Who Are You?

In case you have been asleep for the past decade, we are living in the age of identity. It is a time in which no one else has the right to define your identity. You are what you say you are, and you are what you feel you are, that is the battle cry of this generation. One problem with this age of identity is that feelings are ephemeral, and therefore any sense of identity is without a firm foundation.

In this Sunday's reading from Matthew 16:13-20, Jesus asks his followers who the people think He is, his identity, and then Jesus asks his followers the same question.

"Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah."

 Simon Peter answers with confidence that Jesus is the Messiah. His response is the rock upon which the Church was built, unchanging, everlasting, and sure.

Who are you? Who do people say that you are? What do they think you are?

If people misidentify you, you need to stand on that rock and tell them that you are a follower of the Lord Jesus and why.

Only in Christ do you have any identity that is worth living out.

Don't keep it secret. Let the world know.