THE ETERNAL QUESTION... WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?
ISAIAH 51:1-6; ROMANS 12:1-8; MATTHEW 16:13-20
Introduction:
A friend once asked the famous scientist, Isidor Rabi, who was also a Nobel Prize winner, how he had become a scientist. Rabi replied by relating a story from his childhood. He said that every day after school his mother would talk to him about his day. But she never wanted to know what he had learnt, she only ever inquired, "Did you ask a good question today?" Rabi goes on to say that "Asking good questions made me become a scientist."
Asking good questions is sometimes more important than giving good answers, which is a rather strange and almost laughable thought to our modern western minds, for we are obsessed with knowing and solving and drawing universal fail-proof conclusions, but bear with me for a second on this point, because I believe it is nonetheless true and incredibly important for us to consider the tremendous value of a good question.
In Scripture we see that even God understood the value of a good and probing question. Countless times he asks questions that not only changed the course of a person’s life, but also powerfully echoes even into the present moment and serves to challenge us still.
For example: when Adam and Eve were asked by God, “Where are you?” – a question that still urges us to consider our own place before God and our position in the world; or when God asked Moses, “What do you have in your hand?” – a question that still encourages us to consider the little we have to offer him and the mighty things he can do with it if we did; or what about the time when God asked the prophet, “Whom shall I send?” – a question that still challenges us to respond to the task of taking the Gospel to the world; not to mention that eternally powerful question when God asked Job, “Where were you, when I laid the foundations of the earth...?” – a question that still reminds us to reflect carefully upon God’s sovereignty and wisdom and the humility that should mark our approach to him.
All this indicates that a good and probing question is of equal, if not more, value and importance than a good and reasonable answer.
Today we will spend a few moments reflecting both on a question that is, perhaps, the single most powerful, probing and revealing question ever asked and on a set of answers that illustrates the world’s and our own continuing response to that most disturbing question.
Now I’d imagine that most of you have figured out which question I am referring to already, it doesn’t take the most careful listener or most insightful reader to acknowledge the heavy weight of the question that stands so central to our Gospel reading this morning – a question that we’ve all heard read a million times before... Jesus stands before his disciples and asks them what they, and others, are saying of and thinking of him. (An intriguing question on one level because it so clearly makes him vulnerable, I mean; who of us asks confidently after the opinions that others have of us? But also intriguing because Jesus seems to be asking with a sense of anticipation and hope that, finally, his disciples would have got it.)
“Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asks in verse 15 of our text from Matthew 16. A question of tremendous power and eternal relevance, a question with far reaching implications, and a question that we have the privilege of reflecting on more carefully today. Which we will do by pointing to two dynamic interactions between Jesus, who asks the question, and those whom he is asking it of. Firstly, the people in general and secondly, the disciples in particular. In the end we will come to see the enduring impact of this question and the incredible importance of making the appropriate response.
But before we go any further, we must point out that we are dealing here with a wonderfully vital text that has been reflected on more often than any other in Matthew’s Gospel and has served the Church well in her endeavour to proclaim truth and find her identity – there are a million things we can say about this text and, no doubt, a hundred different sermons can be preached on as many important lessons to be learnt from it – I am not suggesting that our reflection today will reveal the central theme of this text, nor the singular meaning of it, this is an impossibility – I simply pray that as we reflect on this passage we will discover again that, in it, Jesus asked the most eternal and powerful question ever asked, and that our response to this question is of immeasurable importance. So with that prayer then expressed let’s begin our reflection on the text.
Message:
The first thing we note in our Gospel reading is the interesting two-part dynamic of interaction that takes place here; on the one hand we have Jesus asking after the opinion of the people outside his group of disciples, while on the other hand we hear him narrowing and sharpening his question by bringing it to bear directly upon his disciples in particular. In each dynamic interaction we discover something quite vital and revealing.
1. Who do people say that I am?
First of all we hear Jesus asking what people are saying about him, who they think he is... now this is a pretty brave question considering the recent opposition he had faced and the fact that official opinion of him was becoming increasingly negative – to say the least! Yet Jesus nevertheless asks the question.
