I will be no less than I am.

"Set free from human judgment, we should count as true only what God sees in us, what he knows, and what he judges. God does not judge as man does. Man sees only the countenance, only the exterior. God penetrates to the depths of our hearts. God does not change as man does. His judgment is in no way inconstant. He is the only one upon whom we should rely. How happy we are then, and how peaceful! We are no longer dazzled by appearances, or stirred up by opinions; we are united to the truth and depend upon it alone. I am praised, blamed, treated with indifference, disdained, ignored, or forgotten; none of this can touch me. I will be no less than I am. Men and women want to play at being a creator. They want to give me existence in their opinion, but this existence that they want to give me is nothingness. It is an illusion, a shadow, an appearance, that is, at bottom, nothingness. What is this shadow, always following me, behind me, at my side? Is it me, or something that belongs to me? No. Yet does not this shadow seem to move with me? No matter: it is not me. So it is with the judgements of men: they would follow me everywhere, paint me, sketch me, make me move according to their whim, and, in the end, give me some sort of existence ... but I am disabused of this error. I am content with a hidden life. How peaceful it is! Whether I truly live this Christian life of which St. Paul speaks, I do not know, nor can I know with certainty. But I hope that I do, and I trust in God's goodness to help me."

— Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet, Meditations for Lent, p. 99-101

So who is Jesus to you?

“Who do YOU think I am? We hear it often and perhaps say it as often.

Jesus asked something similar to those around him. Except Jesus didn’t say, “Who do you THINK I am?”, Jesus said, “Who do you SAY I am?”

There is a difference. It is really uncomfortable being around Jesus because he demands that we say out loud our inner thoughts.

There are going to be a lot of pronouncements about who people say Jesus is in this week we call Holy Week in the Christian Church.

On this Palm Sunday, many will focus on the first story. The message will be about the children and some adults placing palm branches on the street and meek and mild Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem. The church might pass out palm branches and turn the service into a processional of some sort. If asked, “Who do you say Jesus is?” these folks will likely answer, “A man of peace who is worthy of praise and adoration.”

Some will go on and talk about the second event of Jesus’ life that day he came into Jerusalem. They will explore the story of Jesus turning over the tables of money changers in the Temple grounds. The righteous anger of Jesus will be pronounced and a declaration of Jesus as a disturber of the status quo will be made. If asked, “Who do you say Jesus is?” these people will likely say, “A man who demands righteousness and justice in the world, especially, among religious people.”

There are many who will only see these two stories as the prelude to the events coming up at the end of the week. Little attention will be paid to the events of “Palm Sunday.” After a brief recounting of “Palm Sunday” story, if it is mentioned at all, these speakers will talk about the Cross and Resurrection. If asked to answer the question, “Who do you say Jesus is?” these people will answer, “Jesus is the Savior of the World.”

What about you and me? How would we answer the question of Jesus, “Who do you SAY that I am?”

Ronald Friesen © 2018

Do we look like Jesus the Christ?

"I would, then, that I could convince spiritual persons that this road to God consists not in a multiplicity of meditations nor in ways or methods of such, nor in consolations, although these things may in their own way be necessary to beginners; but that it consists only in the one thing that is needful, which is the ability to deny oneself truly, according to that which is without and to that which is within, giving oneself up to suffering for Christ’s sake . . . For progress comes not save through the imitation of Christ, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no man comes to the Father but by Him."

— St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mt. Carmel, p. 91