Who Do You Say Jesus Is? - Matthew 16:13-20 - 8/27 Sermon

Who do you say Jesus is?

Matthew 16:13-20 

- If I asked you, “Who is Jesus?”, if I gave you a pencil and a piece of paper to use, what would you write down? You all would have your own unique way to answer that question.

- The people in Jesus’ day also had some pretty unique answers. Some said Elijah, others Jeremiah, still more said John the Baptist reborn. This was an illustrious list! These were the heroes of their religion. They had a high opinion of Jesus!

- For us, it’d be the same as saying Jesus was like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., or Mister Rodgers.  

- People in America today typically have a high opinion of Jesus. They say Jesus was a great teacher, a wonderful person, an agent of change. Even if they don’t believe the Bible, or they think it’s backwards, they think Jesus said good things.

- Jesus said to the disciples, “But who do you say I am?” Who do you¸ personally, say Jesus is? We are Christians. By definition we follow Jesus Christ. Who is he?

- I’ve spoken with lots of Christians. If I have the opportunity, I like to ask them this question, “Who do you say Jesus is?” Sadly, many self-proclaimed Christians get this wrong. They say he is an example to follow, a great teacher, or simply a friend. Those are true, close, but still terribly wrong. If Jesus is primarily an example, a teacher, a friend, our sin is not taken care of. We are still damned.   

- This warns us. It matters who we, individually, confess Jesus to be. It’s like studying for a test in school. You can have a study party with classmates, you can help each other review, but we still must take our own test, and there are wrong answers. You do you, personally, say Jesus is?

- Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the son of the Living God.”

So often, the disciples make fools of themselves. Peter, as their spokesman, runs his mouth. Not here. Peter’s answer is rock solid. This verse is one of the highpoints, one of the climaxes of the Gospels, along with the transfiguration and death & resurrection.

This confession is one of the most important verses in the Gospels. If I would pick the top 5 verses to memorize in the Gospels, this would make the list.

- Why? Why is Peter’s simple confession, “You are the Christ, the son of the Living God,” so important? This is the first time in the Gospels that someone calls Jesus Christ, or Messiah.

- What does it mean that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah? It means anointed one. Jesus is God’s anointed one, his chosen servant. It means that every single promise of God finds their fulfillment in Jesus. Paul writes this in 2 Cor. 1:20, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.” Jesus is how God saves me. Romans 10 says, “If you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” Jesus is not just a teacher, an example, a friend. He is the Christ, true God, risen from the dead for our sins, our Savior. When we believe Peter’s confession, when we believe that Jesus is God, that he died and rose from the dead, we gain eternal life.  

-Blessed are you, Simon son of John, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven. Many people don’t believe in Jesus. Some challenge Jesus. The Pharisees did. In 16:1 we’re told, “The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.”

- What is a gift? It’s something you receive, not earned or deserved. There’s no strings attached. It’s given. Peter’s beautiful confession, his faith, was a gift of God. Our faith, our confession that Jesus is the Christ, that is God’s gift.

- Some people, adult coverts, remember the day they were saved, the day God worked faith in their hearts. For others, it happened at baptism as infants, when the Holy Spirit entered our hearts and created faith in Jesus. Mine was April 22nd. I encourage you to at least find out the day of your baptism.

- This is our confession. This is our faith that we share with Peter. Jesus gives us, and Peter, three promises.

- 1st promise. This confession, the faith that Jesus is the Christ, our Lord and Savior, this is the cornerstone of Jesus’ church. Every single church, doctrine, Christian is built on this confession of faith. If the cornerstone is taken away, the building crumbles. Every brick that is laid is measured off the cornerstone. The most important teaching in Scripture is that Jesus is the Christ, God’s chosen servant, who died and rose for our sins.

- The builder of this church is Jesus himself, who builds his church on this confession.

- 2nd promise for those who believe this confession. Jesus’ church is and will be victorious. Satan will not win. Jesus means the Church with a capital “C”, which is God’s people from all over the world who believe that he is the Christ.

- Have you ever ruined a book for yourself? I have, once or twice. I read the last page, or someone else spoiled it. As Christians, we have read the last page. But life is not a nice book. It is a place full of pain, suffering, and tragedy. We know how it ends. Jesus wins. We inherit eternal paradise. We live on a renewed earth forever. No matter what the Devil and enemies of God try to do, it’s pointless. Our hope and comfort is sure. However, we still live the story. We don’t know what’s going to happen in each chapter, what joys or pains will come.

- Let me say it another way: the war is won. Jesus won it on the cross. However, from our vantage point, battles still might be lost. No man-made synod or church lasts forever. We will have pain and problems in our lives. But, Jesus’ promise stands, “The gates of Hades will not overcome my church.”  

- 3rd  promise for those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, which is Jesus’ church. Jesus gives the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven to his church.

- When parents leave for a weekend, they don’t give the keys of the house to their young children. They hire a babysitter, or the grandparents come. Mom doesn’t give the keys to her prized mustang to the newly minted, 16 years old driver. Keys mean, “I have access to something.”

- Jesus has given us access to heaven, the keys to heaven itself! But it’s not what you’d expect. The Church does not have the power to perform miracles or control history or command God around. The keys that Jesus gives, the keys to heaven, are these: the power to forgive sin and withhold forgiveness. That’s it. That is the most powerful gift that Jesus could have given his people. Let’s take a look this almighty power, to forgive sins.

- Who is Jesus? The one who forgives our sins, and gives to his church, to us, the power to forgive sin and withhold forgiveness.

- That is what happens every day in our service. We can treat it as ordinary, but every Sunday, you hear the pastor that you called proclaim forgiveness to you. It’s right here in our bulletin.

- Nothing in the whole world is more judgmental than this. People say the church is judgmental because we say outward things are wrong. Sure, that’s true, but the church is a whole lot more judgmental than that. We confess that we are inherently, inwardly sinful, that we cannot please God without Jesus in our hearts, that everything we do, no matter how good, isn’t enough. An honest Christian confesses that the worst sinner in the whole world is the one staring back in the mirror.

- Nothing in the whole world is more comforting than this. Our sin, our guilt, our shame is gone. Forgiven. Wash away by Jesus’ blood. Jesus’ church is a place to confess our own sin, and to receive the forgiveness of sins won by Jesus.

- Who is Jesus? The answer to this question is terrible. To see Jesus for who he really is, our Savior, means to see ourselves for who we really are, sinners. “What’s wrong with this world!?” People ask that all the time, usually when they see injustice or tragedy. “What’s wrong with this world?” Look in a mirror. You and I, we sinners, we are what is wrong with the world. To worship Jesus, to sit in these pews, to believe in his name, means that we see our own sin clearly.

- Who is Jesus? The answer to that question is wonderful. Jesus is the Christ, God’s chosen servant to save us. Jesus is a human; he died in our place and rose from the dead. Jesus is God’s Son, true God; his death and resurrection mean our sins are forgiven, and that we will rise and live forever. Who do you say Jesus is? The Christ, the Son of the Living God.