Who Do You Say He Is?

“You ask me who do I, say that you are and I, say that you are the Christ, son of the living God!”

– You Are by Hillsong

We were singing this song in worship today. It refers to Matthew’s account of Jesus as He arrived in Philippi, and He asked His disciples who the people in the area were saying He was. The Philippians had various answers. But when He asked His disciples who they said He was, Peter responded that He (Jesus) was the Christ, Son of the Living God. This song, particularly the line noted above, really struck me and it hasn’t left me all day. So you KNOW I had to come home and read the story!

What I found is this: Christ first asked His disciples to tell Him about the way others saw Him…people who didn’t know Him. These nonbelievers were making assumptions about Jesus–Someone they didn’t know–and they were all wrong. Some thought he was John the Baptist, others thought he was Elijah, or a prophet. These weren’t negative assumptions, they were just incorrect. As I read this, I began to think about people in our world today who are similar in their assumptions about who Jesus really is…even people who say they’re Christians but have never actually read their Bible or bothered to do anything to really get to know Him through prayer or spending time with Him in committed, one-on-one worship. Ask them who THEY believe Christ is and you’ll get all kinds of crazy answers!

But then,  Jesus asks, “Who do YOU say I am?”

This question is where it’s at. Because we are His family, what WE think about Jesus is much more important than what nonbelievers think. Because we are to be reflections of His likeness, it’s imperative that we know what that is supposed to look like. In contrast to what others say about Jesus, it’s crucial for His true followers to really know who He is. Our answer should be strong and unified. Because we know Him, we should really KNOW Him. There should be no confusion about who He is regardless of circumstances. In good times as well as in our difficulties, we should KNOW that HE is our redeemer, healer, protector, friend, strength, way-maker, life-changer, living water, and holy returning savior! You can’t really know Jesus and not know…which is to really TRUST…that these things about Him are real and true.

If you read on in the story, His disciples knowing who He really is made Jesus super happy! He was happy because He knew they were receiving knowledge straight from God…a skill they would need–along with the truth of who He really is–in order to do everything that they would be left to do after His ascension to Heaven. He knew how this skill and knowledge of Him would endow them with the strength they would need to persevere in days to come. He knew that they were really getting it, even though the fullness of what was to come was still shrouded in mystery. And then Jesus said:  

“…And now I’m going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. And that’s not all. You will have complete and free access to God’s kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven.” – Matthew 16:17-19 (MSG)

If we don’t know who He really is, we’re left to believe that Jesus is just some guy who lived a good life and taught some good lessons, and He is the biggest liar, fraud, and/or lunatic the earth has ever seen (paraphrased from C.S. Lewis). We are left with nothing but our own strength and meager provisions. We’re left hopeless and weak with lives that can’t make a lasting impact, goals that don’t matter, and a future that’s not really worth striving so hard for.

BUT, knowing HIM…KNOWING that He is the Christ…that He was more than just a man…that He was God in flesh come to this earth to set us free and to empower us with His Holy Spirit…then we begin to understand who WE are BECAUSE OF HIM. This is what gives us the courage and the power to “…not only do what I’m doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I’ve been doing.” (John 14:12 MSG)

Because we know Who the Son is, we now have COMPLETE access to God’s Kingdom. We can open every door that God has provided for us. Nothing is held back from us. We are empowered with an expansive energy that the gates of hell cannot contain. Our knowledge of who we are IN HIM allows us to “do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” Because we know who He is, we know the power and responsibility that He has entrusted to us to fight the schemes of the Devil, overcome obstacles, bring new believers to Christ, heal the sick, love the unloved, provide for the poor, care for widows and orphans, and anything else we’re called to do in order to Glorify God until the Son’s triumphant return!

This kind of knowledge is definitely power. So the question is…who do YOU say He is? Your answer makes all the difference in the world!