WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?

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In Christ, Mark

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” He asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Then He ordered His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Messiah.

Matthew 16:13-20

“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 

Matthew 18:18

 

Jesus and His disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way He asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about Him.

Mark 8:27-30

Once when Jesus was praying in private and His disciples were with Him, He asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”

“But what about you?” He asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 

Luke 9:18-21

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It might seem hard to believe today as Christianity has advanced more than 2,000 years but there was a time when Jesus suffered from a bonafide identity crisis. He had come just as the prophets had predicted with events in His life aligning with those predictions and still people were too blind to see He was indeed the Messiah, the Son of God Himself who had been sent by His Father to save all mankind.

We find this matter of identity crisis at the forefront of today’s scripture excerpts from three of the four gospels with John being the only outlier. We’ll look at the words from Matthew’s account again here:

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” He asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Then He ordered His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Messiah.  Matthew 16:13-20

As the passage opens, we find Jesus having traveled north of the Sea of Galilee to the city of Caesarea Philippi, named by the Roman tetrarch Philip, the son of Herod the Great. Philip named the city Caesarea Philippi to pay homage first to Caesar, the Roman Emperor, and then himself. It was here that we find Jesus asking His disciples an open ended question:

“Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

Knowing the whisperings of the people, the disciples told Jesus:

“Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

In other words, the people were confused as to Jesus’ identity. They really didn’t quite know who He was but the majority of the guesses were that He was no more than another special messenger sent by God, a messenger of the ilk of John or Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.

Jesus received this response but then we find Him asking a follow up question:

“But what about you? Who do you say I am?”

Not surprisingly, we find Peter speaking up first and saying:

“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

We read where these words were like beautiful music to Jesus’ ears as He immediately speaks these words of praise to Peter, words that surely indicated to him and the rest of the disciples that Jesus was exactly who Peter said He was:

“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

In essence, Jesus was giving Peter a huge atta-boy in the presence of his peers but note He doesn’t credit Peter with speaking such words of profound truth on his own. Rather, we find Jesus redirecting all the recognition to God, His Father and Peter’s, the One who sends all truth to His people from the heavens through the work of the Holy Spirit.

And because Peter had allowed himself to be led by God to Jesus’ proper identity, he would receive a reward, a treasure from heaven for his humble submission to the divine leading of his heart, mind, and soul. Jesus promised Peter that he would be the rock on which He would build His church and that this church built on the rock would never be overcome. Jesus promised Peter something better than the keys to any city or earthly kingdom; He assured Peter that the very keys of heaven would be given to him.

What was Jesus getting at?

He was giving Peter a foreshadowing of what was to come, a time when Peter would use the Gospel to either loose people for heaven, bringing them to find their salvation through Jesus, their Savior, or bound them if they refused to accept the Gospel offer of salvation. Those choosing to remain shackled in their sins would be destined to face God’s eternal wrath and judgment through damnation.

Salvation or damnation?

Peter would hold the key and that key would be the Gospel as we see in this passage from the Book of Acts after Jesus ascended to sit at God’s right hand:

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on My servants, both men and women, I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing Him to the cross. But God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. David said about Him:

“‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, You will not let Your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence.’”

“Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said:

“‘The Lord said to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.  Acts 2:14-41

These happenings occurred immediately after the Holy Spirit had come upon the believers gathered at Pentecost and note how eloquently Peter uses the keys to the kingdom of heaven, the Gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, to loose about three thousand people from sure judgment and destruction. All because He knew who Jesus was and wasn’t afraid to tell others.

Friends, we have all been called to be like Peter, empowered with a powerful message of eternal life for all who would place their belief, faith, hope, and trust in a Savior named Jesus, the only One who can bring someone to God the Father forever. For there is a still a major identity crisis today with so many not knowing who Jesus truly is. The Lord wants to use us to clear up any confusion and give it to people straight.

After that, the choice is theirs (to be loosed or bound) because they would have been told exactly who Jesus is by those He called and empowered to do so, those who like Peter can properly answer the question:

“Who do you say I am?”

Amen.  

In Christ,

Mark

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