But whom do you say that I am

He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? (Matthew 16:15, KJV)

One faithful day while Jesus and His disciples came to Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?”. The disciples were excited to say what people are saying: “Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets” (Matthew 16:13–14, KJV). They had heard from street talk what people were saying about their Master. After they had said all that people said He was, He then asked them a question they were not expecting. As if He said “OK, that is what people say that I am. What about you? What do you say that I am?”. Can you imagine the look on their faces when Jesus asked them this question?

When God asks us questions, it is not because He wants us to tell Him the answer. He simply wants to drive a point home to us. There are many things for us to learn from this passage but let me zero into just of one of them for this devotional. In the busy space of Christianity today, it is easy to hang on to what your pastor, spiritual father/mother or that or this person said Jesus is. Your personal revelation or experience of Jesus is what matters and is what will carry you through. Maybe your pastor told you that Jesus is a healer. That was your pastor. What do you say He is? Have you known and encountered Him as your Healer? Do you know Him as your Provider? Yes, the scripture says Jesus is Lord, right? What do we say? Is He Lord , ruler and controller of our life? You have heard that worship leader singing and saying “there is power in the Name of Jesus”. That is what she is saying, based on her knowledge and experience of Jesus. What about you? The examples continue.

The point Jesus is driving home is that we need to meet Him and have a heavenly revelation of the Son of God at a personal level. Even If I share my revelation of Christ with you, that is so you can use that insight to encounter the living Christ yourself. You cannot live based on another person’s revelation of Christ. The Lord once revealed to me that His Word is enough to bring everyone of us into a personal encounter with the living Christ. He was explaining the teaching ministry to me. By virtue of the grace of teaching, I can open your understanding of the scriptures to see CHRIST in them and have an encounter with Him personally-with His power, presence and glory. If there is one reason I write these devotionals, this is it. I have shared before that I have no intention of writing a devotional to give you something to satisfy some religious need of reading a devotional daily. If I can get you to encounter the living Christ in the Word, then both of us have succeeded in doing what God wants us to do.

You can encounter Jesus, His presence, power and glory in His Word. Crave the revelation of the Son of God. Desire to be a witness, a living witness of the living Christ, sharing out of an encounter with Him. Do not be contented to say the “Bible says God is in me, or is powerful etc”. Go past that. Get to the place where YOU SAY God is powerful because the living Christ has been revealed in power in your life!

MEDITATE

Who was the disciple who spoke up and answered Jesus’s question correctly? How did He get that revelation from Jesus’s response? ( Matt: 16:17)

APPLY THE WORD

Do you know Jesus? Well, I don’t mean knowing He is the Savior of the world or the Christ, etc. Are you contented with the revelation of the mysteries and beauties of the Son of God you currently have? In the kingdom, water is given to those who are thirsty. If you desire and crave to know Him, He reveals Himself to you. If you have no desire to know Him, well, you will not know Him. Are you ready to desire to know Christ and do something about that desire? Great, go for it!