Matthew 16:12-16: a reflection

12Then they understood that he didn’t tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 13Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks his disciples a question in two stages. First, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they report the various opinions: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, one of the prophets. But then Jesus makes it personal: But who do you say that I am? It is no longer about others' opinions, but about their own conviction. And Simon Peter answers with the great confession: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Notice how Jesus moves from the general to the personal. It is easy to report what others think about Jesus, the range of opinions, the various views. But Jesus presses past that to the question that matters: not who do others say I am, but who do you say I am? Each person must answer that question for himself; a secondhand opinion, an awareness of what others think, is not enough. Jesus asks each of us, personally, who we say he is.

That question comes to every one of us, and it cannot be answered secondhand. We can know all about the various views of Jesus, what others say, what the culture thinks, and still not have answered his question to us: who do you say that I am? It is not enough to know others' opinions; each of us must come to our own conviction and confession about who Jesus is. Do not rest in secondhand opinions about Jesus. Answer his personal question for yourself: who do you say that I am? And let your answer be Peter's confession: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. That personal confession, not mere awareness of what others think, is what matters.

Lord Jesus, at Caesarea Philippi you asked not only who others said you were, but the question that matters: who do you say that I am? and Peter confessed, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Press that personal question on me. It is easy for me to know what others think about you, the various opinions, the views of the culture, and still not have answered your question to me. Help me not to rest in secondhand opinions, but to come to my own conviction and confession about who you are. Who do I say that you are? Help me answer, with Peter, that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God, and to make that confession my own, not merely an awareness of what others say. Be to me, personally, my Lord and my God.