Matthew 16:15
I honestly believe that the most important question of our day is 'Who is Jesus?' Because let's face it, if He is nothing more than a mere man, good teacher, etc. then the entire human race for the last 2000+ years has been royally duped. If He is not who He claimed to be we are wasting our time because of the greatest hoax the world has ever known.
But...If He is who He claimed to be...as the Gospels and the New Testament canon show Him (not some outside canonical books such as Gospel of Thomas-not the Apostle Thomas, who doubted-because they were written 100+ years after the last Apostle died)....if this Jesus is real then He deserves our worship, our obedience, our faith, our lives...
Almost midway through Jesus' ministry, at the near middle of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus asks His disciples a pretty pertinent question, even for today. Matthew 16:13-20.
Matthew 16:13-14 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He began asking His disciples, saying, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."
He asks His disciples to tell Him what people are saying about Him. Not because He doesn't know, or wants to evaluate how He's doing teaching them. But rather to here their reaction.
Now the Jewish people of that time (and today as well) held that the Messiah would be more of a political leader, not a redeemer, not a sacrifice for sin, definitly not a carpenter from Nazareth.
Notice what they say. "some say John the Baptist..." What was John the Baptist known for? Remember what the message of the baptizer was? John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
Matthew 3:1-2
That was Jesus' message also. 14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."
Mark 1:14-15
Next they say " some say Elijah..." What was Elijah known for? He was a major prophet who was known for his walk with God. Jesus was a man of prayer known to go up to mountains alone in prayer.
"...some say Jeremiah..." Why Jeremiah? If you want to get a glimpse into the demeanor of Jesus, this is one of them. Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. He preached to Israel all his life, calling them to turn from thier false idolatry back to God, repentance. Yet not one ever did.
Isaiah described the Messiah like this: Isaiah 53:3 he is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Jesus was not a happy man. He was sorrowful. At what? The sinfulness of the ones He created. Their rebellion and rejection of His revelation.
"some say one of the prophets..." This was coming from the people who's father's hands were covered in the blood of the prophets God had sent. Matthew 23:29-31 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 "and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' 31 "Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
People today still make the same mistakes. Part II tomorrow and we'll look at the Most Important Answer.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Aaron "Tree" Landis
Psalm 1:3