Lesson 24
Who Is This Man Jesus?
Luke 9:18-27
It has been almost two thousand years since Jesus asked the question to his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” (Luke 9:20) Today people are still trying to answer that question. There are more books on what is called apologetics than any of us could hope to read in a lifetime. Every time I pick up a book on the defending of the gospel the bibliography list multiple choices on every topic covered.
You would think that by this time all of us would be clear on who Jesus is and why he came to earth. Sadly that is not the case. I intentionally do not read books by anti-theist because I do not want to encourage them by buying any material they write. They have been and are continually trying to under mind the faith of each of us by presenting their false doctrine.
I enjoy reading the philosophers who present solid arguments for God and Christ so that I can be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is within me. Personally I settled issue of who Jesus is in my own life many years ago. I know, however, I cannot let my guard down for a moment. I must continually put on the whole armor of God which includes the study of His word. Even now there are those inside and outside the church who are determined to destroy us and make our witness ineffective.
One of the reasons that the church has been rocked back on its heels is its failure to take seriously the need to approach its walk with God both intellectually and emotionally. For too long now we have been very good at reaching people for Christ (Evangelism) while allowing the discipleship, the training of the followers of Christ, to atrophy from neglect. I just heard a story the other day in which a middle school student who had been in church his whole life knew nothing about the Bible. I wonder how many adults and children are in the same position in churches all over the country. This condition is setting up the church to be totally marginalized in society because we have no weapons with which to defeat the enemy unseen and seen.
Even during the last weeks of His life there was much confusion of who Jesus was. After today I hope that you will be able to answer that question in your own mind.
Luke 9:18
Following the feeding of the five thousand Jesus had continued to travel in the area around the Sea of Galilee. He would soon conclude His teaching and healing ministry there and begin to move south towards Jerusalem. Luke does not mention the place where this event took place but Matthew and Mark wrote that He was in Caesarea Philippi. While in that location He had some time to get alone in prayer. There is no indication of the content of His prayer, but He may have been praying for strength for what lay ahead of Him.
As He finished praying He turned to His disciples asking an important question. After almost three years of teaching and healing the people He wanted to know how effective had He been in getting His message across. The question simply was, “Who do people say that I am? There be no significant in the way He ended the question, but is interesting that He did not say, “What do people say about Me” but finished it with “I am.” The real question was did the people understand Him to be the Messiah for whom they were looking to come?
- What does the location where Jesus was praying tell us about His plans? (He was beginning to move towards Jerusalem.)
- What may have been the subject of His prayer?
- Why did He ask His disciples about the opinion of the people?
- What did Jesus truly need to find out?
Luke 9:19
Their answers spoke volumes to Jesus. The people thought that He may be:
- John the Baptist (This means that they believed that he had risen from the dead.)
- Elijah (It was believed by all the Jews that before the Great Day of the Lord occurred that Elijah was to return and restore order in the families of Israel. See Malachi 4:5-6
- One of the many prophets that God had sent to Israel who may have at that point in time risen from the dead.
Notice two major exclusions from their answer. No one saw Him as:
- The Prophet spoken about in Deuteronomy 18:19, who would be like Moses. That Prophet would speak the word of God and would need to be heeded by everyone.
- The Messiah of Israel.
There may have been a couple of reasons that the people did not see Him as anything greater than those just mentioned.
- He did not spend a considerable amount of time in any one place therefore the people never got the full message taught to them.
- He had done nothing that would indicate to the people that He was the kind of Messiah they expected to come on the scene. His time had been spent in teaching and healing not building an army to chase the hated Romans out of Israel.
- What did the answers given by the disciples say about the people?
- Why did the people think Jesus was the one of different people mentioned?
- What had the people missed about Jesus that was obvious in their answers?
- What may be some reasons that His words and actions had not changed the attitudes of the people?
- Why do we sometimes come up short in our understanding of who Jesus is? (He does not meet the criteria that we have set up in our own minds of what a Savior should look like.)
- What are your expectations of Christ?
- How can we make sure that we truly understand who Christ is and what He can mean in our life? (Spend quality fellowship time with Him.)
Luke 9:20
Having heard the impressions of the people, He now wanted to know what the disciples thought. He asked, “But who do you say that I am?” Jesus said them in essence, okay. Put aside all you have heard from the people and tell Me what you think about Me. It was important at this stage of His time on earth if there was anyone who had figured out who He was. If there was not a person who could identify Him as the Messiah and the Son of God then all was lost.
Peter once again was the first to speak. It was possible even at that late date that he did not understand completely who Jesus was, he had seen and heard enough to able to proclaim Him as The anointed One of God. Jesus was the Messiah of that Peter, at that point, was sure. What was still not clear to him was the type of Messiah Jesus would turn out to be. In Matthew 16:17 Jesus told Peter there was only one way he could have made the statement concerning His deity. It had to be revealed to him by the Father.
