Who do you say I am?

Luke 9: 18-22

18 Once when Jesus was praying by himself, and his disciples were nearby, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 They answered, “John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others that one of the prophets of long ago has risen.” 20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” 21 But he forcefully commanded them not to tell this to anyone, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Food for thought!

Do you ever do it? I mean PRIVATE prayer? Do you ever pray alone? Do you know how to pray alone, without the help of anyone or anything? And when you do pray alone, what do you pray? What are your prayers about? In today's gospel, Jesus replies to all these questions.

Today's gospel says that Jesus was praying by himself. It means that Jesus prayed by himself, that is, in private ! And as I always say, whatever Jesus did whatever Jesus said, and whatever Jesus was, was intended to teach us. All was done and said because of us. Jesus prayed by himself to teach us to pray by ourselves.

And he prayed when his disciples were closely! This time Jesus did not go to the hills to pray. It  means that we can pray both in the public and in the private; both in solitude and in the public. Both in the church and in the home. Yes, you too can pray even when you are on the Main Street, when you are in the Boardroom or classroom, or in the shop or in the office, or in the public transport or in the sitting room. That Jesus prayed is unquestionable. Look at these instances: Luke 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:28 - 29; 11:1; 22:41; 23:34 , 46.

Even when done in public, prayer is a personal affair. Why? Because there are things that need to be said in prayer that do not need to be said within earshot of others, including of the devil. When we pray in private, we can have liberty to declare our hearts to the Lord. We can pray about personal, private matters that would embarrass us if others heard. We can call out the names of people that burden us in our private time of prayer. We can be honest with the Lord. We can humble ourselves before Him. We can be who we really are, for in private prayer there is no one to impress. It is our time with God! Do you keep a regular time of private prayer with the Lord?

This said, we must note that there is nothing wrong with praying as a group. Notice that the other day, Jesus taught us to say “Our Father.” This implies corporate prayer. Jesus himself often went to the Synagogue to pray. In private prayer, we have time to say "My Father."

This literally means that God is everywhere, including within us. It means that in prayer we have direct access to this God who is so near us that He is within us. WE have within us a power that is greater than anything that we shall ever contact in the outer world, a power that can overcome every obstacle in our life and set us safe, satisfied and at peace, even in the midst of noise.

If we pray and when we pray like Jesus, we should be able to know who we are; with prayer we dare to ask and to face the reality about ourselves. Empowered by prayer, Jesus dared to ask: "Who do the crowds say I am?" When the people identified Jesus with Elijah and with Jeremiah and with John the Baptist they were paying him a great compliment and setting him in a high place, for Jeremiah and Elijah and John the Baptist were none other than the expected forerunners of the Anointed One of God. In other words, Jesus was good but not good enough, was great but not great enough.

When Jesus had heard the verdicts of the crowd, he asked the all-important question: "But who do you say I am?" At that question there may well have been a moment of silence, while into the minds of the disciples came thoughts which they were almost afraid to express in words; and then Peter dared to say: "‘The Christ of God." All this means, that never content yourself with what people say about you, even when they say good things. You are more than what they say.

Like Jesus, we all want to know who we are. We must ask Jesus: But you Jesus who do you say I am? All the others call us many things, many names; I am many things for many people, you're many things to many people. If you asked your friends who you're, like Jesus did, you would here all kinds of answers, good and not so good; it is all guesswork because no one can tell you who you really are except the Lord.