Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighborhood monk in dogs.
Welcome to another Lectio Divina in our series,
The Questions Jesus Asked.
And again,
If you're not well versed in Lectio Divina,
I encourage you and invite you to join me for a teaching session on the audio that you'll find over on my Insight Timer channel.
There's questions in life that shape everything that comes after.
Questions about direction,
About purpose,
About belonging,
But there's one question that reaches even deeper,
And that's the question of identity,
But not necessarily our identity at first,
But the identity of Jesus.
Now in Matthew chapter 16,
Jesus brings his disciples to a place called Caesarea Philippi.
It's a place that's filled with all these competing voices about power and gods and authority.
It's the sort of place where many claims about truth and meaning would have filled the air,
And it's here,
In the midst of all these voices,
That Jesus asks a question.
He first asks them what others are saying.
Who do people say the Son of Man is?
And the disciples respond with familiar answers.
Some say John the Baptist,
Others say Elijah,
Still others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
They're respectable answers,
They're faithful answers,
They're answers that are drawn from tradition and expectation of who the Messiah was supposed to be,
But then Jesus turns the question inward in verse 15,
He says to them,
But who do you say that I am?
And suddenly all those borrowed answers are no longer enough.
Tradition can't answer for the disciples this time.
Community can't answer for them.
Even familiarity with scripture can't answer this for them.
The question asks for something that's deeply personal.
He doesn't want their opinion.
He doesn't want to know what their theology is.
He doesn't want to know what others are saying.
He wants to know what they think.
Relationship,
Right?
Because how we understand Jesus shapes how we understand everything else.
If Jesus is a teacher,
We may listen,
But we may remain a little bit distant.
If Jesus is an example of how to live,
We might admire Jesus,
But keep control of our own lives.
If Jesus is truly Lord,
Truly present,
Truly the one who reveals the heart of God,
Then this changes everything.
And in the story,
It's Simon Peter,
As always,
Who speaks up.
You are the Messiah,
The son of the living God.
It's a moment of recognition.
It's one of those fleeting spaces of clarity.
A moment that shapes the future of his life,
Even.
But even Peter's understanding will continue to grow.
This is the Peter who's going to misunderstand and struggle and deny and fail,
But still.
The question remains at the center of his journey,
Because faith isn't built and can't be built on what others believe.
It's shaped by what we come to recognize ourselves.
And this question is still asked today.
Not just once,
But again and again and again across our lifetimes.
In moments of doubt,
Moments of joy,
Moments of uncertainty,
The question's still valid.
Who do you say that I am?
Not others,
Not what you were taught when you were a kid,
Not what you got out of that book you read.
But now,
Today,
Yourself,
In this moment.
Who do you say that I am?
So as you listen to the scripture,
And then in that time of silence and space between the three readings that we'll have,
Allow the scene to unfold in your imagination.
Notice the voices,
The setting,
The stillness before the question.
And listen for that word or phrase that God draws you to,
And sit with that and meditate and reflect on that in the silent time.
Asking God,
What do you want me to do with this?
How do you want me to respond to this?
How do I walk forward from this time of prayer with what you have brought to my attention today?
As we ask the Spirit of God to open our ears,
Our minds and our hearts to where our attention is drawn.
Let's begin.
Reading from Matthew chapter 16,
Verses 13 to 16.
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi,
He asked his disciples,
Who do people say the Son of Man is?
And they said,
Some say John the Baptist,
But others Elijah,
And still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
He said to them,
But who do you say that I am?
And Simon Peter answered,
You are the Messiah,
The Son of the living God.
Reading from Matthew chapter 16,
Verses 13 to 16.
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi,
He asked his disciples,
Who do people say the Son of Man is?
And they said,
Some say John the Baptist,
But others Elijah,
And still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
He said to them,
But who do you say that I am?
And Simon Peter answered,
You are the Messiah,
The Son of the living God.
Reading from Matthew chapter 16,
Verses 13 to 16.
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi,
He asked his disciples,
Who do people say the Son of Man is?
And they said,
Some say John the Baptist,
But others Elijah,
And still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
He said to them,
But who do you say that I am?
And Simon Peter answered,
You are the Messiah,
The Son of the living God.
Let us pray.
Jesus,
You ask us to name who you are,
Not in borrowed words or distant language,
But in the truth of our own hearts.
Give us courage to answer honestly.
Where our understanding feels uncertain,
Bring clarity.
Where our faith feels fragile,
Bring strength.
Where we rely on what others have said,
Lead us into deeper encounter.
Help us to recognize you,
Not only as teacher or guide,
But as the one who reveals God's living presence among us.
And as you have that question echoing within us,
Shape our hearts so that our lives themselves become the answer.
Amen.
And may grace,
Peace and love go with you and remain with you,
My friends,
Today and every day.
Amen.
Until next time.
Bye for now.
