Pentecost 12A: Who do YOU say that Jesus is?

Who do YOU say that Jesus is?

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

In 2015, I was blessed with the opportunity to visit the Holy Land as part of my seminary experience. And since Dr. Luker, my Hebrew and Old Testament professor was our tour guide, we really got an in-depth look at some very significant sites that we read about in Scripture. We covered a significant chunk of the geographic area of the country of Israel. Among the more interesting places we visited was the place mentioned in today’s Gospel lesson - Caesarea Philippi.

When we arrived at this historical site, the first thing I noticed was all of the ruins laying about. Mostly, it was a bunch of the old Greek and Roman style columns that were all that’s left of a variety of pagan temples in the area. There were a multitude of temple ruins in this place, but I can only remember what 2 of them were: one temple on one side was a temple to Pan, the Greek god of the wild, and of shepherds and flocks. The other temple was to Zeus, the Greek god of the sky and lightning, and the kind of the Greek gods. These two temples were situated on either side of a large, deep, dark cave.

When Dr. Luker brought us to the mouth of the cave, he told us that this cave was where the pagans believed that the dead went to cross the River Styx - how spirits traveled to Hades. This cave had that look about it, too. It had been named “the Gates of Hell”. It definitely looked the part. It was in this very place that Jesus spoke to his disciples in the lesson we read this morning.

So with a half-dozen or so temples erected to pagan gods, with pagan worshippers going back-and-forth between them, and the Gates of Hell behind him, Jesus begins to speak to his followers about what THEY believe. And he begins by asking them about the Son of Man. “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” First, let’s be clear about why Jesus chose this particular phrase. We know that Jesus is describing himself as “the Son of Man”. But I’m not sure those 3 words are as clear to us as they were to the Apostles when Jesus spoke them.

The phrase “Son of Man” is used by 2 Old Testament prophets: Ezekiel and Daniel. Ezekiel uses this term 90 times to refer to himself. And Jesus quotes Ezekiel a few times using this phrase, talking about Ezekiel’s view of the end times, or “Judgment Day” as we often think of it. Ezekiel’s prophecies have much to say about what will happen at the end of time. The fancy seminary-nerd term for the study of the end-times is “eschatology”.

Perhaps even more significant than Ezekiel however, is the prophet Daniel’s use of “Son of Man”. Daniel’s prophecies are even more focused on the end-times than Ezekiel’s. In Daniel chapter 7, the prophet describes a being “like a son of man” who “comes with the clouds” into the presence of “the Ancient of Days” who gives the son of man the universal and eternal kingdom of God. [Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Son of Man,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 1983.] Looking at this term in this way, it’s unmistakable that Jesus is using this term to refer to himself. But what he has done here is ask his followers to give him the wrong opinions of other people, and use it as an opportunity for them to offer their own “correct” beliefs about who Jesus is.

Put another way, Jesus is asking his disciples for a confession. He wants them to confess what they believe about him…to speak their belief to him as a “true expression of their heart’s conviction”. Of course Jesus could see into their hearts where no one else could…not then, and not now. So for us, we have to accept the confession of the lips. [R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Matthew’s Gospel (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 619–620.] Certainly we can observe the conduct of an individual or a church body to see how they live out their beliefs. But without that, we can only take a person or a church at its word.

And that, brothers and sisters, is a 2-way street. The same can be and is said of us. Do we live out what we believe? I think we do…or at least we are trying to. We have limitations. We have obstacles and challenges. But the concern in today’s lesson, and I think for all of us, is that we are confident in what we believe. Are we?

Every week, we recite either the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed. If you’re not sure why it’s sometimes one and not the other, I can explain. Our tradition holds that we recite the Nicene Creed when we take Holy Communion and the Apostles’ Creed at other times. More important than that, however, is WHY we say these creeds, and why we have them. Do you remember? These creeds are statements that were developed at around the same time that the church was deciding on which books were to be included in the Christian Bible…what we call the “canon of Scripture”. This was a truly critical time in the history of the Church of Christ.

Each of these 2 creeds is a response to different heresies, and both of these heresies deal specifically with who Jesus is. The Apostles’ Creed is more focused on Jesus as a human being…because there were some false Christians (called the Gnostics) who taught that Jesus was definitely divine—he was God, but he only “looked” human. See the problem? If that were true, then he didn’t really take on flesh…and that means he didn’t really die. And that means our sins weren’t truly atoned for. This is a heresy, and the Apostles’ Creed answers that.

The Nicene Creed on the other hand is a response to Arius, a priest who taught that Jesus wasn’t God, and therefore wasn’t equal to the Father, but was merely created by the God the Father, and sent by God the Father. Again, this is a problem. If Jesus wasn’t equal to God, part of the Holy Trinity…if Jesus is merely a subordinate god or a mere “demi-god”, then Christianity is worshiping more than one god, and therefore in violation of the First Commandment. There are a whole host of other issues to go along with this heresy, but this is the foremost of the problems.

So we have these creeds to explain proper Christian belief. And that helps to keep us true to what we believe. But unfortunately, it doesn’t answer all the challenges to our faith, does it? It doesn’t denounce newer heresies. These creeds are good, but they are woefully inadequate to some more modern challenges to our Christian faith.

