Who do they say you are?

The Gospel of Luke
Chapter 9,18-24


Now it happened that as He was praying alone the disciples were with Him; and He asked them, "Who do the people say that I am?" And they answered, "John the Baptist; but others say Elijah; and others say, one of the old prophets has risen." And he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered, "The Christ of God." But He charged them and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
And He said to them all, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My sake, he will find it."


Ponderings:

• Does Jesus call Himself "The Son Man" to remind them of the promise God made to Adam to send a savior?
• When Jesus asks, "Who do you say that I am?" is He prompting them to consider who, once believing that Jesus is The Christ of God and follow...will make them....especially to the unbelieving world!

Jesus is the Christ of God and the Son of Man. As I prayerfully imagine myself in this scene I wonder if Jesus, Peter, and the others weren't praying together, for the first of many nights, in a garden. Could they be in the Garden of Gethsemane tonight?  It makes (beautiful) sense to me, that the first time Jesus prays with His Chosen Men as the revealed Christ could be in the very place that they would pray together for the last time as Jesus awaits His betrayal. Oh! And could this first confession of Peter; when he saw and proclaimed that Jesus will save and triumph, be in the same place that Adam confessed his fall and God saw Adam needed saving?


 It was from the soil of the Garden of Eden that God created His beloved man and breathed His life-giving love into His body. It makes sense to me that God would want to begin again where The Beginning began. Perhaps, Peter would boldly proclaim Jesus as The Christ in the same place Adam hid from God's beckoning.


Peter and the disciples know Jesus is the Christ of God and have been commanded not to share the divine knowledge they have been given. This revelation will change everything for Peter and the others. They have now entered into a new relationship with the Trinity.
I wonder if there wasn't a second, nonverbalized question asked by Jesus, "If You know and proclaim  that I am the Christ...who will people say YOU are?" I imagine Jesus gave them plenty of time to ponder the social consequences of being His friend and proclaiming that God the Father was ready to fulfill His ancient promise to those who would follow after Him.




To those who would answer the call the follow Him, he gave this prescription:


And He said to them all, "If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My sake, he will find it."