TEXT: Matthew 16:13-17
TITLE: “Who Do YOU say that I am?”
SERIES: Questions that God asks (part 4)
TOPIC: Christ’s deity!
OCCASION: Burnside Christian Church, August 24, 2008
PROP.: Jesus alone is Messiah! It’s only when you recognize Him as such, and accept Him as the savior from your sins, that your life will be blessed!
INTRODUCTION: Good morning! Today our Jr. Church kids are dismissed. Please pass the attendance pads down the pew that you are in today as well!
I’m so glad you’re here today! I am excited about today’s message. This sermon concludes our series “Questions that God Asks.”
We started this series with the most important question that God asks of His children: WHERE ARE YOU? Where are you in regards to your relationship to Him? Are you near Him? Or are you distant?
And today we conclude this series with a question that will determine where you WILL be. The answer to today’s question will determine where you will spend eternity! Where you will end up when your life on this earth is done.
And as long as this life may seem to be, it is brief! The oldest person to live in modern history is this woman (show picture)
Jeanne Calment. She lived in France. She died in 1997. Her age was 122 years
and 164 days old. She was born in 1875. At the age of 14, she met Vincent van
Gogh - the famous Post-impressionist artist who committed suicide in 1890.
122 years is the longest ANYONE in modern history has ever lived! More than likely, you will not live to be 122 years old. The average lifespan for those living in America is somewhere between 77 - 80 years old. That means that I’m getting close to being half dead!
James puts it this way: “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)
Now that I’ve got you depressed about how short your life is…I want you to think about how long eternity is! Your life, when matched up against “forever and ever and ever and ever…” is just a speck on the timeline of eternity!
So now do you see what’s at stake? How you answer today’s question that God asks, will determine where you will live FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER. It’s important that we get the answer to this question correct!
Our text takes us to Matthew 16:13-17
BACKGROUND:
The crowds are amazed at the teachings of Jesus. They are impressed by His miracles.
From the healings, to the feedings, people flock to Jesus. That doesn’t mean that he is free from enemies. The religious elite, particularly, the Pharisees, constantly argued with him and demeaned him.
In fact, Jesus has just had another run in with them. They came to Jesus demanding a sign that He was in fact the Messiah. Jesus has been healing people and He has just finished feeding four thousand people with a few lozves of bread and fish. Jesus basically tells them that if they can’t read the signs that are right in front of them, then He isn’t going to give them a special one excpet for the sign of Jonah, an apparent reference to his death, burial and resurrection just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days.
So Jesus takes the 12 and they go on a trip to Caesarea Philippi which is about 30 miles away. The lesson Jesus wants his students to learn is to not fall for the teachings of the Pharisees. They knew the scriptures and yet didn’t understand them. They allowed tradition and opinion to get in the way and color their interpretation and in the process they missed out on what the scriptures really said. It didn’t matter what they thought about Jesus, because they were working from a faulty premise.
T.S.: Let’s see WHO JESUS IS this morning.
Let’s read our text this morning:
Matthew 16:13-17a
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
The first question Jesus asks is:
I. Who does the world say Jesus is?
Jesus first asks the question: Who do people say that I am? In other words, Jesus wanted the disciples to understand what the culture was saying about who He is.
I think that’s a good place for us to start! Because if you understand what the culture is saying about Jesus, you can better answer their questions as to who He REALLY is!
A. The setting for the question
Jesus is in Caesarea Phillipi when he poses this question. The perfect setting for this question to be addressed.
--Historical importance of Caesarea Phillipi
Caesarea Phillip was a city filled with the worship of pagan gods. In fact, the name of this city used to be called: Panias in honor of the nature god Pan who was worshipped there, but was changed to Caesarea in honor of the then reigning Caesar Tiberius.
--It was also a stunning location with mountains, springs, waterfalls. Away from the crowds and surrounded by a mix of paganism and God’s creation, Jesus ask His disciples a question: “Who do people say that I am?”
And so…
B. Jesus’ culture answers the question:
14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
--Some say You’re John the Baptist…some say Elijah…some say Jeremiah or one of the prophets…
The culture might have viewed Jesus in this way because of what Deuteronomy 18:18 says, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth and he will tell them everything I command him.”
But Jesus’ culture was wrong. He was so much more than a mere prophet.
There has never been a lack of people willing to offer their opinion about who Jesus is. Ken Schei, founder of Atheists for Jesus wrote; “Secondly, when I say that I am ‘for Jesus’, I do not mean to imply in any way that I have converted to Christianity or that I now believe Jesus to be a god. What I do mean is that I have come to have a great deal of respect for the teachings of Jesus. My respect for Jesus is not based on the Cross, but rather on the Mount. Not on His death and supposed resurrection, but on His teachings as exemplified by the Sermon on the Mount. “ ( www.atheists-for-jesus.com/about.php )
According to Mr. Schei Jesus was a good teacher who gave us an ideal standard by which to live.
What about today’s culture?
