Who do you say I am ?

The comments of children can be wonderful. We can all probably think of a funny story to do with something a child has said – I remember a while ago when a 3 year old told Helen that she looked a mess in the morning !! I, of course, would obviously dispute that (at least until she’s made mybreakfast !)

There’s also the great children’s letters to God – I’m a bit sad perhaps but I never tire of hearing things like, ‘Dear God, Did you mean to make giraffes look like that, or was it an accident ?’ or ‘Dear God, I keep waiting for a nice summer day, but it hasn’t come – did you forget ?’ or just one more, ‘Dear God, Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms – it works for me and my brother.’

Asking children questions can be a very dangerous thing because they will generally say exactly what they think, when adults will often skirt around the truth if it is painful ! Few of us will risk asking what people think of us in case the reply is not what we’d hope for, but Jesus of course had no worries of such things.

In the gospel reading (Matt. 16:13-19), he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am ?’ And the disciples told him that some people were saying he was a reincarnated John the Baptist, or one of the great Prophets... And then Jesus asked them, ‘Who do you say that I am?’

It’s really easy sometimes to speak on behalf of others – particularly if we don’t have to give them a name – in church life there are often comments about someone not liking this or that, but the names of that someone are often left out. There’s a kind of safety in speaking for someone else, and Jesus initially gave his disciples that chance to speak for others.

These were the people who had been closest to Jesus in his ministry – they had been there for miracles and for displays of power and courage. They had been there when Jesus showed compassion, and when Jesus displayed the kind of love that he proclaimed.

And so Jesus felt it right to change that question and ask them directly – ‘Who do you say that I am?’ They were not to hide – this was the ‘are you with me or against me’ question. From what they’d seen what did they understand about Jesus.

And it was Peter that answered the question quickly, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ It was surely the answer Jesus hoped for – and he blessed Peter we’re told and informed him that he would be the Rock upon which the church would be built, and nothing would ever destroy that church.

So let’s think about some of the answers to that question… Some people were saying that Jesus was John the Baptist back again – John had been the one who promised hope in the wilderness. The one who promised that a Messiah was coming to transform the lives of people everywhere.

When John the Baptist died some felt his ministry wasn’t complete – they wanted more. And so they looked at Jesus as a new hope – a new person offering lives transformed. A new person assuring people that whatever the world had to offer God was stronger and better.

Jesus certainly did come promising that – a new life, forgiveness, love, hope, peace… but he offered more as well…

And then some said Jesus was one of the great Prophets – the Prophets who spoke about God’s world – about a world transformed, about a world controlled by God who loves his people and wants them to enjoy a relationship with Him.

There were also of course the Prophecies forcefully attacking injustice, corruption and hypocrisy. Jesus was associated with all these condemnations – he came to not just talk about love, but to live it – he came to display love way beyond the limits we can even understand – love for those who hated him, love even for those who would kill him.

He spoke out about the corruption and hypocrisy – he wasn’t afraid to turn over the tables of the money changers, or to criticize some of the Jewish laws that had been developed more by man than God. He stood up for the weak – he talked to the outcasts in society. He invited them into a relationship with him.

Jesus certainly exhibited the qualities of a Prophet, but there was more…

And so he was more than John the Baptist, and he was more than the Prophets – these people had just prepared the way for Jesus himself. It was Peter who got the answer right – he had travelled with Jesus. He had watched him and listened to him and prayed with him, and he knew, Jesus was the Messiah.

But it wasn’t easy for Peter – he gave the right answer here, but we all know he often got things wrong, and on that terrible night as Jesus was arrested, Peter denied even knowing him. And yet, it is on Peter that Jesus was to build his church.

This was the first mention of a church – it was the Greek word ‘Ekklesia’ meaning, ‘a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, and an assembly of people gathered for worship. It’s become a name for the whole body of Christians scattered throughout the earth…’

So Jesus was planning for the church in his physical absence. And he wastrusting his people to be the Body of Christ on earth. And what a huge challenge that is for the church today.

We are to be the John the Baptist type people – maybe with better dress sense, and living off nicer food, but we are to be the people who prepare the way for Jesus to be seen in the world. We are to be the people who, through our words and our actions, through our love, are to point people to Jesus.

And we are to be the Prophets – speaking up for the power and wisdom of God, speaking out for the victims of corruption and injustice, loving those who seem unloved, caring for those in need. We are to be a voice crying out in a wilderness of a world where, too often, it seems that hypocrisy, injustice, oppression and corruption seem to triumph.

It seems very often that battle is beyond us – who are we to take on the might of those who are making lives a misery for others ? Who are we to try and offer the sort of unconditional love that can transform individuals and communities ?

Well, it’s not just us – Jesus ascended to heaven but he has never left us, and we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to be Christ on earth today – to live as he lives, to love as he loves…

There’s an apparently true story of Michelangelo who was standing in front of a huge block of marble. He was staring it and eventually someone asked him what he was staring at and he replied, ‘I see an angeland I intend to release him’. Michelangelo understood what could be created from that simple marble block, and he would work to make that angel.

When God looks at us he sees something in us – whoever we are, whatever we’re good at or bad at, whatever we’ve done or been in the past – God sees someone that he loves who has been created in his image. He looks as a proud parent, ready to help us and shape us into what he hopes we can be… This is the God who chose Peter to be the Rock on which the church was built, unworthy, sometimes weak and a man who often made mistakes, but a man willing and wanting to be shaped into the likeness of God.

If Jesus looks at us today and asks us that question, ‘Who do you say that I am ?’ what will your answer be ? Will we say that he’s our gentle friend, our comfort and support; or will we say he’s the person we come to celebrate and worship in our church; or will we say that he’s that fine teacher who helps us to get a bit of advice on how to live…. ?

Or will we say that Jesus is the person who has changed our life, the person that we want to be shaped to look like ? The person who is asking us to shout in the wilderness about a Messiah for all people. The person who is crying out for the needs of the victims of poverty, injustice, oppression, hatred, discrimination… the person who is campaigning against corruption and condemning hypocrisy…

And the person who loves – who loves unconditionally and who wants to change the world using love as the tool and the weapon.

When Jesus says who do you say that I am – may we and our churchstand up and say, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God…’ and may that make a difference to us every moment of every day. AMEN