Who is this guy named Jesus any way? As we journey back over the ages in this series of messages we will explore some of the questions that Jesus asked, as well as some of the questions that people asked of Him. As our journey progresses we will discover that the Bible is not really out of touch with modern society since many of the issues people struggled with in the first century are still issues we struggle with today. The series will also force us to make a decision about who we think Jesus really is. Today’s text takes us to an intimate gathering when Jesus asks a simple question to those that were closest to Him. “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” If we really think about it, this question just will not go away. It forces us to deal with Him, even when we would rather not. “Who do you say I am?” We would much rather debate whether He is an actual historical figure, or what really happened in all those recorded miracles or how He saw Himself. We squirm and break out into a cold sweat when we are forced to say what He means to us. We really are not any different from those who encountered Him in the first century. The disciples were awestruck by the way He calmed the storm, people were amazed as He healed the sick and they were taken back by the way He taught with authority. Despite all this, those from His hometown doubted that anyone they knew could be so extraordinary. So through the centuries people preferred to ask, “Just who does this guy think He is?” It is through the exploration of questions like this the steps that allow people to climb from doubt to faith are formed. Our journey begins with the most basic question, “Who is this guy named Jesus?”
I. The issue of Jesus’ identity is crucial for us to deal with.
A. This passage is written by a person who truly understood the transformation that can happen when someone encounters Jesus.
1. Matthew made his living as a tax collector before his encounter with Jesus transformed his life.
2. These words are more than likely written from the perspective of someone who has climbed the steps from doubt to faith.
3. The disciples had probably been dealing with this question for some time now.
4. The drama builds as this brash young carpenter from Nazareth asks the seemingly impossible, for this group of men to believe that He is the Son of God.
B. The setting for this passage provides us with quite a bit of irony.
1. Jesus takes his disciples about twenty-five miles north of the Sea of Galilee to the region of Caesarea Philippi (so named because it was rebuilt by the tetrarch Herod Philip in honor of the emperor Tiberius).
2. Matthew does not tell us why Jesus and the disciples went here, but he focuses solely on the dialogue Jesus initiates with the Twelve.
3. This is pagan territory; in fact this region was famous for the worship of the Greek god Pan, not to mention the land was covered with ancient shrines to Baal.
4. There was also a very large white marble temple that was built here in honor of Caesar.
5. In the shadow of these monuments to the greatest empire the world had ever known stood this penniless King without a kingdom, whose advisors were fishermen and tax collectors, who would prepare to make a journey that would change the course of history.
6. In this place He questions their perception of the crowds’ views of his identity, not for his own information but to correct the misconceptions that have arisen.
II. Misconceptions about Jesus’ identity have existed for centuries.
A. The disciples in their insecurity undoubtedly were very quick to pick up on the rumors that were circulating about Jesus.
1. The disciples were very quick to answer Him about what others were saying. It takes no commitment to repeat what others are saying.
2. The disciples respond by presenting four viewpoints of popular opinion. Notably the disciples only mention those views which they deem to be complimentary.
3. The idea of Jesus being John the Baptist probably owes its origin to Herod, whose guilt over the execution of John stimulated the notion that Jesus was the risen John.
4. Jesus’ preaching and miracles may have encouraged some to speculate that Jesus may be the returned Elijah, come to herald the arrival of the messianic age.
5. Others found certain similarities that seemed to link Jesus to Jeremiah. It may be Jesus’ many allusions to sayings from Jeremiah or possibly the parallels in their respective ministries stimulated such an assessment.
6. Jesus’ prophetic character and activity produced the general assessment that one of the revered prophetic figures of Israel’s past has returned to herald the end time.
7. As flattering as all of these assessments may be, they are woefully inadequate in their appraisal of who Jesus really is.
B. There have been many ideas about who Jesus is that have developed over the years beginning during Jesus’ day and continuing to develop right up to the present.
