You Are the Christ

No longer able to hide behind the opinions of others, Jesus asks directly, “Who do you say that I am?” It seems as if all the earth stood still awaiting the response. Have they processed what they have seen? Are their hearts still hard?

Peter responds, “You are the Christ.” At this point in the story, most readers have already come to this conclusion. But the disciples had not. Their hardness of heart, seen in the previous chapters, revealed they did not see Jesus as the Christ. They might have only seen Him as a prophet, and likely as secondary to Moses and Elijah. Yet finally, the veil has been removed, and He was known to Peter as the Christ—the Messiah—greater than any other.

The term “Christ” was not Jesus’ last name. It means the Anointed One, the Messiah. All of Israel had been anxiously awaiting the coming of the Messiah. All throughout the Old Testament scriptures, there are prophecies of the coming Messiah. The hope of the Jewish people hinged on this coming King. This was not a simple title that gets tossed around; this is at the core of their faith. So, as Peter declared that Jesus was the Messiah, he was making the boldest and most radical statement of his life.

Jesus cares very deeply about our personal, deep beliefs about who He is. We are not saved by being surrounded by people who love and believe in Jesus. We are not even saved by being in a family who believes in Jesus. Our personal profession of who He is holds eternal weight.

Right now, imagine Jesus looking you in the eyes and asking, “Who do you say that I am?” He desires to hear from you—not what your friends or community believe about Him, but who you say that He is.