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Who Is That Man?
By Vinnie MacIsaac
Who Is That Man?
Jesus.
Who is that man?
Who is Jesus?
Who is Jesus to you now?
At this minute?
Today?
At this hour?
Is he a historical figure? A religious Icon, maybe? Maybe he is just your culture. Lots of people, after all, grow in churches but never grow up in the faith. Jesus could be your fairytale, right? He is who you count on when the chips are down. But if the chips are up, he just becomes another piece a free-floating obligation in that back of your mind that you will get back too as soon as new next crisis lands. Oh, maybe he is like the genie in the bottle, you know a superstitious good luck charm that you rub when you are feeling anxious and out pops three wishes!
I like Jesus. I like Jesus when he gives me shiny things, or at least when I think I need shiny things. How about you? When do you really, like Jesus best? Oh, I know, is it when he is on your side in a debate, or political argument, or opinion? Is it when he puts your Democrat or Republican friend in check? It is always helpful when you can just point to him and say, “I am being obnoxious about my stand because of Jesus!” Really? As if Jesus cared about your vote more than your soul!
Isn’t Jesus more than the bearded icon we get to stick on or favorite cause? Isn’t Jesus more than a crutch during our struggles? Isn’t Jesus more than what I give him room to be in my heart to be? And for some, Jesus is just a hobby they play at. He is something to “tinker with.” When they feel like church, they go. When they feel like praying, they do.
Ceasera of Phillpi[1] was a bastion of pagan temples dedicated to the idols of the era of Jesus. It was the home of the God of Pan[2], it was where Baal Gad[3] had been worshipped, and among the vast array of pagan idols, gods, and nymphs worshiped. There was even a mass temple dedicated to Roman worship of Emperor Augustus present among the variety of idolatry. The site was located north of the Sea of Galilee just south of what we’d now call Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon and a vast river from the spring of Grotto gushed out of the site making it appear supernaturally changed with life!
The disciples had to be awestruck when that saw all the open idolatry. Looking around from temple to temple, from pagan worshipper to Jew, Jesus turned and said to his own disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”[4]
They wisely responded with the safe answer, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
Basically, we don’t want to get this wrong so, we will cover all the suitable first-century Jewish bases. But there is no playing it safe with Jesus! Jesus is never interested in safe shallow answers. So, amidst the all the noise and bustle, all the pagan worshippers coming and going, Jesus takes a step in, makes direct eye contact and demands unsafe answers, “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
“There is no playing it safe with Jesus! Jesus is never interested in safe shallow answers.”
Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, blurts out, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” And Jesus tells him that such an answer is not something his earthly Father could have told him, but rather that is something flesh and blood can’t know without the Spirit of our Father in Heaven.
“And I tell you that you are Peter[5],” Jesus continued, “and on this rock [The truth of who I am], I will build my church, and the gates of Hell[6] will not overcome it.”
Now that Jesus has asked his questions, it’s my turn to ask mine, “How is Hell going in your life?” Are to knocking down its gates and, “saving others by snatching them from the fire of hell,”[7] or has Hell invaded your life, knocked you down, and invaded your camp? Careful, because knowing the real answer to that is everything!
It is one or the other. Either, you know who Jesus is, and the truth of that answer has your bags packed and has sent you to knock down the very gates of Hell; or you don’t know him past safe answers. And, again, my dear sweet friends, the road to damnation, is always paved with safe answers. Jesus never accepts them, “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
I am going to ask again;
Who Is That Man?
Jesus.
Who is that man?
Who is Jesus?
Who is Jesus to you now.?
At this minute?
At this minute?
Today?
At this hour?
Appendix:
Gallery of photos of my visit to the ruins of Ceasera of Phillpi.
Click thumbnail for full resolution image.
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Footnotes:
[1] A shrine located at the southwestern base of Mount Hermon.
[2] The Nature God, where the idea of Pantheism comes from.
[3] The Master God of Luck.
[4] See Matthew 16 for the full exchange in detail.
[5] A rock, a stone, a stone in the living temple Jesus is building, see 1 Peter 2:5.
[6] Hell or Hades, the grave, the abode of the dead, the place of no return.
[7] Jude 1:23
