“Who do you say that I am?”
These words have haunted followers of Jesus up and down the centuries. Each of us, at some point in our lives, comes face to face with this question. Is Jesus God, or not? We then have to grapple with the consequences of either answer and what they mean for our life.
So much of this question comes down to an understanding of who I am before I can really grapple with the question at hand. I think this is one reason why it is Peter who is able to so boldly profess, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” In Luke’s Gospel, we hear how Peter was called by Jesus. Peter at first protests, saying, “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8). Peter knew he was a sinner, he knew he had faults. Peter knew he needed a savior. Only someone who needs saving can be saved.
Do you think you need saving? This is a tough question in today’s “I can do it myself” type of atmosphere. We aren’t good at accepting help, much less saving. This is something I’ve had to consciously work hard at allowing in my life. I cannot do everything, I need help sometimes. To need help is vulnerable and humbling. These qualities can and often are uncomfortable. But what does St. Paul say Jesus revealed to him about weakness?
“My [Jesus’] grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
There are times in life when we try to do it all. If you’ve been around this blog or my YouTube channel, you know these last few months of moving have been challenging. So much of why they have been a struggle was because I fell into two traps: 1. I continued to hold onto my pride in that I wanted my plan to be better than God’s plan, and 2. If my plan really wasn’t going to happen, then by golly I was going to muscle through God’s on my own strength, grit, will power, and arrogance.
I didn’t surrender. I didn’t place my weakness before my Savior. I didn’t give Him room to move in my heart to soften it to see more clearly His desires for me and my family.
Have you ever watched little kids when they are first learning how to swim with floaties on? Our family has been doing a lot of swimming since we moved to Alabama and both Gabe, age 4, and Nathan, age 2, have been getting accustomed to their floaties. One day, maybe our third or fourth visit to the pool, when Gabe was swimming/scrambling to the edge of the pool. He desperately wanted to keep up with his siblings, but just can’t swim as fast as them. I call to him, “Put your feet down, you can stand there!” He didn’t believe me. He kept struggling and became very frustrated. I went over to him, looked him in the eyes, and said, “Gabe, just put your feet down.” His shock was immediate, he could stand and walk to where he wanted to go.
For most of this move, I was Gabe in the water. I struggled, kicked, and became overly frustrated with most things. My solid ground was right there, waiting for me, if I had just slowed down enough to recognize its presence. God is God, I am not. No amount of struggling will change this fact.
When I recall who Jesus is, and who I am, I can walk on that solid foundation. There will still be waves, things won’t always go to my plans, and I might find myself led out into deeper water. No matter what challenges come my way, that sure foundation will always be there. I just have to keep my feet flat on the path.
Who is Jesus? Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the Messiah, the Savior of the World. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
I have linked to this litany before, but I’ll do so again. The Litany of Praise goes through a myriad of titles for Jesus. Some of them will be familiar, some may be new. If you aren’t sure how to answer this question, or you feel your answer is somehow inadequate, or if you just want to spend some more time pondering who Jesus is, I highly recommend it.
Daily Graces 