A Bold Confession

When Jesus spoke to His disciples about His impending death and resurrection, it was as though they didn’t hear Him. They didn’t seem to get it. It appeared to be lost in translation. They weren’t paying careful attention to what He was saying.

The problem was the disciples had visions of grandeur. In other words, they envisioned Jesus establishing His earthly kingdom and thought they would rule and reign with Him. That is why, after Jesus fed the five thousand, He had to get the disciples out of there as quickly as possible, because the people wanted to make Jesus king by force.

But in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus revealed something to His disciples that they hadn’t understood up to that point. And it was simply this: He was going to go and die on a cross.

It’s worth nothing that Caesarea Philippi was named after the Greek god Pan. Today you can go to Caesarea Philippi and see where the people had erected various images to their god. It was a place of full-blown idol worship.

And it was in this place that Jesus asked the disciples a significant question: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Matthew 16:13 NLT).

Jesus was challenging the disciples to make a stand. Being God, He could read people’s thoughts, and He did so on many occasions. However, He was asking this question to see if His disciples were getting it.

In other words, “You have seen Me calm storms. You have seen Me walk on water. You have seen Me cast out demons, feed multitudes, and even raise people from the dead. Do you know who I am yet?”

The disciples replied, “Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets” (Matthew 16:14 NLT).

Then Jesus said, “But who do you say I am?” (verse 15 NLT).

Peter said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (verse 16 NLT). He nailed it.

So, Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being” (verse 17 NLT).

It is one thing to say that Jesus is Lord in church. But it is another thing to say it at work, in the classroom, in your neighborhood, or in a place of influence. A lot of times we just want to blend in. We’re afraid to stand out and speak up for what we believe.

But Jesus said, “ If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels” (Luke 9:26 NLT).

The Bible doesn’t teach that everyone is going to believe in Jesus. However, everyone eventually will say “Jesus Christ is Lord” when they stand before God (Philippians 2:10–11).

Jesus is still asking, “Who do you say I am?” It is the most important question that we will ever answer.

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