The Most Important Question w/ Mark Houghton

Throughout your life you have been… and you will be asked many questions. Many of them will likely come when you have just sat down for supper and the phone rings asking if you have a few minutes to take a survey or if they can talk to the home owner… But, we get asked questions all the time… NOW - some of those questions are not really that big of a deal? LIKE… • Paper or plastic? • Regular or decaf? • Or one of my favorites… Would you like fries with that…? The answer is yes! But, no matter how you answer those kinds of questions… it is unlikely that they are going to change your life…all that much… But, then there are other questions that are far more important… questions like … • Where are you going to University? • What career do you want to pursue? • Who are you going to marry? • How many children are you going to have? Those are all questions that require a lot more thought and consideration… and the answers you come up with… will make a big difference in your life. But, even more than those… I am here this morning to tell you there is one question… more important than any of those other questions…. More important than all those other questions combined… One question… so important that the way you answer it… will not just change your life … it will change your eternity. One question… that this is the most important question… you will ever have to answer… Because the question I am talking about… is the same question that was asked 2,000 years ago… as Jesus gathers his disciples around him… the time had finally come for Jesus to asks them … “Who do you say I am?” And that was not just a question that Jesus asked them out of the blue. As we come to our passage this morning… understand the context… Because, by this time the disciples have been following Jesus for as much as two years’ time. They are no longer rookies… or wide eyed novices. They are men who have spent time with Jesus. And oh… the things they have seen. Jesus has healed the sick. Cast out demons… Raised the dead… Confounded the Pharisees… Feed the 5000… Walked on water… Calmed the storm… And on top of all those things… Jesus has taught people about the kingdom of God in a way… no one had ever experienced before… He taught with authority… and power. The stuff that Jesus was doing… were the kind of things that people had only read about... in their bibles... It was right out of the pages of scripture… It was amazing… astounding… stupendous… miraculous. So, you didn’t have to be the sharpest tool in the shed to know that Jesus was someone special… but it still left the question… just exactly who was this man…? Because… many people were still full of questions about who Jesus really was. The bible even records for us several examples... When Jesus was healing the sick and forgiving sins, in Luke 5:21, 21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” When King Herod heard of Jesus teaching and miracles, he said, Luke 9:9, “Who, then, is this I hear such things about?” Even when Jesus went to his hometown of Nazareth, the place where he grew up, the people there greeted him in Matthew 13:54-55 by saying, ‘“Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Even his own disciples at times were not sure exactly who Jesus was. When the disciples are caught in their boat… Jesus calms the raging storm, Luke 8:25 In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” Even John the Baptist at one point sent his disciples to ask Jesus, Luke 7:20 are you the one, or shall we expect another? Question after question about Jesus. It almost seems as if Jesus was suffering from an identity crisis among the people. They knew what he could do, they knew he was special, but they were still unsure of who he really was. But the moment has finally come when Jesus was going to put the issue to rest. It was time to talk to his disciples about just who he truly was… and he does that… by asking a question of his own. Matthew 16: 13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” It is kind of interesting that Jesus begins… by taking an unofficial poll about what his reputation is among the people. Jesus wants to know what’s the buzz on the street? And I can imagine that the disciples were in a great position to answer that question. There were the ones who were mingling in the crowds when Jesus was speaking… They could overhear the conversations… They could rub shoulders with the common folk… They had their ear to the ground… So they tell Jesus just what they have heard… 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Now at first glance you would think those answers would make Jesus happy. Because, that is some pretty good company to be in. Those are some great men of God. Those are people who are heroes of the faith. That is the A-list of Bible folk. Who wouldn’t like to be thought of in company like that? In fact, the only real problem with any of those answers… is not that they are insulting in anyway… it is simply that they are simply wrong. But it leads us to an important lesson… we need to understand… you are never going to understand who Jesus is… is if all you do is ask other people what they think. Because every group seems to have its own opinion. …if you were to walk out the doors of this church and ask the first ten people that you meet the question ‘who is Jesus’… you could likely get ten different answers. Some might say, I think he was a moral teacher, a good example for people to follow. Others say, he was a founder of an ancient religion and a religious leader from long ago. While others talk about his humanitarianism… caring for the poor and the vulnerable. Some, even think he was nothing more than a legend… that people made up. And to make this plain… I actually googled the phrase… Jesus is my… And some of the results I got were… Jesus is my homeboy… Jesus is my BFF… Jesus is my favorite feminist… Jesus is my jam… And even Jesus is my boyfriend… And again while those answers are not necessarily offensive… none of those results… none of those answers… brings a person any closer to knowing who Jesus really is. The world just doesn’t know. They may know he is special… but they do not know why. So, finding an answer to the question… who Jesus is… is not going to happen by taking an opinion poll of the general public. And that’s why Jesus doesn’t stop with what the crowds are saying… but takes the disciples to a more personal understanding of himself. Because, Jesus wanted to be absolutely sure that the disciples knew who he truly was. So, he presses on in v15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Jesus is letting his followers know… that the crowds… the people out there… are always going to be saying all kinds of different things about who they think he is... But Jesus looks at them and says… but what about you... You are my followers... You are my disciples... You are the ones that have spent time with me... been close to me... heard my teaching... seen my miracles... witnessed my life... What do you say...? What is your answer to the question? Because in the end it doesn’t matter what other people say about Jesus … It matters what we know. It matters how we answer the question. And Peter here... I think rather courageously... risks an answer... 