1. The disciples definitely showed tact as the refrained from telling Him what some of the less flattering public opinions were.
a. He was a blasphemer.
b. He was a false teacher.
c. He was a traitor.
d. He was an illegitimate son of a Roman soldier.
2. Still today there are rumors about Jesus that will just not go away.
a. He was a political revolutionary whose radical methods failed.
b. He was a mystic dreamer with delusions of grandeur.
c. He was just another one of the world’s leading religious and philosophical geniuses.
d. He was a brilliant teacher of unrealistic social and ethical messages.
e. He was a homosexual, the evidence being His failure to marry at a time when marriage was universal in His part of the world.
3. Truths, half truths and outright lies dominate the discussions about this unique personality. Even Believers in Christ are not sure about who Jesus really is.
4. Many say they believe in Jesus, but the Jesus they believe in often is not the same one that is revealed in the Bible.
5. Whoever tells what he thinks of Jesus inevitably tells more about himself, his culture, his prejudices, emotions, upbringing and blind spots than he intends to.
III. The way we answer this question holds life-changing significance.
A. Jesus then asks the disciples for their perception concerning his identity.
1. Although the question is directed to the group, Peter answers as their spokesperson, identifying Jesus as the Christ, the son of the living God.
2. Peter acknowledges that He was the Christ; He was the long awaited Messiah.
3. Peter acknowledges that He is the Son of God establishing His divine nature.
4. However Peter does not seem to fully grasp the significance of what he has just proclaimed, because these were not His own words.
5. Surrounded by all these relics of false gods, the Father announces through Peter that Jesus is His one and only Son, all others are phonies.
6. Unfortunately Peter will not be the last one who fails to grasp the implications of this confession.
B. The issue still exists, twenty-first century people struggle with Jesus’ identity as much as those in the first century did.
1. The issue will not go away: He is either a liar, a lunatic or who He claimed to be, the Savior of the world.
2. Jesus is the Christ, but He is Christ on His terms, not on Peter’s or ours.
3. It is not good enough to call Him Lord if we then insist on Him only being Lord over what we want Him to be Lord over.
4. So if this is all true then the implications a clear: There is no one else who can forgive our sins, no one else can calm our fears, no one else can heal us and no one else can bring back love and joy to a life broken by sin.
5. If this all is true then there is one larger implication: There is only one way to eternal life, no broadminded tolerance of all religions as many are in the habit of proclaiming.
6. There is no human category large enough to include Him. He is all of God that humanity can comprehend and all of man that humanity can become.
7. If this question was still unresolved when you entered these doors today, hopefully it is settled now and you have discovered that Jesus is all that He claimed to be and more.
8. This is the most important question you will ever answer, your eternity hangs in the balance.
There is a unique prison near the city of San Jose dos Campos, in Brazil, South America. Twenty years ago, the Brazilian government turned the prison over to two Christians. The institution was renamed Humaita, and the plan was to run this prison on Christian principles. With the exception of the 2 full time staff, all work is done by inmates. Families outside the prison were encouraged adopt an inmate to work with during and after his term.
Chuck Colson visited the prison and made this report: “When I visited Humaita, I found the inmates smiling - particularly the murderer who held the keys, opened the gates and let me in. Wherever I walked I saw men at peace. I saw clean living areas, people working industriously. The walls were decorated with biblical sayings from Psalms and Proverbs. My guide escorted me to the notorious prison cell once used for torture. Today, he told me, that block houses only a single inmate. As we reached the end of a long concrete corridor and he put the key in the lock, he paused and asked, ‘Are you sure you want to go in?’ “‘Of course,’ I replied impatiently. ‘I’ve been in isolation cells all over the world.’ Slowly, he swung open the massive door, and I saw the prisoner in that punishment cell: a crucifix, beautifully carved by the Humaita inmates - the prisoner Jesus, hanging on a cross. “‘He’s doing time for the rest of us,’ my guide said softly.”
