Identifying Jesus
Luke 9:18-20
September 30, 2018
This morning we come to a real climax in the gospel of Luke.
Some have referred to it as the “Final Exam” for the disciples.
I don’t necessarily think it’s that, but it is big.
WHO IS JESUS?
The world has had varying answers to this question.
John MacArthur noted:
“Pilate said, “I find no guilt in this man” (Luke 23:4). Napoleon said, “I know men, and Jesus was no mere man.” Diderot referred to Jesus as “the unsurpassed,” Strauss, the German rationalist, as “the highest model of religion,” John Stuart Mill as “the guide of humanity,” the French atheist Renan as “the greatest among the sons of men,” Theodore Parker as “a youth with god in His heart,” and Robert Owens as “the irreproachable one.” Some in our own day have called Him the ultimate Superstar.” (MacArthur, John, “The MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 16-23; Moody Press, Chicago, Ill. 1985, pg. 20)
Who is Jesus?
It’s not just an important question,
It is in fact the most important question.
Your entire eternity hangs upon your answer to that question.
On one hand WHO HE IS, is of the utmost importance.
• He must be fully man to be a substitute for man
• He must be born of a virgin and free from Adam’s fallen nature
• He must be fully God to be able to bear eternal wrath and to be able to mediate
between God and men
• He must be righteous to be able to impute righteousness to us
• He must have died to have satisfied the wrath of God
• He must have risen to indicate not only His deity, but His perfection, and ability
to save
That’s who He is, and it is of the utmost importance.
But also important is WHO YOU THINK HE IS.
This is a huge topic to deal with,
And one that has without a doubt
Been on Luke’s mind from the beginning.
And not just Luke’s mind, this is really at the heart of every gospel writer.
I really like how John put it in his gospel:
John 20:30-31 “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”
Each writer had the goal of showing you who Jesus is,
So that you’ll believe who He is,
And that you might be saved through Him.
IT WAS THE GOAL OF THE GOSPEL WRITERS
To lead you to accurately answer the question: “Who is Jesus?”
THAT IS WHERE WE ARE IN LUKE’S GOSPEL
Jesus is about to make sure that His disciples
Accurately understood everything they’ve seen so far.
There is more to learn, but if you don’t get this, the rest is pointless.
So think for a moment about all that they have heard and seen.
Luke isn’t terribly clear when the disciples joined Jesus, but we know at least some of them where there when:
• (4:34) He cast a demon out of a man in the synagogue while that demon was outwardly proclaiming that Jesus was the “Holy One of God”
• (4:38-39) When Jesus left that synagogue and went to Peter’s house and healed Peter’s mother-in-law.
• (4:41) That same day, when the entire countryside showed up bringing all their sick and demon possessed, and one after another the demons were confessing “You are the Son of God!”
• (5:6-8) When Peter, Andrew, James, and John were fishing and Jesus orchestrated such a great catch of fish that Peter cried, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
• (5:13) When Jesus cleansed a leper
• (5:24-25) When Jesus forgave and healed a paralytic
• (6:5) When Jesus declared that He Himself was “Lord of the Sabbath”
• (6:10) When in the synagogue Jesus restored the man’s withered hand
• (7:10) When Jesus healed the centurion’s slave
• (7:14-15) When Jesus raised the widow’s son from the dead
• (7:20-21) When John sent his disciples to ask if Jesus was “The Expected One” and Jesus instantly cured many and cast out demons and gave sight to the blind.
• (7:48-49) When in a Pharisee’s house Jesus declared a sinful woman forgiven.
• (8:25) When Jesus calmed the storm that was about to sink their boat
• (8:28) When the demoniac on the shore emphatically identified Jesus as “Son of the Most High God”
• (9:16) When Jesus fed 5,000 men with 5 loaves and 2 fish.
The point is, they had received quite an education at this point.
The evidence has been stacking up and one would think it was irrefutable.
SO NOW IT’S TIME TO FIND OUT WHAT THEY LEARNED.
You and I must also answer.
There are 2 points to our text this morning, let’s look at them.
#1 THE PUBLIC CONSENSUS
Luke 9:18-19
As we’ve mentioned a couple of times now,
There is actually a great deal that has occurred in the ministry of Jesus since Jesus fed the 5,000 that Luke does not include.
It is clear that Luke is far more interested
In answering the question Herod presented back in Luke 9:9.
Luke 9:7-9 “Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was happening; and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen again. Herod said, “I myself had John beheaded; but who is this man about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see Him.”
This was in reference to the explosion of ministry that was occurring all throughout Galilee.
• Jesus had commissioned the 12 with power and authority to preach and heal and cast out demons and raise the dead, and certainly Herod was aware of what was happening.
• After all, Galilee wasn’t much bigger than Dickens county, it would have been hard for Herod not to have heard.
• Furthermore Herod was perplexed and extremely paranoid since he had beheaded John the Baptist, he just knew that John was now back alive and that he would inevitably be in trouble.
• And so Herod had gone on a bit of a fact finding mission to find out about this Jesus.
And Herod’s report was mixed.
“it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen again.”
This was the general consensus on Jesus.
This was the public answer.
• They all recognized supernatural ability.
• They all gave flattering appraisals.
• But none recognized Jesus as they should have.
Herod’s question was simply left unanswered.
With him saying, “I myself had John beheaded; but who is this man about whom I hear such things?”
That was the question.
And now Luke is committed to giving the answer.
(18) “And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the people say that I am?”
If you read Matthew’s gospel you’ll find that Jesus was in the region of Caesarea Philippi.
• You may remember where Bethsaida was located, across the lake, and how the disciples said that it was a remote place.
• Well if you travel from there due north, you come into the region of Caesarea Philippi.
• It was a mountainous region and Jesus and His disciples had finally managed to be alone.
And I do want to address at least part of why Jesus and His disciples were finally alone.
After reading the account of the feeding of the 5,000
It may have seemed like Jesus would never be able to get away.
These people were following Him everywhere.
Well, there’s a reason He has found it easier to slip away.
TURN TO: JOHN 6. John 6 is John’s account of Jesus feeding the 5,000.
(1-13) we find the miracle of Him feeding the 5,000 just as it was recorded in Luke’s gospel.
But John adds the response of the crowd.
(6:14-15) “Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.”
After that miracle the crowd wanted to make Jesus King.
I realize that in our day some of Jesus’ other miracles seem bigger than this one,
But in Jesus’ day the ability to feed a multitude cannot be overstated.
This was a huge super-power that He possessed, and they wanted it.
But Jesus slips away.
• If you keep reading, you’ll find that they all cross back over the Sea of Galilee, (Jesus walks on water).
And if you read John 6 you’ll find that
When that crowd came looking for Him and didn’t find Him
That they then entered boats and all crossed over after Him.
And Jesus exposes their motives.
(6:24-26) “So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.”
He pegged them.
You don’t want to submit to Me,
You just want Me to keep filling your stomachs.
Now, this sets off a lengthy back and forth conversation
that we don’t have time to break down,
But the gist of it is that Jesus tells the people to quit seeking bread
And that He Himself is the true bread sent down from heaven
And people must partake of His sacrifice if they want salvation.
(READ VS. 52-59)
Now that’s a quick summation.
Jesus spring boarded off of that miracle of feeding the 5,000
To let the crowds know that what they really needed was His sacrifice,
Not His miracle power.
And what was the response?
(READ VS 60-66)
Jesus has thinned out the crowd.
• He has started laying an expectation of salvation upon the people and they don’t really want to hear it.
• They just want Him to work more miracles.
• And so pulling away from the crowd is getting easier for Him, because although they like His miracles they don’t really like what He has to say.
Later in John’s gospel he will reveal their rejection more clearly.
John 12:37-43 “But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?” For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, “HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM.” These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.”
They had a spiritual blindness that they could not overcome,
Brought on primarily from the fact that
They loved the approval of men more than the approval of God.
They wanted Jesus to enhance their worldly comforts,
But they were not interested in Jesus’ ability
To reconcile them to God.
And since Jesus is beginning to address that reality,
The crowd is getting noticeably smaller.
From a popularity standpoint, Jesus’ ministry has seemingly taken a hit.
• It was all well and good when He was just walking around doing miracles,
• But now that He is expressing Himself as having come from heaven
• To offer His body as their sacrifice,
• People aren’t really buying in.
And now Jesus has crossed back over the Sea, and headed north
Where He and His disciples are now alone.
AND JESUS CONFRONTS THEM.
First He asks, “Who do the people say that I am?”
In other words, “What is the public consensus?”
And their answer, is what Luke already revealed.
(19) “They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again.”
Now, it’s not hard to see why people would have said that.
• In John we have a bold preacher of repentance who cared little for worldly
comforts…that was certainly Jesus.
• In Elijah we have a prophet with unparalleled power, even power to raise the
dead…that was certainly Jesus.
• In the other prophets we have men with incredible authority and boldness
and the ability to speak right to your heart…that was certainly Jesus.
And in all 3 of these examples they would have had to be someone who had risen from the dead, indicating that even if Jesus was one of these 3 that He was now operating on an even more miraculous scale, having now risen.
He was a servant of God risen from the dead.
