Matthew 16:13-20
Peter Confesses Jesus is the Messiah
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 Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, 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. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Mark 6:6-16
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
6 Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt.10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
15 Others said, “He is Elijah.”
And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”
16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”
John 1:1-51
The Word Becomes Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life,and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you,you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”
Jesus, it seems to me, has always been a confusing Man to try to identify...Jesus is a confusing Man to try to describe...And as one reads about others questions about Him in trying to describe Him, it becomes more confusing to me...The confusion, I think started on one day when Jesus ask His Disciples two intriguing and very deep questions about Himself...The first question was "Who do people say the Son of Man is?”...The other question was "Who do you say I AM?"...
Jesus taught others about God...And in doing this He walked among people discussing and teaching things about our Father in Heaven...But who was this One teaching these things...When Jesus ask His Disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"...The Disciples replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”...As He grew up and then later taught one might think the people of His time and those around Him would know much about Him...Around the time King Herod had John the Baptist beheaded, Jesus was sending out His Twelve Disciples...As the word spread about Jesus, Herod heard about Him...King Herod thought Jesus was a resurrected John the Baptist...And so there were some who thought Jesus was John the Baptist...But John the Baptist denied that He was the Messiah and Jesus...John the Baptist gave his testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was...John the Baptist did not fail to confess, but confessed freely and said, “I am not the Messiah.”...They asked him, “Then who are you?...Are you Elijah?”...John said, “I am not.”...“Are you the Prophet?”...He answered, “No.”...John the Baptist was not the Son of God, and admitted this freely to others...John even lost many of his disciples to Jesus...John the Baptist gave this testimony about Jesus: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on Him...And I myself did not know Him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The Man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”...
But in a mysterious way, even though Jesus often taught crowds of people, and had many followers...And despite having Twelve very close ones around Him for three years, Jesus remained a mysterious Man...Questions came up about this strange Man...How could so many say that Jesus is John the Baptist?...How did some identify Jesus as the Prophet Elijah?...How did some people think He was the Prophet Jeremiah?...These variety and differing answers about Him were from His time and not today...Many of these people had probably met Him, and maybe even talked to Him...Yet, He remained this unsolved mysterious Man of His day...And this mystery of who He and His question is still with us today...I am not sure man can fully understand who Jesus is...
After Jesus died and ascended into heaven, people and even the theologians have wondered is and was He Fully God and Fully Man?...And this made Christianity get off to this challenging and questioning start (which seems to continue today), because of these questions...Was Jesus and is He Totally God and Totally Man?...Or is it better to say He is Truly God and Truly Man?...Or is it right to say He is Very God, and Very Man?...There were Councils of Nicea and the Council of Chalcedon who looked into these matters a few hundreds years later, as the debate of that question that Jesus ask, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"...
The Council of Nicea in 325 a.d. issued its creed, which stated:
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible; and in One Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of his Father, of the substance of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father...By whom all things were made, both which be in heaven and in earth...Who for us men and for our salvation came down [from heaven] and was incarnate and was made Man...He suffered and the third day He rose again, and ascended to heaven...And He shall come again to judge both the quick and the dead...
But the Council of Nicea's statement still was not a satisfactory answer in explaining this complex Man...More questions come up after the council meeting...How could a Man, be God?...How could God become Man?...Can God become totally human?...So another council and over one hundred years later met and addressed these similar questions...In the Council of Chalcedon in 481 a.d. met and they concluded this: ...We teach with one voice that the Son [of God] and our Lord Jesus Christ is to be confessed as One and the same [Person], that He is perfect in Godhead and perfect in Manhood, very God and very Man, of a reasonable soul and [human] body consisting, consubstantial with the Father as touching his Godhead, and consubstantial with us as touching his manhood....This one and the same Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son [of God] must be confessed in two natures, unconfusedly, immutably, indivisibly, inseparably [united], and that without the distinction of natures being taken away by such union...
These councils did not clear up all the skeptics and brought other questions about the historical Jesus in our gospels...So still the confusion centered around Him...But I would think there would always be some or even much confusion around such a complex Man...If God became Man, how could there not be questions...In Jesus original discussion with His Disciples, there are these two questions...One is "Who do people say the Son of Man is?”...The other question is "But what about you?..."Who do you say I AM?"...I think we all must answer this last question...John the Baptist told us in His confession who He is...John said, " I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One."...And Peter after being asked, he says, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."...And Peter is right, because Jesus blesses him and says, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven...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...I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."...Then strangely after telling His Disciples He is the Christ and the Messiah, He ordered His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Anointed One...
John the Baptist and Peter came to the same conclusion about Jesus...There answer was aided and given to them by God...They knew of His authority and His miracles were the work of God and that He had fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies...They knew through their prayers and their communications with God in heaven that He is the Messiah...They believe that He was, in fact, with God in the beginning...And He is called the Word...And the Word was with God, and the Word was God...Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made...In Him was life,and that life was the light of all mankind....The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it...John and Peter had the faith to confess their beliefs about Jesus...