Who Are You? What Are You Doing Here?

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” – Ephesians 2:10 On the surface, the questions “Who are you?” and “What are you doing here?” seem like easy ones to answer. I want to share a story that delves into the deeper meaning of these questions, as told by Rabbi Akiva, one of the foundational rabbis of Judaism. While traveling home to Capernaum, he was so engrossed in contemplating the meaning of God’s Word that he missed his hometown. As he looked at the scroll, he repeated the words over and over in his mind and thought deeper and deeper, until he finally ran into a Roman fortress. Looking up at the gates, he saw a Roman soldier looking down who asked him, “Who are you? What are you doing here?” Akiva answered with the question,