Recognizing Jesus: “Who do you say that I am?”
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has 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 hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:13-18, ESV)
The issue I will focus on in this chapter is recognizing Jesus as He is. Jesus’ question about his identity was to help Peter and the disciples recognize that he was their longed-for Messiah. Over the years, the people of Israel had developed certain expectations about their Messiah that would hinder their ability to see him when he came.
Probably every America has heard of Jesus. Most people recognize the name “Jesus,” and are aware of him as a spiritual icon, but not necessarily as he revealed himself to be. It’s as if Jesus has been culturally recycled like Elvis and Einstein. Jesus has been so redefined that if you saw him on the street you probably would not recognize him.
Did you ever see someone, but not recognize them? Or hear someone, but not recognize their voice? I have. While getting groceries, I’ll see a person, but not recognize them until they approach me. Early in his marriage, my friend called his wife during the day to let her know he thinking about her. She was so astonished by his call (because it was so rare) that she asked, “who is this?” It was a problem of recognition.
Jesus desires that you, like Peter in the passage above, recognize Him. He wants to be recognized so you can know him and be assured of his love for you. However, the process of recognizing Jesus is full of surprises, which in turn reveals your own heart. Peter’s recognition of Jesus in Matthew 16 involved a probe, a perception, a protest, and a paradox. These are also an ongoing pattern for all recognizing of Jesus. Becoming a Christian involves an initial recognition of Jesus, but the process continues as you grow.
A Probe to the Heart
Jesus begins this conversation with a probe--two searching questions, one social, and one personal. The social question is, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The personal is, “Who do you say that I am?” And these two question are relevant for you today—what is society’s view of Jesus? And what is your view of Jesus? And why is that your view? Perhaps you have no opinion about Jesus—perhaps you never gave it much thought. Maybe you have a strong opinion about Jesus. Either way, Jesus wants to engage you personally about your view or lack of view of him.
According to the Bible, your response to Jesus’ question is the most important thing about you and shapes your entire life. This is true of you even if you have decided to trust him as Lord and Savior. Jesus continues to probe people who believe in Him with the same question, “Who do you say that I am?” You may consider yourself a strong believer in the biblical concept of Jesus, yet in actual life, does Jesus function as your Savior? When you are anxious? When you are sad? When you are angry? That is why Jesus probes. He probes to have you consider whether he is your lord and savior in your present trial, or will you look to something or someone else to save you. He probes so you will know the reality of your life and recognize His probe as love.
What led up to Jesus’ question?
When Jesus asked his disciples “who do you say that I am,” he had not just met them. His question was proceeded by several things—a series of “witnesses” who gave testimony. First of all, the Hebrew scriptures, which for the previous fifteen hundred years foretold and foreshadowed the coming of the Messiah, the anointed King and deliverer of Israel and the world. These scriptures showed people how to recognize the Messiah. Secondly, God sent a man named John as a prophet to announce the Messiah’s arrival. Thirdly, Jesus had been making claims to deity and validated those claims with signs and wonders in their presence.[1] Having demonstrated his messianic identity, Jesus called for them to decide: "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" "What about you?" "Who do you say I am?"
To the social question (“who do people say that I am?”), the disciples list a range of answers—all which are a variation on, “He is a great man, some kind of messenger from God.” ("Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.") Perhaps you would answer the social question in a similar way: people say Jesus was a pretty cool dude—an enlightened teacher. People seem to like Jesus. They may not know much about His claims, but they seem to have a positive feeling for him.
Realize this: what the disciples saw and heard from Jesus has been preserved by eyewitness testimony and is available to you. Yes, in the documents of the New Testament, in particular, the books of Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. Have you ever read any of these accounts? Have you based your view of Jesus on what other people say?
A Perception
To the personal probe, Peter is given spiritual perception. He RECOGNIZES Jesus: “You are the Christ, [Messiah] the Son of the living God." In other words, “you are the promised king—the One that the Hebrew Scriptures foretold and foreshadowed for fifteen hundred years.” You are the One Isaiah called the Prince of peace, mighty God, the One Daniel called the “Son of Man”[2]—the ruler of the world.” You are more than a man—you are God come as man! You are the “Son of the living God”[3] not the man-made gods of religion.
