Jesus, who do you say I am?

Matthew 16:13 

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do 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?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said, ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’ Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

Food for thought!

Jesus asks his disciples, «Who do people say the Son of Man is?» Jesus wants to know what they know about him. Like Jesus, we all want to know who we are. We want to know what others think of us. One thing is certain, NO ONE KNOWS WHO WE ARE, EXCEPT JESUS. 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 are except the Lord. 

Only Jesus could tell Peter who Peter was. And only the Father in heaven could tell Peter who Jesus is: «Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! No mere man showed this to you. My Father in heaven showed it to you.» The disciples tried and ended up calling Jesus all sorts of names that every body called him: «Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets»

Then Jesus asked them and us, «But what about you? Who do you say I am?» Simon Peter answers, «You are the Christ. You are the Son of the living God.» Jesus replies, Here is what I tell you. You are Peter. On this rock I will build my church. The gates of hell will not be strong enough to destroy it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. What you lock on earth will be locked in heaven. What you unlock on earth will be unlocked in heaven.»

Wow! What a revelation about Peter. Lucky Peter, whom Jesus told who he was. But in order to tell him so, Peter had to tell Jesus who he is. Please, notice that as soon as Peter told Jesus, Jesus told Peter; as soon as Peter says who Jesus is, Jesus tells Peter who Peter is: «Here is what I tell you. You are Peter...» Until this moment, Peter did not know really who he (Peter) was or what lay ahead for him until Jesus started to reveal Peter to Peter. And Jesus did not start to tell Peter until Peter started to tell Jesus. So, the principle is clear: tell Jesus and Jesus will tell you, answer Jesus and Jesus will answer you, know Jesus and Jesus will make you know yourself, give to Jesus and Jesus will give to you...!

Now, it is your turn, try it. Jesus is the key that opens each one of us. We are all mysterious, and without Jesus we never come to know ourselves, we never come to know life, death, suffering, loving. We are sealed people, we are closed books, and only Jesus has the key to unseal and open us.

Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One sitting on the throne. The scroll had writing on both sides. It was sealed with seven seals. 2 I saw a mighty angel calling out in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll. No one could even look inside it. 4 I cried and cried because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, «Do not cry! The Lion of the tribe of Judah has won the battle. He is the Root of David. He is able to break the seven seals and open the scroll.» (Rev. 5:1-4)

Before we go: Jesus asked his disciples, Who do you say that I am? Let us ask Jesus the same question: Jesus, what do you say that I am? I hear many things about me, but YOU, who do you say that I am?