The Right Question

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 301, The Right Question.

And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ." Mark 8:29.

This moment doesn't come out of nowhere. Jesus had just asked the disciples what people were saying about him. And the answers were polite, even reverent: some said he was John the Baptist raised from the dead, others said Elijah, others said just "one of the prophets." Notice nobody was saying anything foolish. These were serious answers, full of respect. And still, every one of them wrong.

Because you can admire Jesus, respect Jesus, even quote Jesus — and never come close to who he actually is. It's possible to hold a polite opinion about Christ and still be spiritually lost.

So Jesus makes the turn. He stops asking about "the crowds" and looks straight at the disciples: "But who do you say that I am?" That shift in pronoun changes everything. It no longer matters what the crowd thinks. What matters is what you, specifically, believe.

And Peter answers with a short sentence that carries the weight of Israel's entire history: "You are the Christ." The Anointed One. The Messiah promised for centuries, waited for by whole generations who suffered, wept, and prayed for a deliverer. Peter is saying: the waiting is over. He is standing right in front of you.

Now look at what happens right after this verse — because this matters. It's only after this confession that Jesus begins openly explaining that he must suffer, be rejected, die, and rise again. Before Peter said "you are the Christ," the disciples weren't ready to hear about the cross. The right confession is what opens the door to the harder truth — and also the more glorious one.

Now let me ask you something, gently: if Jesus turned to you today and asked "who do you say that I am?" — what would you answer? Not the answer you learned in church, not the answer that sounds nice. The answer that actually lives inside you, the one shaping your choices Monday through Sunday.

Because some people call Jesus Savior on Sundays and live the rest of the week as if he were just a good moral example. Some people sing "You are the Christ" during worship and then make decisions as if God weren't watching at all.

Peter's faith didn't stop at the sentence. It changed the direction of his whole life. Has your faith changed the direction of yours?

Today I want to invite you to answer this question with words, yes, but especially with one concrete choice. Some decision in your day that only makes sense if Jesus really is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.