WHOM DO YE SAY THAT I AM?

The Sermon on the Mount offers us an interesting lesson besides the obvious one by which Jesus declared He was the Bread of Life. The Gospel of Matthew records that 5,000 men plus women and children (Matthew 14:21) had followed Christ to the mount to hear His words. When the evening drew nigh and the time of departure had come (JST Mark 6:36) all three gospels record that the Twelve came to Jesus and told Him to send the crowds away to go and buy victuals and feed themselves (Luke 9:12). However, John's version differs slightly. John recorded that Jesus said to Philip, one of the Twelve, "Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do." (John 6:5,6). It's almost as if He was saying: Ask me to feed this people out of nothing; Ask me to perform a miracle; Ask me to show you that I am the Christ. Could it be that the miracle of feeding 5,000+ was as much for the benefit of his disciples' conviction of His divinity as it was for His declaration of being the Bread of Life? If Philip's conviction was iron clad his answer would have been: "You are the Christ, You can feed these people because you can do all things". Philip answered instead that even two hundred pennyworth of bread was not enough to feed them so the problem remained unsolved, until the Saviour offered a solution.

Luke records immediately after the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus asked the Twelve the crucial question: "Whom say the people that I am?" (Luke 9:18)  They came back with various answers according to people's opinions. Then Jesus asked a more personal and direct question: "But whom say YE that I am?" And Peter straightway answered: "The Christ of God", Christ being the title of Greek translation of "The Anointed One". Thus Peter's answer was: "Thou art the Anointed One of God" (Luke 9:20).

A long time ago I heard this poignant saying: "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence?" This question of course highlights the importance of us living Christian lives. But anybody can perform acts  of Christian values out of the goodness of their hearts. Of us as members of the elect House of Israel we should ask this question: "If you were arrested for being a Christian, is there enough evidence that you know Christ?" Our lives should reflect our deep knowledge and conviction of His character and attributes which has been manifest through our faith in Him and all He can do. Have we enough proof in our personal lives that He forgives sins; that He heals our hearts; that He performs miracles; that He provides and watches over us; that He is a lamp unto our feet; that the power of His Atonement has wrought a change in our hearts; that we are encircled about in the arms of His love? If we were tested as Philip was, we should be able to answer: "You are God, you can do all things".

When the Saviour comes again, He might ask each one of us "Who do you say that I am?" and we will not be able to rely on other people's knowledge of Him. Our own conviction will need to be such that we will be able to say:

Thou art the Christ and there is none else.....

Thou art the Redeemer and there is none else...

Thou art the Saviour and there is none else.....

Thou art the Lord and there is none else....

Thou art the Anointed One and there is none else.....

Thou art  God and there is none else.....

(Isaiah 45)