Thursday, February 23, 2012
Who
is Jesus to you?
18 Once when Jesus was
praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds
say I am?” 19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist;
others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has
come back to life.” 20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” 21 Jesus strictly warned them
not to tell this to anyone.
Matthew
16:13-20
13 When Jesus came to
the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and
still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about
you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter
answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus
replied, “Blessed
are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my
Father in heaven. 18 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. 19
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.” 20 Then he warned his disciples not to tell
anyone that he was the Christ.
Jesus
wanted to make sure his followers knew who he was (is). This question from
Jesus is most important to all of us. We
cannot properly receive Jesus if we don’t understand who he really is. We cannot
properly honor Jesus if we make a mistake in identifying him. For example, suppose your doorbell rings and
you answer it and a famous person, Billy Graham is standing at your door. You quickly invite him in, give him the best
seat, serve him a wonderful meal, make a big fuss over him and then discover it
isn’t Billy Graham. Your guest asks you
why you are making such a big deal over him and you say, “I thought you were
Billy Graham.” What have you done to
this guest? You have belittled him. He thought
your honor was for him but it was really for someone else because you didn’t
recognize him for who he was. That is
the way it is when someone tries to receive Jesus into their life without
recognizing who he is. Our ignorance does not honor Christ. In our texts today, Jesus makes it clear who
he really is by asking some really important questions.
1)
Who do the crowds say I am? What are people saying about me? There are varying
answers to this question and some of them are quite flattering. Some say John
the Baptist. Their messages were similar. They both preached repentance. Others
were saying Elijah. Probably because of all the miracles that were linked to
Jesus. To be compared to these individuals would have been a complement to
many, but not to Jesus.
2)
Who do you say that I am? Now the question gets personal. How one answers this
question determines how one honors Jesus. Peter’s answer is accurate. “You are
the Christ of God.” You are the one and
only Son of God. You are IT! You are the
Messiah. You are the Savior. You are the only way to get to God. Peter hit the
nail right on the head. If someone is going to honor Jesus properly they must
come to the place where they know He is the only way – that He is God.
3)
How did Peter get this understanding of Jesus?
Jesus answers this question in Matthew’s account. Flesh and blood did
not reveal this to Peter. He didn’t analyze the situation and figure everything
out. This was revealed to him from heaven. The Holy Spirit of God opened Peter’s
eyes to the real character of Christ.
This is so important to our evangelistic efforts. We cannot coerce
people into receiving Jesus. We simple present the information and pray that
the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of people to see Jesus for who he really is.
The
proper way to honor Jesus Christ is to receive him for who he really is – The Son
of The Living God!
Who
is Jesus to you?
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