Mk 8:27-33
27Now Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” 29And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Messiah.” 30Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.
31He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. 32He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Who do you say that I am?: Sometimes I feel the question of fundamentalist Christians is right: Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Savior? Our knowledge of Jesus should jump out of the Bible. Our knowledge of him should go beyond our catechism books and lessons. We should experience Jesus personally, like a real, close friend. We should feel like talking to a person when sitting with him in prayer. We should experience him walking and moving in our lives, even only in one brief moment. He should be as real to us as we are to our selves.
It is all right to take him aside sometimes and question his plans for us. But we should not be surprised if we are called “Satan” once in a while. And we should be ready to walk behind him always.
Jesus is real and true. He is listening and watching. He will not scold us but follow us like a cheering fan watching his best friend play his game of life. Jesus may be an approving father to you. But basically he is “I AM!”