But Who Do You Say That He Is?

There is a moment in every relationship when the small talk ends.

You can talk about the weather for months. You can talk about work, and traffic, and what everybody else is doing. But sooner or later, if the relationship is going anywhere, somebody has to ask the real question.

Jesus did that at Caesarea Philippi.

He had been with those men for a long time by then. They had watched Him heal, and teach, and feed thousands. They had seen the crowds gather and the critics grumble. And then, away from all of it, He turned and asked them something personal.

He started gently. "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" That was easy. They had heard the talk. John the Baptist. Elijah. Jeremiah. One of the prophets. Everybody had an opinion.

Then He narrowed it.

"But who do you say that I am?"

Friend, that question has never been retired. He is still asking it. Not of your mother, not of your pastor, not of the people you grew up with in church. Of you.

And here is what I love about the way He asks it — He is not asking to embarrass you. He is asking because He wants to be known by you personally, not admired from a distance.

This month we are going to sit with that question. Not to make you nervous. To make you sure.

Somebody is reading this today who has been living on somebody else's answer. This is your month to find your own.