Jesus My Everything

Matthew 16:15 – 16 “’But what about you?’ he asked? ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”

“Jesus is Everything.” Mother Teresa’s words are demonstrated by her selfless, Christlike actions – she was a friend to the poor, unabashedly loving society’s rejects and giving hope to the hopeless in her adopted country of India. How broken her heart must have been every time she lifted an untouchable out of the gutter to die in her arms or she fed and bathed a hungry, dirty orphan.

Through her actions, this humble woman proved that Jesus was more than a good man, a brilliant teacher or even a prophet sent by God. She knew in her heart that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and that knowledge empowered her with enough love for a lifetime of service.

In Matthew 16, Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was. Peter aced the pop quiz, calling him “the Son of the living God.” We all know that Peter wasn’t perfect. He was the one who had denied Jesus three times at Jesus’ trial. Yet at this key moment, he comprehended that Jesus was the Messiah God had promised for centuries. After Pentecost, Peter’s boldness allowed him to proclaim Christ’s identity whenever and wherever he could, regardless of the persecution and suffering it invited. Eventually, he was crucified for spreading the news that Jesus was God’s Son. Peter was crucified head down because he felt unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus. To the Apostle who once denied him, Jesus was everything; in fact, Jesus was the only thing.

The ONE who lived among us was God’s hands and feet. He gave us the very words of his father. He taught us how to love. He taught us how to give. And he taught us to die as a grain of wheat dies, so that the seeds of life are multiplied (see John 12:24)

Mother Teresa understood that was Jesus, there was no such thing as loving moderately. So did Peter. They showed others that Jesus was Lord of their lives by loving as he loved and serving as he served – continually, wholeheartedly and sacrificially.