And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ."
Jesus doesn't ask the crowd's opinion first. He turns to the twelve people who have actually walked with him and asks them directly: who do you say that I am? Not what has the group decided, not what would be safe to answer — what do you actually think, based on what you've seen.
That's an uncomfortable kind of question, because it can't be outsourced. Peter doesn't cite scripture or repeat a rumor. He just says it: you are the Christ. It's a real answer, ventured out loud, before he understands half of what it will cost him.
Maybe you've never been asked this question so plainly. Most people are allowed to have vague, borrowed impressions of who Jesus was and leave it there. But the question was never really about the crowd's theories. It's personal, and it's still being asked.
If Jesus turned and asked you that same question right now, what would your honest answer be?
A short video on this is coming soon — for now, read on.