Wow! Peter realized he was face to face with God! Peter’s answer is affirmed by all the New Testament authors:
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ… (Col. 2:8,9)
Who do you say Jesus is? Do you recognize Him? You may say “I don’t know. It’s too complicated. I don’t have time to do the research.” If this is your view, you have at least for now decided to avoid the question. Do you see? Isn’t avoiding the issue pretty similar to saying He is not who He said He is? If you are comfortable putting of deciding about Jesus, you must be fairly sure there’s nothing important at stake. If you say He is not the Christ, the Son of the Living God, why do you say that? Because of other people? Are you fine the way you are? Is it possible that you don’t want Jesus to be the Messiah? Do you fear that you would not be in control?
The Perception of Peter was a gift from God
Peter says Jesus is the Messiah, the God-Man. How does Peter come up with that? How does he know? Jesus points out that Peter did not come up with this because he is so smart or because he did such great research
And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 16:17)
God enabled Peter to recognize Jesus. God’s Spirit enlightened him and persuaded him. It was not a calculation about what “made sense” to Peter. According to the Bible, you cannot perceive who Jesus is with unaided reason. You can’t size Him up and render a verdict. In fact you can’t because you won’t. You have a bias. You want something. Human beings are spiritually blind and resist seeing. This is brought out by Jesus:
Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. (John 3:19,20)
Why hasn’t God shown me what he showed Peter? Why didn’t He give me a perception? Perhaps you have sought God on this matter, but have received no help. In this regard, the story of the thieves crucified next to Jesus is helpful to consider.[4] One of the thieves looked at Jesus and said, “If you are the One, get us out of here, then we will know.” (Luke. 23:39) In other words, “prove you are the One by solving my problem.” People come with a problem-centered approach to Jesus. They want to know, will Jesus give me the power and support to live the way I want to live? Keller cites four examples of this “problem-centered approach:
1) “I am thinking about Christianity and want to know whether it is true, but I am struggling. I want to be a doctor and I don’t whether I will make it through med-school. Will Jesus help me get through med-school?”
2) “I am struggling because I have a bad marriage and am thinking of getting a divorce. What is the Christian view on divorce? Will I be supported?”
3) “I have a problem with self-esteem. I have a problem with guilt. I have been in a lot of abusive relationships. If I come to Jesus, will he make me feel good about myself?”
4) “I am gay, and I want to know that if when I come to Christianity, will I be supported or will I be condemned?”
Keller goes on:
These are the wrong first questions because you, like the thief, are saying, “I want to know what you are going to do about my life before I give myself to you.” I want to know whether you are the Messiah by the way in which you support me. You are assuming you already know how your life should be lived, who you really are, and how the world ought to go before you know whether He is the One your heart was built for. How can you assume that you know who you are and what you need before you even know if you were created or were an accident? How can you know who you are and what you were made for before you know whether you can communicate with and know the creator of the universe?
If Jesus is who He says He is, then you are someone utterly different than who you think you are now. And if he is not who He says he is, he can’t help you a bit.
One of the reasons why your searching for Jesus has not got any answers, and your are still in confusion, is because your question is not a question, it’s an order. It’s a threat. You are saying to God; “I don’t want to know if you want something different for me.” You are not asking for information, you are giving an order. Yeah, I will have a relationship with you as long as you do what I know needs to be done.
You have to start by saying “Are you the One, The Messiah?” That is where everything starts because before you know that you can’t know anything else. “Are you the one?” It begins there. Once you know that it will change your perspective on everything else. It will change your perspective on marriage, it will change your perspective on sex, it will change your perspective on being a doctor. Everything will be changed.[5]
Jesus wants to reveal himself to you. Do you want to perceive? Have you been ordering God about what he must do to meet your demands?
Peter was given perception by God. But Peter did not grasp the full implications of what he was saying about Jesus. I don’t grasp the full implications either. And neither do you. Jesus desires to expand your level of perception more and more so you recognize Him in ways you don’t right now.
