Last week we took my four year old nephew Easton to a drive through ash imposition at church. He was interested in trying to understand what we were doing. I told him that we were going to put the ash on our forehead in the shape of a cross. I tried to explain in a little more detail while we sat in the car line awaiting our turn. We received the ashes in a cross shape on a piece of fabric and without hesitation E pressed it on his forehead and “boom” the ash was imposed.
Later when asked about the ash on his forehead Easton said, “Jesus loves me, Jesus loves you, Jesus loves everybody.” Good answer,Buddy, and who is Jesus?
“Jesus and his disciples went into the villages near Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “ Who do people say that I am? ”” Mark 8:27 CEB
In Jesus’s time Caesarea Philippi was a place of altars to many gods. It was a place many people went to try to fix something. If you had a problem there was probably a god and altar to cover it. Just outside this city Jesus asked his disciples a very significant question.
“He asked them, “And what about you? Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”” Mark 8:29 CEB
The question regarding His identity is a big deal. We can imagine one of the disciples thinking, “Why don’t you just tell us Jesus?” It is a lot easier to have the teacher just tell you the answer but…it is much better to know the answer yourself. Peter’s answer is quick and correct but we find him a week later still trying to figure it out at Jesus’s transfiguration. Jesus is God so we can’t know the answer in entirety, however the process of trying to answer is the foundation of discipleship.
Do you know who Jesus is? God is asking because He wants us to know it personally. Your answer can be simple but it needs to be one that you own. Give it some thought. Learn what others have to say and if your answer needs to evolve let it.
Ramblings of a Faithjunkie 