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Now that word Christ... is basically just the Greek word that means Messiah... the anointed one… The one who God had promised to send. The ne who would save Gods people. The one who would rescue the lost. The one who would set things right. The one who would usher in the kingdom of God… Peter is saying… Jesus you are the one we have been waiting for... the one all of Israel has been waiting for... the one the world was waiting for... Jesus, you are God’s greatest promise come true...in the flesh... And then Peter adds those words… You are the Son of the living God… And with those simple words, Peter made all other answers about who Jesus is…. insufficient. Every answer about who Jesus is, other than, he is the Christ, the son of the living God is an answer that does not go far enough. Every answer, no matter how flattering, that limits Jesus to being only just another man, is an answer that is wrong. Because Jesus is so much more. Just listen to what the bible says about Jesus... Jesus Christ is... Alpha and Omega Almighty God Author of Life Author and Perfector of our Faith Author of Salvation Jesus is called... the Chief Cornerstone the good Shepherd the Great High Priest the Head of the Church and the Judge of the living and the dead We are told again and again that Jesus is... both the King of Israel King of the Jews... The King of the Ages The King Eternal And The King of kings Jesus is also revealed to be... our Creator our Deliverer Our Protection Our Redemption Our Holiness and Our Righteousness Jesus is... Image of God (2 Cor. 4:4) Lamb of God (John 1:29) Light of the World (John 8:12) Lion of the Tribe of Judah Heir of all things (Heb. 1:2) The Horn of Salvation (Luke 1:69) The great I Am (John 8:58) The Living Stone the Righteous Branch the Resurrection and Life... The True Bread The True Light The True Vine And the way the truth and the life... That is who Jesus is... And that is who Jesus is… Jesus is savior… Jesus is lord… Jesus is God… The world may say a lot of things about Jesus, but the only true and clear answer to who he really is, is that Jesus the Christ… the Son of the living God…. That is the answer to the question that matters the most. And it is here… that Jesus tells his followers… that the Christian life and the Christian faith and even the Christian church begins… Look at v17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church… and the gates of hell[c] shall not prevail against it. Now… there is some debate about exactly what the ‘rock’ is that Jesus was referring to here. Was the rock Peter... Was it all the apostles... Was it something else... Well, I believe that the rock Jesus speaks of here… are the words of Peter’s confession. The foundation of the church is the truth… that Jesus is the Christ the son of the living God. That is the truth… the church is built upon. That is the truth we have built this church upon. Some churches have lost sight of that. Their focus has become social justice, or programs for meeting needs, or an emphasis on fellowship, or even numerical growth. And it’s not as if those are bad things… But, as a church if we lose Christ, we lose everything. Because, Jesus is not just some prophet… he is not just some role model… his is not some guy we sing songs about on Sundays and the then we go our separate ways… Jesus is God! As a church if we lose Christ, we lose everything. I like how a pastor named Steve Spence put it saying … we must keep in mind that what people really need from us as churches is Jesus. They don’t need a club or friends or a place to hang out as much as they need Jesus. They don’t need a fancy sermon or a program or the right kind of music or a class for their kids as much as they need Jesus. They don’t need to discuss doctrinal issues or debate theological ideas… or know who wrote the book of Isaiah… They need Jesus and when they come to our churches they ought to be able to find him. Jesus is to be the centre... the focus... the foundation... the main thing... of the church... But, that is only the first part of what Jesus has to tell his disciples about himself. Skipping down to v 21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. In order to truly understand who Jesus is... you also have to know... what he was called to do... Calvin Miller said it best, "One cannot even begin to understand the life of Christ without understanding His death." Who Jesus is... and what Jesus did on the cross... those two things… are permanently... eternally...and inseparably tied together... And we may find it strange that Jesus tells the disciples not to tell others... who he is... in v 20… Why not? Why would he do that? Why shouldn’t they just let everybody know? Well, because the people were not ready to accept the idea of a suffering savior. The Messiah was supposed to be a conqueror… a warrior… a victorious leader… that is what they wanted… So, death on a cross would have been seen as no way for the son of God to behave! And Jesus didn’t need people trying to stop him from fulfilling what God had called him to do. Even Peter… who just confessed that Jesus was the son of the Living God… when he hears Jesus words here… takes matters into his own hands… takes Jesus aside and tries to talk some sense into Jesus… 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” And when you read that… it is shocking that Peter actually rebukes Jesus… But, God had a different plan for his beloved son. God’s plan... as Jesus tells his followers here... was that Jesus would go to the cross... to suffer and die... for sin. Max Lucado writes about that very moment in his book... A gentle thunder ... saying… God on a cross between two thieves. Exactly the place he wants to be. And for the thieves... A shadow hangs over their spirits. The crowd cringes at the sight of the blood on their skin, but heaven laments over the darkness of their hearts. Earth pities the condition of their bodies. Heaven weeps over the condition of their souls. I wonder if we can understand the impact our sin has in heaven. The question is not, “Couldn’t God overlook sin?” The question instead is, “How in the world is forgiveness an option?” The question is not why God finds it difficult to forgive, but how he finds it possible to do so at all. The figure on the center cross, however, has no such shadow or sin…. And when one of the thieves makes his request. