Today there are three questions before us. Who is Jesus. What has he done. And what are we going to do about it.
And I pray that today you might see him, hear him and respond to him by the power of his Spirit. What you believe about Jesus will change the way you live.
CS Lewis in his famous quote says, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.”
Jesus.
- Who is he?
- What he came to do
- What is your response to him.
Who is he?
Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. What comes next is set in the context of prayer. He is praying, and the disciples are there. We can guess he was praying for his disciples. It would only be the Father who would reveal the Son, and give the disciples the right answer, and the son would reveal the Father. So we see Jesus praying right before he asks the question. It would not be a bad idea to pray before asking the tough questions about Jesus to your friends. Ask that God would reveal to them who Jesus is!
After praying, or maybe even as he was praying he asked his disciples one of the most important questions anyone can ever ask. “And he asked them, “who do the crowds say that I am?” You have heard the word on the street he says, tell me who people say that I am? What is the word that you have heard about me in towns and villages? Who do the crowds say? What have you heard? In the schools? In Bellville? At school? At work? We know the answer. Luke has told us again and again. We have the answer, we have traveled with Jesus like the disciples, who also get the right answer. But the crowd does not have the whole story. They come and go. So the question is what people are saying? The opinion was as varied then as it is now.
Because of Christmas and the Christian holidays, most adults living in this country probably have some idea about Jesus and some kind of opinion. And as I was writing this sermon, I thought what would it be? Do they think he is mythological, a religious guru, a friendly liberal with long hair and sandals? Or a strict conservative with long beard, and well dressed? Who is he? Ask this question to some of the people you encounter. I would love to hear what they say. Who is Jesus. Ask the question on Facebook, or x, or whatever social media platform you are on? Who is Jesus? Every single living human being should be confronted with this question, because every single human being will have to meet him one day.
The reponses during that time were not hard to pick up – the disciples give basically the same answer that Herod gave in chapter 9:8. Some say John the Baptist (which is interesting because John and Jesus have been seen together, others Elijah, and others that one of the prophets of old has risen.” In other words, they believed Jesus to be someone great. Possibly among the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. The crowds were obviously impressed. This was a very important figure. And Jesus was a prophet. They got it almost right. But almost right is completely wrong when it comes to Jesus.
The problem with the crowds then and now is that they are fickle, what is loved today is hated tomorrow. It won’t take you long on social media to see the crowd mentality. They can take one side tomorrow, and turn to the other one next week. The crowd agrees, and the truth gets drowned out.
Then he said to them, “but who do you say that I am?” Who do you say that I am? Now we are getting personal. It comes down to your confession. The ones who have walked with Jesus through this sermon series. Jesus is asking after the journey. Who do you say that Jesus is? Who do you say he is?
Peter answered, “the Christ of God.” The question now that I want you to answer in this first point is: who is Jesus? Do you believe he is Jesus, the Son of the God who reigns forever on throne of his Father David as Gabriel told Mary. That his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation as Mary sang. Do you believe he is the savior, who is Christ the Lord, as the angels sang in Luke 2. Do you believe he is our salvation, a light to the gentiles, and the glory of Israel as Simeon confessed. Do you believe he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and Fire as John the Baptist preached. The one who is the beloved of the Father as was announced at his baptism. The son of Adam as was recored in his geneology. Do you believe He is the anointed one who proclaims good news to the poor, liberty to captives as he himself read at the beginning of his ministry. Do you believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Holy one God, as the demons confessed. That he is Lord as Peter confessed. That he is the Lord of the sabbath. That he is God who forgives sins. That he is the creator who stills the wind. The God of life who raise the dead.
This is what it means to confess him as the Christ of God! Do you bear his name?
What he came to do
And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one. No one must know for his time had not yet come. Its amazing the force of the language here, “Strictly charged, and commanded.” This is a king with his subjects, revealing himself to them, but not yet to the world. Not yet to the crowds. He will reveal himself to them at his appointed time. Not before.
..saying, “the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priest and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
Four things are clear here.
1) He is going to suffer and die. This is what He came to do.
2) He says it must happen.This death is intentional. He intends it. He means for it to happen. He is not running from it but walking into it.
3) It will not be suicide; it will be murder. And the murderers are mentioned. And this was not a mob that rejected him they were the political leaders, and religious leaders of that time, and he would be killed.
4) He will rise from the dead. Not at some uncertain time in the future like us, but precisely in three days. His death is appointed and his resurrection is appointed. They will happen on schedule. It must happen. It is absolutely sure.
But the big question is not answered here, is it? WHY?
Why did he have to suffer. Why did he have to die? Because this is literally the only way that we could be saved. That he could set his people free. He had to give his life as a ransom for many!
