Sermon Tone Analysis

It is hard to pinpoint a pinnacle moment in the Gospel of Matthew.

Of course, the first and greatest one our mind would go to would be the events surrounding the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

After all, that is where the story is pointing, at least in terms of the Earthly work of Jesus and the significance of it.

There are pinnacles in miracles as well, like the feedings of the 5000 and 4000 - miracles that irrefutably show the greatness and power of Jesus Christ.

There is the walking on water - an event that first left the disciples gasping for breath, fearful that they were seeing a ghost with their own eyes, but then left them worshiping and confessing that Jesus was the very Son of God.

No, I don’t think that we can choose just one pinnacle point in Matthew to highlight.

But when it comes to the experience of the disciples, their learning, their understanding, their walk from being humble young men called to follow a Rabbi to where Jesus will leave them, as the Apostles of the Church and ministers of the New Covenant, I personally think that this passage before us today is perhaps one of the most significant.

There are significant and pinnacle moments in all of our lives - moments or seasons that transform our thinking and perspective.

My mind constantly goes back to that December day in 2015 when I held our first baby, Chloe, for the first time.

I could almost tangibly feel my mindset being transformed as I gazed upon that little living, breathing, tender soul that was mine and Lizzy’s to cherish and shepherd.

There are moments when things become undeniably real and fixed.

Perhaps you’re thinking of a similar time - a transition, a move, a decision, a diagnosis - something to which you can look back and say, “I remember that is when everything changed.”

Well, I think that this passage is one of those moments for the disciples - especially for Peter.

This moment was pinnacle and transformative because the disciples were called upon to answer one of the most important, no, probably the most important question that Jesus ever asked them.

You say, more important than the call to follow Him? Yes, because at least one, Judas, answered the call to follow while Jesus was on earth, but seemingly never came to the full realization of the truth that we see in this passage - at least not before it was too late.

Yes, this is the pinnacle question - the question that every worldview and religion must answer.

The Question that every philosopher and dreamer must answer.

The Question that politicians and monarchs and influencers must answer, eventually.

Who do you say that Jesus Christ is?

The most important question that the disciples were ever asked by Jesus was “who do you say that I am?” Everything else rests upon the answer.

1. Question - Vs. 13-15

The question in question, so to speak, is actually a series of two questions.

We read that Jesus, and by implication, his disciples, come into the region of Cesarea Philippi.

That was around 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee, at the base of Mt.

Hermon.

The region was part of the Tetrarchy of Philip.

It was an area known for its idol worship, polytheism, paganism, and the like.

Right around the time of Jesus birth, Philip was given rulership of the region when Herod died.

He named it Cesarea to honor the great Caesar Augustus, and added “Philippi” to distinguish it, and to honor himself.

Interestingly, this area was a source or fountainhead for the Jordan River.

And as we will see in this passage, the conversation had here will be a source or a fountainhead for much to come in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus asked his disciples a plain but honest question - Who do men say that I the Son of Man am?

That is, who do “people” generally say that I am?

Jesus had identified himself as the Son of Man, it seems, again, to be his favorite title.

And though we know it now to be Messianic, there wasn’t a total agreement in that day whether that title was Messianic or not - So Jesus wasn’t trying to tease the answer out, he was asking honestly?

Peter, James, John, you men have been around the people, you carried the baskets of food to the companies of 50 and 100 when I fed the 5000, you went around healing and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, you have mingled among those whom I have healed and delivered and restored, what are they saying?

Who do they say that I am?

The disciples answer honestly, although interestingly they don’t give any of the negative answers - probably because Jesus had heard those answers from the Pharisees and Scribes with his own ears on more than one occasion.

But they give the concencus - the people think you are one of the great prophets!

John the Baptist - A prophet, though dead at this time - but immediately the idea of resurrection comes to the peoples minds, and even Herod Antipas feared a resurrection of John after he took his head for Herodias’ sake.

Elijah - Again, a prophet - and a dead one at that - but one who was indeed promised to come back, in Malachi 4, before the great Day of the Lord - that eschatological coming of the Lord in judgment and in power.

This would have been a miraculous appearance, and Elijah would be a forerunner - but not the Messiah.

Jeremiah - The weeping prophet - one who preached a message with seemingly no converts - a message of warning and doom and repentance, while the people went on in their ways.

Maybe the people caught wind of Jesus warnings about how it would be easier for Sodom and Gommorah or Tyre and Sidon than some of their cities on the day of judgment?

