Saturday, April 11, 2015

Who Do You Say I Am?

Scripture Texts: Mark 8:11-30; Psalm 9

Many great questions can be found throughout the Scriptures. Several of the great questions coming from Jesus. Quite possibly one of the best questions Jesus asks is in this passage from Mark. Jesus asks the disciples who they say he is.

This question follows a more general question asking who people in general say Jesus is. It was safe to speculate about what others are saying about Jesus. The stakes got much higher when Jesus made it personal.

We live in a day and age when there are many thoughts about who Jesus was and is. Some people say he was a great moral teacher, and nothing more. There are some who say Jesus is a creation of religious people with no historical connection to a real person. Yet others, say that Jesus is one of the many valid options for experiencing a full relationship with God. It is fun to speculate about how others have answered the question. Yet, like the disciples, we must deal with the question on a personal level. Who do you say Jesus is?

This was a question that we talked about before we were married. For us it was important that we shared a common answer to the question. Our relationship with Jesus looks different in some ways because we are different people. At the same time we both claim Jesus to be the Way, the Truth and the Life. That no one gains a full relationship with God outside of Jesus Christ.

For both of us it mattered that we had this answer in common. Otherwise the core question of our lives would have different answers and therefore we would have different life values at the core of our lives. This is not a recipe for a healthy marriage. We would not be living from the same core and foundation. So, when we answer the question who is Jesus, each of us must answer. In marriage we find greater health when we hold the answer in common.

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