Who Do I Say He Is? 

   “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do the people say the Son of Man is?’  And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said, ‘who do you say I am?’” (Matt 16: 13 – 15) 

   I try to read scripture as if God is talking directly to me; to place myself in the scene and experience it in a more personal way.  I know how St. Peter answered the question above, but how do I answer it?  That is question Jesus is asking and He is asking it of me.

   Many today would say that Jesus was a great morale teacher, or a prophet, or religious leader.  Some would say, as the religious leaders of His time said, that He was a charlatan and a fake, seeking His own glory.  In his book “Mere Christianity” C. S. Lewis wrote about Jesus, “Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse… You can shut Him up as a fool, or you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God”.

   In Caesarea Philippi He was asking His apostles who they say He is.  Today, in Ocala, Florida, He is asking me the same question, and I must answer.  Is He exactly who He said He was, or He is a liar and a fraud?

   My answer is that He is my Lord and my Savior.  He is the Son of God.  He is the way, the truth, and the life.  He is the path to heaven.  I fall upon my knees and worship Him.