Articles
What Do YOU Think?
* * * * * * * * * * *
Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?" So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am? Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ." (Mk. 8:27-29)
* * * * * * * * * * *
I like to think of this account as the first public opinion survey in history. The survey consisted of only one question: Who do you think Jesus is? Of course, like most public opinion polls, the answers were all over the map. Some people believed Jesus was John the Baptist returned from the dead. Others thought He was Elijah, the prophetic archetype. Others pegged Him to be some lesser prophet. When you depend on public opinion to tell you the truth, this is the kind of incoherent drivel you'll get.
But Jesus’ follow-up question to His apostles was more personal: "Who do YOU say that I am?" What everyone else thought about Jesus was irrelevant. Each man among the apostles had to decide for himself what he believed about Jesus.
The same challenge confronts every one of us today. It really doesn’t matter what public opinion polls say about Christ. It doesn't matter what our parents or grandparents thought about Him. What our church or elders or preacher think about Jesus cannot serve as a proxy for our faith. At the end of the day, each one of us has to make our own personal decision concerning who Jesus is and how He influences our manner of life.
What we choose to think about Jesus indeed determines how we live. Is He the Son of God who deserves my complete allegiance, whatever the cost? Is He a deluded impostor who should ignored? Or is He just a religious rock star whose poster hangs on my bedroom wall, but is otherwise ignored in my daily life?
Furthermore, what we believe about Jesus is formed largely by the source to which we look for our beliefs. For many of us, our view of Jesus is based on the shifting winds of popular folklore. That's why our "faith" in Jesus is shallow, weak, erratic, inconsistent. Jesus-the-myth has little or no influence in charting the direction of our lives.
For Simon Peter, the answer was deeper: "You are the Christ." He still had some unresolved questions, but he knew enough to realize that he was in the presence of a Man unlike any other. What he believed about Jesus was forged in the furnace of intellectual struggle, and that conviction altered his destiny.
Who do YOU say Jesus is? Your life is your answer.
--David