These weren’t derogatory explanations.
They just weren’t accurate.
BUT PLEASE NOTE
This is who everyone in the disciple’s world thought Jesus was.
To disagree with that assessment
Is to instantly segregate yourself from everyone else in your world.
Society has determined who Jesus is.
That is the Public Consensus
#2 THE PERSONAL CONFESSION
Luke 9:20
So now that it has been solidified what the world thinks of Jesus, then comes the real question.
(20) “And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
THERE ARE A COUPLE OF THINGS
THAT WE NEED TO CLARIFY AND SOLIDIFY AT THIS MOMENT.
ON ONE HAND, it doesn’t matter who “you say” Jesus is.
What I mean by that is that
Your opinion of Jesus doesn’t change who He actually is.
Jesus was not looking for His own identity here.
He knows who He is.
And regardless of what the disciples answer, that won’t change.
I tell you that because we live in a world dictated by relativism.
It’s the proverbial “That may be true for you, but it’s not true for me” argument.
And today when you ask people “Who is Jesus to you?”
They think they are defining who Jesus is.
• And you get answers like, “My Jesus is…” “To me Jesus is…”
• And what is scary about that is they actually think their opinion determines
who Jesus actually is.
It does not.
Jesus is who He is regardless of what you say.
So in that sense, it really doesn’t matter who “you say” Jesus is,
At least not in the scope of defining Him.
BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, it matters great who “you say” Jesus is.
It matters in relation to your own eternity and salvation.
WHY?
• Because faith is not mystical.
• Faith rests upon the foundation of the truth you believe.
In order to be saved it’s not just that you believe in Christ,
It is also what you believe about Christ.
Believing in a false version of Jesus will not lead you to salvation.
Remember Paul speaking to the Corinthians?
2 Corinthians 11:3-4 “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.”
You’ve got to believe the truth about Christ.
And there are things that in the Christian faith here are non-negotiables.
For example:
That He is Fully God, and fully man.
Paul wrote
Philippians 2:6-7 “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”
That word “form” there used twice is MORPHE in the Greek.
It speaks of “the essential characteristics that belong to someone”.
So Jesus had the essential characteristics of God.
That is to say, He is omnipotent, He is omniscient, He is omnipresent, He is eternal.
And Jesus took the “form” of a bond-servant or human.
He took the essential characteristics of humanity.
That is to say He took on human life, a soul, emotion, a skeleton, muscles, etc.
He was both at once.
And this allowed Him not only to be a mediator between the two,
But also allowed Him to atone for sinful man,
And bear eternal punishment for sin.
And you have to believe that, or you cannot be saved.
Listen to John.
2 John 7-10 “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting;”
John said, if you don’t believe that, you don’t have God.
And there are others.
Things like His virgin birth, His perfect righteousness, His sacrificial death, His resurrection.
There are irreducible minimums you must believe about Christ,
Or you cannot be saved.
So while who “you say” Jesus is, does not change who He is,
It does matter greatly in regard to whether or not you can be saved.
THIS IS A HUGE MOMENT FOR THE DISCIPLES.
• Their entire society has it wrong.
• Jesus is asking them to go against their culture and declare what no one else is declaring.
And they do!
(20b) “And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”
Matthew’s gospel records it as:
Matthew 16:16 “Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Mark’s gospel records it as:
Mark 8:29 “And He continued by questioning them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.”
John’s gospel records it as:
John 6:68-69 “Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”
It should also be noted that the only reason the disciples knew this is not because they were smarter than the rest of the crowds who did not accurately recognize Jesus, but because God determined for them to see it.
Matthew 16:17 “And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”
John 6:70 “Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?”
But the point is that THE DISCIPLES MADE THE ACCURATE CONFESSION.
• Jesus is God
• Jesus is the Christ (Messiah, Lord, King)
• Jesus is the Savior (the One who offers eternal life)
The world failed to see it, but the disciples declared it.
Also important to note in their confession was THE OBVIOUS AUTHORITY OF CHRIST.
They didn’t just see Him as some figure on a divine mission to listen to
(like the rest of the world)
The disciples recognized Him as authoritative God
And the sovereign King whom they must submit to.
It’s a drastically different recognition.
Jesus is not a historical figure to be marveled at.
Jesus is a King to be submitted to.
Do you understand that?
In 1994 John MacArthur stirred up a hornet’s nest of debate in the Christian world when he released a book called “The Gospel According to Jesus”.
There were two terms that came from that book that struck strong chords in the Christian community.
• One term was “easy believism”
• And the other was “Lordship salvation”
The premise of the book was to reclaim lost ground.
Namely that Jesus never offered a salvation in the gospels
Apart from a submission to Him as Lord.
From MacArthur’s vantage point,
• Christianity had grown to embrace a faulty doctrine of salvation,
• Namely that a person could accept Jesus as Savior without submitting to Him as Lord.
MacArthur debated otherwise, and I have to say,
I WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE WITH HIM.
One would think that this is OBVIOUS since one of the most quoted verses on salvation says:
Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;”
You don’t find people being saved in the New Testament
Apart from submitting their lives to Christ.
Jesus is clear,
• Being enamored with Him is not enough.
• Wanting Him to deliver you is not enough.
Go ask the Rich Young Ruler.
He wanted eternal life, but he wasn’t willing to submit to the Lord to get it.
Or look at the very next passage in Luke’s gospel where Jesus begins to outline what it means to follow Him.
Luke 9:23-26 “And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
Or look at the end of the chapter when Jesus is confronted by 3 would be followers.
Luke 9:57-62 “As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
It becomes clear doesn’t it? That simply being enamored with Jesus or knowing that He is the Savior is not enough.
And you can see here that this was the foundational difference Between the confession of the world
And the confession of the disciples.
• The world knew Jesus had power…
• The world knew Jesus was an accurate teacher…
• The world knew Jesus was compassionate…
• The world knew Jesus was a cut above in His behavior…
But the world would not submit to Him as king.
The only time we see them consider Him as King was when they wanted to take Him by force and make Him King in John 6. But when Jesus challenged them later in the chapter, they all departed and proved that they had no interest in submitting to Him as King.
• They wanted bread…
• They wanted miracles…
• They wanted healings…
• They didn’t want a sovereign authority
The disciples, on the other hand,
• Saw Him as God in the flesh,
• The sovereign King,
• The prophesied Christ,
• The One who alone had words of eternal life.
And we just can’t go forward this morning without internalizing this fact.
Who do “you say” that Jesus is?
And in that I would also remind you.
• We are not asking who is Jesus to your parents?
• We are not asking who is Jesus to this church?
• We are not asking who is Jesus to your preacher?
• We are not asking who is Jesus to your youth group?
Those questions certainly have some importance,
But you can’t be saved by the faith of your parents
Or by the beliefs of this church or by the beliefs of me or your friends.
It matters who “you say” Jesus is.
In my teenage years youth rallies were a big deal.
They would try to fill a stadium somewhere with youth, bring in a preacher, and then give the biggest and most emotional alter call they could give.
And I saw the phenomenon occur many times.
Youth, walking arm in arm, sometimes in groups as big as 20 all walking down the stands together, seemingly walking arm in arm into the kingdom of heaven.
Now, I have no way of knowing what occurred in the hearts of any one of those youth, no way I could know that.
But I do know this.
You don’t come to Jesus in groups or by general consent.
When Jesus spoke of coming to Him He said it like this:
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Jesus Himself spoke of salvation, and confessing Him
As something that is done personally between just you and just Him.
You don’t enter that gate in groups.
In fact many times Jesus promised that entering that gate would instantly segregate you from those you walked arm in arm with just moments before.
Matthew 10:34-35 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. “For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW;”
Believing in Jesus is not only a personal decision that you make,
But it is also one that may in fact cost you every other relationship.
It is not cultural or popular, it is personal.
Luke 13:22-27 “And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘ Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘ I do not know where you are from.’ “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’”
Do you hear those people who thought that association with God’s people would be good enough?
What?!?
But “we ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets”
Jesus, we were right there in church with our parents and friends every Sunday!
But we’re not talking about what the church you attend believes,
We are talking about what YOU believe.
Or consider this sermon later in Luke’s gospel:
Luke 14:25-27 “Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
Do you hear Jesus thinning out the crowd here?
He wasn’t addressing them as a group seeking to find,
If they all “by general consent” wanted to be saved.
Jesus spoke of salvation as something you would seek
Apart from the consent of the culture, not as a part of it.
AND THIS IS THE QUESTION ADDRESSED TO EVERY MAN.
We can certainly ask, “Who do the people say that” Jesus is?
And our world would give all sorts of answers,
None of which impact your eternity in the least.
What Jesus wants to know from you is “who do you say that I am?”
What is your answer?
Bearing in mind that a superficial answer is not enough.
He will expect you to act on your confession.
• If you call Him King, He’ll expect your obedience.
• If you call Him Lord, He’ll expect your submission.
• If you call Him Savior, He’ll expect your trust.
We already saw back in Luke 6
Luke 6:46-49 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? “Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. “But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”
Only a foolish man makes a confession
That he doesn’t follow through with.
Jesus has presented the evidence, and NOW HE ASKS THE QUESTION.
What have you decided?
