Know Him

There is always a temptation to declare my identity as something too small to really capture my true self. The key to never falling for that is to know Jesus Christ!

“Identity politics” is all the rage now. We take a few words or feelings about ourselves, weave an entire identity out of our undisciplined passions, and call it a “community.” We segment the population into “rich” or “poor,” “white” or “black,” or “Hispanic” or any other made-up group, and then we dump folks into the buckets we think they belong all the while, we don’t know these persons at all.

How do you think this works out for our “Educated” and “Affluent” society?

It’s a disaster, and our descent into making politics a religion has segmented us to the point of no return. But, hey, “divide and conquer” has always been the evil one’s method. Add to that the dehumanizing reduction of persons into silos of identity that describe just a small part of their true selves and you compound the problem of building a healthy society.

On the other hand, the desire for an authentic knowing of ourselves and a knowing of others is natural, sound, and necessary. It’s hard work knowing someone else. It takes time, patience, love, and even a healthy curiosity!

Identity is very significant. The disaster comes when we reduce our identity to a fantasy or just one aspect of ourselves. So, how do we come to a healthy identity?

Look at our lesson today in Luke 9:18-22:

At that time, it happened that as Jesus was praying alone the disciples were with him; and he asked them, “Who do the people say that I am?” And they answered, “John the Baptist; but others say, Elijah; and others, that one of the old prophets has risen.” And he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” But he charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

This scene in Luke’s Gospel is a pivotal moment for the disciples. They are confronted with the question that every one of us has to answer at some point in our lives: “Who is Jesus Christ?” The Lord starts by asking the disciples what they hear among the people. Who do the people say Jesus is? And the disciples give the answers that seem even to be popular today. Jesus is the reincarnated “Ascended Master” of this or that great teacher. Jesus is a revolutionary, and so on.

But then the Lord confronts the men closest to Him who have traveled with Him, seen His ministry and actions, and heard His wisdom. He asks them, “Who do YOU say that I am?”

St. Peter, always impetuous, jumps in and answers for the group: “You are the Christ (Anointed One) of God.” Yep. Peter gets it right.

If we miss Jesus's identity, we automatically guarantee that we will also misunderstand our own identity. You may ask, “Why?” and I’m happy to share.

First, Jesus is God in the flesh. He is fully God! The Church tells us that God loves His creation so much that He entered into His creation through the Virgin birth and the godly young woman we know as Mary, the Theotokos. Jesus being God Himself means He is our creator, so He will know who we are better than anyone else, including ourselves! God created you. God knows you. God loves you. God wants you to know yourself. So, God comes among you as one of you to show you WHO YOU are created to be!

Next, Jesus is fully Man. Jesus takes on a full humanity, except sin, and He lives as a fully human Person. By coming to us as fully human, He makes visible His intention for humanity when He created us. He lives among us as One of us and gathers all it means to be genuinely human into His Self. By seeing Him and watching Him and entering into communion with Him, we can now know what it means to be truly Human, created in God’s image to be made into His likeness!

Finally, Jesus enters into real suffering, death, and life again to show us the extent God will go for us and our salvation. Jesus suffers real suffering so that we know our sufferings are real AND survivable! Jesus enters into death (physical mortality) to show us that He intends to abolish the power of death ever to hold us as slaves ever again. Jesus is the Savior of humanity, and seeing His love and sacrifice for us invites us to love and sacrifice for others. He shows us what humans can be IF ONLY they know Him, love Him, and live in community with Him!

St. Cosmas was born in Jerusalem in the 8th century AD. He was orphaned early in life and was adopted by a Christian named Sergius. Sergius had another son named John. By the way, John would grow to become St. John of Damascus (Dec. 4th) and a great defender of Orthodoxy and the deity of Christ. St. Cosmas raised with St. John and having the same instructor in education and faith, would become a bishop in the Church and a great hymn composer. He composed the Canon of The Holy Cross for September 14th and the Canon for the Nativity of Christ. It is always fascinating to see how every hero of the Faith always finds a way to use his or her gifts to draw us back to Jesus Christ and to have us reorient our focus and perspective on Him, Who IS the Source of our Authentic Identity!

So today, do you know yourself THROUGH knowing Who Christ is? The fallen world will attempt to convince you to believe you are your passions, skin tone, education, or bank account. But that is always TOO SMALL! You are made to be like Christ so that your eternity granted to you by His loving gift will be enjoyed forever. Living Orthodox on Purpose is the only way to know Jesus and yourself!

P.S. You are a guide of Orthodoxy, a teacher of piety and modesty, a luminary of the world, the God-inspired pride of monastics. O wise Cosmas, you have enlightened everyone by your teachings. You are the harp of the Spirit. Intercede to Christ our God for the salvation of our souls.

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Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV