Last night I was reading from Matthew's Gospel, and I came across something that I read many times, and probably even noticed, but found myself pondering the reason Jesus asked the following questions. Here are the verses - Matthew 16:13-20 NIV:
[13] "When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
[14] They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
[15] “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
[16] Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
[17] 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. [18] And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. [19] I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” [20] Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah."
I have always thought that Jesus asked the same question effectively, but upon closer reading I saw that Jesus actually asked two different questions. I know that observation isn't a big revelation, but for me it stood out as significant. Jesus never did or said anything without direction from the Father, so what He asks and how He asks are important.
Just to be clear, this is the tenth time Matthew records Jesus using the term "Son of Man?" and every time previously, He was referring to Himself, sometimes blatantly, other times in a slightly veiled way, but it was nonetheless a familiar term to the Apostles and disciples. I can almost see the look confusion, followed by a bunch of furtive glances to each other from the Apostles. To me it seems like He was asking a question with a very obvious answer (Jesus), and yet the Apostles didn't say His name.
The first question is "who do the people say the Son of Man is?" and in this Jesus is effectively revealing the overall confusion in their times, of how this Messianic question would be fulfilled. They were waiting for the "Son of Man", the messiah, but his time of coming and identity were clouded in prophetic language with a bunch of different interpretations. The term was used mostly by the prophet Ezekiel, but t was Daniel who tied it the Messiah, the one who would come and bring salvation, at least that is how i read it. Anyway, it was a phrase that was known and clearly pointing at the Messiah, Jesus had used the term to refer to Himself, and yet when asked what the people thought, they answered everyone but Jesus.
A simple observation here is that the opinion of the people is often not correct, nor concise. There were probably as many opinions amongst the people as there were people. My point is that we can't look to the crowds for truth.
Next Jesus asks a very pointed question, “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
This is actually one of the most important questions we need to ask ourselves regularly! Our deep down thoughts and actions are intimately affected by how we answer that question! Who do we say Jesus is?
Is He our friend?
Is He our Lord?
Is He our judge?
Is He our provider?
Is He our brother?
Is He our Savior?
Is He someone we know?
Is He someone we aspire to be like?
Is He all powerful and holding all authority?
Is He a historical figure?
Is He a wise teacher?
Is He fully man and fully God?
Is He the Son of God?
One of my favorite author, A.W. Tozer, says, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." (The Knowledge of the Holy). I think this is so true, and it is essentially the foundation upon which our life in God, if we have one, is built. It also might be the reason we don't have a life in God, as somewhere along the way we have believed what someone else told us God was like, and it wasn't good, and we never actually bothered to find out for ourselves.
Jesus is getting to that exact question here, "who do you say I am?"
I also think that Jesus was looking for a bit of a confirmation from the Father, that it was time to pull back the veil and tell the Apostles exactly who He was and what was coming! Imagine His perspective, knowing full well that He was heading to a date on the cross, gathering the Apostles, and seeing them completely missing the purpose and plan! I am amazed at Jesus patience, and understanding of the limited grasp of this all in the minds and hearts of the Apostles. I am sure that He wanted to tell them the whole truth, but realized they couldn't grasp the whole truth.
I am also comforted by the fact that the Lord, totally understands my own limitation in grasping His Word and His plans and purpose for me. I am such a dunderhead at times, and while I read these types of verses, and think, "Come on you guys, the answer is SO obvious!", when I am confronted with questions from the Lord, I am every bit as confused or missing the point!
I am additionally aware that sometimes the Lord is about revealing His character to me in different ways. Sometimes He is revealing Himself as Lord and Savior, sometimes as provider, or healer. My relationship with Him is always changing, going deeper, and oftentimes coming back to a character trait, but revealing additional aspects or depth that I hadn't seen before. I think it is safe to say that I could grow in knowledge of Him every day for the rest of my life and never know Him fully.
As I look back over my life, I see many times that my questions were answered in time, in process and in revelation. His plan is so perfect that He often is revealing Himself in the exact way I need to experience Him, at the exact moment need to encounter Him in that way. In these verses today, we see Him finally reveal, once and for all, to the Apostles, that He was indeed the Messiah. They need that knowledge going forward, for they would surely have abandoned Him if they didn't firmly believe He was the Messiah.
Finally, in Peter's statement, we find revelation. That revelation is followed by a release of prophetic destiny into Peter's life! Isn't that interesting Jesus asks, "who do you say I am?" and when He receives an answer proceeds to tell Peter who he is in His eyes. Our relationship with Jesus, our understanding of Him, is critical to our own understanding of who we are, of our identity and purpose! It is in pursuing Him, that we often find out who we really are!
In summary, I am encouraged today to take a deeper look at who I say Jesus is to me! I am encouraged to look at how I think about Him, recognizing that my actions should reflect my thinking and if they don't then I need to either change the way I think, or change the way I act. I believe that's called repentance. :-) Lord, I want to know You more, and I want to understand Your thoughts about me! Help me Lord! Pull back the veil and reveal more of Yourself to me today!
Amen!
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