This was the only way to provide what we could not provide. A perfect sacrifice. An obedient life. At infinite price. He would give himself as the bread from heaven. Remember how this chapter started – with Jesus’ provision for these disciples and for the crowds. That he would provide everything. He did it. He did it for us, and for our salvation. He gave himself for us beloved.
Remember what Jesus’ ministry and life is all about? He made it clear at the very beginning of his ministry: To proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, and set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord favor.” And this is the way that he would do it. He would lay his life down as a ransom for many that the blind could see, the oppressed restored, and slaves set free.
Hebrews says it beautiful when it says “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death that is, the devil, a
He came to set us free. You and me. Death is death. Sins are paid. Its one thing to believe Jesus is the Son of God. But it is quite another to believe he has come to set me free. So let me ask the second question. What has Jesus done for you? What did he come to do for you? Just because you believe the first question does not mean you are saved. Satan believes that Jesus is the son of God and knows it perfectly and hates it.
The question is not what has he done? But what has he done for you. Who is he? Meditate on that. Then think about what he has done FOR YOU?! Only when you answer these first to questions will the last question make sense.
What does it mean to follow Jesus
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”. 1. We follow a person. It is an invitation to relationship. Follow me. 2) this is a free denial of self. He must deny himself. This is not a forced denial – but a denial for something better. And 3) it will cost you.
In other words, treasure me more than your own comfort and your own safety. The opposite of self-denial is the idol of self-gratification, and the opposite of cross-bearing is the idol of self-preservation. Rather, be like Paul in Philippians 3:8: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
This is contrary to the message of the world, and your flesh. The world says love yourself, gratify yourself. In fact you cant love anyone unless you first love yourself, they say. Plan ahead. Build your kingdom.
When Jesus says deny yourself and follow me – he is saying what James says in James 4:14, “… you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” Living this way means it’s not about my agenda, my plan, my will, my dreams but Gods agenda, plan, will, and purpose for our life. And all of life must be lived that way. As James goes on to say, “so whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
For whoever will save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” I really don’t think you can find a more contrary statement to the worlds way of thinking in the Bible. IF you want to save your life. Your identity, your feelings, your health, your happiness, you will lose it. If your life is your god and you do all you can to protect if you are always thinking about your success, your future, your health, your future, your retirement you will lose it. We are all dying. Life is slipping out of our fingers. Are we going to hold onto our life, or the one who gives life. But if say no to you and yes to Jesus, you will get all of that and more. Jesus is simply stating a radical fact. You can’t save yourself. None of us can. So, stop.
“For what does it profit a man If he gains the whole world and loses his soul.” This is market language. Debit and credit. Liabilities and assets. What does it profit you if gain a car but lose a house? What profit is it to you if you gain fame but lose your joy? What does it profit if you fain the whole world. If you are the richest, most famous, most powerful man alive, but lose your soul. NOTHING. It is net negative. I want to ask you consider your life. Is your Christ your highest treasure, and does your life prove it? Can you see in the way you spend your time and money that Jesus is most important? Why would he ask you this, because he has given all. His life is of infinite worth – giving eternal joy.
There is some songs about selling your soul to the devil or making a deal. But it’s nothing special most people do that. They trade their soul for this world. Jesus says you are making a bad deal. A very terribly bad deal. Its stupid. Paul says I consider everything as dung in comparison to knowing Christ! By holding onto this world and your own life You are trading a breath for eternity. Death for life. Relationship and love for eternal loneliness and despair.
Verse 26: “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the father of of the holy angels.” Let’s get the meaning clear before we make the connection. What’s the opposite of being ashamed of somebody? Being proud of them. Admiring them. Not being embarrassed to be seen with them. Loving to be identified with them. And what are we not to be ashamed of. Jesus and His word! Why would we be ashamed? Because it is exactly the opposite of what is being preached in our world. But it is our only hope of salvation for the world.
“So if you just harbor a secret faith,” says Jesus, “that think I and my words are weird, or foolish, or you are more afraid of people than of me, then I will be ashamed of you. If you are embarrassed by me and the price I paid for you (and he’s not referring to lapses of courage when you don’t share your faith, but a settled state of your heart toward him)—if you’re not proud of me and you don’t cherish me and what I did for you—if you want to put yourself with the world and value their reputation more than they value me, then that’s the way I will view you when I come. I will be ashamed of you, and you will perish with the people who consider me an embarrassment.”
The cross is foolishness to those who are perishing beloved but to us it is the power and wisdom of God. Therefore we say with Paul I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation.
So now I want to leave you with one more question. If You believe Jesus is the son of God, if you believe he has given all for so that you have all you need, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to take up your cross today deny yourself and follow him?
Three questions. All of them must be answered today. Who is Jesus. what has he done for you? What are you going to do with it? Talk about it when you get home, pray about it, and may the beauty and wonder of who Jesus is and what he has done so overwhelm you that there is nothing you would not give to have him.
Amen