A Very Important Question
“And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say I am?”
So they answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah, and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”
Luke 9:18-20
Words cannot describe how much I love this passage of scripture. It is a short, simple, and quick dialogue between Jesus and his friends. I think this poses excellent relevance today because it asks the essential questions on position. What do you believe about Jesus?
Will you believe the crowd? Or will you believe the Lord?
It's imperative to understand that who the crowd says Jesus is, and what has been revealed by God about who Jesus, are two different things. May people have philosophies, ideas, and even concepts of Jesus, but only the truth of who Jesus is can come by way of revelation.
It is an individual pursuit and quest to find that out.
Over and over throughout the bible, we read scriptures nudging us to make our resolve on who He will be to us and how we will respond to that awareness.
"Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." – Joshua 24:14-15
You and I get to choose for ourselves if we serve the Lord Almighty, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords.
Our parents may have worshipped other gods...
The god of money
The god of self
The god of other religions
But, we now choose what it will be for us and our legacy going forward.
"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. – Matthew 7:13-14
We can choose to follow the crowds and do what the majority is doing. Or, we can want to go a different route that may be less popular, but not mediocre.
Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. – Galatians 1:10
We can choose to live for the approval and recognition, and acceptance of others, or we can want to live a life that is pleasing to the One who created us.
So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. – Matthew 10:32-33
We choose whether we are going to acknowledge that small inner knowing that there is a God and that Jesus is the Savior of the world, or we can choose to deny that by suppressing the truth.
Listen, we all have the choice to decide if Jesus is going to be a "good man" that walked the earth or if He is the Savior of the whole world.
We all have a choice to decide if He is going to be a prophet or philosopher with cool ideas and witty sayings or if He is the Son of God with the very heart and wisdom of the Almighty Jehovah.
We could choose to reject Jesus all together because people have done it for centuries.
Instead you could decide to put your hope and trust in the energies, in crystals, in magic, and wooden shrines… or you can believe that He is the Creator of all creation and all things were made through Him, and there is nothing that wasn't. We can then choose to lay down our idols and serve the one true King of kings and Lord of lords.
I didn't have a revelation of who Jesus was until I became 22 years old and asked for it. I followed the crowds' ideas of who they think Jesus was for a long time.
So, if you want to know who He is, I pray right now as you are reading this that if your heart is indeed willing, God in His power and His might will begin to bring the revelation to you.
Bringing it home:
Have you ever had someone believe something about you that wasn't true? Perhaps they heard it through gossip or someone else slandering you behind your back. Imagine what it would feel like for people to keep their distance from you because they had the wrong impression and misunderstanding of you. Wouldn't you desire for that person to have come to you directly so you could "set the record straight"?
This is what we have done to Jesus. We are following empty philosophies and heresies, passed down by old folk tales.
It's time for you to take your questions directly to the one so many are confused about and ask Him directly: "So, what's up, Jesus? Who are you, like for real? Can you please show yourself in my life?"
Until next time,
