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Who do you say that I am?

Matthew 16: 13-20 Jesus is with his disciples and asks a most peculiar question: “who do people say that the Son of Man is?”. Jesus often refers to himself as ‘the son of man’ so the question is ‘who am I?’. When the disciples say that some people say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets, Jesus is still more direct “But who do YOU say that I am?”. I don’t think for a moment that Jesus is asking for his own benefit – he’s not having a crisis of identity or confidence, he’s not wanting his disciples to say nice things about him. Jesus is asking because he knows it’s a question the disciples need to think about ‘who do you say that I am?’ or in other words ‘who am I to you?’. This is a vital question to answer because the disciples’ answer to that question is going to give direction to the whole of the rest of their lives. Is this John the Baptist, or Elijah, or another prophet? Is this someone come to