Who Do You Say That I Am?
Sept. 15, 2024
We frequently see people coming to Jesus and asking Him questions. That is particularly true of the Pharisees and scribes. But today, in our Gospel, we hear Jesus ask the Twelve, “Who do people say that I am?” They respond, “Some say John the Baptist, or Elijah, or one of the prophets.” “But who do you say that I am?” This is an essential question for them, because everything depended upon how they answer that question. If He is a prophet, then that is one way of listening to Him and following Him. But if He is more than a prophet, that fact would demand much from them.
Peter, ever the spokesperson for the Twelve, responded, “You are the Christ.” In the account in the Gospel of Matthew, Peter adds, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus affirmed Peter in this response and said that it was no human being, but God Himself who had revealed this to Peter.
What does this mean to call Jesus "the Christ"? We tend to look at this term as a last name for Jesus, but it is not. The Jews of that time did not use last names. Jesus would have been called Jesus bar (son of) Joseph, or Jesus of Nazareth. The word “Christ” is not a name, but a title.
Christ is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah. Both mean the Anointed One. This term, the Anointed One, refers to the Kings of Israel. They were not only crowned as king but were anointed with oil. When Prince Charles was made King Charles, there was a part of the ceremony in which he was surrounded by a box. Only Charles and the Archbishop of Canterbury were inside the box, and there, out of view of anyone else, Charles was anointed King. This rite is so sacred that it cannot be viewed by anyone else.
To say that Jesus is the Christ, or the Messiah, is to say that He is the Anointed One of God, the King of Israel. Every time we say the word “Christ,” we are proclaiming that Jesus is our King and that He is the Son of God, who came into this world to save us from sin.
This is the central truth of the Christian faith. Jesus is King. Jesus is Christ. Jesus is Messiah.
—Fr. Mike Comer
We frequently see people coming to Jesus and asking Him questions. That is particularly true of the Pharisees and scribes. But today, in our Gospel, we hear Jesus ask the Twelve, “Who do people say that I am?” They respond, “Some say John the Baptist, or Elijah, or one of the prophets.” “But who do you say that I am?” This is an essential question for them, because everything depended upon how they answer that question. If He is a prophet, then that is one way of listening to Him and following Him. But if He is more than a prophet, that fact would demand much from them.
Peter, ever the spokesperson for the Twelve, responded, “You are the Christ.” In the account in the Gospel of Matthew, Peter adds, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus affirmed Peter in this response and said that it was no human being, but God Himself who had revealed this to Peter.
What does this mean to call Jesus "the Christ"? We tend to look at this term as a last name for Jesus, but it is not. The Jews of that time did not use last names. Jesus would have been called Jesus bar (son of) Joseph, or Jesus of Nazareth. The word “Christ” is not a name, but a title.
Christ is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah. Both mean the Anointed One. This term, the Anointed One, refers to the Kings of Israel. They were not only crowned as king but were anointed with oil. When Prince Charles was made King Charles, there was a part of the ceremony in which he was surrounded by a box. Only Charles and the Archbishop of Canterbury were inside the box, and there, out of view of anyone else, Charles was anointed King. This rite is so sacred that it cannot be viewed by anyone else.
To say that Jesus is the Christ, or the Messiah, is to say that He is the Anointed One of God, the King of Israel. Every time we say the word “Christ,” we are proclaiming that Jesus is our King and that He is the Son of God, who came into this world to save us from sin.
This is the central truth of the Christian faith. Jesus is King. Jesus is Christ. Jesus is Messiah.
—Fr. Mike Comer
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