Who do you say I am? - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) October 27, 2023

Reading the Gospels provides so much insight into the thinking of Jesus Christ and those who spent the most time with Him. In Luke 9, for instance, Jesus asked his disciples what others thought of Him. The responses were that people compared Him to late prophets such as Elijah and some thought of Him as the recently executed John the Baptist.

However, Jesus was more interested in getting the opinion of the people He spent the most time with. Those whom He eventually called His friends (John 15:15). He wanted to know what they had concluded about Him. And so, He continued the conversation, posing another question in Luke 9:20 - “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.” The same response was recorded in Matthew 16:16- Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And in the Book of Mark, Peter is recorded as saying, “You are the Messiah.” (Mark 8:29).

Peter's response was based on His interactions with Jesus. He'd watched the Son of God change water to wine, cast demons out of people, and heal the sick, including his own mother (Mark 1:30-31). He'd seen Jesus dress down the religious and political authorities of His day and those men had no 'come back' for His wisdom. And so, when Peter called Jesus the Messiah, which means 'the anointed one' or 'the chosen one', he really meant it.

If Jesus asked you this same question today - Who do you say I am? - what would your answer be?

Would you give details about Him from the Bible, or would you be able to give specifics from your own life? If you can't genuinely speak about Jesus in a personal way, then that means you are in desperate need of a relationship with Him. And that's not a bad thing because Jesus came to earth to introduce Himself to people in His age and every era to come. That means today can be the very start of a beautiful relationship with Him, whereby you get to know more and experience more of Him. In this way, you too will be able to genuinely explain who Christ is to you as well as His impact on your life.

If you already know Jesus and can readily describe who He is to you, give God glory and praise for that privilege. Be sure to write it down somewhere and feel free to share it with the rest of us. Then, please take a moment to pray that others will be able to do the same. Now, if you don't have the answer to Jesus' question - Who do you say I am? - stop everything you are doing and ask Jesus for the opportunity to know Him better. Then, don't forget that you made this request because He will introduce Himself to you soon.

God bless you!

PS: If you are wondering why it is important to know Jesus and have a relationship with Him, then consider Luke 10:22 - “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

This scripture lets us know that Jesus chooses those to whom He will reveal His Father. He surely will not do that for those who don't like Him and aren't interested in knowing Him. Thus, we need a relationship with Jesus in order to have one with the Lord. We need Jesus in our lives to receive the Holy Spirit who acts as our Comforter and Guide. Basically, there are nothing but benefits in knowing Jesus and being able to confidently say who you, and not somebody else, thinks He is.