But Who Do you Say that I Am?
Matthew 16:13-17
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." He *said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
Jesus in his questioning of the disciples starts by asking them “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Why did Jesus ask the disciples this question? What was he trying to get at?
I like the Message translation: It says the Jesus “pressed them further”, Who do you say that I am?” By pressing them he was forcing the point home personally with each disciple.
It wasn’t enough to believe what everyone one else believed, or to follow the herd, or general consensus of the people, religious or otherwise. By pressing the disciples, he was forcing them to think and interact with him, to review in a sense all that they had experienced together but even more than that, to go beyond what they observed to what was being deposited in their hearts.
Notice the narrowing effect of Jesus’s questions: From - What do people say? To - What do you say? Somewhere along in our journey with Christ, we have to come to place where we have to stop believing because others believe a certain way, somewhere along the way in our journey into Christ we have to decide, who he is.
This is important especially for those who have grown up in and around a strong family and church tradition. In that tradition it is easy to begin to accept and believe in your parent’s faith or your church’s faith. There is nothing wrong with this, but somewhere along the way, Jesus will ask you, “Who do you say that I am?” At that point you will be faced with having to come to grips with the reality of this man who has said he is the Son of God. And to be clear, Jesus would have it no other way.
A quick review of the life Isaac and Jacob, you will see that God met each one of them individually, to review the covenant that He had made with their father and grandfather, Abraham. It was not enough for them to have what Abraham had, passed down to them, important as that was, it was just as important that God sealed what was handed down to them by their own personal encounter with the living God.
This was just as important for the disciples as it was for Isaac and Jacob. Each of the disciples had to come to the same place that Peter came to: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Notice that the revelation was not based on some sort of earthly assessment or resource. Jesus told Peter, “My Father in heaven has revealed this to you.” Study is important, reading is important, listening to sermons that point us toward Christ and the cross is important, but once all of that is done, somewhere along the way we need God by his Holy Spirit to combine, the Word with the Spirit and move us beyond just facts to a truth, or better yet the Living Truth, that speaks to our hearts and brings us eternal life.
The Truth, Jesus, has to become to us a living revelation that penetrates our minds and heart; challenges our thinking, bringing us to the place that we see Jesus as the Messiah, the anointed one, our savior, the Son of the Living God. If you are going to withstand the tests of our time, the philosophies of this world that creep into our thinking and all of the challenges that you will confront, this must be settled.
When Jesus was reviewing his stewardship of the disciples training with his Father, in John 17 he said,
"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. "Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.
I have bolded several words that are pivotal in Jesus’ review of his stewardship in these verses. They are:
• Your Name (the Father’s character, his way, his life as seen and lived by His Son)
• Your Word, Jesus the Word speaks to us with words, words that penetrate us and bring revelation.
• Now is the pivotal word, it moves us from Your Name, Your Word, to the last statement,
• “And they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You”. This was the point of Peter’s revelation. You are the Christ, the son of the living God.
The same way Jesus worked with the disciples is the same way he will work with you. He will manifest the Father’s name and the Father’s word. Jesus provides an outline of how you can move from believing and confessing what others believe and confess to having the revelation that did not come by flesh and blood, but by my Father who is in heaven. Are you willing to join Him in this journey?
