“Who IS Jesus?”
Matthew 16:13-18
David P. Nolte
Any honest historian or any objectively thinking person has to admit that Jesus was a real man who lived in Judea and was credited with many astounding acts and was crucified under Pilate’s reign. The question is not, “WAS He?” but, “WHO was He?” There was, and is, confusion as to His identity.
I’m reminded of the old movie, “Freaky Friday,” in which Tess Coleman and Anna, her teenaged daughter, wake up one Friday to discover that they have exchanged bodies. That is, Tess occupied Anna’s body and Anna occupied Tess’ body. This led to all sorts of complications because when people thought they were talking to Tess they were actually talking to Anna and those who though they were with Anna were actually with Tess! As there was identity confusion for those two, so it was for Jesus. People misidentified Him then as they do now! Let’s check the text to see.
“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. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.’” Matthew 16:13-18 (NASB). Consider the question, “Who is Jesus?” from 3 perspectives:
“Everybody ought to know Who Jesus is!” That has been a matter of contention from that day to this. Let Jesus pose the question, hear Peter answer it, and let us consider it:
I. THE PERSONAL DESIGNATION:
A. WHAT JESUS SAID: He used the phrase:“Son Of Man.”
1. “Son of Man” was a title applied in the book of Daniel to refer to the promised Messiah or Christ. Daniel wrote, “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13-14 (NASB).
2. It has reference to His humanity.
a. As Ron Rhodes wrote, “The incarnation of Christ did not involve the subtraction of deity, but the addition of humanity.”
b. Jesus was referring to His partnership with us in the flesh and hence, “Son of Man” also emphasizes who Jesus is in relation to His work of salvation. He became the Messiah / Christ when He became a man, so He could rescue us from the power, peril and penalty of sin.
B. Take heart therefore!
1. He understands it all!
2. He has blazed the trail before us and opened the way to God’s grace and mercy.
3. When life cuts little chunks out of your heart and you bleed inside, remember that as man Jesus suffered, too.
C. Jesus, the Son of Man and Son of God, made many claims about Himself; claims which, if I made from this pulpit you would be right in declaring me a looney, a liar, a joker, or a heretic.
1. As a man, He claimed oneness with the Father.
2. As a man, He claimed to be the one and only access to God.
3. As a man, He claimed to have lived before Abraham.
4. As a man, He claimed that after He died He would rise again on His own power and initiative.
5. As a man, He claimed the authority to forgive sins.
6. As a man, He claimed to have authority over legions of angels.
D. Now, and this is review, either those claims were true or false.
1. If false and He knew it, we can call Him a LIAR!
2. If false and He thought they were true, we can call Him a LUNATIC.
3. But if true, we must call Him LORD!
E. He is Son of Man and Son of God. As man He understands us and as God He can rescue us. It is like the king who heard that some of the princes wee oppressing the people. So he disguised himself as a peasant and exposed himself to their situation. He ate what they ate; worked as they worked; suffered as they suffered and was as ill treated as they were. Nobody recognized him except a few friends to whom he revealed his mission – and until he came riding in with his army, mounted on a royal steed to punish the criminal princes, most considered him to be a poor peasant. So it was with Jesus – unrecognized by most as God in man as the Son of Man. So let’s go on to the next point:
II. THE POPULAR DECLARATION:
A. WHAT PEOPLE SAID: “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
1. It seems that Jesus is easier to deal with, or to set aside if we keep Him limited to being just a good, moral, loving man – but not God as a man
2. The Jewish leaders were not about to credit Jesus’ claims to equality with God and accused Him of blasphemy!
3. If Jesus can be lowered to a mere human level His words become more like wise counsel and less like commands. We can then take them or leave them!
B. Despite man’s efforts to confine Jesus to the category of mere human He continues to be just exactly Who and What He claimed to be: Son of Man and Son of God.
C. The opinions of humanity have often been wrong:
1. It was once believed that the world is flat like a pancake! WRONG!
2. It was once believed (and still is by some) that we live in an earth centered or Geocentric system where everything revolves around the earth rather than the sun as in a Heliocentric system. WRONG!
3. Tomatoes were considered to be poisonous. WRONG!
4. It was considered that heaver than-air crafts would never fly. WRONG!
5. The atom was once considered to be the smallest indivisible particle. WRONG!
D. People had, and have, erroneous ideas about Jesus, too. And as a result they rejected, and do reject, Who He really is!
