People have answered that question in a lot of ways over the years.
Jesus has been called the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, the Only Begotten Son of the Most High, the Anointed, the Christ, Beautiful Savior, Light of the World, Good Shepherd... and so many other things that look nice on a church’s wayside pulpit!
Every time we try to pigeonhole Jesus into just this one camp or just that one singular understanding, the scriptures remind us that even in his own time people struggled to know and understand him, and fumbled with the right turns of phrase to truly capture what Jesus was and is.
Just when we think we know Jesus as the all loving, all caring, peace-monger he curses a fig tree and kills it or goes stomping around the Temple with whip in hand chasing out the money changers. Just when we think we know Jesus as the bringer of the revolution ready to topple the earthly kingdoms and forcibly remove the world’s oppressors he tells us to love our enemies and turn the other cheek. Jesus, it seems, always has another side for us to ponder, and another surprising revelation to give. It’s not easy to know Jesus, much less to follow him.
This Sunday we inherit Peter's good confession ("You are the Christ. The son of the living God.") from Matthew 16:13-20 as our scripture reading. Which means that we get the chance to wrestle with Christ's question all over again, "Who do YOU say that I am?"
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