The Perception of Peter was a gift from God
Peter says Jesus is the Messiah, the God-Man. How does Peter come up with that? How does he know? Jesus points out that Peter did not come up with this because he is so smart or because he did such great research
And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 16:17)
God enabled Peter to recognize Jesus. God’s Spirit enlightened him and persuaded him. It was not a calculation about what “made sense” to Peter. According to the Bible, you cannot perceive who Jesus is with unaided reason. You can’t size Him up and render a verdict. In fact you can’t because you won’t. You have a bias. You want something. Human beings are spiritually blind and resist seeing. This is brought out by Jesus:
Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. (John 3:19,20)
Why hasn’t God shown me what he showed Peter? Why didn’t He give me a perception? Perhaps you have sought God on this matter, but have received no help. In this regard, the story of the thieves crucified next to Jesus is helpful to consider.[4] One of the thieves looked at Jesus and said, “If you are the One, get us out of here, then we will know.” (Luke. 23:39) In other words, “prove you are the One by solving my problem.” People come with a problem-centered approach to Jesus. They want to know, will Jesus give me the power and support to live the way I want to live? Keller cites four examples of this “problem-centered approach:
1) “I am thinking about Christianity and want to know whether it is true, but I am struggling. I want to be a doctor and I don’t whether I will make it through med-school. Will Jesus help me get through med-school?”
2) “I am struggling because I have a bad marriage and am thinking of getting a divorce. What is the Christian view on divorce? Will I be supported?”
3) “I have a problem with self-esteem. I have a problem with guilt. I have been in a lot of abusive relationships. If I come to Jesus, will he make me feel good about myself?”
4) “I am gay, and I want to know that if when I come to Christianity, will I be supported or will I be condemned?”
Keller goes on:
These are the wrong first questions because you, like the thief, are saying, “I want to know what you are going to do about my life before I give myself to you.” I want to know whether you are the Messiah by the way in which you support me. You are assuming you already know how your life should be lived, who you really are, and how the world ought to go before you know whether He is the One your heart was built for. How can you assume that you know who you are and what you need before you even know if you were created or were an accident? How can you know who you are and what you were made for before you know whether you can communicate with and know the creator of the universe?
If Jesus is who He says He is, then you are someone utterly different than who you think you are now. And if he is not who He says he is, he can’t help you a bit.
One of the reasons why your searching for Jesus has not got any answers, and your are still in confusion, is because your question is not a question, it’s an order. It’s a threat. You are saying to God; “I don’t want to know if you want something different for me.” You are not asking for information, you are giving an order. Yeah, I will have a relationship with you as long as you do what I know needs to be done.
You have to start by saying “Are you the One, The Messiah?” That is where everything starts because before you know that you can’t know anything else. “Are you the one?” It begins there. Once you know that it will change your perspective on everything else. It will change your perspective on marriage, it will change your perspective on sex, it will change your perspective on being a doctor. Everything will be changed.[5]
Jesus wants to reveal himself to you. Do you want to perceive? Have you been ordering God about what he must do to meet your demands?
Peter was given perception by God. But Peter did not grasp the full implications of what he was saying about Jesus. I don’t grasp the full implications either. And neither do you. Jesus desires to expand your level of perception more and more so you recognize Him in ways you don’t right now.
Next time, I will post the content about the protest of Peter and freedom paradox of Jesus.
[1] Mt. 4:23,24; 5:17; 22 “But I say”; 7:24; 8:26,27 He rebukes the wind; 9:1-8; 12:8 Lord of the Sabbath; 14:33 He accepted worship; John 10:30; 14:6).
[2] 13 "In my vision at night…there before me was one like a son of man… 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
[3] The term “living God” is used in antithesis to the pagan gods of idolatry. See Jer. 10: 9,10 “Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. What the craftsman and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple— all made by skilled workers. 10 But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God, the eternal King. 11 "Tell them this: 'These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.' “
Acts 14:15 “We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.”
[4] This is developed by Tim Keller in, “Who is the Real Jesus?” http://www.monergism.com/realjesus.html
[5] Keller, “Who is the Real Jesus?”
[1] Mt. 4:23,24; 5:17; 22 “But I say”; 7:24; 8:26,27 He rebukes the wind; 9:1-8; 12:8 Lord of the Sabbath; 14:33 He accepted worship; John 10:30; 14:6).
[2] 13 "In my vision at night…there before me was one like a son of man… 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
[3] The term “living God” is used in antithesis to the pagan gods of idolatry. See Jer. 10: 9,10 “Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. What the craftsman and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple— all made by skilled workers. 10 But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God, the eternal King. 11 "Tell them this: 'These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.' “
Acts 14:15 “We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.”
[4] This is developed by Tim Keller in, “Who is the Real Jesus?” http://www.monergism.com/realjesus.html
[5] Keller, “Who is the Real Jesus?”
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