Who do you say Jesus is?
Mark 8:27-30
This is the biggest question you will ever face.
This might be something you have never considered before. It might seem like the least relevant question in your world right now. You’re wondering how you are going to afford Christmas this year, or whether your grandmother will make it out of the hospital or if your marriage is going to survive.
You may be facing the question of college or career or marriage. We all face some big questions in life. But none is more important than the question of Jesus.
There isn’t a more important question because there isn’t a more important claim that has ever been made.
Jesus claimed to be able to give rest to the weary, satisfaction to the thirsty, forgiveness to the guilty, even eternal life to the mortal. He claimed to be the doorway to truth, to the divine and the eternal.
In Mark 8 Jesus first asked the question, “Who do people say that I am?” That’s an interesting question. It’s a question of sociology, psychology and religion. It’s interesting to people who are interested in those fields.
Peter gives Jesus a variety of responses – all involve people attempting to fit Jesus into the boxes of their experience and tradition.
After hearing those responses, Jesus makes the conversation much more real: but who do you say that I am.
Sooner or later we will all have to face the seriousness of the question.
It’s an answer you have to give for yourself. It’s not enough to know what others say. It’s not enough to hang around others who have an answer. You have to come to your own conclusion. You have to make a personal decision.
Peter’s answer is the right answer – “You are the Christ.” In Matthew’s account, Jesus affirms Peter’s response “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”.
Jesus is the Christ. He is the anointed one of God. He is the one chosen, favored and empowered to restore the human soul to God. Only through the sacrifice of the anointed one can a sinner find forgiveness and enter the kingdom of God.
It is only through belief, expressed in the confession of Jesus the Christ, that a soul can be reborn for eternity.
Who do you say that he is?
Tom Brown is the planting pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Wichita. Tom and his wife, Mandy, have worked together in ministry for 18 years and have four children. More about Pastor Tom Brown