Who Do You Say I Am? (3)

If you are married have ever said something to your spouse that just wasn’t the wisest thing at the moment?

I remember when Arika and I were dating I remember it was my first time visiting her home and she is from Sparta Michigan, which if you haven’t been there it is a really small town.

And she was showing me all the things to do in Sparta Michigan, which there is not a whole lot.

She showed me the playground in town

I got to see an Icecream shop

And the last stop was at a gas station that she would get popcorn at aas a teeager

And I remember when we got to the last stop I said wow, honey you really came from a small town when pop corn at the gas station is on the highlight list.

OTHER EXAMPLES???

But you a lot of times we as humans make some poor descions on what we say or what we do.

And a lot of times it can get us in trouble right? Are there any extra amens?

But you know where we are in this series called The Story” last week we saw Jesus has begun to gain a lot of popularity and people are begining to recognize Him immeadiatly,

But at the same time He is beginning to make some enemies and like we talked about last week He is shifting from this popular stage in His ministry to to place where He is about to face a lot of opposition, in fact we begin to even see this where we are today.

And something really interesting is the opposition He faces is not because of what He does, its not because of what He says, but its because of who people believe He is.

In fact in where we are today there are a ton a different titles people give Jesus. Heres just a few:

Some say He is a Prophet

Others call Him a deciever

Some say He is just a good man

Others Say John the Baptist or Elijah

Some say He is Demon posed

But then others say He is the Messiah.

And what happens is we begin to see some people amazed, but others outraged,

And so what we are going to be doing today is looking at what people believe about who Jesus is and about Who Jesus actually is and looking at how that impacts us.

So we have a lot we are going to be doing today so are you ready?

We will be starting in Mark 8:27-30

Mark 8:27–30 NIV

27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” 28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” 30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

So Jesus has been working miracles and teaching and now He is entering this area called Caesarea Philippi.

And this area is a place that historically was filled with shrines and statues to all these false gods that the Jewish people would have encountered throughout history

There were shrines to baal who they considered the god of fertility

There were shrines to pan who is was similar to the little goat guy from the movie Hercules

There were shrines to the roman god’s

And really there were so many other shrines and temples that this place in Biblical times was known for their god’s.

And so I want you to get this picture in your head of what is happening.

Because Jesus and the disciples are traveling through this area and the disciples have been following Jesus for about two years at this point,

But whats amazing in these two years of following Jesus they have not declared who Jesus is yet.

But it has to be on their minds.

Because they have seen him heal people, they have seen him work maricles, they have heard His teaching.

And so now they are walking through this area where on one side of them there are false gods everywhere that they have encountered throughout history

And on the other-side is this guy that they have been following for two years and in their head they have to be thinking who is this guy.

Is He a false god like all of these others that are around us?

Is He a prophet like the ones we have heard from before

Is He just a good guy

I mean Who is this guy?

And I just want to pause here because I am guessing that most of us whether we have grown up a Christian or are a newer in our walk with God, we have probably have at some point wrestled with who this guy we call Jesus is.

I mean Who is Jesus.

And most of us we may have come up with awnsers.

Some of us might have said yeah He was a good guy

Others we might have at one point said this guy was a scam

Maybe some of us are still unsure of who Jesus is.

And maybe you are thinking well so what?! why does it matter?

Well we believe that who God is directly impacts who we are

And not only that but if we are impacted then it should not stop their but it should keep impacting others.

In fact if you are a Christian its almost like you are a mirror.

Where we reflect and begin to look more like Jesus,

I mean we become people that are loving like Jesus

We become people that help others

We become people who care about the marginalized

We begin to look like Jesus,

And not only that but others see that,

But here is the issue, because if we do not understand Who Jesus is and how He lived its easy to go from a mirror that reflects a good image to looking like a fun house mirror where the image gets distorted.

And instead of Jesus as He is we show Judgemental Jesus

We see Politician Jesus

We see a Jesus that causes hurt rather than healing

I mean we need to understand and embrace Who Jesus is!

And look what happens because Jesus ask them in that first verse who people say I am?

And the Disciples go well yeah some people think you are a prophet, others John the Baptist and still others Elijah

But something that is really interesting is Jesus does not just ask that and stop, but He digs a little deeper?

