Someone went to a rabbi and asked him, “Why do you always answer a question by asking another question? I just find that very annoying!”
And the very wise rabbi
answered, “What’s wrong with asking
questions?”
You would think that Jesus would have
asked the disciples who they thought he was a lot sooner in his ministry. We find this question in Matthew 16, well
into Jesus ministry with his disciples.
Here, these twelve individuals left
everything to follow him, and yet, this question presumes that they just might
not have a grasp as to who he is.
How can that be?
There are a lot of different ways of
answering who Jesus is. Some folks would
give you a long drawn out answer that will make you wish you never asked the
question to begin with.
“Who is Jesus?” Well according to the Nicene creed, he is the
only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from
Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the
Father; through him all things were made and it goes on and on.
And certainly there is some validity to
answering this question with theological language which explains how Jesus
Christ can be fully God and yet fully human at the same time. The early church spent many years reflecting
on this ultimate question which is why we have these ancient creeds.
But the disciples did not have the
advantage of this kind of reflection.
They were always on the move with Jesus.
And they, along with so many other people, were astonished at his
miracles and the way he was able to teach great crowds of people with
authority. They knew that Jesus was a
very special person.
And they also knew from their time spent
with him, that he was the promised Messiah.
The promised one who would hopefully free Israel from Roman
occupation. They saw him as a miracle
worker who would perhaps lead the people of Israel into the glory days of old.
Here in chapter 16 of Matthew’s Gospel,
the disciples are with Jesus in Caesarea Philippi, and Jesus actually asks the
disciples two questions, not just one.
The first question he asks is - “What are other people saying about me?”
And they tell Jesus what they have been
hearing.
“Some people think that you are John the Baptist. Others think that you
are one of the prophets from of old.”
There are an incredible amount of opinions
out there about Jesus. It would be an
interesting little project to go to some place here in town and ask them the
question, “Tell me who Jesus is to you?”
But Jesus doesn’t want his disciples to
settle for what other people are saying about him. Jesus also wants to know what they are
thinking. And he asks them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Actually, I’m a bit surprised that Peter
was able to give the right answer. Peter
says, “You are the Messiah, the Son of
the living God.”
It’s one thing to give the answer. It’s another thing to live the answer. To say
that we believe that Jesus is the Messiah, means that we are to love our
enemies. It means that we are to forgive
others when they hurt us. It means that we are to love our neighbors as
ourselves.
Jesus also said things like, “Woe to you who are rich, for you have
already received your comfort. Woe to
you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.” Jesus was crucified on a
cross for saying things like this.
And what about the time that Jesus said to
“Go and sell everything you have and give
it to the poor” and if someone forces you to go one mile, go two.
As the humorist, Mark Twain once said, “It’s not the things in the Bible that I
don’t understand that bother me. It’s
the things that I do understand that bother me the most.” Sometimes, I wish
that Jesus was more mysterious or cryptic in his teachings.
Almost every Sunday that I worship with
you in this place, I hear something in the scripture reading that reminds me
that I have so much more to learn about who Jesus is and what it means to
follow him.
I suppose that we could simply ignore all
of these hard sayings and just focus on whatever is appealing to us at the
time. We certainly have the option of
forming Jesus into our own image and many people do. There are people who
associate Jesus with their political party or within their particular
worldview. But that’s not the way of Jesus.
“Narrow is the way into my
Father’s kingdom,” Jesus tells us.
No.
We are left with Jesus’ troubling question. “Who do
you say that I am?”
I much prefer the Nicene Creed response to
that question. The theology is orthodox
and it really says it all.
Except…it’s not in my own words. Jesus says to Robert McDowell – “I know what the Nicene Creed says…but who
do you say that I am?”
The first time that I really answered that
question was when I was on the playground during recess when I was in the 3rd
or 4th grade and my best friend came up to me, and out of the blue,
asked me if Jesus was my Savior. He said
to me that if I invited Jesus to come into my heart that I would be able to go
to heaven someday.
Now, you need to understand that I grew up
in a bible belt so these were the normal kinds of conversations, 3rd
& 4th graders would have on the playground.
And so, right there on the playground, I
invited Jesus to come into my heart.
That little experienced showed me that
Jesus wants to be my Savior.
Sometime during my middle school years, I
attended a summer youth retreat with my youth group at the shore. People form
the East Coast call it “going to the shore” instead of “going to the
beach.”
I’m not “shore” why that is.
Anyway, I went to this summer youth
retreat to the shore. Each evening, we
would gather around the campfire and we would sing all of these campfire songs
about Jesus. And one of those songs was
“Pass It On.”
“It only takes a spark, to get a fire going. And soon all those around, can warm up in its
glowing. That’s how it is with God’s
love once you’ve experienced it; you spread his love to everyone; you want to
pass it on.”
After I got home from the retreat, I felt
really different. I could feel Jesus’
love in a very real way. I knew deep in
my heart that He loved me. I couldn’t
stop singing those words over and over – “that’s
how it is with God’s love once you’ve experienced it; you spread his love to
everyone; you want to pass it on.”
Not only did I feel Jesus’ love for me, but
I had this desire to share God’s love with others.
From that experience I learned that “Jesus
is someone who loves all people and that you can actually feel Jesus love if
you just let Jesus love you.”
Then during my freshman year of college,
things really changed for me. My grades
were bad. I got cut from the baseball
team. I was feeling alone.
I didn’t feel Jesus’ love anymore, let
alone a spark or a fire. And I certainly
didn’t want to spread his love because I was looking for it myself.
At that point in my life, Jesus only
seemed like a nice memory from my distant past, not someone who could help me
now.
I was even angry at Jesus, angry that I
didn’t know what to do with my life, angry that I felt alone, and angry at
feeling rejected. This went on throughout my freshman year of college, but then
something happened toward the end of my freshman year.
