If you are tired of those self-important jerks who like to shout out “Do you know who I am?” you will enjoy how this airport employee got sweet revenge.
A crowded Virgin Airlines flight was cancelled. A single attendant was rebooking a long line of inconvenienced travelers.
Suddenly, an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped his ticket down on the counter and said, “I have to be in this flight and it has to be first class!”
“I am sorry, sir. I’ll be happy to help you, but I have got to help these other people first. I am sure we will be able to work something out, “replied the attendant.
The passenger was not impressed. He shouted so that the passengers behind him could hear, “Do you know who I am?”
Without hesitating, the attendant smiled, grabbed her public address microphone and said “May I have your attention, please?” she began. Her voice was heard throughout the terminal.
“We have a passenger here at Gate Number 14. He does not know who he is. If any of you could help him find his identity, please come to gate 14,” she said.
“Who do people say I am?” Jesus asked His disciples. It is the same question as the airport incident, but its meaning and purpose of the question are not the same.
“Some say, you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah. Still others say that you are Jeremiah,” the disciples said to Jesus.
“But what about you? Who do you think I am?” Jesus asked the disciples.
“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” Peter responded.
Jesus claimed to be God. Because of this, the Jewish leaders wanted Him dead. They handed Him over to Pontius Pilate. They killed Him.
“In claiming to be God, Jesus was one of the three things. He was a lunatic, a liar or Lord,” C.S. Lewis wrote.
Here are the three possibilities:
Number one: Jesus says that he is God. He thinks he is God. Actually, he is not God. Then he is a delusional lunatic.
Number two: Jesus says he is God and knows that he is not God, but says he is God anyway. Then he is a wicked liar.
Number three: Jesus says He is God. He actually is as he claims to be.
We know that Jesus was not a lunatic. His words and deeds did not reflect lunacy.
We know that Jesus was not a wicked liar. A wicked liar does not love as Jesus did. A wicked liar does not sacrifice his life for other people as Jesus did.
So we can conclude that Jesus is Lord; that Jesus is God.
We know that Jesus rose from the dead. If Jesus is not God, how can we explain the resurrection?
Our only answer is – Jesus is God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Jesus is God in the flesh.
In Jesus, God became man, like us. Jesus suffered and died for us.
Jesus rose from the dead so all of us, with no exception, might share in His life forever.
Some people ask, “If Jesus is God, why is it that so many people do not follow Him? Why are there so many people who are not Christians?”
One of the many possible answers to the question may be what Mahatma Gandhi once said: “I do not reject Jesus. I love Jesus. I am not a Christian because so many Christians are unlike Jesus. If Christians really live their lives according to Jesus’ teachings as found in the Scriptures, all of India would be Christians today.”.
Gandhi read the Scriptures daily. He said he loved the Sermon on the Mount. His favorite prayer was written by a Catholic priest. He did not have pictures of Buddha or Krishna hung in his office, but did have a portrait of Jesus.
“The world is tired of our talk as Christians,” Pope St. John Paul II said. “The world wants to see us live our faith.”
When we commit to follow Jesus, we also commit to live our lives in a manner that the watching world may have a glimpse of God’s character – His love, mercy and justice.