Who Exactly Am I Following?

“Who do you say I am?” Jesus asks. Everybody’s personal story connects to God’s Story with that question. How will you answer? A myth? And if not a myth, than the “Fabio” Jesus? The “Burn in Hell” Jesus? The “Everything’s Cool” Jesus? The “Churchy” Jesus? Or the “Real” Jesus? Will you answer the question like the crowds did, and think of Jesus as a genie in the bottle? Or like King Herod did—who just liked to talk about and listen to the latest ideas, but who chose to do nothing about the real Jesus standing in front of him? Will you see him like Pontius Pilate did—an irritating inconvenience, an obstacle to his own political aspirations? Will you see Jesus as a threat to your ego, like the religious establishment did? Or will you be like the disciples—who loved him and wanted to follow him though they couldn’t quite wrap their minds around him and his ways.

That question—Who do you say I am—is a question that Jesus will keep asking you as you walk with him. Why? Because the real Jesus is a mystery. He’s a mystery because he’s bigger and more beautiful than any idea we can have of him. He’s a category buster. Like any other mystery, the only one who can reveal Jesus to you is Jesus himself. He’s God and he’s God in flesh and bone. Like the Gospels tell us, he’s way too much to take in all at once—I’m talking from experience here—he won’t reveal more of himself than you’re able to receive. But as you walk with him he’ll reveal more and more of himself to you and you’re understanding of and your love for him will grow deeper and deeper. But there’s a cost to this. You see, each time, just when you think you’ve got Jesus figured out and you’re getting a little comfortable, he’ll blow all of your expectations of him out of the water.

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