Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They answered, “John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.” [Luke 9:18-20]
Jesus invites the earliest disciples into this question on more than one occasion in the gospels. For those of us to claim to be followers of Jesus, we need to be asking similar questions. As Christians, we are called to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” We do this by imitating Christ with our actions and it will likely be made clear that we are motivated to do so because of the grace that we have received from Christ and our desire to offer that same grace to others.
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. [1 Corinthians 3:11]
Jesus has laid the foundation for our lives and we should be asking ourselves, “Who do we claim Christ to be in our lives?” If we want to point others to Christ we should also ask ourselves how people who are paying attention to our witness view us. How do our actions line up with our intentions to be disciples of Christ who desire to share the love and grace that we have experienced with others?
Jesus is the God we cannot see, the one who challenged the status quo. Jesus was the one who made it clear that we are not to be of this world while we are in this world. Jesus is the beginning and end, the one with whom we place our faith, the one who points us towards the truth, the one who most importantly offered us the example of how to love and live and to treat one another. Jesus calls us to live a Kingdom life and who made it clear that we aren’t to wait for heaven to experience God’s love and grace and to extend it to others.
Jesus was much more interested in relationships than rules, and made it clear that we are to cut one another slack, over and over, countless times. Does that mean we don’t ever hold one another accountable? By Jesus’ example, no. Does it mean that there are no standards that we need to uphold? By Jesus’ example, no.
Jesus offers us healing in more ways than one. As people of faith who invite Jesus to rule our lives and as we invite the Holy Spirit to guide us, let us pay close attention to the actions of Jesus and go and do likewise. It is never too late to begin again.
Peace y’all,
If you would like to print or share this edition of Claire…ification,
you are encouraged to use this pdf:
Claire – Who Do You Say That I Am
To read past editions – you are encouraged to follow this link:
https://capitaldistrictnc.org/claire-ificaton/
