“Who do you say that I am?”
Jesus poses this question in Matthew 16:13-16, Mark 8:27-29, and Luke 9:18-20. In all three accounts Jesus first asks, “Who do people say I am?” or “Who do the crowds say I am?”
After the disciples give various answers, Jesus then asks, “But what about you? Who do you say that I am?”
This is the most important question the disciples were ever asked, and it’s also the most important question that we will ever be asked because what we believe about Jesus determines our salvation.
Who do you believe Jesus is?
We just celebrated Easter, and have had our minds and hearts refreshed regarding His ultimate sacrifice of death and resurrection to reconcile us to the Father. But before we can go forward with our lives to honor that great sacrifice and to carry out our purpose as Jesus followers, we must go back before Easter, before Christmas, to refresh our memories or learn for the first time, exactly WHO Jesus is in the context of the universe and eternity. If we don’t have an understanding of who Jesus was before he came to us that first Christmas, then we don’t really know him.
Who you think Jesus is will determine your salvation and your love relationship with Him
I Colossians 1:15 – (NIV):
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Jesus was the firstborn before the beginning of Time, before anything that was created.
This is what the Names of God Bible says about Jesus in John 1:1-5:
1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was already with God in the beginning.
3 Everything came into existence through him. Not one thing that exists was made without him.
4 He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity.
5 The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it.
Jesus was with God from before time began, and it was Jesus who created everything. Sometimes it’s hard for us to see or remember that Jesus didn’t just start existing when Holy Spirit caused Mary to carry and birth baby Jesus. That was his human beginning, but Jesus existed, created, and ruled in eternity before that time just as he is existing and ruling now and will be forevermore.
Knowing this about Jesus makes the Christmas to Easter story much more impactful. God didn’t just make a baby to experience human life and go through all that Jesus endured in order to bring our hearts back to God. That little baby born in a stinky stable, that grown man who was tortured and died on the cross, that corpse in the tomb that was raised again to life, was God Himself, Jesus, the Creator of the universe.
After the resurrection and when Jesus returned to Heaven, we learn these two things about Jesus:
“But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” -Luke 22:69 (NIV)
“God has highly exalted him, and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…” – Philippians 2:9 (NIV).
I Timothy 6:16 in The Passion Translation says:
“He alone is the immortal God, living in the unapproachable light of divine glory! No one has ever seen His fullness, nor can they, for all the glory and endless authority of the universe belongs to Him, forever and ever. Amen!”
From Genesis and the Creation story, to Revelation and the story of what is to come, we see that Jesus reigns in glory, that he himself is glorious beyond our wildest imaginations. There are no words to describe the fullness of the glory of the Triune God (God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit).
Meditating on this causes me to drop my jaw in awe when I think of the miracle within the Miracle of the Easter story. We recognize and acknowledge the miracle of the Resurrection, but before that could happen, the greatest example of humility that can never be matched took place.
Philippians 2:6-8 (The Message)
“He [Jesus] had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.”
Think of it! The humility required to willingly give up all God privileges to come to us as a tiny baby, the most vulnerable state of a human being, and to be born in a stinky stable, no less! When he started his ministry, he had no home, but traveled constantly with no comfort of any kind, on His way to the most humiliating experience of all: being perfect and holy but being accused of the worst crimes possible. He could have refused, backed out, made an alternate plan. He could have called 10,000 angels to rescue him. He could have commanded death to anyone party to his torture. But he didn’t. He didn’t die because they took him and overpowered him. He died because he willingly laid down his life so that all of us could be reconciled to God and live restored lives here on earth and live with God for all eternity when our time is finished here. They did not kill him… he gave up his life by first giving up his status and his God power.
Humility- humbling ourselves – this is the key to serve in God’s kingdom.
That’s what it took for Jesus himself, and that’s what it takes for you and me to be of any use to the Kingdom of Heaven. All our good works, good ministering, good writing, good programs, good whatever, are only usable to God if they are done in humility.
As if humbling himself enough to become human, leaving his God privileges behind wasn’t enough, Jesus made himself a servant to his disciples. Even though he knew Judas was going to betray him, he included Judas in his example of serving us when he washed the feet of the disciples. These guys walked miles a day on dirt roads and paths, they didn’t have access to nice washrooms and good soap and fresh towels. When they sat down at night to eat a meal as they did at the Last Supper, their final gathering including all of them on the Thursday before the crucifixion, that would have been 13 sets of very dirty stinky calloused feet. But Jesus, even though he was not living as God then, was to them their Rabbi and they had seen and been part of miracles, so they understood that he carried authority, and in human terms, was “above” them. And yet, he humbled himself before them and washed their feet, including the feet of his known betrayer.
John 13 records this:
12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”
Earlier before Holy Week, Matthew recorded this statement from Jesus to his disciples:
“The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” – Matthew 23: 11-12
Jesus made it clear that there is no place for pride and arrogance and taking credit for what God is doing through us, in His kingdom. And when I think of the vast difference between glorious holy all powerful God Jesus before he came to earth, with Jesus the humble servant to all, willingly stripped of his glory, I have to ask myself: how could I NOT humble myself as he asks when, clearly, my highest achievement is meaningless compared to who He is. And yet, in my humanness operating from a heart of flesh, it is a struggle sometimes to lay down my pride and humble myself for what God is asking of me, or in situations with others that are challenging. My most successful way to avoid pride standing in my way is to continually remind myself of Jesus’ example of setting aside his God privileges to serve us, wash our dirty feet, and die a criminal sinner’s death for us. This was the ultimate humility, and so much more than what will ever be required of us.
Humility is the key to grow the Kingdom of Heaven and bring glory to God.
Holy Spirit, as we ask ourselves today, “Who do we think you are?” remind us that You are the God of Glory, Perfection, and Holiness, and yet you made yourself powerless and nothing to redeem us. Remind us that you carry all power and authority over all the earth and all creation, You are the Alpha and Omega, the Righteous One seated in Heaven, and yet you desire a personal relationship with us. Remind us of your glory, from the beginning of time to all eternity, and yet you humbled yourself to become like us so that we could come to know you, love you, and live with you for all eternity. Holy Spirit, replace any shred of pride in us with a servant’s humble heart as you did to bring us home to You. Amen.
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