Because he says this is what others think about me, but what I want to know is what do you think about me?

And He ask this question: Who Do You Say That I Am?

And can I just say this is a question each of us have to anwser?

Who is this guy we call Jesus?

And what does it mean in your life?

And in the story you can picture this awkward silence moment, because know one wants to say the wrong awnser but then Peter speaks up (He was a really vocal person) and says “Jesus I believe you are the Messiah” (other areas say Messiah son of the living God)

And this is big awnser because the Messiah was a person that the Jewish people have waited for since the fall of man

And they believed He would make all things right and deliver them!

And its so neat because Peter is right! but he also does not understand every detail.

In fact actually right after this in Mark 8:31-33. Jesus explains what it means and that He will die on the cross and it actually says Peter tells Jesus “No! thats not going to happen to you!”

But you know when you answer that question about Jesus you do not need to know everything every single thing

Some of you know this but I am going to Africa in a month and I am trusting a missionary to lead us.

I think He is a really awesome person,

In fact we are trusting him to prepare lodging, food and we have actually already given him a lot of money for the project.

But I don’t know everything single detail, but I know enough to trust Him with my life right? because it takes a little bit of faith

And you know it actually requires faith to follow Jesus, Where we might not know every detail, but we believe He is the one that hascome to save us and deliver us from our sins

And the beautiful thing about this is everyday you learn more about who He is and He shapes you more and more into who He is calling you to be.

I mean when you get married its that way. You don’t know everything, but you learn more and more about them everyday.

And maybe today you have not awnsered that question yet: “who do you say i am”

What would it look to say “Yes” Jesus I want that to be my awnser that you are the one who has come to save me from the destructiveness of sin in my life.

And look what this means because throughout where we are today Jesus keeps making his identity known, but as He makes his identity known, He also also tells what that identity means.

Look at John 8:12. Because it says this:

John 8:12 NIV

12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

So Jesus says I am the light of the world! Meaning Jesus has come to take away the darkness of Sin

But He says “whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

You know life can get dark sometimes.

I think about when I go into Liams room at night.

Liams room is always destroyed. There are legos on the floor, cars, toys and sometimes random household items everywhere

So if I go into Liams room in the middle of the night without my phone I will go down

But when you have a light its nice because the obstacles are still there, but you have somthing to guide you through the obsactles

And really its amazing because the light of Christ works that way because the world can be dark, but we have a God who can guide us through that darkness

And the light always overcomes darkness

Look at John 11:25 because it says:

John 11:25–26 NIV

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

You know this last verse I love because we probably do not talk about this enough,

but when you have entered into a relationship with Jesus one of the beautiful things is that one day there is a day where there will be no more pain, no more sorrow, or suffering,

but all will be made right and we will be with Jesus.

And its this picture where there is no sickness orcancer

No hurtful gossip

No anxiety

But we get to know Jesus fully

And its a beautiful picture, but something else that is amazing is while this is amazing news, the good news is right now when we have anwsred that question of who Jesus is, we get to have a taste of heaven now and be a part of building God’s kingdom here.

Its kind of like if you have ever been to Costco (I love Costco)

Because they have samples everywhere, and if you are like me you go around and you try every sample possible.

And some our really good and some are terrible and some are amazing. There was one time I went their and got a sample of somthing I loved that was clearly cooked wrong...

But, let me end on this today, because a lot of times our life can feel like we are trying samples in Costco.

Because we are people that try different things in our life (yes we do this with food)

But a lot of times we do this with things that give us fufillment

Things that give us joy

Things that give us a peace

And we go to different things for each area

There are times we might say I think this job will fufill me

We may say I feel lonely, maybe a signifigant other will fix the issue.

We may say maybe a drug or somthing else will give me that feeling

But here is the thing Jesus is the one who can fill that void.

And today while we only get a sample of the peace that we get in heaven, while we only get a sample of the joy, there will be one day we get the whole thing.

And as we close I just want you to reflect if you have awnsered that question. Who Do You Say That I Am?

Maybe someone who showed you Jesus, showed him incorecctly, what would it look like to relook at who He is and how He can change your life?

Will You Pray With Me?