Who Do You Say I Am?

“But what about you_” he asked. “Who do you say I am_”

And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (Mark 8:27, ESV).

On the way to Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked His disciples who people said that He was. Their response was, “Some say You are John the Baptist but others say, Elijah. Some others believe You are one of the prophets.” It was clear from these responses that, at least from the perspective of the disciples, the people had many different opinions about who Jesus was, but they did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. They did not recognize Him as who He truly was.

If we were to poll people in the street today, asking them who Jesus is, the answers would be very similar. Some would say, “Oh, Jesus? He’s a great teacher.” Others would say, “Jesus is a great man who did a lot to help people.” Some might even say that Jesus is a prophet, just as the people in the first century did. And there are likely some who would say that Jesus is just a fictional person who was created by the men who wrote the Bible. Just as there were many who did not recognize Jesus for who He was in the first century, there are many who still do not recognize who He is today.

Mark 3:29 tells us that, after the disciples had answered Jesus’ question, Jesus responded by asking them another question. “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” Peter, always one who was quick to answer, responded to this question by saying, “You are the Christ.” Peter had walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus, watched Jesus heal the sick, restore sight to the blind, and even calm a storm. And now Peter was declaring what He believed in his heart was true, that Jesus was the Christ, the promised Messiah of God. When Peter said this, Jesus told him that he was blessed because this revelation did not come to him on his own. It was revealed to Peter by God (Matthew 16:17).

Jesus was the fulfillment of Scripture, the promised Messiah. He came to earth to redeem us all from our sin, to pay the price we could not pay. He is our Savior, our Redeemer, our Deliverer. Peter said that Jesus is the Christ. But what about you? Who do you say He is?

Scripture quotations marked “ESV “are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.