What we think about a person determines how we treat that person. When we think a person is “masungit,”[1] we feel like walking on eggshells when we are with that person. When we think a person is “mabait,”[2] we are more comfortable when we are with him. Our response to that person depends upon our relationship with him. The more we know a person, the more we move closer to Him or farther from Him.
Thus, to paraphrase what A.W. Tozer wrote, what we believe about Jesus Christ is the most important thing about us.[3] What we think about our Lord determines how we treat Him. I pray that the more we get to know Jesus, the closer we move towards Him. Our response to our Lord depends upon our relationship with Him. That is also the concern of our Lord Jesus. How we VIEW Jesus Christ determines how we VALUE Him. Let us read Matthew 16:13-17. “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”[4] This morning we will talk about “Will the Real Christ Please Stand Up?” Let us pray…
Jesus and His disciples went to “the district of Caesarea Philippi” (v. 13a), that was about 25 kilometers north of the Sea of Galilee.[5] Before the time of Jesus, that place was a center of worship for the pagan god Baal and then later the half-human, half-goat, Greek god Pan. Nowadays when you visit it, you will still see the ruins of the pagan shrines and the cave dedicated to Pan. Afterwards, it became a center for worship for Augustus Caesar. People built a temple there to honor the emperor and to declare, “Caesar is Lord!”
Here in this place, where people ran after false gods, Jesus “asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’” (v. 13b) What a great place to ask whether people knew who He really is! Would they truly recognize His lordship? Or, would they just count Him as one of the gods there? Would they see Him as Somebody who stood side by side with other great men? Or, would they see Him standing all by Himself and no one even coming close to Him?
The disciples replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” (v. 14) Herod thought Jesus was actually John the Baptist who rose from the dead. Since it was prophesied that Elijah would return, people speculated that Jesus fulfilled that prophecy. Others must have seen Jesus cry. So, they concluded that He must be Jeremiah the weeping prophet. It’s the same thing today. If we ask a hundred people their opinion about Christ, we might even get a hundred and one different and opposing opinions. Some of you here might even say, “Si Jesus? Siya si Bro!”[6] This could be the reason why people do not really value Christ. It is because they have a wrong view about Him. How we view Jesus determines how we value Him.
Jesus did not settle with those answers. He now asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” (v. 15) Look at the conjunction “but”. It is as if He was saying, “No matter what people say about Me, what do you personally think? Would you just go along with what they say? Or, would you dare to really know Me?” Warren Wiersbe wrote, “One thing is clear: We can never make a true decision about Jesus Christ by taking a poll of the people. (But some people do get their ‘spiritual knowledge’ this way!) The important thing is not what others say, but what do you and I personally say? The decisions of the crowd (wrong or right) can never substitute for personal decisions.”[7] The question that we need to answer is not, “What do people think about Jesus?” The question that we must answer is, “What do you think about Him?” Ideas have consequences. That question has no safe answer. It can only be a right or a wrong answer. We must have a right view of Christ so that we can have a right value for Him.
The only right answer to that question is the very answer that God Himself provided. Let us read verses 16 and 17. “Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.’” God revealed this answer to Peter. The Message version goes like this: “You didn’t get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am.” In Matthew 3:16, God the Father declared this about Christ: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Peter’s proclamation echoes God’s revelation. When he declared that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” He confessed that Christ is the Son of God, equal in nature to the Father. Because of his confession, the Lord called Peter “blessed.” Do you want to be blessed? Have the right view of Christ. How do you have a right view of Christ? Hold on to what the Bible, that is, God’s revelation, says about Him.
Our eternal destiny hangs on the right view of Christ. 1 Corinthians 16:22 tell us, “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed.” The word “accursed” in Greek means “to be eternally condemned to destruction.” Note the condition, “If anyone has no love for the Lord”. If we love the Lord, we will be blessed. If we do not love the Lord, we will be accursed. Can we love a perfect stranger? No way! We may be attracted to a stranger but we cannot say that we are attached to that person. So, how can we love the Lord if we do not know who He really is? In fact, how can we love the Lord if we don’t even understand the meaning of the word “Lord”? Romans 10:9 tell us, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Our salvation hangs on the right confession about our Lord Jesus Christ. To confess that Jesus is Lord is to acknowledge that He is the Master, the Boss and the CEO of our lives. Is that your view of Christ?
Here we see that Who Jesus is… “Jesus is Lord…” and what He has done for us… “believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead…” is the very essence or the true meaning of the Good News of salvation. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 point out that He is the message of the Gospel. “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures”. He is the Gospel! So we cannot just change our view of Christ without serious consequences.
Galatians 1:6-8 warn us, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” Again, we see the word “accursed.” To have a wrong view of Jesus is to have a different gospel. To have a distorted gospel is to be accursed. Our view of Christ is so important to God because it determines our value for Him.
To have a view of Christ other than what the Bible says about Him is to have a wrong view of Him. 1 John 4:1-3 also gave this warning. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” This is how we know if a Bible teacher is from God or not. If he has a right view of Christ, he is from God. If not, we cannot say that he only has a different opinion about Jesus. No! He has a distorted view of Him.
The right view is that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh”. John 1:1 tells us: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus Christ is the Word. It says here that the “Word was God.” That means that what God was, the Word was. He is equal with the Father. Then in verse 18 we are told that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” So, he who teaches that Jesus is not God who became man is not from God. He is one of the “many false prophets [that] have gone out into the world.” That person has “the spirit of the antichrist.” To confess means “to say the same thing.” So, we must say the same thing that the Bible says about Jesus. It is the only right view of our Lord. And if we have the right view of Christ, we will have the right value for Christ.
And how do we value Christ? Let us go back to 1 Corinthians 16:22, “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed.” To value Christ is to love Him. How do we show our love for Him? Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” To love Christ is to obey Him. In Luke 6:46, He said, “So why do you call me `Lord,’ when you won’t obey me?”[8] Do we call Him our Lord? Do we obey Him?
So, what do we think of Christ? Would we be called “blessed” because of our answer? Do we value Him by obeying His commands? Brothers and sisters, remember that what we believe about Jesus Christ is the most important thing about us. How we view Christ determines how we value Him.
Let us pray…
[1]Filipino for “grouchy”
[2]“kind”
[3]A.W. Tozer originally said, “What I believe about God is the most important thing about me.”
[4]Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[5]Notes on Matthew 16:13 in the ESV Study Bible.
[6]“Jesus? He is the Brother!” “Bro” is short for “Brother,” based on a famous TV soap opera here. The main character in that show called Jesus “Bro.”
[7]Warren W. Wiersbe, “The Bible Exposition Commentary,” (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1996, c1989), Mt 16:13.
[8]New Living Translation.
