Whom Say Ye That I Am?

“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:13-16).

“Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” This is absolutely fascinating! When Jesus says, “Whom do men say”, the word “men” comes from the Greek, “anthrōpos”. It is not gender specific and means all of humankind, or in other words, the world.

Jesus continues his question to Peter with, “…that I the Son of man am?” The term, “Son of man” is Christs’ preferred Messianic title believed to be due to it communicating His lowliness, meekness and humility.

So Jesus, who is identifying Himself as the Messiah, is asking Peter, who does the world believe Him to be?

Peter responds to His question by naming prophets from the Old and New Testaments. It’s significant that Peter names only people from the Bible.

The world has shifted. It has changed. In today’s world the response would be a lot different. The contemporary world identifies Jesus Christ as either a prophet, scholar or imaginary. A minority know Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, the one part of the Holy Triune. 2,000 years later and we still have an uphill battle.

But then Jesus shifts the direction of the question by asking Peter, “But whom say ye that I am?”

A universal belief and opinion is now a personal one. This is most important for many reasons, but mainly because this involves something under our direct purview. Jesus Christ “is”, so it becomes up to us to 1. Accept this as fact, or not and 2. Define the scope of this fact.

The first step, is Jesus Christ real or not. Is probably the least difficult and least controversial. “To be or not to be” doesn’t seem to be much of a question when it comes to the existence of Christ. This is a yes or no proposition.

The real question is not “if” Jesus existed, but rather “when”. This leads us to number 2.

Defining who and what Jesus was/is. If you believe Him to be a scholar or a prophet then your belief in Him is past tense. If your belief in Jesus is divine, then you think of Him in the present tense. And of course, if you think Jesus was imaginary, as some fictional character then there is no tense to Him at all.

Now, for those who think of Jesus in the present and as divine, how do you define Him? This is where we run into trouble and controversy. For the ideas held by believers of Jesus as to who He is and what His purpose is, is without question quite divergent.

Why? Why do so many people believe in the one Christ but have such differences in opinions and belief in Him? “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints” (1 Corinthians 14:33).

Could it be that God is not the author of some of their beliefs?

I really don’t want to go off the deep end here (or anywhere for that matter!). But we do know the tactics of the devil. “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10). We know that “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).

So what is our defense? How do we know Jesus? Jesus is the truth, how do we know it is the truth that we know? How do we know who He is and what His purpose is?

There is only one answer to this. The Bible. What does the word of God say? For us to know what the Bible says means we have to read the Bible. This is generally a big stumbling block for most Christians. In fact, a study done a few years ago found that atheist have a better over-all knowledge of scripture than Christians. We have to read and study the Bible continuously. A one and done reading of scripture, while beneficial, doesn’t magically fill us with all things divine.

Your opinion or what you think the Bible says or what you would like for it say matters not. Be forewarned, the Bible will offend you.

Going to church on Sunday is vitally important, but is not a substitute for being in God’s word.

Be careful of the preacher, teacher, Church and religion. All can, have and do, alter the word of God to suit the desires and wishes of man.

“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8).

Understand this. Anyone who preaches something that is not of or from the Bible is damned to, “the direst of woes”.

All throughout the Bible is the command to, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). This includes proving yourself and your relationship with the word, proving your relationships with others through the word, proving the preacher and theologian strictly by the word, and even proving the word with the word itself.

Jesus Christ asked Peter and asks all of us, “Whom say ye that I am?” This is not asking for an opinion. This is not a quiz testing your knowledge of scripture. The devil himself is an expert on the Bible.

Actually it is less of a question and more reflection and introspection. Who do we think Jesus is and what is His purpose, can you substantiate that belief? I hate to tell you, if all you have are “feelings” or what someone else has told you then you are in line for a lot of trouble. Even love, when it’s without the knowledge of Christ and the righteousness of God can be nothing more than misguided lust.

I will leave you with this. Who Jesus is and what His purpose is, is a perpetual question we need to be asking ourselves. How we respond to those questions is going to change, grow and evolve as we are brought up in Christ. If it doesn’t change, then we’re in trouble, even if we are reading our Bibles daily and attending church whenever the doors are open.

The complacent in Christ experience no change in their life. The complacent tend to become self-righteous. The church of the Laodiceans became complacent. Jesus said, “…thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot” (Revelations 3:15).

Jesus then warned the Laodiceans, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Revelations 3:16).

It is imperative that we get in and stay in the word of God. Not only is this the key to the revelation of truth, it is critical for our continued growth and eventual eternity in Jesus Christ as our Savior. Those outside the realm of God’s word are open and fair game for Satan himself. Remember Job, who God said was, “Perfect in all of His Ways”. Job was protected by God. The devil could do nothing to Him without God allowing it.

The Apostle Paul instructs the Corinthians to expel a fornicator from the Church and “deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 5:5).

If you are not a child of God, then you are fodder for Satan. Stay in the word so you can stay in Christ.

Bill Hitchcock