“Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54) “I know who you are -- the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24) Those two statements about Jesus came from rather unlikely sources. Do you remember who made the first statement? That was the centurion’s confession of Jesus on Good Friday. He was the man in charge of Jesus’ execution and after he saw the dramatic events surrounding the death of Jesus he was moved to declare that Jesus was the Son of God. Do you recognize who made the other statement about Jesus? It was an evil spirit—a demon. He was in a state of panic in the presence of God’s Son and correctly identified him as the Holy One.
At least in the case of one of those two confessions we can say that although it was correct it didn’t benefit the speaker in any way. The demon who correctly confessed Jesus as the Holy One of God was immediately silenced and driven out of the person he had occupied. In the case of the centurion we aren’t told if his confession of Jesus later led him to learn more about the one he had crucified.
The point I want to make with those two examples is that a correct confession of who Jesus is only benefits a person when it comes from faith in Jesus. After you have crucified Jesus it seems a little late to realize he is the Son of God. And after an angel has been driven out of heaven and delivered to Satan’s domain forever it does it no good to tell the truth about Jesus.
In a similar way a person can say that Jesus is a great teacher, a famous person, and even the Son of God but unless there is a confession of faith in Jesus it is of no benefit to the person. Knowing and believing who Jesus is and what he has done is the key to a person’s salvation from sin. Our acceptance or rejection by God hinge on what we believe about his Son. On top of that the power of Jesus’ church comes from belief in the truth about him. With those sobering thoughts in mind we turn our attention to the gospel lesson for this Sunday from Matthew 16. May the Holy Spirit lead us to a correct response produced by faith to the question Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” With that goal in mind I ask you what Jesus asked them:
WHO DO YOU SAY JESUS IS?
I. The correct answer is a rock for your faith
II. The correct answer is a rock for the church
When we look at this gospel lesson in the context of Jesus’ life we quickly see this as a turning point in his ministry. Through patient instruction Jesus had led the disciples to a correct understanding of who he was. After this conversation recorded by Matthew Jesus began to tell the disciples about his role in the Father’s plan of salvation. He would be betrayed into the hands of his enemies, suffer, and be executed. In time their knowledge of who Jesus is and their faith in him would grow. But it would be on the simple answer that Peter gave on this day that their faith would rest. And on that simple confession the church of Christ would be built.
I.
Before the correct confession of who Jesus is was given by Peter Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Remember that Jesus frequently used that descriptive phrase “the Son of Man” when he was referring to himself. It was a title from the Old Testament. It was a phrase applied by the prophets to the promised Savior. The disciples responded to Jesus questions with the answers that they had heard on the street. “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” They were all nice answers but they were all wrong. John the Baptist was a powerful preacher who had done his work of preparing the way for Jesus. But he had been executed by King Herod to fulfill that foolish promise that the king had made. Jesus was not John the Baptist. And although Jesus did many miracles he was not the prophet Elijah. And Jesus did boldly speak God’s Word in the face of opposition but Jesus was not Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. All those answers to the question “Who is Jesus?” were incorrect. They sounded flattering. They no doubt came from some people’s good intentions but they were just plain wrong.
If we were to go around today and ask people who Jesus is we would get even more answers than the disciples had heard. Muslims will say that he was a prophet. Buddhists will gladly call Jesus a “guru” and one of the incarnations of Buddha. Mormons say that Jesus is “a son of God” along with many others. Philosophers may acknowledge Jesus as one of the great minds of the ages. Historians point to him as one of the most influential people that has ever lived. Jesus has been called a first rate teacher, a political activist, and a worker of miracles. Although these answers to the question of who Jesus is sound wonderful they all fall short of the full truth—the most important truth.
Of course it would be hard to find a person or group to say something bad about Jesus but it is worth noting what many won’t say about him. A person can know many things about Jesus but not know him in the way that matters. That is why Jesus turned the question away from the crowds to his disciples. “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” The crowds were confused but did the disciples know and believe the truth about Jesus? “Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” It is probably impossible for us to grasp the impact of this confession when it was spoken. The hearts of the twelve Jewish men who had been called as Jesus’ disciples must have skipped a beat when that answer came out of Peter’s mouth. The promised Savior was standing in front of them. Immanuel—God with us—had finally come and he was there with them. These men had memorized many of the Old Testament prophecies that pointed to Jesus. When all the pieces finally fell into place they must have wanted to jump for joy.
Without the advantage that the disciples had in regards to their knowledge of the Old Testament we need to slow down for a moment and consider Peter’s confession. What was he saying when he called Jesus the “Christ” and “the Son of the living God.” In the language of his people Peter would have called Jesus the Messiah not the Christ. Messiah is the Hebrew word for Christ. Both titles mean the same thing. Peter was acknowledging that Jesus was the “anointed One.”
