It’s an interesting experience to grow up as a pastor’s kid. People in my parent’s church knew me. I lead worship from the stage. I helped out with all sorts of events, was a worker in the nursery, and youth group. I even got to preach a couple times while I was going to ministry school after I graduated high school. Sometimes I would have whole conversations with people who knew me, but I had no idea what their names even were. They knew of me, but didn’t really know me as a friend.
In contrast, my husband and family knows me in a completely different way. They know what annoys me. They know what makes me laugh or cry. They know that if someone asks if I’d like an iced coffee or a hot coffee, my answer will simply be “Yes.” There’s a difference between being known as a stage presence to living life with someone.
Who Do You Say I Am?
Jesus took his disciples to Caesarea Philippi shortly after John the Baptist was beheaded, to the northernmost tip of Israel. They were on their way to Jerusalem for the Passover. But Jerusalem is in the south. Why would Jesus take them to such an out-of-the-way place if they were supposed to be traveling to Jerusalem for Passover?
Caesarea Philippi was known for the pagan worship of the Pan gods, gods of fertility. Worshippers would sacrifice at the “Gates of Hell”, a hole in the ground that was believed to lead to the depths of hell. Babies were sacrificed there to convince the gods to provide rain for their fields and bring abundant harvests.
Seems like the last place Jesus would want to go, but He took them there and then asked this question in Matthew 16:
Matthew 16:13-14
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.”
None of these answers would have been an insult. They were saying He was a good man. But all of the prophets that were named beforehand were only good men, not the Good Man, who would save the world from their sins. It was a perception based on things they heard, not on actually knowing Him. They didn’t really know Him.
All of those things sound respectable and even true, but they are not. They allow people to keep the name of Jesus, all while abandoning the power of Jesus.
Do You Have a Counterfeit Christ?
Do you have a perception of who Christ is that matches who He actually is? We all like the picture of Jesus in a manger. He is meek and gentle. He came to save us. He is a humble baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, not handsome or striking. A lowly servant.
But there is another side of Jesus that is uncomfortable. He has fire in His eyes and a sword coming from His mouth to exact God’s wrath on the sons of disobedience. He is the One who flips tables when commerce becomes more important than worship and true communion with God. He is the One who puts down a rebellious and religious spirit that has a form of godliness but denies the power of the Spirit!
We want Him to come and forgive us every time we sin, and not hold us accountable for changing to look more like Him. Jesus refuses to leave us as we are.
That image of Jesus makes us uncomfortable. It’s not cushy or sweet. We have to ask ourselves if we are going to accept all of Him, or just the comfy bits.
Who Is He To You?
Matthew 16:15-17
“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.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
It was one thing for the disciples to repeat what others had said about Jesus. But He wanted to know “Who am I to you?” Who do you say that I am?
Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Peter knew who Jesus was. Not from someone else's convictions or hearsay, but from personal relationship with Him.
It’s one thing to know about someone. It’s a completely different thing to intimately know someone. If we start falling in love with Jesus–not the one we’ve just heard about, but the one we intimately know–we’ll have revival! To know Him in that way is our greatest privilege. It’s time to get away from the superficial, get our eyes off the things of this world, and look to Him. He’s calling us deeper.
Will you answer that call?
