Mk 8:33)
Who is the Christ in whom you believe? Is He a suffering servant who serves by way of a cross AND who asks you to pick up a cross AND follow Him? In Mk 8:34 Jesus goes on to tell His disciples: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Luke in his gospel writes “take up his cross daily” (Lk 9:23) Are you ready and willing not only to believe in Jesus and to be a member of His fan club, BUT ALSO to actually follow Him? Following Jesus involves daily picking up a cross of servanthood just as He went to the cross to serve us, to serve you.
This Lenten season I would encourage you, rather than to give up something for Lent, to take up something for Lent. I would encourage you to identify and pick up, take up, a cross. Identify with Jesus! Take up a cross of servanthood so that another (or better so that a number of others) might experience God’s love and grace in a richer and fuller way. May Jesus bless and empower you as you take up a cross and serve in His name.