Again, a great prophet - but not the messiah.

One of the Prophets - any of the rest of them.

Prophets who predicted the end, who predicted restoration, who predicted both judgment and hope, who predicted the coming of the redeemer, the deliverer, the one!

But not the one.

This variety of answers was positive - seemingly, much of Israel had a positive view of Jesus!

And how could they not?

He healed their sick, he fed them, he cast out their demons, he generally improved the quality of life before their eyes.

But all the answers fell short of what Jesus was looking for.

All the answers fell short of the truth.

Each one of these answers would leave the people still looking for another.

Still looking for the one to come - John The Baptist proclaimed the coming of the messiah, but he was not.

Elijah would come before the Lord, but the Lord he was not.

Jeremiah and the Prophets spoke truth and told of redemption, but they were not the redeemers.

Every positive opinion shared about who Jesus was would leave them lacking, still waiting, still yearning.

They would pique their interest and give them a ray of hope, but would not satisfy or redeem or deliver.

And so it is with every answer to this question even in our day which falls short of what we are soon to see - everything short of the truth about Jesus leaves us lacking, needing more, looking for something else.

So Jesus follows up -and surely, as a teacher, he intended it this way - he intended to hear the inadequate answers and sets up his disciples for the fulness of response.

And if he did intend that, it surely sets up the answer we read on a backdrop that really makes it shine - but it needs no backdrop to make it glisten - no, this answer, again, is a pinnacle moment of learning, of revelation, of discovery, and of truth.

2. Answer - Vs. 16

Matthew gives Peter his full name here - almost as to indicate the grandeur of the moment.

We often see Peter as the leader, as the first to speak, as the spokesman of the group - and there is probably some validity to this.

As here, he seems to be given that place of recognition.

We almost get the notion that the disciples had this conversation amongst themselves.

Maybe after the walking on water when they admitted that he was the Son of God.

Maybe after the feedings when they saw him give bread from heaven - bread from himself really.

Maybe after hearing him give the Pharisees and Saducees the sign of the prophet Jonah, where he predicted his own death and resurrection.

Either way, Peter speaks for the group and says

You are the Christ

The Son of the Living God.

When Jesus called the disciples, there was something different about him but they weren’t quite sure.

When he gave the Semon on the Mount, they knew he had unique authority but, perhaps they were still not sure.

When they saw his first miracles and healings, they knew they were seeing God’s power but still, they may have been hesitant.

Even John the Baptist, while in prison, had his moments of honest doubt.

But now, they had come to understand, they had come to realize, they had come to believe and to know that Jesus, their Lord, Their Master, Their Rabbi, was more than a teacher, more than a master, more than a healer, more than a leader, more than a politician, more than the son of Joseph and Mary - yes, He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God!

Messiah - that is not an explicit title in the Old Testament, but by Jesus Day it had certainly come to describe and be a stand-in title for the deliverer, redeemer, restorer that was promised by the Prophets.

The one who would come and heal, the one who would bring back the former glory of Israel.

Now, perhaps in the people’s minds, a political messiah was the most prominent image.

And perhaps that is why everyone with a positive view of Jesus thought that he was a forerunner, but not the actual Messiah.

He seemed to despise the political aspect.

When they tried to make him king by force, he disappeared from the crowd.

When the Pharisees and Scribes gave him too much grief, he went away from them rather than challenging them for their positions.

Perhaps they thought Jesus was the Spiritual forerunner, the one to prepare the people’s hearts and bring righteousness before the political Messiah would come and overthrow Rome.

But alas, that was not Jesus’ intention.

His Kingdom, as he will say later to Pontius Pilate, is not of this world.

The real work was the spiritual work.

Read deliverance was the deliverance yet to come in the Crucifixion and resurrection.

The real redemption was not that of the political nation at that time, but to redeem a whole group of people from every nation for all time.

The disciples, though still growing in their understanding of all this, had come to accept that Jesus was the Christ even though he didn’t fit all the expectations.

The Son of the Living God.

This idea is seen many places in the Old Testament, but look at Psalm 2 with me for a moment.

The Anointed One, The Son of God, he is the redeemer.

He is equally to be feared and revered as Yahweh.

And Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

This is who the Disciples are coming to see Jesus as.

The Deliverer, the redeemer, the judge, the blessed and blessing one.

I ask, who do you say that Jesus is?