WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?: Will The Real Jesus Please Stand Up?

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I – “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.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16:13-15 – NIV)

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II – “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” ― Anne Lamott

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III – “I think we are in a moment where Jesus is a victim of identity theft… -Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock ________________________________

IV – “Jesus did not come to change the mind of God about humanity (it did not need changing)! Jesus came to change the mind of humanity about God.” ― Richard Rohr

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V – “The Bible is only as good and decent as the person reading it.” ― Dan Savage

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VII – “Jesus supposedly lived over 2,000 years ago. We don’t have his voice. We don’t have his handwriting. We don’t have a single thing he himself actually recorded or preserved. All we have are stories. Stories written decades after his death by people who never met him in person. And those stories only cover maybe three years of his life—just a handful of moments, parables, and miracles, scattered across time and text. And yet… we’ve turned those fragments into doctrines. We’ve built moral codes, churches, political systems, entire identities around what other people said about him. And I don’t know… something about that has never quite sat right with me. I’ve always wondered: why didn’t Jesus write anything down? If he was really God in the flesh—the only one ever to be that—why wouldn’t he use his divine power to make sure his words were recorded, preserved, protected? Why didn’t he leave us something direct? Something undeniable? Instead, we’re left with layers of interpretation. And now, everyone’s got their own version of “Jesus.” I’ve met hundreds of people who say they have a personal relationship with him—and yet no two versions of him look exactly the same. Some see a loving, nonjudgmental mystic. Others see a king, demanding obedience and worship. Some follow a Jesus who preaches peace and inclusivity. Others follow one who’s always already to cast people into hell. So who’s right? Who is Jesus? Honestly, I’m starting to think… maybe we don’t know. Maybe we can’t know. Maybe what we call “Jesus” is less about who he was and more about who we are. Maybe Jesus is a mirror—reflecting back to each of us our deepest beliefs, our buried wounds, our unconscious projections. Maybe we don’t see Jesus clearly because we’re still looking at him through the lens of our ego. Judgmental people? Their Jesus judges. People addicted to certainty? Their Jesus punishes doubt. People who’ve done deep inner work and opened their hearts? Their Jesus looks like unconditional love. What if Jesus has always been a mirror? A way for us to see ourselves? Not to worship him—but to wake up to us. And maybe that’s what’s been lost. We pedestalized him. We made him untouchable. We turned him into a divine exception rather than a divine example. And in doing so, we forgot that the whole point might’ve been to realize that what was in him… is also in us. Maybe the real gospel isn’t “Jesus is the son of God.” Maybe it’s: So are you. Maybe it’s not “Worship me.” Maybe it’s: Follow me—into the divine truth of your own being. Because the moment we stop worshiping Jesus and start embodying what he pointed to, everything changes. We stop asking, “Who’s right?” and start living, “What is love?” We stop drawing lines around who’s in or out and start realizing there were never lines to begin with. Only illusions of separation. Only walls we inherited and called holy. And maybe—just maybe—the kingdom of God really is within us. Not in a book. Not in a belief. But in the quiet stillness of our own being. The real question isn’t “Who is Jesus?” It’s “Who are you?” – Logan Barone