Matthew 16:13-16

Matthew 16:13-16

And after Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples while saying, “Who does mankind say the Son of Man is to be?”  And they said, “In one case, John the Baptist.  In another case Elijah.  In another case Jeremiah or one of the prophets.  He said to them, “And you all, who do you all say that I am?”  And after Simon Peter answered He said, “You are Christ, the Son of the God who lives.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Once more we see Jesus withdrawing.  Caesarea Philippi was predominantly a Gentile region.  The time of Jesus’ crucifixion is growing steadily closer and He needed to have some personal time with His disciples.  They needed some time to be taught specific lessons.  They needed to have time to grow confident in what they believe.  They needed to have some time to ask questions.  Jesus knows that all of this needs to happen and as we’ve seen over the last week it doesn’t happen when Jesus is anywhere that the Pharisees and other religious leaders can reach Him.  So we see Jesus escaping for the sake of His disciples.

What can we learn about Jesus’ desire to have personal time with His disciples?  What does this tell us about Jesus’ desire to have them prepared for ministry?

Second Thought:

Jesus offers us a perspective on the world.  Of course, when Jesus asks who mankind says that He is, we should understand that the question is being asked primarily about Jews.  After all, why reason would most Gentiles at this time have to care about God’s Messiah?  Furthermore, what would Jesus’ disciples know of the Gentile answer to this question?  Thus Jesus asks the disciples what the Jews around Him think.  Here is the point of Jesus’ question.  After several years of ministry, does anyone even understand?  The people understood that Jesus was powerful.   By comparing him to Elijah and Jeremiah they were assenting to Jesus’ power and the fact that He was from God.  But Elijah and Jeremiah were forerunner to God’s Messiah.  The people saw Him as a prophet.  They saw Him as a teacher come from God.  But they did not see Him as God’s Messiah.  They were still looking for a Messiah that looked more like the Messiah they were expecting rather than the Messiah God desired to send.

Who is Jesus to you?  Are you open to Him or are you still trying to fashion Him to fit in your image?

Third Thought:

 However, Peter gets it – and by assumption and association we can say that the Twelve get it to some degree.  Peter says that Jesus is the Christ.  In Greek the word Christ is Christos (Χριστός).  It is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word for anointed one, which is what the Hebrew people used to speak about the Messiah.  Peter acknowledges that Jesus is the Christ.  he is the Messiah.  Now, that doesn’t mean that Peter understands what God sent Jesus to do.  We’ll see over the next few days just how much Peter doesn’t get about what God is doing.  But even though Peter doesn’t get what God is doing in Jesus with respect to crucifixion and salvation, Peter does know that Jesus is the Messiah.  We don’t have to know the full mind of God to believe that God is at work and then follow His hand at work.

Is Jesus your Messiah?  How do you live that truth out to the world?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 16:17-20