Article July 9, 1938 Issue

"Whom say ye that I am?"

ALBERT F. GILMORE

It is apparent to the student of the four Gospels that as Jesus progressed in his holy ministry he became increasingly convinced of the sacred importance of his mission. As the understanding grew upon him that he was the very Messiah, with all that this conviction implied, he saw the necessity of impressing his followers as to his status and position as Saviour and Way-shower to mankind. Otherwise, his message, per se, might not carry the weight it deserved. Its source must be known. If, as many believed, he was just another teacher, a rabbi, preaching to the people, with only the inspiration and authority common to his class, his holy mission would not be recognized and his message would fail. But knowing as he did that he was commissioned of God to reveal to humanity the Christ, Truth, which alone is its Saviour, then he must be known in his true role as the Son of God, the Anointed, the Redeemer of mankind.

None can gainsay that the long hours devoted to prayer in holy communion with his Father, God, brought the assurance which gave authority to his words and enabled him to convince his sympathetic followers both of his relation to God and of his mission as the Messiah. It was out of the depth of understanding as to his spiritual status that he could declare, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Without this absolute conviction as to his real nature and the mission to which he had been commissioned, his words might, indeed, have sounded hollow. When uttered with divine authority, they were fraught with tremendous import to humanity. The problem, then, which he faced was to convince his disciples, and as many others as possible, of his status as the Son of God. His purpose was in no sense to exalt his human personality, but to reveal God as the loving Father, ever prepared to meet the needs of humanity.

No better evidence of Jesus' unquenchable desire that he be known in his true role of Messiah appears in the Gospels than the experience related in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew. Yearning to be understood, one day at Caesarea Philippi, he suddenly asked his disciples, "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" Was he merely a mortal, a rabbi, born of the flesh? To his query came the reply, "Some say that thou art John the Bapist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets." This reply proves that his divinity and mission were not understood. Dissatisfied with the answer, and determined to elicit their own view of himself, he put the query directly, "But whom say ye that I am?" Others might not have caught the spirit of his words and works. The people might be excused for misunderstanding him. But his beloved disciples who had companioned with him day by day, surely they could have no such excuse. And one at least did know. Impetuous Peter knew, and out of his spiritual perception declared, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

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