Matthew 16.13-20 Mark 8.27-30 Luke 9.18-21

Matthew 16:13-20
13 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?” 14 And they said, “Some sayJohn the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 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. 18 “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. 19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.
Mark 8:27-30
27 Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.” 29 And He continued by questioning them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And He warned them to tell no one about Him.
Luke 9:18-21
18 And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the people say that I am?” 19 They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again.” 20 And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.” 21 But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone,
The identity of Jesus Christ is the most vital designation anyone will ever make.  The answer to the question of who Jesus is determines the eternal destiny of every person on the planet.  Some do not know of His existence.  Some do not care who He is.  Some reject Him all together.  Some worship Him as their Lord and Savior.  Jesus wants to know what the disciples will say about the opinions of the multitudes about Him.  More importantly, He wants to know the opinion of the disciples about Him.  He wants to know and does know exactly what each person on earth believes about Him.  No matter what anyone believed in the past or what any of us believe today; the truth is that one day every knee will bow before the Lord and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

THE MULTITUDE IDENTIFIES JESUS AS A GREAT MAN: When Jesus asked the disciples what men were saying about His identity He already knew the answer, but He wanted to get them thinking about this question and to compare their beliefs with that of the crowd.  The answer to the question was that men say Jesus as being one of the great prophets of the past that had come back to life.  The Jews of that day believed that someone would come to prepare the way for Messiah.  There was all kinds of speculations as to who that might be, but it appears that the general consensus was that Jesus was that person who was sent to prepare the way for Messiah, but was not Messiah.  This was despite John the Baptist’s ministry and the miracles of Jesus.  The people had every evidence that Jesus was not just a man or even one of the great prophets returning to pave the way for Messiah.  Jesus claimed to be God and presented Himself as the Messiah.  The only choice we have is to believe Him or call Him a liar and a deceiver.  It is not an option to try to say that He was a great man.  He is either the God/Man or an evil man but cannot just be a good man.

THE DISCIPLES IDENTIFY JESUS AS THE MESSIAH: Jesus now turns to the disciples and asks what they believe about His identity.  Peter, the spokesman of the group declares that they believe He is the Christ the Son of the living God.  This is a clear declaration that Jesus is the promised Messiah that the children of Israel have been expecting and waiting for.  The title the Christ is a synonym for the Messiah or the anointed or chosen One.  Jesus was not just the biological son of Mary and the adopted son of Joseph; Jesus is the Son of the living God.  He was sent by the Father as the Savior of the world.  He is the long-awaited Messiah through whom sins would be forgiven and man could be reconciled with God.  He is the only means by which any man can be saved from sin.  This declaration on the part of Peter was a great testimony to the truth that the disciples truly understood who Jesus was.  They still may not have understood exactly why Jesus had come to the world but they knew who He was and that is a glorious thing.  The mission of Jesus is a consequence of the identity of Jesus.

THE LORD IDENTIFIES PETER’S WORDS AS THE MESSAGE: Jesus praises Peter for this marvelous declaration and affirms that this was evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in His life.  Men do not identify Jesus as Messiah of their own intellect; God reveals this truth to men through His Spirit.  Jesus tells His disciples that the truth of this declaration was the foundation on which His kingdom would be built.  It is more than likely that the disciples were thinking that Jesus was revering to His earthly kingdom in the nation of Israel.  Their understanding of Messiah was likely still an image of a righteous Ruler as opposed to a suffering Savior.  They had in mind a national kingdom for Israel while Jesus had in mind the kingdom of Christ in all the nations of the world.  Their understanding of the mission would come in time.  For now, it was fundamental that they understood who He was.  What He had come to do would be more clearly understood with time.  The key to the mission and the kingdom of is correctly identifying Jesus as Messiah, the Son of the living God.


APPLICATION: Don’t be fooled into viewing Jesus as an historical figure who was an influential and great man.  In order to be saved from our sin and join the kingdom of for eternity we must correctly identify Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God.  The message of the identity of Jesus must be proclaimed to every person in every place on this planet; that is our mission.

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