"Who do you say I am"

Here are my notes from a talk I'm giving tonight for an RCIA class on the person of Christ.
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“Who do you say I am?” (Mk 8:29)

-Who is Jesus?
-How would we properly begin to answer that question?

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mk 8:30)

- Church’s initial response (St. Peter)
- 2000 years of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition have developed the Church’s answer

- mission of the Catholic Church is to preach the person of Jesus Christ; started with the Apostles


Person of Jesus Christ
a. Christ is the Word (Logos)

John 1:1-5 – “In the beginning was the Word"
- divine nature of Christ


b. Christ is the Word became flesh

John 1:14 - “The Word became flesh”
- human nature of Christ

Mystery of person of Christ (1 person, 2 natures)
- fully human and fully divine


c. Christ is the Truth about God

- revealed to the world
- “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (Jn 14:6)

The Way – he reveals the Father and the way to Father
The Truth- the words he proclaims are from the Father
The Life- “everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (Jn 3:15)

- “I was born for this, I came into the world for this, to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice” (Jn 18:37)


d. Christ is the Vine (we are the branches) – John 15

- not just an historical figure
- Christ is center of human experience: “salvation history”

- everything B.C. leads to Him; Christ referred to throughout O.T. / prophets

“the virgin is with child and will give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel” (Is 7:15; cf Mt 1:23); Immanuel= “God is with us”


- everything A.D. goes back to Christ

“He exists before all things
and in him all things hold together,
and he is the Head of the Body,
that is, the Church”
- Col 1:17-18


e. Christ is Kingdom of Heaven, Kingdom of God, Eternal Life

- “the Kingdom of heaven is close at hand” (Mt 4:17)

- Matthew: “Kingdom of Heaven”
- Mark: “Kingdom of God"

-“ whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (John 6:54)
- The Eucharist dwelling within us = eternal life dwelling within us

- in all the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, we encounter the person of Christ

- “who do you say that I am (in the Eucharist)?”; you are the Christ, the Son of the living God (under the forms of bread and wine)


Discussion questions

1. Do you have a relationship with the person of Christ? How important is it to you? Is He the most important person in your life?

2. In what ways can we preach the person of Christ to the world? Is it only through words? How do you teach others about Jesus?

3. Do you want to join the Church in her mission to preach the person of Jesus Christ?

4. If one of your friends asks you, “who is Jesus”, how would you respond? Has tonight’s class helped you to better answer that question? Why or why not?