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” The Savior turns His heavy head toward the prodigal child and promises, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” The sins of the thief (and all us thieves!) leave him and go to Jesus. Every evil thought. Each vile deed. The thief’s ravings. His cursings. His greed. His sin. All now covering Jesus Christ. The sin that nauseates God now covers His Son. At the same instant, the purity of Jesus lifts and covers the dying thief. A sheet of radiance is wrapped around his soul. The One with no sin becomes sin-filled. The one sin-filled becomes sinless. That is why Jesus came... 2 Cor 5: 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit… Romans 5:8 God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus the Christ… Jesus the messiah… Jesus the son of God… would lay down his life, so that others could find it. He would pay the penalty for sin, he would stand as our substitute, taking the wrath of God for sin while hanging on the cross... Even while we were still sinners. Even while we were still living in rebellion... Even while we were the enemies of God, God sent his only son to pay the price we could not. That is who Jesus is…and that is what Jesus has done for us. That is the answer to the most important question… That is the answer that means everything. So, like it or not we have come to a crossroad, a fork in the road. You have been presented with the truth that will transform your life… no matter what you decided to do with it… Because even ignoring this truth is a choice you make… So, what should be our response? Jesus, actually tells us…a few verses later… v24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. To me that is Jesus saying… now that you know the truth… what are you going to do with me. And Jesus seems to be setting a high standard to be his follower… Picking up our cross to follow… surrendering everything… to know Jesus… But, what other choice can we make? I think CS Lewis said it well… when he said… "The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important. If it’s really true, then it deserves everything you’ve got. It’s all, or nothing. You either believe that Christianity is true, and let Christ determine the rest of your life, or you should just forget it and go do whatever you want to do. But you can’t have it both ways. The truth is you have to choose. It is impossible to have two number one priorities in your life. Jesus wants to be our first priority… and when you begin to understand who Jesus truly is… you realize that there really is no room left for Jesus to be anything less… than everything. But, we all still have a choice to make… You need to choose… Because, I can’t make this choice for you. Your parents can’t make this choice for you. Your friends can’t make this choice for you. Your church can’t make this decision for you. This decision is yours and yours alone. But the good news is that you can make this choice. Author Kyle Idleman talks about this very verse when he writes... Jesus still says, If anyone would come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. My favorite word in that invitation is ANYONE. Anyone…Anyone who has ever laid awake in bed and thought I would give anything to undo what I’ve done. Anyone who has looked at themselves in the mirror and said I can’t believe what I have become. No matter what your story – no matter what you’ve done … this is the relationship Jesus wants to have with you. Know that there is a God in heaven who loves you so much... that he was willing to send his only son Jesus to die on the Cross for your sins. Because when it comes to faith ... it’s not about what you’ve done.... It’s all about who you know that matters. …anyone would come after me… is at the heart of it an invitation to us all. So really... I have only one application for you this morning... and that is… be sure... Be sure of your relationship with Jesus this morning... Be sure that you know him for who he truly is… and what he has done. And this morning if you feel you want to know him like that… for the first time… All you need to do is pray a simple prayer... Confess that you are a sinner... Admit that your life has been full of pain and failure and rebellion. Desire a change… Have a passion to live your life… for him… And ask Jesus to forgive your sins and come into your life as lord and savior. And he will… he will forgive you... Wash away all your sins. Wash away the stains of broken life and leave you as white as the purest snow. Romans 10:13 “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” That’s the ESV NIV puts it like this … “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” NLT… “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” NRSB “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” New English Translation…Holman Christian Standard Version…Berean Study bible… all say the same… because there is no simpler way to say it. “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” So, what will it be? Because as we close … I am asking you the same question Jesus asked? The question that matters most… In your life… who is Jesus? Is he some guy whose stories you like to read, or whose life you would like to model? Is Jesus your buddy… or your BFF? Or can you truly say that Jesus your Lord… That Jesus is your God. That Jesus is the one who died for your sins… so that you can be forgiven… and know hope… That Jesus is the one you live to live for… It’s my desire as a pastor… that we would get to know Jesus on those terms... It is my prayer… that we would know the truth about Jesus… the same as Peter did… That this truth would be the foundation of our church and our lives… the rock upon which we stand. That Jesus is Lord. Jesus is messiah. That Jesus is God. That Jesus died on the cross for sins, but was raised on the third day… to bring us hope… and that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” And that we would be living out that truth everyday of our lives… from now into all eternity.