As I’m sure you know, this summer I’ve been organizing my messages around some the great questions of the Bible. It’s been a long summer so, to refresh your memory, let me remind you that we began this sermon study way back on the first Sunday of July by looking at what is literally the first question recorded in Scripture ever asked by a human being. I’m referring to the question CAIN asked God in Genesis 4:9, when in response to God’s inquiry about his brother Abel’s whereabouts, he said, “Am I my brother’s keeper?“
Then the next week we studied the question Isaac asked his father, Abraham, in Genesis 22, as they prepared to make a sacrifice to God, namely, “Where is the lamb?“
When I got back from our mission trip to Mexico we examined Peter’s question in Matthew 18, when he asked Jesus, “How oft must I forgive-up to seven times?“
The following week we looked at David”s question in 1 Samuel 17, the one he asked Saul and his soldiers as they cowered in fear of Goliath, “Who can stand against the armies of the living God?“
Next we turned our focus to Gideon’s question in Judges 6, a question he posed in the midst of the suffering of Israel, the same question we have all asked from time to time, “If God is with us, why has all this happened to us?“
And as I’m sure you remember, last Sunday we studied the text in Exodus 3, where as Moses stood before the burning bush on Mt. Horeb, God asked him, “What’s that in your hand?”
So, as you can see, over the past few months we’ve looked at a lot of Biblical inquiries. You could say, this has truly been a “questionable summer” at Redland. All kidding aside, this morning we have come to the last sermon in this series, and we’ve saved the best for last because our text for this morning contains what is truly the greatest question in Scripture-the most IMPORTANT question-for it is a question that we ALL must be prepared to answer.
Take your Bibles and turn to Matthew 16. But before we read this familiar text let me remind you of the setting. The event that is recorded in these verses took place about two and a half years into Jesus’ earthly ministry, which means the cross was only about six months away. Well, knowing that His arrest and crucifixion was right around the corner, Jesus took His closest followers up to a place called Caesarea Philippi for a retreat of sorts.
Now, Caesarea Philippi is about 25 miles north-east of the Sea of Galilee. I visited there about 11 years ago as a part of a tour of the Holy Land, and I remember it being up in the hills about 9,000 feet above sea level, which made it a much cooler climate than the Galilean lowlands. It reminded me of one of my favorite places on earth, the Smokey Mountains, because there are evergreen trees all over the hills that surround and make up Caesarea Philippi. Plus there’s a babbling, spring-fed brook there, a brook that is the source of the Jordan river. Sound like the Smokies to you? When I was there in ’94 Caesarea Philippi had been turned into sort of a state park. In fact, there were people grilling hamburgers on grills and eating at picnic tables. Well, with the cool mountain air and the stream and the spectacular views, even in Jesus’ day I imagine it was sort of a “weekend getaway” kind of place.
Another thing: at that time the population of Caesarea Philippi was mainly non-Jewish, so there would have been no interruptions by multitudes clamoring for Jesus’ attention, nor would there have been any Jewish religious leaders, who by this time were looking for any opportunity to arrest our Lord. In other words this was a perfect place for our Lord to bring His first followers for some much needed solitude and study. And this retreat was indeed much-needed because as I said time was growing short. The cross was visible on the horizon, and because it was it was imperative that James and John, and Peter and the others have a clear understanding of Who Jesus was, why He had been born, what was about to be done to Him, and why.
Now, another thing you need to know to get your understanding of the setting of this text accurate is the fact that in Jesus’ day the hills of the Caesarea Philippi area were scattered with temples of ancient Syrian Baal worship. As many as 14 such temples would have littered the landscape. And, not only were Syrian gods worshiped there, there was also a cavern nearby that was said to have been the birthplace of the Greek god Pan, the “god” of nature. I remember seeing it myself and hearing our tour guide tell us that because of this, Caesarea Philippi was originally called “Panias.” Another huge temple would have stood there in Jesus’ day built out of white marble by Herod the Great and dedicated to the worship of Augustus Caesar.
Okay, with all that mental imagery in place, follow along as I read verses 13-18.
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 Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
17 – Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, 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.”
This is the Word of the Lord….Thanks be to God.
Now be sure and understand what Jesus has done here. Our Lord brought His disciples to this quiet, secluded setting, a place that was literally crowded with temples dedicated to the worship of Syrian, Greek, and Roman “gods,” and He asked His followers Who they believed Him to be, wanting them to realize that He was in fact the one true God in the flesh, the long-awaited Messiah. In my mind Jesus deliberately led the disciples on this hike way up in the mountains to get to this specific place, a place where He could set Himself against the background of the world’s religions in all their history and splendor, and demanded to be compared with them and to have the verdict given in His favor.