Now it’s amusing to note that everyone always has an opinion about Jesus. Not only his disciples – those of us who are members of his Body – everyone. Atheistic leaders draw upon his as an example of leadership, other-religious representatives refer to him as one to follow in terms of his care for people and spiritual consciousness, revolutionaries are impressed by his social ethic and sociologists quote his sayings and parables when these support their vision for humanity. None of these people would ever claim faithful allegiance to Jesus in the sense of worship and religious conviction, yet they all have a fairly well-formed opinion of him... Perhaps you even know someone like this, a neighbour or a colleague or even a family member or friend that does not share your faith in Jesus, yet nevertheless seems to have an opinion about him... This is the dynamic that we see at play first of all in the passage from Matthew 16 – the world who always stops short of following and believing Jesus with its well-formed opinion of him, and the disciples tell Jesus what that opinion is.
In verse 14 we read the response to Jesus’ first question; “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
Now it might be interesting to take a cursory glance across this list of characters, for it may well reflect a lingering habit of some to maintain similar opinions of Jesus...
Firstly, John the Baptist was a well-known, if not curious, individual who walked the wilderness and called all who would listen to repent. He impressed upon people the reality of their sin and their need for God’s forgiveness, which they could only receive by repenting. Now John had a dramatic ministry and even to the end of his life enjoyed a strange mixture of fame and infamy – not always popular, but always respected and revered. Perhaps it is little wonder then that some confused Jesus with John the Baptist. Jesus did, after all, also call them to repent, insisted on their need for God’s forgiveness, and did so in a manner that wasn’t always popular, but certainly always respected and received in wonder by crowds duly impressed with his sense of authority and the determined nature of his ministry.
What of Elijah then? Well, he was best known for his zealous defence of the exclusive claim of God to be worshipped alone – that the Israelites ought to have no other gods but the true and living God. Incidentally, Elijah also raised a young boy from the dead. He was a preacher, defender of the glory of God and a worker of dramatic miracles. Again, it is not surprising that Jesus was confused with him. Jesus did, after all, preach strongly that there is but one true and living God who is worthy of worship and he himself raised numerous people from the dead during his ministry. (We must also bear in mind that it was prophesied that Elijah would return again before the Day of the Lord, which makes it quite understandable that some would have imagined Jesus to be this ‘coming again’ of Elijah.)
Finally, what about Jeremiah? Now in his case it becomes slightly more nuanced, but all the more interesting. Jeremiah is credited with being the first Prophet to emphasize the importance of an individual and spiritual relationship with God that goes beyond ritual practice and cultural norms. He reacted against the empty and shallow religion of his people and called them to take their devotion to God more seriously. It is clear then why some would consider the ministry of Jesus to be a continuation of Jeremiah’s, Jesus stressed the importance of a living relationship with the Father and urged his disciples to take their faith absolutely seriously – even to the point of abandoning other things previously considered valuable but ultimately deconstructive to a meaningful and committed faith in him.
Now there were no doubt other opinions about Jesus too, I’m sure that in his own time a varying and widespread opinion of was just as common as it is today, but these three brief comparisons that Matthew makes serves the point well. That point being that everyone has some idea of who Jesus was and is, even if that idea is not altogether accurate.
How many people are there in this world, as we have suggested already, perhaps even people you know personally who have all manner of opinions about Jesus that range from famous prophet to popular miracle worker, from well-respected teacher to impressive moral compass? (And of course we’re only highlighting the positive opinions.) And these opinions aren’t entirely wrong; there is nothing inherently wrong with considering Jesus to be any or all of these things. Even in the text we don’t hear Jesus arguing his individual case and refuting these opinions, but they are nevertheless opinions that only go so far and not far enough – because, as much as Jesus is all these wonderful things, he is also infinitely more.
And this we see in the second dynamic interaction of our text; when Jesus turns to his disciples, sharpens up the question and brings to bear upon them directly and personally.
2. Who do you say that I am?
In verse 15 we read these words: “But what about you? ... Who do you say that I am?”
And it’s at this point that the drama of our passage reaches a climax. Jesus has heard what the world thinks about him, and is neither too surprised nor too offended by it, but now he wants to know what the important people think, those closest to him – his disciples.
It’s as if Jesus is saying to the disciples, “that’s all good and well, but what do you think? I’ve spent all this time with you, ministering, teaching, healing, prophesying and serving. All along I’ve impressed upon you the truth of who I am. I’ve given you ample opportunity to see and hear. So what is your conclusion? Do you finally believe? Who do you say that I am?”
