Who is Jesus to You?

The Region

Caesarea Philippi was located some 25 miles northeast of the Sea of Galilee on a beautiful plateau near the headwaters of the Jordan River. A few miles to the north, snow-covered Mount Hermon rose to a height of more than 9,000 feet above sea level.

In the second century BC the place was called Panion, after the Greek god Pan, who supposedly was born in a cave there. In 20 BC Augustus Caesar gave the city to Herod the Great, who, according to Josephus, “adorned this place, which was already a very remarkable one” with a “most beautiful temple of the whitest stone” in honor of the emperor.

When Herod died in 4 BC, his son Philip the Tetrarch was given the territory surrounding Panion, an area known as Paneas. Josephus reported that “Philip built the city Caesarea, at the fountains of Jordan, and in the region of Paneas.” Philip made it his capital and then named it Caesarea Philippi after the Roman emperor Tiberius Caesar and himself.

And it’s in this Region, full of paganistic worship, near the line between Jews and Gentiles, those who would not claim Him as Lord and those who did not know Him as Lord that we find Jesus asking His disciples the most important question they would ever answer.

So let’s look a little further at Jesus First Request.

The First Request

He begins His address by asking the disciples a general question. He says, “who do men say that I the Son of man am?”

This was the ice breaker, the starter question, the method used to get their minds headed in the direction He was wanting them to go. Little did they know though that this was only the prelude to a much deeper reasoning behind His asking.

Now, one thing I want to point out here before moving on is how Jesus addressed himself. Notice He doesn’t call Himself the Messiah or the Christ or even the Son of God but rather He uses the title Son of Man.

When you do a little studying you will find that this was our Lord’s most favorite title! Jesus used this title some 80 times in reference to Himself. But what exactly did He mean by using the title “Son of Man?”

I love what the Baker Encyclopedia says about this title… it says the title Son of Man is “Messianic title used by Jesus to express his heavenly origin, earthly mission, and glorious future coming.”

You see Jesus new exactly what He was doing when He used this title. If you go back to the OT in the Book Daniel, there is a reference to the Son of Man.

Daniel 7:13-14 — 13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

You see, by using this title Jesus was saying, “look friend, I’m the one you’ve been looking for!” I’m the one Daniel was writing about! I’m here to deliver you from your sins! I’m here to conquer death, hell and the grave and then one day when the Father says that’s it Son let’s wrap this thing up, I’m coming back again and at that moment, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that I am Lord!

He could of used the title Son of God and had every right to but He didn’t because his delights were with the sons of men and therefore I believe He wanted His disciples to understand the implications of what was taking place before their very eyes!

The one and only prophesied Son of God had stepped out of Heaven, robed Himself in flesh and was standing right in front of them! It wasn’t all about His deity but about His desire to relate to the very people He came to save!

And I want you to know this morning, that if you are sitting here, lost and undone in your sins, Jesus wants a relationship with you too!

He came as the Son of God but made Himself the Son of Man in order that you and I could get to know Him!

And dear friend, I don’t know about you but I’m thankful that He came to be like me so that I could be like Him! Without the Son of Man, we could not become the Sons of God!

So we see the First Request. Now let’s look at the Disciple’s Reply.

The Reply

They begin by saying, “some say you’re John the Baptist.”

Some people, even Herod the tetrarch, were saying that Jesus was John the Baptist come back from the dead! If you look back a couple chapters to Chapter 14 Vs. 1-2 Herod said this of Jesus...

King James Version Chapter 14

14 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, 2 And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.

So some thought Jesus was John the Baptist. Then they said, “some say you are Elias” which is the Greek name for Elijah. Some people understood the OT Malachi who stated that Elijah would return before that great and dreadful day of the Lord and therefore believed that Jesus was Elijah.

Then others said that Jesus was the OT Prophet Jeremiah who had come back to life. It could have been because Jesus spoke with power and authority and maybe like Jeremiah and maybe they thought that the Word of God was like a fire pent up inside the bones of Jesus like they were the Prophet Jeremiah but little did they know that He was the Word of God, Amen!

Then they said that others claimed he was just another prophet.

The thing I found interesting when studying this is the fact that no one said Jesus was just a man! Listen friend, even the naysayers knew that Jesus more than just a mere man!

There was no denying the miracles they had seen!

There was no denying the authoritative teaching!

There was no denying that inside this man called Jesus there was a power that was not of this world!

Even the Great Military Leader Napoleon had this to say about our Lord... "I know men, and Jesus was no mere man." — John MacArthur

I love what C.S. Lewis once said, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.”

And I believe this was exactly the point Jesus was trying to get to here with His disciples! Now He gets to the underlying question all along. The real agenda behind the ice breaker. Now Jesus makes it personal!

