33: Who IS Jesus? (Mt 16:13-28)

A drunk guy is walking down the street. He sees this nun, runs up and knocks her over.

He says, "You don't feel so tough now, do you, Batman!?"

It’s important that we rightly identify who we are dealing with. In the case of Jesus, many people had it wrong, and a few had sort-a-kinda figured out who He really was.

So...Who IS Jesus? This one question has sparked more literature, debates, sermons, and changed lives than any other issue. Who we say Jesus is, is the FOUNDATION for our faith. After all, we don’t put faith in faith, instead, we put faith in Someone. If the foundation is flawed, the most beautiful building will be in danger of caving in. So too, misunderstanding who Jesus is, can cause everything we have believed to collapse.

So, today we examine this most important question, the question that JESUS asked His disciples - Who IS Jesus?

Matthew 16:13 (NIV)

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

Jesus asks His disciples what they’re hearing other people say about Him. And the responses are pretty incredible, as we’ll see in a moment. But before we do, let’s catch the context about where Jesus and his disciples have traveled to.

First, Caesarea Philippi is located in Northern Israel, about 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee, on a 1,700 foot incline. [1]

This was a largely Gentile area littered with pagan shrines and temples.

This city was originally built in honor of August Caesar by King Herod the Great, who died shortly after the birth of Jesus.

This city had later been renovated by Herod Philip (son of Herod the Great) to honor himself & Tiberius Caesar, the ruling emperor during the life of Jesus. [2]

Our Israel group from February of this year went to this place, which has long been rubble with the exception of remnants from temples and pagan shrines at the base of the mountain.

Here’s a pic of 3 of our sweet ladies you might know (Linda Poppell, Tonya Watts, & Rebecca Leatherberry).

It’s near this pagan place, where a temple built in honor of Caesar Augustus stood, along with the Temple to Pan - the half man/half goat - god of shepherds/sheep/nature, as well as several other sites to worship other deities, that Jesus asks this interesting question,

Matthew 16:13–14 (NIV)

[When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,]

“Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

If you’ve been through Starting Point then you will likely remember that we made a BIG DEAL about this.

Some say John the Baptist - who has already been beheaded. They believe that Jesus is John who had been raised from the dead…and now has a head. This is incorrect, BUT…it is an incredible statement of faith!

Others say Elijah - the prophet from about 850 BC whom God took to heaven without ever dying. Jews believed the Scriptures from Malachi that said Elijah would return before the coming of the Messiah (Mal 3:1, Mal 4:5-6, Mt 11:7-14).

Others thought Jesus was a prophet who had died long ago, like Jeremiah, prophets who must have been resurrected from the dead. Incredible statements of faith! Wrong, but they viewed Jesus as someone incredibly special.

But then Jesus asks the question we too need to answer:

Matthew 16:15–16 (NIV)

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

MESSIAH

Peter says that Jesus is the Messiah (Gr. Christ) - meaning the “the anointed one”. [3] These 2 terms - Messiah/Christ mean the same thing (Jn 1:41, 4:25-26) from 2 different languages (Hebrew/Greek).

The Bible refers to Jesus as Messiah/“Christ” 235 TIMES!

When you say “Jesus Christ” - you are literally saying (Hebrew) Yeshua (Yahweh saves) Messiah (the Anointed One) Yep! So the next time someone says, “Jesus Christ!” You can say - YEP! Jesus IS the anointed One sent to save!

SON OF GOD

When Jesus was baptized you remember the voice from heaven saying, “This is my one dear Son; in him I take great delight.” (Mt 3:17)

A study of the phrase “Son of God” in Matthew’s gospel shows that only Satan (Mt 4:3,6), demons (Mt 8:29), and the disciples of Jesus (Mt 14:33) referred to Jesus as “the Son of God” to this point.

As we will later see, Jesus would be handed over to die by religious leaders who condemned Him for BLASPHEMY as claiming to be the Messiah and the Son of God (Mt 26:63-68).

Matthew 26:63 (NIV)

...The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

They even make fun of Him while on the cross because He said He was the Son of God (Mt 27:43).

What does the phrase “Son of God” mean? It doesn’t mean “God’s kid”. John’s gospel says that Jesus “was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.” (Jn 5:18) Jesus was with God the Father in the beginning and created all things, and is even called “God” (Jn 1:1-3, 17:5). Jesus is God, the Son.

Matthew 16:17–18 (NIV)

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church [term for people, not a place], and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Contrary to what Catholics are taught, it was not PETER who is the rock upon which the church is built. It is Peter’s CONFESSION of JESUS’ IDENTITY that WAS and IS the foundation of the church…The Church is BUILT on Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God. Paul later wrote these words,

1 Corinthians 3:11 CSB

For no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ.

