“WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?”

XXIV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: Mark 8:27-35

The question that Jesus asked his disciples is an essential question for all Christians. All the New Testament was written so that we may answer that question. If we meet Jesus in our lives, we are confronted with this same question. 

People may give different and even contradictory answers to the question about Jesus. However, it does not matter what others say about Jesus, because he will ask each one of us this very personal question: 

Who do you say I am? 

What do you think of me? 

Who am I for you? 

What place do I have in your life?

If we decide to follow Jesus and to become his disciples, we must have come to the same conclusion as Peter did and give the same answer, which is the Church’s answer: 

You are the Christ; you are the Son of the living God (Mk 8:29; Mt 16:16)

This proclamation of faith is the rock (the foundation) which the Christian Church is built upon. And throughout the books of the New Testament, we find a great variety of witnesses proclaiming this same faith. 

It is interesting to discover that the same faith proclaimed by Peter (in the Synoptic Gospels) is proclaimed by Martha in the Gospel of John:

“Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” (Jn 11:27).