The Second Request

“Who do YOU say that I am?

The apex of our conversation, the question of all the ages, takes place right here Caesarea Philippi! And I’m here to tell you this morning friend…at some point, every man, woman, boy and girl will be faced to answer this question for themselves!

Jesus is going to speak to your heart and ask you the same thing He asked His disciples all those years ago…who do you say that I am?

And I can assure you this morning on the authority of the Word of God that if He is anything besides Lord & Savior to you, then you got some things you need to be working out!

C.S. Lewis used to say, if He’s not Lord He’s either a Liar or a Lunatic.

Which is He to you this morning? If He’d of been a liar or lunatic, upon His death on the cross that would have been the end of it and we wouldn’t be talking about Him today, right?

If He were a liar or lunatic, then He’d of never risen from the grave, the disciples would of disbanded and we definitely wouldn’t be talking about Him today, right?

But that’s simply not the case! He died on Calvary’s cross, they laid His dead body in an empty tomb. They surrounded it with Roman soldiers to ensure no one stole His body. And three days later my friend, Jesus got up out of that tomb, leaving death behind and taking the keys of death and hell with Him and He showed Himself to His disciples first, then the scripture says to above 500 brethren at once and if that weren’t enough, He had a one on one meeting with Paul on that Damascus road and turned him into the greatest missionary this world has ever seen!

I’m telling you this morning friend, the evidence demands a verdict and the only conclusion that any rational person can come to, is that Jesus of Nazareth is truly the one and only Son of God, the promised Messiah sent to save us from our sins and most importantly, He is alive today, sitting on the right hand of God making intercession for all who will put their trust in Him!

And that’s exactly the response He gets! Look with me at Peter’s reply!

The Response

Peter makes a public profession Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God!

Now if you don’t look very closely, you will miss the most important part of this message right here!

Let’s take a deeper look into what Peter was really saying!

He said Lord you are “the Christ!” The word Christ means “anointed” and the word the used here is a definite article meaning there’s only one!

Listen to me friend, God anointed one person to send to this world to take away the sins of His people and that person was His only begotten Son, Jesus!

There has never been another anointed by God and there will never be another anointed by God to accomplish this task!

There have been many throughout the ages claiming to be anointed but you know how you tell the difference between the real deal and a phony? The phony anoints himself while the real Messiah is anointed from above!

The Bible records in...

Matthew 3:16-17 — 16  And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Peter says, “thou art the Christ, “the Son” of the living God.”

Here again, Peter uses the definite article when he says “the Son” meaning there’s only one!

John 3:16 — For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

When Jesus says in John’s gospel that He’s the only begotten the Greek word for “only begotten” is (monogenes) and it means the only one of it’s kind!

Jesus is the one, true, Son of God!

Then Peter says, “thou are the Christ, the Son of “the living God.”

Aren’t you glad we serve a living God this morning? I got a blessing out of looking up this word living. It’s the Greek word “zao” and means “to live, breathe & be among the living!”

Oh aren’t you thankful this morning friend we serve a God who is right here with us! He’s not some cosmic God hanging out in the far reaches of the universe that you can’t get ahold of when you need Him!

No, praise God He’s right here among the living! Among us! His hand is not shortened that it cannot save neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear! (Isaiah 59:1)

He said I’ll never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5) when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. (Isaiah 43:2)

Over and over and over God says to us in His scripture Fear not for I am with thee! I’m thankful this morning I serve a living God!

One who can hear me when I call to Him, one who sees my every move, one who guides me in the right paths, one who picks me up when I fall, one who protects me from harm, one who like the old hymn we sing says....walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way!

He lives! He lives! Salvation to impart! You ask me how I know He lives…He lives within my heart!

Praise God I’m thankful for Peter’s testimony this morning, aren’t you?

Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!

After Peter’s great testimony we come to the final point of today’s message, the Revelation.

The Revelation

Vs. 17 — Listen, I can preach the greatest message this world has ever heard and not a single person come to know Christ as Lord. Why? Because it isn’t the preaching that saves, it’s the drawing of the Father that brings a man, woman, boy or girl to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ!

Jesus said in...

John 6:44 — No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

The Father draws the Holy Spirit convicts and Jesus saves!

Vs. 18 — Then Jesus tells Simon that He’s changing his name to Peter (Gr. Petros — stone) and that upon this rock (Gr. Petra — a massive rock) He will build His Church (Gr. ekklēsia — a set of individuals that have been called out) and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

1 Corinthians 3:11 — For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:20 — And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

1 Peter 2:4-5 — 4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, 5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Romans 12:2 — And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.