“Who do the crowds say I am?”  Luke 9:18

When I was in 6th grade, the popular girls in my class at school developed a survey that was handed out to all the boys in our room.  The slips of paper listed the girls in our classroom with a line next to each name.  At the top were the instructions — “Put in order that you like.”  Brutal.

This was my first experience with a public opinion poll.  There it was, in black and white — my rating according to the studly sixth grade boys.  I was usually somewhere in the middle, depending on my status with the “cool” crowd that week.  When our teacher found out what was going on, he put the kibosh on all such surveys.  Bless him.

Jesus posed a question to His disciples, “Who do the crowds say I am?”  Everyone in town had an opinion — some said He was John the Baptist come back to life, others thought Jesus was a prophet, and there were those who believed He was an interesting man with some kind of extraordinary powers.  Nobody used the “M” word though.  Talk of a Messiah in public could get one kicked out of the synagogue.

Was Jesus really interested in the latest opinion poll?  Not in my opinion.

Did He care if He was #1 or #10 on the “like” list?  Not likely.

Jesus was giving His disciples a chance to explore the options,

but that can only go on for so long.

At some point you have to answer the follow up question…..