The name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. There's a very special point here. Notice it's our lord says to them, what does the crowd, the hoi polloi, what does the crowd think of me? In other words, the people outside of you, the libraries of books that have been written about me, the teachers who've been at their desks and given lectures about me, the priests, the prophets, what did they all say about me?
And then, you know what the the answer of the crowd. But then, our Lord points to his disciples, but what do you individually you think of me? And last night when I was reading this over the thought, this is a pretty important point. What do I think of Jesus? You know, whether I liked it or not, I've had to read a lot of books.
I've heard a lot of opinions no more more not later than just this past few days. There's plenty of things. When you say who is Jesus Christ, you get all the answers you want. All kinds of answers. You don't have to leave the the confines of your bedroom to get it over the radio or something.
What do you think of Jesus Christ? Now, it's not a mere matter of thinking. Newman made a strong point of this. He was he was very fearful of people who got their religion from books and it stopped with the books. That's very easy you can be very look, one of the one of the most popular lives of Jesus Christ was written by a Frenchman who was a self professed atheist.
And Boltman who's supposed to be the great man in scripture. Well, he is whether we like it or not. I don't know whether he I don't know what he believed about Jesus Christ. He believed I'm sure he thought he existed, but that's about it. And yet, there was probably no man of his time more learned about Jesus Christ than Voltmann.
B u l t m a n n, you know, the great scripture scholar. Ask father Brown about it. What you see, Christ is a Christ is an a force. Christ isn't a book. No more than twenty four hours ago, I was told that the priesthood is a priesthood of the book.
The priesthood is not the priesthood of a book. As Newman said, suppose, I just read it. Suppose by some fantastic miracle, all of scripture was washed out. No. It is it supposed to get it off and put on a computer.
Somebody by forgot to put a protector in there and the lightning came and washed it out. See, that's a possibility. Supposing all the scripture were washed out, would there still be a church of Jesus Christ? Would we would we still be be faithful or be followers of a of a of of the son of God who came on earth? My answer to that is a definite yes.
The church existed about a hundred years before we had the New Testament in its fullest. We are not a priesthood of book. We are a priesthood of the living Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ is not a book. He's a living voice.
Now, I'm not saying the man Peter over there in Roman, I guess, it's it's hard to keep track of him, but it's think he's still on the universe called the world. Some place around, it's hard to keep track of John Paul, I'll tell you. But the point is we don't say that is Christ or do or do we? And if we do, what is the sense in which we do it? And if and what the way we answer that is going to be have to be pre answered in our Lord's question.
You and you and you, who do you say that I am? And who do you say that I am in your life? It's not enough to know the life of Christ. There have been right now, there are plenty of scholars who are very intimately acquainted with the scriptures. I mean, they know it and they may not even believe in the divinity of Christ.
None of them now reject his historicity. Although, in my early years it was. Some of your greatest scholars didn't think he even existed. What do you individually you think of Jesus Christ? Not don't hold up the New Testament say there.
How many people read the New Testament? I mean, read it. Have it on the refrigerator. Open it up. Have it in a very cheap bound paper so if it would get sold, you can burn it.
Get a new one. How how do you become intimate with Christ? By breathing air, by planting the fields, going to your job? Maybe yes. Yes.
Maybe so. And maybe not so. What do you think of Jesus Christ? In the name of the father, and the son, and holy spirit. Amen.