I stumbled across a cassette tape of a
sermon that had been delivered at a county wide Christian youth rally. Without anything to lose, I listened to that
cassette tape. What the speaker said
helped me to see Jesus in a whole new way.
Jesus wasn’t just somebody who offered
people a warm fuzzy religious experience.
It was a Jesus who offers a challenge to us. This preacher used Luke 9:23 as his text in
which Jesus says, “If any one would came
after me, that person needs to deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
And this preacher went on to challenge his listeners to put their total
trust in Jesus, to obey Jesus completely.
I thought to myself, “I’ve never thought of Jesus in this way.” I always thought that Jesus was kind of like
a security blanket who offered comfort when you needed it. I never thought of Jesus as someone who would
challenge me to trust him.
One day toward the end of my freshman year
of college I made a decision to put Jesus first in my life. I told Jesus that I
would totally trust him. That day
changed my life because from that day forward, I became much more aware of Jesus' presence in my life.
I decided to quit feeling sorry for
myself, and to start trusting and living for Jesus. That led to many, many changes in my life
that eventually led me into the pastoral ministry.
I discovered during this time that Jesus
wants to be first in every area of our lives.
Jesus wants us to follow him to places that we would have never chosen
to go on our own. And the really
important thing I discovered about Jesus during that time in my life was that
he wants the relationship to be a two-way street. Jesus meets us where we are,
but he also wants us to follow him and be willing to take our faith to a whole
new level.
I’m still learning and discovering who
Jesus is. Every day and every year and
every new situation provides another opportunity for us to put Jesus first in
our lives and place our trust in him. When we do that on a consistent basis,
Jesus becomes more than just a warm fuzzy in our lives. Jesus becomes real. Our
faith becomes real.
I’m
always interested in hearing how people view Jesus and what Jesus means to
them. Hear are some responses that people in the congregation have shared with
me.
Jesus is the calm,
eternal center of life. I go to him in times of distress to find peace. I pray
to him to restore balance. I ask him to give me clarity in the times of
confusion. He is the anchor and the seabed in the tempest-tossed waters. He
blesses me again and again.
Someone shared said that Jesus is like a
compass through life. I like that. That shows a willingness to allow Jesus to
guide and direct us through our faith journey.
Another said that Jesus is like a rock, a
sword, and a shield. For this person, Jesus provides safety and security.
I like how someone referred to Jesus as a
lighthouse. We need that lighthouse because we are the ship that is in need of
direction and a safe harbor.
A
new church member mentioned that it’s because of Jesus that he lives each day
with courage. He said that he is not fearful of the future because he knows
that he will live with Jesus forever. And his desire is for people to see Jesus in
everything he does.
Another person said that Jesus is her
constant companion.
This person says something similar. “Jesus is my friend who I talk to in the
middle of the night, who always forgives me, guides me, loves me, and so much
more.”
Another person puts it this
way: “Jesus is as ever present as the air
I breathe and always patiently waits for me to discover his love.”
I like how someone shared that when he was
a child, he felt that Jesus was his heavenly Brother since God was his heavenly
Father. As an adult, he sees Jesus as his Savior and the light showing the way
on the pathway to God’s kingdom of love and forgiveness.
Somebody else shared that when he was thirteen years old he became aware
that Jesus was his Savior. As an adult, he has found Jesus to be his healer as
he has helped him to survive a massive stroke. This person thanks him everyday
for saving his life so that he can continue to be a witness for him.
Those are some of the responses I received
from many different people in the church when asked the big question, “Who do you say that Jesus is?”
Gregory Nazianzus was one of the early
church fathers from the fourth century. He was baptized at the age of 30 and
became a Christian. He also went on to
become a great theologian.
Here’s how he answered the question,
“Who is Jesus Christ?” He wrote:
· He began his ministry by being hungry, yet He is the
Bread of Life
· Jesus ended His earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet
He is the Living Water
· Jesus was weary, yet He is our rest
· Jesus paid tribute, yet He is the King
· Jesus was accused of having a demon, yet He cast out
demons
· Jesus wept, yet He wipes away our tears
· Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He
redeemed the world
· Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He
is the Good Shepherd
· Jesus died, yet by His death He destroyed the power of
death
When Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do
you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living
God.”
Later, Peter will be asked this same
question in a slightly different way as he warms himself by a fire in a
courtyard and with his life hanging in the balance. “You’re
one of Jesus’ disciples, aren’t you?”
And then while standing on a sandy beach,
the resurrected Christ appears to Peter and he asks him not once, not twice,
but three times in a row, “Peter – do you
love me?” And each time, Peter answers, “Yes,
Lord you know that I love you.”
Evidently, this ultimate question is
too important to ask only once. It needs to be asked again and again and again
and again.
Who do you say that Jesus is?
The Ultimate Question
Small Group Questions
Matthew 16:13-20
August 27, 2017
Sunday's sermon focus was on Jesus' question to his disciples: "Who do you say that I am?"
Who is Jesus is to you?
The disciples' understanding of who Jesus is grew over time. They saw him as an insightful teacher, a healer, and someone who might lead the people of Israel to freedom over the Romans. Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead forced them to see him in a much deeper way.
How has your view of Jesus changed over time?
The church provides us with many helpful ways to help us answer the question, "Who is Jesus?" One of those ways is the Nicene Creed that is found toward the back of the hymnal.
Read the Nicene Creed together and share what these statements about Jesus mean to you.
Christians have found it helpful to answer the question, "Who is Jesus?" by following certain disciplines of the Christian faith which include: participating in a small group, reading the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John) on a regular basis, attending worship, serving others in the name of Christ, and sharing in the Sacraments.
How have you grown in your understanding of who Jesus is by participating in these disciplines?
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