Psalm 27; Luke 13:31–35; Matthew 16:13–20.
Fascinated by Jesus? There are 19,000 books about him in the Library of Congress. Who was he? Who is he?
One time, the question emerged during his lifetime. Jesus and his disciples are walking along, talking, and he asks them, “Who are they saying I am? What are people saying about me?” They answer, “Some are saying you are John the Baptist, others say you are Elijah or one of the prophets come back to life.”
Then he turns his gaze and his question on them: “But you—who do you say that I am?”
The topic had not come up before. We just don’t know what they thought about him when they decided to cast their lot with him and follow him.
My sense is that they were captivated by his person, his strength and clarity of teaching, his love and compassion toward all, his gift of welcoming all, including all. They were attracted, compelled, but I don’t think they had his identity figured out. They resisted any notion that he might suffer and die.
We American Christians spend a lot of time and energy in getting our beliefs about Jesus sorted out. The point is you don’t have to pass a test in order to claim him as your Lord and Savior; you just need to fall in line and follow him, join that long line of saints and sinners, wise and simple, holy and worldly, who have seen in him truth to live and die for.
In the words of the Catholic Theologian Hans Küng “Jesus never questioned anyone about the true faith, nor asked anyone to profess his or her orthodoxy. He expects no theoretical reflection, but an urgent, practical decision (Christianity and the World Religions, p. 116).