Whom Say Ye

Jesus asked His disciples two questions that day near Caesarea Philippi, and the first one was easy: "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" They had plenty of answers: John the Baptist, Elias, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Every answer was kind, every answer was wrong, and each was only a report of what other people thought. Then Jesus turned the question on them: "But whom say ye that I am?"

Peter answered rightly, in the strongest words he had: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus told him where that answer came from: "flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." It is the high point of Matthew's Gospel so far. Straight after it, Jesus began to explain that He must "go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day."

Six verses after the best answer anyone gives Jesus in this Gospel, the same man takes Him aside and says, "Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee." And Peter hears, "Get thee behind me, Satan." So this warning is aimed at believers more than doubters. You can give the right answer sincerely, God Himself can have shown it to you, and you can still pull back from what it asks of you.

Yet Jesus did not send Peter away. He went on teaching him about the cross, and six days later He took Peter up the mountain with James and John. The right answer is where following Jesus begins, and He is patient with everyone still learning what it means.

Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 212 is God Cannot Lie (Numbers 23:19).

All 365 readings in Daily Manna, Year Two