Once again we are at a disadvantage compared to the disciples. They knew that for centuries prophets, priests, and kings were anointed with a special oil to mark them as chosen by God. They also knew that the prophecies of the Old Testament said that some day God would come to his people as THE ANOINTED ONE and serve as all three persons--prophet, priest, and king—at the same time. He would be the ultimate prophet, priest, and king.
There was also no gray area in the disciples minds about what Peter meant by saying that Jesus was “the Son of the living God.” The Jews believed that when the “Son of God” came he would be equal to God in all power, authority, and majesty. We don’t know what their grasp of the Trinity was but the disciples did here acknowledge that Jesus of Nazareth was the eternal Son of God and nothing less than God himself.
But what did this mean for the disciples? Listen again to Jesus’ reply to Peter’s confession, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” Knowing the truth about Jesus made Peter a “blessed” man. To be blessed is to be happy—to be filled with joy. Peter didn’t figure out this truth about Jesus and then put his faith in Jesus. No, God the Father revealed the truth about his Son to Peter through his Word. That Word empowered Peter to believe and be blessed.
Friends in the faith, let Jesus ask you the same question he asked the disciples so long ago. “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” Your answer to that question is important for you both now and when time ends for you. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal the correct answer to you. He alone can cause you to know and believe the truth about Jesus. From your faith filled heart you can say with Peter, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God!”
And what blessing comes to you when you know and believe the truth about Jesus? Knowing and believing that Jesus is your prophet, priest, and king changes your relationship to God and everything in your life. As your prophet he speaks from God and for God through the Scriptures. His living Words still talk to your heart. When you believe in Jesus as your priest you have confidence that he is your go-between. His blood covers your sins. He takes your prayers to the Father. He brings blessings from the Father back to you. When you know and believe that Jesus is the King of kings you have peace and security under his rule Knowing and believing that Jesus is the “Son of the Living God,” assures you that you have a substitute who lived and died in your place. That fact about who Jesus is confirms the truth that your salvation was taken care of by God himself. As John wrote in his gospel, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31) The correct answer about Jesus is a rock for your faith.
Who do you say Jesus is? Many answers have been given to that question. Many of them sound nice but are either wrong or miss the mark in some way. I have always enjoyed the way the Christian writer C.S. Lewis dealt with all the fine sounding statements about Jesus that are so terribly misguided. In his book Mere Christianity he wrote, “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” Who do you say Jesus is? Only one answer matters. Knowing and believing that he is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” is a rock for your faith.
II.
The truth about Jesus that Peter stated is not only a rock for your faith it is also a rock for the church. It is the rock on which Jesus’ church is built. Jesus went on to say, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Although we can’t separate Peter and his confession we can be certain that Jesus didn’t intend to build his church on him. Just moments after this Peter tried to block the plan of salvation and Jesus called him Satan. We also know the sad story of how Peter denied Jesus three times. No, it would be on the correct answer to the question of who Jesus is that his church would be built.
That fact still stands today. Any church that doesn’t believe and teach the truth that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” is not building on the rock. They have nothing of substance to offer their people. Without a correct answer to the question of who Jesus is a church cannot be a church worthy of his Name.
It may be hard for us to imagine how this simple answer to the question of who Jesus is can crush the gates of hell itself. But think about what this truth does for the church. When a lost soul is given the truth about Jesus and that truth works faith in that soul hell shrinks by one and the church grows by one. When Satan’s lies are confronted with the facts about Jesus his rule of darkness is dispelled. Sometimes whole cities and whole nations are then added to Christ’s church. Also remember that Satan is called the accuser of God’s people. He will rant and rave as he points out the sins a person has committed. “You deserve to rot in hell,” he will say. Then he will even try to argue his case with God. “This person has rebelled against you. If you are just you must send him to hell.” But “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” has closed the case for sinners. Satan doesn’t have a leg to stand on because Jesus has taken the punishment for all sinners. When they know and believe the truth about him they can tell Satan to be silent. And again Satan loses and Christ’s church grows. Into all the world’s religions where Satan has twisted the truth and told outright lies the truth about who Jesus will cause his church to grow.
Knowing and believing the truth about Jesus gives the church its spiritual power in another way. Jesus went on to say, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Although Jesus was speaking directly to Peter at this time he did give the same promise to all of the disciples on another occasion. With the correct answer to the question of who Jesus is the disciples were given the keys to heaven. Those who rejected the truth about Jesus and showed that by their actions would be locked out forever. To those but their faith in the truth about Jesus and found their forgiveness in him an open door to heaven would be waiting.
Because of its great success I am sure that most of you are familiar with the television show, “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?” As a contestant answers a series of increasingly difficult questions he or she wins more money. If a contestant gets stuck and can’t answer a question he or she can use a “lifeline” for help. I wonder what would happen if Regis Philbin asked a contestant the question in our gospel lesson. “Who is Jesus?” If you do get on the show I hope you don’t have to call me for the correct answer. Let your answer be the one that Peter gave. That correct answer is a rock for your faith and a rock upon which the church is built. Answer that question with the truth in your head and faith in your heart, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God!” Amen.
