When Jesus came to the
region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son
of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and
still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked.
“Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of
the living God.” Matthew 16:13-16
Jesus
took His disciples to an area removed from the crowds that sought Him to ask
them this important question. Who do you
say that I am? When the Lord asks who
the people say He is, Jesus was
referring to the commoners, for it was clear what the Pharisees and Sadducees
thought of Him. When He asks with the
word ‘you’, the word in this case is plural.
In other words it’s like Jesus was asking, “Who do you all say I am?” Peter, as he was inclined to do,
spoke up for the twelve. He was also the
one who spoke up for the disciples when others had turned away from following
Jesus. The Lord then asked the question, "You
do not want to go away also, do you?" While the ‘you’ was plural here as well, Peter
was the one who spoke up and said, "Lord,
to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
What does
Messiah mean? In a word, it means Savior
or deliverer. Jesus was the Christ, the
Anointed One of God, who came to save the Jewish people from their sins once
for all time. When rejected by them, the
door was opened for Gentiles to become rescued from their sins. Knowing the nature of man, God foreknew that
Christ would be rejected by His own people.
The plan had been set in motion.
The gift was presented, rejected and then presented again on a much
wider scope.
If you’ve
received the gift, have you then tapped into the wide range of spiritual
resources that are at your disposal? God
wants to use you for His kingdom. Find
out your spiritual gift(s) and use them for His glory. As believers in Christ, we have a personal
relationship with Almighty God, creator of the universe in which we live. Have you fully comprehended the magnitude of
that statement? Have any of us? Live for God, shun evil and proclaim His word
whenever and wherever possible. Until
next time, walk with the Lord and be a blessing!
Resources: American
Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, The Reformation Study Bible and
the Asbury Bible Commentary.
NOTE:
Caesarea Philippi was a small town at
the foot of Mount Hermon, about twenty-five miles north of Galilee.
NOTE:
C.S. Lewis presents his famous Trilemma, for he offers 3 options regarding
Christ:
“I am trying
here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say
about Him: I’m ready to
accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.
That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus
said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on a
level with the man who says he is a poached egg or else he would be the Devil
of Hell.
You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else
a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at
Him and kill Him as a demon; 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. He did not intend to.””
