Who is Jesus?

 TEXT: Matthew 16:13-21 TOPIC: Who Is Jesus? Pastor Bobby Earls, Northgate Baptist Church, Florence, SC Sunday morning, June 14, 2020 Like many of you, I have listened the past few weeks to the many sad stories of Americans who have grown up in less than ideal situations. Many of them share stories of deep poverty, of living in the projects, of crime, drugs and violence. Listening to their stories made me think about my own circumstances growing up. I came from a broken home. I barely knew my biological father. Adopted by my stepfather just before my 18th birthday. One of my first homes was in government-built apartments. In other words, I lived in the projects. At least until my mom married up and I advanced to a single-wide trailer! When we bought a double-wide in the early seventies, we thought we had arrived! (Now please do not misunderstand what I am saying. My point is that it does not matter your background, how you were raised or where you were raised. Regardless of how difficult your circumstances may have been or may currently be, with God's help you can rise above it!) My best friends were the African American kids that lived up the dirt road from our house. We didn't use that term of identification in those days which were the early sixties. Of course, I heard the prejudice (we call them racists today) use the ugly name in referring to my friends. The truth is, I didn't even think about them being a different color from me. They were just my friends, my best friends. I don't know why we would have ever thought we were better than my black friends. We were the ones who were the boot-leggers. We were the ones that were the drug dealers. We were the ones who operated the beer tavern that frequently had the cops show up to break up fights or lock up a drunk who was brandishing his gun, threatening to shoot someone. So that's how I grew up! Most of my family became addicts or spent time in prison for dealing illegal drugs. Some of them were not that lucky. They were either shot and killed or killed themselves over the years. The foul language many of us have heard or seen on television the past few weeks doesn't really shock me. I don't like it. And it makes me uncomfortable today. But I heard it all growing up. In fact, in my preschool years, my older cousins thought it the best of fun to make little Bobby mad so I would launch out in a torrent of sour-mouthed, sorry language using words I was too young to understand. But all of that began to change in my life. Even before my conversion to the Christian faith when I was sixteen, I somehow saw there was a better way to live, without the violence, or the drugs or the bad language. Even though my family were far from practicing Christians, I began to sense the reality that there was a moral agent, a Creator, a God, whom I would one day meet. A God whom I would one day stand before and give an account for the life I had lived, the choices I made and the words I used. Like many families in that day, we had a large family bible we kept as the center piece on our living room coffee table or center table. We never really read it. Mom used it mostly as a scrapbook with clippings of old dried flowers and ferns from family funerals, (which I always thought was weird!). But as a boy, I liked the way it smelled. (I still like to smell the cover of bibles!) I also liked the color pictures inside. Many times, I would pick up that heavy white bible, that had a faded yellow tint to it, put it on my lap and legs, then turn though all the pictures in that family bible. On one occasion I remember my mother sitting with me as I looked at the pictures. I remember very vividly asking her who one of the men in the pictures happened to be. She told me Jesus. Then I asked her a question she couldn't answer. I asked her, "Who is Jesus?" I may have been around six years old at the time. About ten years later I came to know who Jesus is when I met Him and trusted Him to be my Savior and Lord! This morning, I want to share with you the same question I asked as a six-year-old, "Who is Jesus?" And if you don't know who He is, or if you haven't met Him personally, I'd like to introduce Him to you today. Open your Bible to a passage in Matthew's Gospel, a passage where Jesus Himself asked a similar question to His disciples. (Matthew 16:13-21) Matthew 16:13-21 (NKJV) 13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" 14 So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus answered and said to 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 also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. 21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. I. The Person of Jesus, Matthew 16:13-17 Jesus asked a question of His disciples in Matthew 16:13, When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" I call this His Preliminary Question, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" His preliminary question was intended to root out the wrong responses and the wrong answers to His question. Dr. Tony Evans says of this verse, "Caesarea Philippi was a city about twenty-five miles north of the Sea of Galilee where there was a temple honoring the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus. Perhaps the reverence for a mortal man is what prompted Jesus to ask his followers, Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 1 Mankind has often set up monuments and given their worship to the wrong men. Then in the next verse, Matthew 16:14, we see these wrong responses or misunderstandings of who Jesus really is. "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." Their responses to who they though Jesus was, was sincere. But they were sincerely wrong! Their intentions to see in Jesus the great qualities of the prophets like Elijah or Jeremiah or even the highly esteemed John the Baptist all fell short of the reality of the personhood of Jesus. So in Matthew 16:15, Jesus makes his question personal. He asks, "But who do you say that I am?" The you here is plural, so the question was addressed to the entire group. 2 Jesus is interested in what those who choose to follow Him think about Him. "Who do you say that I am?" Finally, we see the well-known confession of Peter. Matthew 16:16, Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Peter didn't always give the right response. All we need to do is to continue reading the next few verses. Matthew 16:21-23 (NKJV) 21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. 22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!" 23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." Peter often experienced "hoof and mouth" disease. Open mouth, insert foot! One minute he has it right, following the prompting of God's Spirit and the next he's an agent of the Devil! But Peter got it right here. Matthew 16:17, Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." T/S-Who is Jesus? First we see the Person He is described by Peter in Matthew 16:16, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Next, we see the Position Jesus Holds. II. The Position of Jesus, Matthew 16:18-19 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." First, Jesus holds the keys to the kingdom of heaven and hell. Jesus said, "All power (or authority) is given to me in heaven and in earth." Matthew 28:18 In a world filled with uncertainty and chaos, it's reassuring to know that Jesus is in control! Second, Jesus is the Head of the Church. Listen again to Dr. Tony Evans' comments on this often-misunderstood passage of Scripture. Since Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, Jesus used his name in a play on words. In Greek, Peter's name is petros, which means "stone." But when Jesus said, On this rock I will build my church, he used the Greek word petra, which was a collection of rocks knitted together to form a larger slab. Jesus's church, then, would be comprised of his unified followers who confess him as the Christ, the Son of the living God, as Peter did. 3 Jesus is the Rock. Peter is a little rock, just a little pebble. All believers are described as living stones that make up the building known as the church with Jesus as its Head. T/S-So who is Jesus? Through His Person He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. By His Position He is the Head of the church, the foundation, the chief cornerstone, (1 Peter 2:6) to whom all authority is given, (Matthew 28:18). Last of all, II. The Purpose of Jesus, Matthew 16:20-21 The Gospel is wrapped up in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Beginning with Matthew 16:20-21, Jesus began to prepare His disciples for the truth of His Purpose. Matthew 16:20-21 (NKJV) 20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. 21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Jesus was born to die. His purpose was fulfilled on an old rugged cross and in an empty tomb. At least three times Jesus tried to prepare His disciples for His death. (Matthew 17:9, 22; 20:17-19). The central theme of the Bible is Jesus. Who Jesus is, the Son of the Living God. The Position Jesus Holds, the Head of the Church on earth and having all authority in heaven and earth. And the reason why He came or His purpose, to lay down His life as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind throughout the ages. Jesus is still the answer. You might ask, "The answer to what question?" I would say, Jesus is the Answer to all our questions, to every question! Conclusion: Do you know who Jesus is? Have you trusted in Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God to be your Savior and Lord? 1 Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible, 2019), 1119. 2 Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible, 2019), 1119. 3 Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible, 2019), 1119. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 5