Now the drama can go either way at this point. Jesus is making himself absolutely vulnerable, as we’ve said already. The disciples can agree with the world and present not entirely wrong, but not entirely full opinions of Jesus. They can hesitate and reveal a lack of faith, as they’ve done consistently on other occasions up to this point. Or they can confess the truth and acknowledge who Jesus is – that he is who he says he is.
And this is precisely what happens. Peter takes the initiative and answers on behalf of all the disciples when he says these remarkable words that we find in verse 16: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” You are the Christ, he says, in other words the One sent by God to bring deliverance and salvation to offer hope and true life that will last eternally! This is who we say you are – you are God! And in the light of this confession all other opinion of Jesus, however well-intentioned and well-informed, pales in comparison. Yes it is true, Jesus is all the things that others say he is: he is a wonderful preacher, an exemplary leader, a remarkable moral teacher and an astonishing miracle worker. But he is also infinitely more; he is God himself and this is the only full and appropriate response when we hear Jesus asking this question of us – as he does, by implication, in asking the first disciples.
Friends, this is a vitally important point to stress, all of God’s questions throughout the Scriptures ring eternally true, and this question does so for us today. When we hear Jesus asking his disciples who they say he is, we must hear him asking each one of us the same question – deep within the secret of our hearts and the interior of our souls we need to hear the echo of this question, “Who do you say that I am?”
And we must answer. This is no silly, trifling question that may as well go unanswered. No, this is the most powerful, most important, most probing question ever asked by any man and it demands an answer, this is such a tremendously ‘good’ question that it cannot go unanswered. And the Lord waits... what will our answer be?
What’s more is that our answer to this question cannot be one of our own invention, we must either accept the truth of this text and accept the truth of the claims that Jesus makes about himself throughout the gospels; that he is our Saviour, our Lord, the Son of the living God and, in fact, God himself. Or we must reject these truths and accept the lesser opinions of the world – which, we will see in a moment, is not really an option.
What will our answer be friends? What is our answer, for in some way we have all answered this questions already and when we consider our lives we might discover what that answer has been up until now... Has Jesus become no more than a moral compass to us? Perhaps we’ve reduced his status to that of a prophet only, or a teacher? Maybe we understand him to be only an example that we should strive to emulate? This is simply not good enough, not because these visions and opinions of him are wrong, but because it’s not the full picture, it’s not the full truth. Jesus is infinitely more than all of these opinions of him and we must be able to say with the disciples that he is the Christ, the Son of the only living God; he is God himself to us and no less than that.
To say anything else is to stand against Christ; and this is illustrated for us in the story of the great theologian and saint, Athanasius – who was an early Bishop of Alexandria in the year 328AD. Athanasius strongly opposed the teachings of Arius, who declared that Jesus was not the eternal Son of God, but a subordinate being. Brought back from a fifth season in exile, Athanasius was summoned before emperor Theodosius, who demanded he cease his opposition to Arius. The emperor reproved him and asked, "Do you not realize that all the world is against you?" Athanasius quickly answered, "Then I am against all the world."
Jesus Christ is either the eternal Son of God, in which confession we will stand against the world, or he is something less, in which case we stand against him – and this is why, you will remember I said, this is not really an option, for who wants to stand against Christ?
Conclusion:
But after all that, in a world obsessed with questions of practicality and application, we must ask the question: “What does all of this mean in terms of my life?” I mean this is all wonderfully true and important, and as much as what we might like to say loudly ‘amen’ to the profound confession that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, and leave it at that, we can’t. At what point and how does this marvellous truth find expression in our lives and have an impact on who we are, not just what we believe?
It is with this observation that I want to conclude:
See friends, this question does not only demand an answer, it also demands a response, a life response that finds fulfilment in the way we act and speak and love and serve and give and all else that constitutes our lives. The way we treat each other, the way we face the struggles of life, the way we make decisions regarding our work, family and social life – all things about us will reflect what our response to this question of Jesus is, not just our answer, our response.
Though we don’t have time today to explore this more fully, I want to leave you with this thought: if we find ourselves convinced of this truth and able to confess it with the disciples, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, then we will commit our entire lives to him for this is what our conviction will naturally demand. We will admit that he is worthy of no less than the absolute best and absolute most that we can offer and we will surrender all things gladly to him! For surely God can be worthy of no less!?
It was another great Saint, the famous Augustine, who once said: “Jesus Christ is not valued at all, until he is valued above all.”
If we answer and respond to the question of who Jesus is with the same confession as the early disciples then we will value him above all. For he is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
AMEN
