He asked them …

So they were in Caesarea Philippi ,

Amidst the Roman spectacle of glorious shrines and mighty statues.

Wonder why that day he asked them those two questions,

He could have just promptly asked them the second one.

But He first asked: Who do the ‘others’ say I am?

And there was a barrage of answers from them.

He always began with the easy; may it was a setup?

Then when he asked: What about you?

They were speechless, casting nervous glances at each other,

They justifiably feared they would get it wrong again.

Peter rescued them. ‘You are the Christ’, he said.

And the very next thing he uttered

Showed he was as clueless as the others.

Jesus, how we love to contain you in a jar of pious names,

Your thousand lovely names, from our books and sermons.

But You ruthlessly ask me:

Forget what books say, forget what sermons say,

Who do ‘you’ say I am?

And every time I respond,

You shatter my worldview into bits again.