"When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son

of Man is?' They replied, 'Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets'" (Matthews 16:13-14).

Who do people say the Son of Man is?

Jesus asked His disciples this question. Their answers, as shown in the above quotation, show that they must have heard what the religious people were saying about Christ. They must have been friendly group of religious folk. That is to say, people who identified Jesus with John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets were apparently not His critics. The named prophets were respected. As the conversation continues, there emerges different groups of people as we shall see shortly. Keep in mind that Jesus is at the center and the emerging groups will be defined in relation to where Jesus stands: The First Group is Called SOLI There are people who identified Jesus with one of the acknowledged prophets but they were not necessarily His disciples. They were, however, His admirers. They are the people that I would describe as: Standing Outside, Looking InsideSOLI.

People who stand outside while looking inside are those that will say positive things about Jesus but would be reluctant to become His followers. Mahatma Gandhi belonged to this group (see chapter 9 in Mistake God Never Made at http://bit.ly/Z3PIdW).

But what about you, ...who do you say I am?

After Jesus listened to the chorus answers about what people say about Him as reported by His disciples, He asked them the above question (Matt. 16:15). This questioned silenced almost everybody. From this question emerged the second group as below: The Second Group is CalledSILO There are people who are quick to answer when the question points away from them. All the disciples, with the exception of Peter, belonged to this group. They were Standing Inside, Looking OutsideSILO. It was like they were looking outside to get answers about the identity of Christ. This means that it is not enough to be inside. It is one thing to be a follower of Christ, it is another where you look for answers. It doesnt matter how well soli talks of Christ, the best that you will know about Him is what the Father says about His Son or what the Son says about Himself: quotations come here (Matt. 3:17, 11:27, Mark 9:7). Let not what you know about Jesus be those things you hear others say. Seek God in His Word to get to know Him personally. The Third Group is CalledSILI Although I call it group, it only had one memberPeter. You remember when Jesus asked the first question, the disciples answered impetuously. How we are inclined to be prompt to say who Jesus is if the question is pointed away from us! It was only Peter who spoke, saying, You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16). Jesus commended Peter saying, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven (Matt. 16:17).

Peter can be therefore referred to as Standing Inside, Looking InsideSILI. True commitment comes when we get a revelation from above. This revelation brings conviction and it is the essence of true commitment. The Fourth Group is CalledSOLO This is the last group I want us to look at. It didnt emerge from Christs conversation with His disciples in Matthew 16 but it completes the kind of categorization I wanted to pursue in this article. When you go out there and ask people who Jesus is, they will tell you what they know about Him in relation to rumours and speculations they hear about Him. People tend to talk freely about what others say He is, or is supposed to be. This group can be referred to as Standing Outside Looking OutsideSOLO. I once gave an acquaintance a book to read. He refused because the book was Christian. He believed He was an atheist and wouldnt want to read anything that authenticates Christianity. I was surprised one day when this man joined in a discussion a friend and I were having about Christ. His inputs were irrelevant, irreverent and derogatory. I turned to him and asked: The other day I gave you a Christian book to read but you declined saying that you neither read the Bible nor Christian books. Now you seem to have a lot to say about Jesus, what are your sourcesfrom where did you get the information about Him? I must have been hard on him but I commanded him to hold his peace and stop talking about religious rumours. I would describe a person like that as solo. His claims cannot be relied upon when trying to establish the validity of Christianity and the identity of Christ. First, one gets informed about the Saviour, then transformed by placing his faith in Him (Rom. 10:14-15). The result is that he will talk out of conviction not out of confusion.
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Note to the reader: This article is a revised excerpt from the book: The Pursuit of Commitment (See, http://bit.ly/VOuNPL ).