C. Today’s culture answers the question.
What does today’s culture suggest about who Jesus Christ is?
--Nearly 2000 years ago, people mocked the majesty of Christ as he was on the road to be crucified. They spit on him. They put a crown of thorns on Him. They placed a purple robe on Him. While he was on the cross, they mocked His power “He saved others, why can’t He save Himself.”
--Today, the majesty of Christ is STILL being mocked.
Through
MOVIES:
People portray Jesus in the movies from everything from a Homo-sexual, to a druggie, to a male gigolo and having Jesus being married secretly to Mary Magdalene.
Also in
TV: South Park. Jesus makes frequent appearances and each time, it is to mock what MY Jesus…the Jesus of the Bible…stands for!
Jesus is also mocked through…
ART:
In recent years, Jesus has been portrayed in horrifying scenes all in the name of “art”.
In 2001, a sculpture was put on display of a naked woman with a beard hung on a cross. There are worse examples I could have given, but I felt it was not appropriate to talk of such things here today.
And maybe you’re wondering, what’s the big deal? What does it matter that Jesus appears on South Park? Or that Jesus is portrayed in movies? It’s just TV.
It matters because the reputation and image of Jesus is being crucified once again! Culture is trying to put to death, the power and deity of Christ!
Think back to the crucifixion of Jesus. Do you suppose anyone thought that the crucifixion of Christ mattered at the time He was hung on the cross? I suppose people looked at Christ and thought, “Just another criminal…oh well.“ The crucifixion mattered to those who knew who Jesus was! And with each TV show, each Movie, each work of “art” where Jesus is ridiculed, it’s as if the Roman soldiers are once again spitting in the face of Jesus…as if they are turning his back into hamburger.
And the question I have is will you sit idly by, and do nothing? You may not be able to change the fact that Jesus’ character and reputation and holiness are dragged through the mud by society’s “creative mediums”…but you certainly don’t have to support it by watching…laughing or sitting silently in approval.
Today’s culture views Christ as ANYTHING BUT holy. Some are trying to make him out to be a hypocrite! Claiming that He was something that He preached against. That He was in some way a sinner. Pop-culture is not only rejecting the teaching’s of Christ, they are portraying Him as anything but reverent, holy and majestic!
Society will try to turn Jesus into anything it wants to.
I was beside myself when I read this. Listen to what Rev. Andrew Linzey, Anglican Priest and author of Animal Theology has to say, “This compassionate, sensitive heart for animals is inseparable from the proclamation of the Christian Gospel. We have lived so long with the Gospel stories of Jesus that we frequently fail to see how His life and ministry identified with animals at almost every point…”
Did you pay attention to what Mr. Linzey is really saying? He is saying that Jesus’ words mean just as much to animals as it does for humans! It does? Are you kidding me? Jesus died for humans. Not for animals!
From myth, to good teacher to feminist to animal right’s activist to just another man who lived. There will ALWAYS be many opinions about who Jesus is.
But what Jesus cares most about is not what the world is saying who He is…Jesus cares most about the question:
II. Who do YOU say Jesus is? (vs. 15 - 17a)
What do YOU believe about Jesus.
You might be thinking, “Isn’t that kind of a personal question?” And you’re right. It is a personal question. And I love it! Jesus wants to get personal with each of us! He’s not interested in generic terms. He wants to know what each PERSON in this place believes.
Jesus first poses the question to the 12.
15 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
A. Peter’s response
Each of the disciples were asked this question. But we’re not sure if each on of the disciple’s answered this question. Only Peter’s response was recorded .
16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
---The word “the” is important!
ILLUSTRATION:
It shows importance!
Peter calls Jesus THE son. Not just any old son. But a special, particular son. GOD IN THE FLESH!
Peter recognized Jesus as the one promised and predicted by the Old Testament prophets. Peter recognized that Jesus IS God!
B. Others response
Peter is not the only one who confessed Jesus as special!
--Martha’s confession:
John 11:27 “I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
--Countless of Christ followers have confessed the same thing before being baptized. We take what’s called their confession of faith! And we ask people to profess this very truth…that Jesus is God’s son…sent to the world! For the sins of the world!
CONCLUSION: Did you pay attention to Jesus’ words for Peter’s confession? It’s found in the first part of verse 17:
17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah…”
Jesus addresses Simon as Son of Jonah because just as true and natural as it is that Simon is Jonah’s son…so too it is just as true and super-natural that Jesus is God’s son.
But notice something else…
For those brave enough…willing enough to confess that Jesus is God’s Son; GREAT BLESSINGS await you!
Matthew 10:32,33 “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”
If you desire to become a Christ follower, wont you come forward today and confess that Jesus is God’s son! And Your savior!
If you are not a Christ Follower are but intrigued by this question today…if you need to ask some more questions about who Jesus is? PLEASE COME FORWARD TODAY AND WE’LL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO TALK TO YOU!
Let’s stand and sing today…our hymn of decision!
