Today’s passage is Luke 8:18-27. Jesus asks his disciples who the crowds say he is and after he hears their uncertain answers he asks the disciples who they think he is. When Peter says he’s the Christ, Jesus tells them not to tell anyone and goes on to say he will be rejected, killed and resurrected. He tells them his true followers must carry their cross daily. He says if anyone is ashamed of him, he will be ashamed of them on the day of his glory.
Why does Jesus refer to himself as the Son of Man?
How do you gain the whole world?
Just after Jesus has sent the Twelve out preach the word and heal the sick and then fed over five thousand people with five loaves and two fishes, and just before his transfiguration, Jesus asks the essential question of identity: Who am I?
The crowds don’t know who he is.
His identity is not uppermost in their minds.
It’s enough that he gives them new hope in God, helps them see their sins and repent, and heals their bodies, minds and spirits and feeds their bodies and spirits.
Peter says he’s the anointed one of God, but he doesn’t seem to really understand what that means, as he shows at the Transfiguration and at the tomb of Jesus.
Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man, a term that means he’s human and, if the people know about the Book of Daniel, the Son of God.
No one really knows who Jesus is until after his death and resurrection, which he foretells in verse 22.
Then everything begins to click into place. But in today’s passage, Jesus alerts me to who I am.
My identity is found in the battle between following Jesus and trying to save my own life, between taking up my cross daily and trying to gain the whole world.
My identity is created in the battle. Without that struggle, I don’t know who I am. And if I lose the battle, I will lose myself. The stakes cannot be higher.
Jesus shows me today that my identity, my true self, is not static; it’s always in flux.
My gender identity, my political identity, my relationships may not change much, but I shouldn’t confuse my true self with them.
My true self is essentially spiritual.
My circumstances are largely physical, but they don’t define who I am except that they are the battleground where I carry my cross daily and become more Christian or I let it drop and chase after the world and run the risk of losing the only thing that matters, my very self that has been saved by God’s grace and my faith in Jesus.
Although I didn’t do much today, I did bring the QTin to my office workers and I did pray for them.
Sometimes it’s all I have strength to do. God have mercy.
Application: To see myself and my identity in Jesus, not the world.
Lord, feed my spirit with the loaves and fishes of your grace and give me your energy to walk your way and carry my cross to the end.
