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Jesus and the disciples are about 120 miles
from Jerusalem in northern Palestine. We’re closing in on the time when He
will go to the Holy City and the cross upon which He will die. But before
He does, there are 2 things He wants His followers to be clear about:
1. Who He is
2. What He’s going to do
These are the 2 things we all must
understand—the person and work of Jesus Christ.
The disciples have been with Jesus for about
3 years, and now it’s final exam time. He asks first who the crowd says He
is, and then who the disciples say He is. Their answer will determine where
they spend eternity...and your answer does the same. Be careful as you take
the test...you cannot afford to miss on this question. And you must answer
not only with your head, intellectually, but with your heart, spiritually.
[With the heart man believeth, Rom. 10]
They are in Caesarea Philippi, the center of
pagan religion.
Who is Jesus Christ to You?
1. This is the
perennial question.
This question is repeated in every age, over
and over again. There is no neutrality with this question...you cannot
avoid it, you must answer.
The opinion of the crowd
v. 14
3 theories:
·John the
Baptist—because
of His preaching of repentance. But Jesus was a far greater
preacher than John, and He spoke with an authority that was astonishing. He
not only spoke the Word of God, He IS the Word made flesh! John only
pointed to the Lamb of God, but Jesus personified the Lamb.
·Elijah—because
of His prayers. Elijah prayed and the heavens opened and
closed, whether rain or fire. Jesus had a powerful prayer life. The
disciples never asked Him to teach them to preach, or to work miracles...but
they DID say, teach us to pray! They were blown away by His ability to talk
to His Father, and they were happy to learn they could easily do the same.
·Jeremiah—because
of His ‘pathos’ = compassion. Jeremiah was the weeping
prophet, and was known for His tears. And Jesus was known for being moved
to tears...from His view of a multitude in a crowd like sheep w/ no
shepherd, to the tomb of just one and the shortest verse in the Bible, our
Jesus wept and wept, and still today when we are hurting, He hurts right
along with us, His heart breaks for us, and our tears are a language that
our God understands!
All of these opinions were wrong, because you
just can’t compare Jesus to another man. He is unique, supreme, the Name
above all names, the God-man, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
We’ll never find the right answer to the
perennial question by taking a public opinion poll. When it comes to Jesus,
the big crowd is always wrong, yet many make public opinion their main
method of gaining spiritual understanding.
Invite people to church or to be saved and
you’ll hear the same excuses over and over again. This tells me 2 things:
1. The excuses all originate from the same source...Satan, and 2. They’ve
heard it from somebody else.
“The Bible is full of contradictions” they
say, and usually they have never read it for themselves...they are just
repeating talking points.
[ask them to show you one]
“I can worship God anywhere” they say, but
they don’t.
“You just want my money” they say, and I
reply, “but that’s not all!”
Maybe we need to stop asking them to church,
and start asking them the perennial question they need to answer, Who is
Jesus Christ to You? If they get a hold of the true answer, they’ll be
saved, get into church, and be forever changed!
2. This is a
personal question.
v. 15 Jesus narrows the focus.
The opinion of the
disciples
Every person must answer this question. The
crowd cannot answer it for you. You cannot abstain or opt out from
answering...you can delay, but you cannot hide forever, you will answer
someday.
There’s only 4 answers
really that you can give:
·“He’s a legend. It’s all made up.
He never really was.” A very small minority today believe this one.
Intellectually you cannot hold this position. Why? Because there’s more
historical proof of the existence of Jesus Christ than of any other person
in human history. I hate it when cable channels try to deal with Bible
stories because they totally botch it up so often. And when they
investigate who Jesus was, there’s no exception, they flaunt their ignorance
as if it were a neon sign flashing above their heads. But I’ll tell you one
thing they never even attempt to do, and that is to deny His
existence...there’s simply too much historical evidence to even begin to go
there.
·“He was a
liar. He deceived
people into thinking He was someone He was not. He was a good teacher, a
good person who did good things, but He was not God in the flesh.” This
position is not even an option. Why? Because He claimed to be God,
and if He wasn’t then He was a liar, and good people don’t go around living
a lie. It wasn’t a little white lie if He was lying, He was a pathological,
habitual deceiver...is that a good person? No! And people can see right
thru that kind of liar.
Joke—little
boy would go to school and tell some whoppers about his weekend / the
teacher would ask, what did you do? / “went fishing, caught 36 fish this
long!” / she knew he was lying / next week, “deer hunting, killed 8 ten
point bucks / she knew he was lying / next week, “played baseball, hit 16
home runs in one inning / she took him to the principal’s office / he said I
know psychology, so send him to me, I’ll tell him an even bigger lie and
show him what he looks like / said, Billy, I want to tell you about my
weekend. I was walking thru the woods and saw a huge black bear and it
started chasing me...but just then a little Chihuahua dog came out from
behind a tree and killed that black bear, and ate it whole. Do you believe
that? / “Sure I do, he’s my dog...that was his 3rd bear this
week!”
·“He was a
lunatic. He was off in
the head. Maybe sincere, but crazy...mentally deranged.” But again, read
His words, and see how the people marveled. They asked, where does He get
His wisdom. The most brilliant minds have studied His words for centuries
and have only scratched the surface at the depth of His wisdom! And so, if
he was not a legend, liar, or lunatic, then there’s only 1 other conclusion
you can make...
·“He is LORD!” in V. 16 Peter got
it right! He is the long awaited, oft predicted Messiah, and study your OT
and you’ll see His coming and description are all there plain as day, when,
where, and how He would come, what He would be like, and what He would do.
How long can you wait to face the question
when you know He’s not a legend, it makes no sense that He was a liar, and
it’s plain He was no lunatic. Confess Him as Lord today, and not on this
day:
Philippians 2:10-11 10 That at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow...and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
On that day it will be too late...today it’s
just too simple!
Who is Jesus Christ to You?
Not only is this question the perennial
question, and a personal question...
3. This is a
providential question.
v. 17 Jesus says, it’s only by the
grace, goodness, and guidance of God that any of us can ever come to the
place of answering this question correctly.
The right answer comes by divine
revelation, not by human speculation. Only the Father in
heaven can make the truth real in your heart.
John 6:44
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.
It’s no accident that you are here today.
God has arranged the circumstances of your life so you will hear this
message, and you will be forced to answer the question, who is Jesus Christ
to you? And don’t just answer it in your head...make sure it impacts your
heart.
Don’t miss heaven by 18 inches...the distance
between your head and your heart. So, what’s the difference between
believing in your head and in your heart?
Ill.—years ago a man walked a tightrope high
in the air with no safety net. A great crowd gathered below to watch. Then
he took a wheelbarrow across. Then he talked to the crowd. “How many here
believe I can take a person across inside the wheelbarrow?” Everyone raised
their hand. He pointed to one man raising his hand. “You sir, come here
and jump in.” The man took off running! He believed it in his head but not
in his heart.
So, who is Jesus Christ to you?
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