The Ancient Witnesses

204 • The Ancient Witnesses: A Journey to Discover Our Sacred Roots

“To dispel such confusing thoughts,” he explained, “and to calm their storm-tossed faith—this is why Jesus asked his question, and not because he was unaware of what the crowds were saying about him. Consider the skillfulness of his question. He did not first say ‘Who do you say that I am?’ but asks what the people were saying about him. Once that was shown to be false, he could bring them back to the truth. For once the disciples had said, some say you are John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others a prophet . Then he said to them, But you, who do you say that I am? How full of meaning is that ‘you’! In this way he separated the disciples from all others, so they could avoid their errors and, in effect, he says to them, ‘You who have been chosen, who by my decree have been called to the apostleship, and who are the witnesses of my miracles, who do you say that I am?’” 70 I returned to our bench and wrote in my journal that Jesus’ two-fold question pushed the disciples to think for themselves and not just accept what the crowds were saying. Cyril continued his explanation: “Notice that it was Simon Peter who correctly answered Jesus’ question by saying, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God . This was a remarkable answer, for Jesus never would have said Blessed are thou, Simon if Messiah’s true identity was known by the crowds. And we must study Peter’s answer closely, for he does not simply say that He is ‘a’ Christ of God; but rather ‘the Christ.’ For, there are many who have been called ‘Christ,’ from

70 Cyril of Alexandria and R. Payne Smith 1859. Commentary upon the Gospel according to St. Luke (Oxford: Univ. Press), 215, modernized.