Not the Messiah you're expecting
Who was the first person to correctly identify Jesus as the Christ? It's a bit of a trick question, because depending on what gospel account you read, the first person was not a person.
In the gospel of Luke, the first creature to correctly identify Jesus as the Christ was an angel of the Lord:
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
~ Luke 2:11
In fact, Luke records Jesus being identified as the Messiah only five times. The first four are:
By angels (2:11)
By Luke, the narrator (2:26)
By demons (4:41)
By Jesus himself (4:18, and also after his resurrection)
Finally, in Luke 9:18-27, for the first time, Jesus is identified as the Christ by Peter and the Twelve.
"He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' And Peter answered, 'The Christ of God.'"
~ Luke 9:20
However, even though the Twelve correctly identify Jesus as the Christ, they still have much more to learn about the kind of Messiah Jesus will be.
For example, if we were to continue reading this Luke 9 passage, we'd discover that the disciples need to learn that Jesus “will suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priest and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (v22).
They also need to learn he is not the kind of Messiah that will fulfill nationalistic Jewish expectations to be a political and military leader against the Romans (hence the warning to tell no one in v21).
Finally, as my study bible points out, they need to learn what it will mean to be a follower of the kind of Messiah Jesus is (v23-27). They learn to “come after” (i.e. follow) Jesus means to:
Deny oneself (not simply denying certain things, but denying personal control of one’s life)
Take up one’s cross (make a commitment that will lead to rejection and possibly death)
Follow Jesus (follow his example and teachings)
The same is true of us today. When we come to Jesus we may know a little or a lot about him. Yet over the course of our lifetime he teaches us what kind of Messiah he is and what it means to follow him. No matter where we are in the journey, there’s always room to be further surprised, because it’s a lifelong learning process. It’s OK to not know everything at the beginning of our journey with Christ.
PAUSE and REFLECT: This advent season, have you correctly recognized that Jesus - this baby born in a manger thousands of years ago - is the Christ? I'm guessing that because you signed up for this email, the answer is yes.
So the more important question for us may be, have you correctly recognized the kind of Christ Jesus is - meek, humble, servant-hearted, yet not our personal servant?
Finally, have you correctly identified what it means to follow Jesus? In other words, have you given up personal control of your life to him, are you willing to face rejection from the world for him, and are you striving to live by his example and teachings?
As mentioned, it's OK to "be on the way" (i.e. not have this following Jesus thing down perfectly yet). Let's make today a new starting point in our spiritual journey. At this point in time, what do you need to do to see the kind of Messiah Jesus is more clearly, and to follow him more fully?