Who Do You Say That I Am?

Matthew 16:13-19a “Now when Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they answered, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you [yourselves] say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Then Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood [men] have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it]. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…”

Who do people say that Jesus is?
- weak
- a tyrant
- powerless
- a nit-picker
- greedy
- selfish
- cold, distant

The body of Christ today is largely misguided when it comes to defining Who Jesus really is, mostly because its members have never had a true revelation of Jesus Christ in their lives. Jesus’ disciples had walked with him for a while when they were asked this question. They had heard His teachings, seen His miracles. Yet, only Peter had a revelation of Who Jesus really was. Was it because Peter was smarter, better, richer, poorer, etc.? We know that’s not what it was. I believe it’s because Peter opened his heart and allowed God to speak to him. He made a true and strong commitment to follow Jesus with his whole heart, and in that commitment he found a divine revelation of exactly Who he was following.

Who do you say that Jesus is?
- Sugar daddy
- Task master
- Boss man
- Wimpy nerd
- Distant deity
- Messiah, Son of God, Lord

It’s very convenient to see Jesus in these various ways. When we can reduce Christianity down to simply following a bunch of rules and Jesus down to an uncaring, distant, powerless man, we can control Him easier. We can order our lives easier. We can make others behave the way we want them to easier. It costs us nothing. But in truth, we realize that it eventually costs us everything. We find out we’ve been living in squander and poverty when we were really heirs to a kingdom! We get our butts kicked day after day only to find out we had free access to our all-powerful Father!

Who do you say that Jesus is?

We talked last week about God desiring communion with you through prayer. He wants to confide in you His innermost secrets. He longs to give you the keys to His kingdom. He wants to give you a revelation of Himself – a revelation strong enough to build the church on – a revelation that will not shake and crumble when the gates of Hell come against it – a revelation that will see you through, comfort you, guide you, hold you, protect you. Let’s make a promise to each other that tonight as we lay on our pillows, we will ask for a divine revelation of Who Jesus is in our lives. Then as God is faithful to give us this revelation, let’s make a commitment right now that we will follow hard after Him – that we will begin to walk in this revelation, grow in it.