The enemies of Christ have been hard at work for a very long time. And the biggest and most dangerous of these foes is the Wicked Foe - the devil himself. He and his minions have been sowing the seeds of doubt and unbelief for millennia, and they hone their skills every day. Some of their work is easy to spot: such as the accusation that Jesus of Nazareth is strictly a myth, and no such man ever walked the earth. This one is easily disproven. There are ancient Roman records of a Jewish teacher named Jesus who was crucified in the mid-30s AD. Look it up - it’s not hard to find this evidence. And yet, militant atheists and others who would undermine Christian teaching still repeat this lie to create doubt and disbelief, and to slow or stop the spread of the Gospel.

Less easy to spot and identify are the more subtle heresies about Jesus. Have you seen the one that describes Jesus as a socialist? Oh yes, it’s out there. Jesus wants everyone to have equal wealth. Jesus wants to take from the rich and give to the poor. Jesus wants everyone to be exactly equal. And they twist Scripture and take Bible verses out of context, or ever-so-slightly change the wording to make it fit their narrative. This is, to me, more insidious than the blatant lie. This one uses the Word of God in a dishonest way to make Jesus out to be someone he most definitely is not. Make no mistake: socialism is completely incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In socialism, there is no room for the worship of anything besides the government itself. Socialist regimes will always - always - restrict, control, and eventually eliminate any organized religion. Christianity is the top target - because it gives people hope in something other than the government. Jesus teaches that we must worship only God, not government. Jesus was absolutely NOT a socialist. He didn’t say “take from the rich”, he said don’t love your money. He said give freely and joyfully. He said that having wealth is not a virtue any more than being poor is a sin. But he never said that being rich is a sin. Sin comes from the heart, not from appearance, not from social status, not from who your parents are. Sin begins in the heart. No, Jesus was NOT a socialist.

This is why it’s SO important to know what Scripture actually says. God’s Word tells us exactly who Jesus is. And many of these arguments have already taken place. In this day and age of increasing division and vicious arguments about politics, it’s easy to spot people on both sides of the political aisle taking Scripture out of context and using it to justify their positions. Please don’t do that. I will be asking people: “Do you really think Jesus would align himself with one political party?” Certainly there are things that Jesus would stand for: the sanctity of life, the fair treatment of all human beings, the welfare of every citizen. But to insinuate that he would endorse a political candidate or that he would vote blue or red is simply turning Jesus into who you want him to be, not who he is.

Jesus said “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s; give to God what its God’s.” God wants your HEART. Unfortunately, so does Caesar. We can’t give it to both. Save your heart for God; give your taxes and your vote to the government. Be a good citizen. But be a Christian first. Let your Christian values help you decide who to vote for. But don’t - DON’T - put your hope in a politician. Put your hope…KEEP your hope… in God - in the Father Who created us, in the Son Who redeems us, and in the Holy Spirit Who sustains us. THAT is who we put our trust and faith in. THAT is who we hope in.

“Who do YOU say that I am?” This question that Jesus asked his disciples, standing at the Gates of Hell, is a question for all of us to think about deeply. Do we make Jesus into someone we want him to be? Or do we look to Jesus as who he tells us that he is? Gee pastor, that’s not a loaded question at all! I know. I am saying it that way on purpose. There are some things that we need to be extremely vigilant about, and this is one of them. All around us, especially in this election season, are people telling us what we should believe. “You can’t call yourself a Christian if you vote for _____(fill in the blank)_____.” And that’s on both sides of the argument. “Jesus wouldn’t vote for ______.” If you haven’t heard it yet, you will. It’s coming. Don’t buy it. Don’t listen to this worldly rhetoric. It doesn’t come from God, and it doesn’t come from the Bible. It comes from a place of idolatry, where Jesus is subordinate to politics. And brothers and sisters - that is DEFINITELY NOT who Jesus is.

Jesus of Nazareth is, as Peter tells us in the Gospel today, “the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus *is* God. Like the Father, the Son has always been. He was with the Father at the Dawn of Creation. “Through Him all things were made.” And this Jesus is the one who humbled himself by taking on flesh - the same flesh as all of sinful humanity - and he allowed that flesh to be abused, beaten, and killed. Why? He did that to set right everything that we had made wrong. He did that to save us…to save us from ourselves and our tendency toward self-destruction…to save us from an eternity of damnation, of separation from God. That is what death is. That is what hell is. And Jesus saved us from that.

I want to caution all of us to be watchful for these heresies. Don’t let them sneak into your heart and influence your faith. There is so much out there that dances on the edge of orthodox Christian teaching that we must be ever vigilant. We cannot let these false teachings work their way into our hearts or into our faith. Some of them are extremely well-crafted, which makes them hard to identify. Study your Bible. Get into the Word and know what it says about Jesus, his message, his teaching, and his purpose. This is your best defense against heresy.

And finally: pray. What’s going on in our country right now is almost unthinkable. A year ago, if you told me what our nation would look like today, I would have called you insane. And yet, here we are. Some of it seems surreal. Some of it is so out of control that it seems like there’s nothing we can do. But we can always, ALWAYS pray. Lift up your cares, your worries, your thanks, and your praise to God, and let Him run with it. That’s the best thing we can do with these crazy times and happenings.

Because that, too, is who God is. The Creator of the Universe, who has always been and who always will be, loves you. He loves you so much that He listens for you to speak to Him. He wants you to bring your prayers to Him. This is part of His promise to all of us, a promise He made because of and for the sake of His Son. The Son who died on the cross for us. The Son Who rose from the dead to show us God’s plan for all of us. The Son in Whom we hope. The Son in Whose name we pray. The Son of Man, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

In the Name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.