Luke 9:18-22

Our Lord once asked his disciples, Who do people say that I am?” According to a story, the theologian among them answered: “You are the eschatological manifestation of the foundation of our Being, and the ‘kerygma’ in which we find the ultimate signification of our interpersonal relations.” Shaking his head, our Lord replied, “I guess I have to send down the Holy Spirit to reach you.”

Simon Peter gave the correct answer when he declared, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” But lest the people and the disciples misunderstood what the “messiah” meant, Jesus now told them bluntly that “he was destined to go to Jerusalem to suffer grievously and to be put to death.” To further douse cold water on their triumphalistic hopes and expectations, he added, “If anyone wants to be my follower, let him renounce himself, carry his cross and follow me.”

Yes, this is Jesus, the Son of God, who suffered and died for us. He is the Savior of mankind, the Savior of the world.

But the question is, do we really know Jesus? Some people think that they already know Jesus because they read much about him in the Scriptures, or because somebody told them about him. They must have heard the name of Jesus during their catechism class, or when they to go to mass on Sundays. But is that all we know about him? Is he simply one of those religious personalities that we have heard of?

The ‘Born Again’ Christians have a noted expression: “Jesus is my personal Savior.” Yes, indeed. Unless we experience the loving presence of Christ in our life; unless we accept him as our Lord and Savior; unless we abide by his teachings and imbibe his values in our lives – then we really don’t know Him. To know Him is to live like Him, to be possessed by His mystery, to be ‘alter Christus’(to be like Christ), when you can say like St. Paul, “It is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me.”

Many of us call ourselves Christians and followers of Christ. But sad to say, it remains only in name. A follower of Christ is one who has opened his heart to Christ, and is ready to do his will. It is one who lives the life of Christ, one who is ready to carry his cross everyday, and is willing to follow him all the way – even to Calvary.