Further, Peter himself later wrote these words,

1 Peter 2:4–6 (NIV)

As you come to Him, the Living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a Stone in Zion, a chosen and precious Cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.”

And so It is Peter’s CONFESSION of JESUS’ IDENTITY that WAS and IS the foundation that the church, the followers of Jesus.

And, according to Jesus, nothing will stop His people, His church from accomplishing His mission in building His kingdom - not even the gates of Hades (the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Sheol - referring to death - cf. Is 38:9).

Scholars like Craig Keener and John MacArthur agree that Jesus is saying that even when the community of Jesus stands at the threshold of death - HADES, the church of Jesus will triumph.

After the death & resurrection of Jesus, it becomes super clear that DEATH - hades - holds no eternal power on followers of Jesus as Jesus will too raise them from the dead (1 Cor 15:51-56).

In other words, Jesus is saying that even when His people, His Church stands at the threshold of death - HADES - the Church who trusts in Jesus as the foundation for their faith - will triumph.

Who do YOU say Jesus is?

Is Jesus the FOUNDATION of YOUR faith & life?

Are you part of Jesus’ CHURCH to further the Good News?

Jesus continues...

Matthew 16:19 (NIV)

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.

Jesus is telling His disciples that He has given them keys - this is symbolic for authority to lock or unlock a door that separates.

Of the 2 times that Jesus gives apostles authority to bind & loose (Matt. 16:19; 18:18), neither is referring to the binding of Satan nor other demons. We are not told to bind Satan in prayer and we could, we would certainly never “loose” Satan, would we? NOPE.

So, “binding and loosing” has nothing whatsoever to do with demons.

Instead, the significance of 'binding' & 'loosing' is referring to the authority, responsibility, & privilege to warn of God’s wrath & offer God’s peace.

The apostles have the authority and responsibility to BIND: to tell those who refuse to repent that forgiveness is withheld and they are still under judgement.

The apostles have the authority & responsibility to LOOSE: to tell those who turn from sin & eternal judgement that they are forgiven!

What is bound and loosed is recognized in heaven - both eternal judgment (bind) and eternal life (loose).

Matthew 16:20 (NIV)

Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

WHY? As we’ve already seen, the people wanted and expected a military Messiah - a conquering king, not a Suffering Servant, as we are about to see.

Matthew 16:21 (NIV)

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

And now we see that the disciples weren’t expecting this either! This was such a shock and so outside of what they believed about the Messiah, that...

Matthew 16:22 (NIV)

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

Peter loves Jesus. It hurts to hear that your HERO is talking about dying & leaving you! Further, Peter believed the rabbinical interpretations which said the Messiah would never die (Jn 12:34) - a human tradition that was different from the Scriptural truth.

Matthew 16:23 (NIV)

Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

This is similar to Satan’s temptations - Jesus can wear the CROWN without going to the CROSS (cf. Mt 4:8-9). Of course, this would have dismissed the concerns of God - the plan for the Messiah to take on the sin of mankind. And Jesus would have none of it, not even from His best friends.

And then Jesus warns His disciples of what is expected of them.

It’s easy to follow Jesus when crowds are rallying to see Him, when He’s healing all kinds of diseases and kicking out demons.

But what happens when that honeymoon is over and their KING gets crucified?

What happens when Jesus ascends to heaven and they are still on earth, along with their enemies?

Matthew 16:24–26 (NIV)

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

In the Scriptures, there’s NO DIFFERENCE between Christians & disciples - and the disciples of Jesus...

deny themselves: They are known for sacrificing their own desires for the desires of others. Disciples of Jesus are known for denying their own desires when they are different than what Jesus wants.

I live on HWY90 just past where 90 and 6 split. Where those 2 roads merge here’s what you see:

YEILD SIGN

The people traveling on 6 must yield to those who show up at the same time on HWY90 because those people have the right of way. So too, disciples of Jesus are to YIELD - to deny themselves and submit to what their Lord says.

So disciples DENY THEMSELVES and are to take up their cross. We saw this language used back in Mt 10:38. Taking up the cross is NOT a phrase referring to piddly problems. Most Jews had likely seen other Jews hung on crosses near Jerusalem as a vivid visual warning not to disobey the Roman occupying force.

For them, the cross was a picture of DEATH, which is tied to whatJesus says in the very next thing the Jesus says - as we will see in a moment. Paul later writes:

Galatians 5:24 (NIV)

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

This is an ongoing process of taking up the cross and dying to selfish desires.

It is also a call to be willing to follow Jesus to death, if necessary. Of course, all of the apostles of Jesus faced persecution and many of them were killed for their faith in Jesus.

It’s obvious that Jesus demands His to “follow Me”, dying to their selfish desires and yielding to Him to find real life.

You CANNOT be a Christian and without being a Disciple - a FOLLOWER of Jesus; as we’ve many times before…followers of Jesus FOLLOW JESUS.

