Walking With Christ

(Part 1 of 9)

Matthew 16:15  He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”(ESV)

Who is Jesus?

Not who does your pastor say He is.  Not who did your parents tell you He is.  Not what answer have you learned to give because you’ve heard the question before.

Who do you say that He is?

Jesus could’ve simply told the disciples the answer.  He certainly knew it.  Instead, He asked them a question.

Before that, He asked who other people said that He was.  The disciples gave several answers.  John the Baptist.  Elijah.  Jeremiah.  One of the prophets.

Then Jesus narrowed the question.  “But who do you say that I am?”

That question forced Peter to do something different than simply listen.  He had to reach into everything he’d seen, heard, experienced, and learned while following Jesus and give an answer.

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus often taught this way.  Sometimes a question does more than an explanation ever could.  An explanation gives us information.  A question forces us to examine what we already believe.

It exposes assumptions.  It reveals gaps.  It makes us participate.

A teacher can spend an hour telling someone what to think and never know whether the listener understands any of it.  A good question changes that.

Jesus didn’t merely fill the disciples with answers.  He taught them to wrestle with questions.

Perhaps that’s why some of His questions still refuse to leave us alone.

Who do you say that He is?  Not yesterday.  Not when you first believed.

Today.

How Jesus taught:  He asked questions.