Do you see what I mean? With this setting as a backdrop, He forced His followers to wrestle with vital questions like: “Who is the real God?” “Who is worthy of adoration and worship?” In essence Jesus said, “Guys, look around at the magnificence of all these temples to all these ‘gods’ and then look at Me. Who is right? Who is the truth-Me or the ‘gods’ of one of these temples?” Jesus came here to help force the disciples to deal with this central issue-and they needed to do so because, as I have alluded to, this was the climax of His earthly teaching ministry. I mean, all the miracles Jesus had done over the past 2.5 years, all the questions He had asked and answered had been in preparation for this moment.
Well Jesus led up to this pivotal teaching moment by first asking His followers what other people were saying about Him. And after a few answers like “John the Baptist,” “Elijah,” “Jeremiah,” “one of the prophets,” after this “warm-up” discussion, Jesus looked at them and with what I think was a demanding yet reassuring, blunt yet warm, confrontational, yet inviting tone, He asked, “Well, what about YOU? Who do YOU say that I am?”
Now please understand, no one on the planet at that time was more qualified to answer that question than these people. After all, unlike the multitudes, these guys had been with Jesus 24-7 for two and a half years. They had heard Him teach. They’d seen all His miracles. I mean, they were the star witnesses of Jesus’ life up until that point. Over the past 2.5 years at times He had shocked them. At times He thrilled them. At other times He filled them with awe and wonder. Remember? The things He said and did led them to whisper to each other, “What manner of man is this!?” Well the time had come for them to confess their opinion as to what manner of man He was. I mean it was time to fish or cut bait; it was time for them to take a personal stand. So Jesus looked each of His students in the eye and asked this all-important question which prompted Peter’s famous bold response.
Now, I’d like you to come back to the present. I mean, leave your mental visit to the Galilean hills and return to 6922 Muncaster Mill Road, September 11, 2005, because I’d like each of you to consider what you would say if Jesus were to ask you this question right here and now. I would remind you that as 1 Peter 3:15 says that we are always to “…be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” We all should be always ready to answer this all-important question. And we have no excuse for not being ready, for, after all, not only have we read of Jesus’ miracles and His teaching, the things His first disciples experienced, recorded in the Bible, as Christians we have each walked with Jesus, we’ve personally experienced His love, His presence, His guidance, His wonder-working power in our own lives. So let me ask you, “Who do YOU say Jesus is? In your opinion, Who is Jesus Christ?” And, remember, Jesus doesn’t care about public opinion on this issue. He only cares about YOUR opinion. He wants an answer from YOU on this. Now, you can relax. We don’t have time for me to call each of you up on the stage to hear your reply but I have asked two of our members to answer this question themselves.
[TESTIMONIES 8:30AM – Kerry Shea Penland, Bill Wehunt; 11:00AM – Mike Brewer, Peggy Roney]
Now, whenever we observe communion as a body of believers we answer this most important question. We testify that Jesus is the Lamb of God, our Savior. And as we come now to give our answer by partaking in this memorial meal, let me invite all Christians present to partake with us. After all, even if you are not a member of this church, if you are a Christian, if you are His, this is Yours.
Before we observe communion let’s follow the commands of Scripture and take time to examine our lives so that we can then confess known sin. As 1 Corinthians 11:28-29 says, “A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.” So let’s take a few moments to examine our own lives and let me suggest that you use the following question as a tool. Ask yourself, “How does my lifestyle answer this question that Jesus asks in this text? What does my life say that I believe about Jesus?” After a time of silent examination and confession I will close our prayer.
Father God,
Forgive us for all the times our walk does not match our talk, all those times we don’t live what we say when it comes to our profession of faith in Your Son. Show us that we are to be Your witnesses in WORD and in DEED, that our belief must match our behavior, because people just won’t believe what we say unless it matches what we do. Thank You, Father for sending Your Son to atone for our sin. Use this symbolic meal to help us remember His sacrifice. Accept it as our corporate answer to this question.
We pray this in His name, even Jesus, AMEN.
[COMMUNION]
As I said earlier, this final question is one that we all must answer individually, because becoming a Christian is a personal experience. In Romans 10:9-10 Paul put it this way: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” And we must carefully consider how we will reply because this is the ultimate question of life. How we answer determines so much: our relationship to God, our capacity to experience real, abundant life, our character and our conduct, our capacity to truly love, our courage in the face of death, not to mention where we will spend eternity.
So, have you answered correctly?
Have you confessed with your mouth and believed in your heart that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God?
If you haven’t then do so-right now-and in a moment come and tell me. Make your confession a public one just like Peter did.
And then, you who have already answered this question correctly, I would ask you, is God calling you to serve Him here in this church? If so, won’t you come and join our fellowship?
We stand and sing to give you an opportunity to make public decisions like these. Won’t you come now as God leads?