Jesus can’t be your Savior and NOT be the Lord of your life. I heard countless Christians say, “Jesus became my Savior when I was younger, but Jesus became Lord of my life years later.” Jesus and His disciples never separated the 2 and we shouldn’t either.

And then Jesus asks a fantastic question.

What can anyone give in exchange for their soul? How would YOU answer THAT question?

I have watched a lot of YouTube videos of an Australian apologist who shares Jesus with people on the street - Ray Comfort. I encourage you to check out his channel (youtube.com/@LivingWaters).

He asks people to take the “Million Dollar Eye Test” where he asks this question that I want to ask you.

Would you trade your right eye for a million dollars? Of course not! No sane person would do that. You have obviously placed a very high value on your eyes.

But when your eyes rot away with your buried body, your soul will live forever, with Jesus or away from Him.

Jesus had earlier said it would be more profitable for a man to pluck out his right eye (if it caused him to sin) than for his whole body to be cast into hell (Matt 5:29). In other words, you should consider the value of your eyes as insignificant compared to the value of your soul.

WHO IS JESUS? Do you recognize Him as the Messiah, God the Son? Is Jesus your LORD or is He just someone you look up to?

There is A DAY COMING when nothing will matter more than YOUR ANSWER to THAT QUESTION.

Matthew 16:27–28 (NIV)

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what they have done. Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.

When Jesus returns He will judge everyone according to what they have done. And no, your good won’t outweigh your bad. Jesus and His disciples are crystal clear that it is only by the sacrificial death of Jesus that you and I can be made clean again. Otherwise, we stand guilty before our Holy God.

Who is YOUR HOPE IN - Jesus…or Yourself? His goodness or yours?

Are you forgiven? Are you FREE? Is Jesus the Lord over your thoughts, attitudes, actions, words, relationships, and stuff?

Do you need to talk further about your SOUL? It would be our privilege to sit with you today and talk further. Call our Staff.

Call our Deacons/wives.

Finally, Jesus says something strange, something that should encourage His disciples, “some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

What’s THAT all about. I’m glad you asked…be here NEXT WEEK and find out!

Until then, may you and I sit in wonder over WHO JESUS IS and WHAT JESUS HAS DONE.

Jesus, the Messiah and God the Son, came to do more than heal and teach, He came to PAY for our sin - so that we can bask in the forgiveness offered to us and praise our Lord, our King, our God!

In light of the war between Hamas and Israel, I have learned about Mosab Hassan Yousef, who is a son of a Hamas leader, who has turned to Jesus several years ago. Listen to HIS STORY - what it cost him, and how answering “WHO IS JESUS?” transformed his life.

VIDEO [https://mbird.com/religion/son-of-hamas-converted/]

___________

Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009), 424.

W. T. Edwards Jr., “Caesarea Philippi,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 247–249.

Craig A. Evans, Mark 8:27–16:20, vol. 34B, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2001).

Discussion Questions

Who IS Jesus and why does that really matter?

Read Matthew 16:13-14. What do the different responses of the people say about how significant Jesus is?

Read Matthew 16:15-16 & 26:63. What do these passages say about how unique Jesus is? Take time to discuss how Peter’s identification of Jesus helps us answer the question “Who IS Jesus?”.

Read Matthew 16:17-18. What would you say to a Catholic person who says that the Church is built on Simon Peter? Is this what Jesus meant? How does 1 Cor 3:11 & 1 Peter 2:4-6 help give clarity to this confusion?

Many people immediately think of “hell” when they read “the gates of Hades will not overcome it”. Does Satan and demons rule hell? Is this their kingdom? How does understanding that Hades likely is referring to DEATH make sense in light of the context of this passage?

Read Matthew 16:21-23. Why did the disciples of Jesus struggle with the mention of His death? If the disciples of Jesus had some wrong interpretations of Scripture based on the teachings of others, why should WE be open to reconsider some of what we have been taught in light of the context of the Scriptures? Why was Jesus so quick to compare Peter’s response to Satan?

Read Matthew 16:24-26. Although no Christian is perfect and we all have moments of weakness and struggle, how does this passage challenge you to reconsider whether those who claim to be Christians really ARE, based on their unwillingness to follow Jesus and sacrifice to obey Him?

How might using the “Million Dollar Eye Test” (from Ray Comfort) when you share with others help you to explain the importance of protecting and pursing what impacts your eternal soul?

Read Matthew 16:27-28. Does the return of Jesus concern you, excite you, or both? Share why.

How did Mosab Yousef’s testimony of trusting Jesus encourage you to continue to take the good news of Jesus to ALL people? What stood out to you from his story?

What challenged or encouraged you most from today’s teaching? What does God want YOU to do with what we studied today?

Share prayer needs and pray for one another.