Which Jesus? Matthew 16.13-20

27 August 2020

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Matthew 16.13-20 

A couple weeks ago now we took our oldest daughter and moved her into college.  She’s in her second week of classes now – doing well.  One of the classes she is taking is a religion course called: Which Jesus?  In that course they look at how Jesus has been viewed throughout history; how different religions view Jesus; how different cultures understand Jesus; even how each of us have different understandings of Jesus. 

As part of that class she interviews her parents; her pastor; another person theologically trained, and a friend at college asking one question:  Who is Jesus?  And then she writes a 2-3 page paper about the conversation she has. 

How would you answer that question?  I’m going to let you sit with that for a few seconds here.  Who is Jesus for you?  What does it mean when you answer that question; how do you fill that out?

We all have our own preferences for how we see God; we understand the person of Jesus.  Jesus can tend to look a lot like the person who is looking.  So if we are angry and confrontational – so is Jesus.  If we are compassionate and kind-hearted – so it Jesus.  If we prefer traditional time-tested truths – so does Jesus.  If we prefer the creative and unpredictable – so does Jesus.  All this is one way of saying that we tend to create God in our image. 

Jesus asks the disciples:  Who do people say that I am?  Then he asks them:  who do you say that I am?  Peter answers: The Messiah, the son of the living God.  Peter gets it right here.  But he gets it right because, we are told, God reveals it to him.  It is a gift. 

 Some questions for you this morning: 

1.     What words or images from Scripture come to mind when you think of Jesus?

2.     How is Jesus pictured or revealed in some of the hymns that you love?

3.     How is Jesus revealed to us in our worship together?

4.     When have I come to see something about Jesus that I did not expect?

Let’s pray:  Lord God, you are revealed to us in the words of Scripture, in worship, in our service to one another.  Continue to open our eyes to see your presence in the midst of this pandemic; in the midst of our nation’s racial reckoning; even in the midst of this political season.  Walk with us and go through this day.  In your name we pray.  Amen.