E. Unbelievers are like the crowd in this story. A big electronics store advertised a one-hour, 50% off everything sale. A week before the pre-season Christmas rush, the sale was scheduled to commence at 6 am. On the morning of the sale, over two-hundred people were lined up waiting to get in, hours before opening time. The excited crowd watched in disbelief as a man walked past the entire line and began to squeeze himself up to the front. Immediately, the man was gently but firmly passed back to the end of the line. Undaunted, he tried again, but this time he was pushed and shoved and bounced to the back. When he tried a third time, the people couldn't believe the man's persistence, and roughed him up as he was kicked back to the back of the pack. As he stood in last place, shaken but determined, the man said, "Alright. I'll try once more, but if they do that to me again I'm not going to open the store." They thought he was an interloping line-jumper – but he was the manager of the store!
Unbelievers shove Jesus to the back of the pack and fail to recognize Him for Who He IS! The jews of His day thought He was an undesirable interloper – But He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God! So that leads us to this:
III. THE PROPER DECISION:
A. WHAT PETER SAID: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
1. The Christ: Messiah, the Anointed One – the promised King and deliverer – the Cherished Hope of Israel.
2. The Son of the Living God.
a. He is Son because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and birthed by a virgin.
b. He is the Son of the Living God: not son of a carved stone or wood idol. All you get from carving stone or wood is chips and splinters, not Sons!
B. There were some to come along, called Gnostics– the Knowers, who believed that they had the special knowledge that God could never lower Himself to become flesh since they believed all flesh to be inherently corrupted and evil.
1. Hence, Jesus had to be merely mortal – just a man – a great, good, moral man – but in no way divine.
2. Or, He had to be totally Divine and only appeared to be a human being but was in fact a phantom – sort of like an intangible holographic image – it looks real and material, but it’s just an unreal image or apparition. Sort of a mirage.
C. Peter’s confession declared Jesus to be human (Christ) and Divine (Son of the living God).
1. Jesus didn’t correct him because he was correct!
2. Later Thoms would proclaim Him to be “Lord and God!”
D. It matters WHO Jesus is! And it matters what we believe about Who He is!
1. Jesus said, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." John 8:23-24 (NASB).
2. “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:11-13 (NASB).
E. Let me illustrate the importance of recognizing a person for who that person is. In a cathedral in Europe there was a large, magnificent pipe organ. It was a Saturday afternoon, and the sexton was making one final check of the choir and organ loft when he was startled to hear footsteps echoing up the stone stairway. He turned to see a man in slightly tattered traveling clothes coming toward him. "Excuse me, sir," the stranger said. "I have come from quite a distance to see the great organ in this cathedral. Would you mind opening the console so that I might get a closer look at it?" The custodian at first refused, but the stranger was so eager and insistent that he finally gave in. "May I sit on the bench?" That request of the stranger was met with absolute refusal by the cathedral custodian. "What if the organist came in and found you sitting there? I would probably lose my job!" But again the stranger was so persistent that the sexton gave in. "But only for a moment," he added.
The custodian noticed that the stranger seemed to be very much at home on the organ bench, so he was not completely surprised when he was asked by the stranger to be allowed to play the organ. "No! Definitely not!" said the custodian. "No one is allowed to play it except the cathedral organist." The man's face fell, and his deep disappointment was obvious. He reminded the custodian how far he had come and assured him that no damage would be done.
Finally the sexton relented and told the stranger he could play the instrument, but only a few notes and then he would have to leave. Overjoyed, the stranger pulled out some stops and began to play. Suddenly the cathedral was filled with the most beautiful music the custodian had ever heard in all his years in that place. The music seemed to transport him heavenward.
In what seemed all too short a time, the stranger stopped playing and slid off the organ bench. And started down the stairway. "Wait!" cried the custodian. "That was the most beautiful music I have ever heard in the cathedral. Who are you?" The stranger turned for just a moment as he replied, "Mendelssohn." He was Felix Mendelssohn, one of the greatest organists and composers of the nineteenth century!
The cathedral sexton was alone now and thought. "Just think! I almost kept the master from playing his music in my cathedral!"
Each one of us has the opportunity to have a personal relationship with the Master of the universe, Jesus Christ. Let's not keep Him from "playing His music" and being Master of our lives!
PRAY / INVITE
Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” John 10:10 (NASB) . John wrote, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” 1 John 5:12 (NASB).
When you know Him for Who He IS and choose to follow Him, He gives life; life worth living here and worth taking to eternity. If you lack, but want, that life, come as we stand to sing, or grab me before we leave today and we’ll talk.
YOU MAY ALSO COME FORWARD FOR PRAYER!