- Why did Jesus wait to hear what the people thought before asking the question to His disciples? (He wanted to know if His ministry had altered anyone’s life to the extent they would recognize Him as Messiah.
- Why did He begin His question with the word, But? (He wanted them to put aside what others were saying and give Him an honest straightforward answer.)
- How would you honestly answer the question posed to His disciples?
- What evidence have you seen in the life of Jesus that caused you to answer the way that you did?
- Why was their answer so important? (If they were not convinced that He was the Christ after having spent three years with Him then no one else would be convinced by their testimony.
- Why is it so important for you to answer that question for yourself? (If you do not believe then no one will listen to what you have to say.)
- Who is the source of our ability to accept Jesus as the Messiah and Savior of our lives? (See Matthew 16:17)
Luke 9:21
Jesus immediately warned them now to tell anyone about the revelation just made by Peter. Those who had not understood who He was would certainly not comprehend the claim of being the Messiah. He also did not want to have what He had come to accomplished short circuited by man’s attempt to force Him into a role He was not willing to accept. To announce it to the world would have possibly caused open conflict with the Romans.
- Why did Jesus warn the disciples not to reveal His identity? (Everything must occur at the proper time. He often said that His hour had not come.)
- What would the people have wanted Jesus to do if they found out who He was? (They would want Him to lead them in a rebellion against the Romans?
- What would have been the results of a rebellion?
- How do we sometimes short-circuit what God is trying to do for us individually and the church as a whole?
- When is the proper time to speak out in Jesus’ name in the community in which we live?
Luke 9:22
After hearing the confession of Peter, Jesus shared with them the kind of Messiah He had come to be. Instead of becoming king of an earthly rebellion against the enemies of the Jews, He was going to suffer at the hands of those in authority. Three different groups would be responsible for His suffering and death. They were
- Elders who were the respected men in the Jewish community.
- The chief priests who were the Sadducees. They were more political than religious being collaborators with the Romans.
- Scribes were the men who knew the Law.
As a result of their efforts Jesus would be executed, but on the third day would rise again. In Matthew and Mark Peter after having proclaimed Jesus as the Christ rebuked Him upon hearing the words just spoken by Jesus.
- Why did Jesus tell the disciples what He was about to experience at the hands of the Jewish religious leaders and the Romans? (He did not want them to live under a false illusion of what was to happen.)
- What message was imbedded in His words? (He did not have to play by the rules of men.)
- Why was God’s plan better than what the people and disciples desired?
- Why should we be thankful that He did give into the pressure everyone was exerting on Him?
- What encouragement should we gain from what He said?
Luke 9:23
Jesus never sugar coated what it meant to be His disciple. He was very open and honest with them concerning what it meant to follow Him. This whole exchange had taken a different turn than they had expected. They had gone from the elation of the announcement of Jesus being Messiah to the realization that things were not going to end well. Jesus now shared with them the qualities of a true disciple. There were several requirements. They were to
- Deny oneself. They were to forget about themselves and their needs.
- Take up ones cross daily. They were to identify with the suffering and humiliation that Jesus experienced.
- Follow Him. Wherever Jesus was to go and wherever He sent them they were to be always be faithful to Him.
He continued on with additional strong words.
- If a person is wrapped up with his life in the world he would lose out in eternity.
- If a person is willing to give up his life for Christ he will have it for eternity with Him.
- What profit is there for a man if he has all that this world has to offer but loses eternal life?
Finally, they needed to determine what their relationship Him would be. If they denied Him and were ashamed of Him while on earth, meaning to reject Him and His teachings, Jesus would feel the same way when He returns to receive those who are His followers.
- Why did Jesus speak in such a strong way?
- What does it mean to deny oneself?
- What did Jesus mean by taking up His cross daily?
- What does it take to follow Jesus completely with our lives?
- What is the danger of thinking this world is the most important thing in your life? (Lose eternal life because the things of this world become your god.)
- In what ways do we show that we are ashamed of Jesus?
- How could Jesus say that He would be ashamed of us when He returns? (He will just agree with those of us who do not want a relationship with Him.)
Luke 9:23
Jesus then gave some encouragement. By that point the disciples could use some. They were told to expect the coming of the kingdom of God in their lifetime. Jesus sharing with them that God was about to re-establish the relationship with mankind lost in the Garden of Eden. God was once again going to rule in the hearts of man. They would see the resurrected Savior of the world in person.
- Settle in your own mind the answer to the question, “But who do you say that I am?” Nothing else will matter until you deal with that issue.
- Take seriously the fact that there is a real enemy willing and able to destroy your faith and begin to do everything in you can to make sure that does not happen.
- Read your Bible faithfully it is the sword of your faith.
- Believe that the word is living and is able to provide you with answers for life.
- Read books by men and women who have proven to be qualified to help you to be able give a good defense for the gospel. (If you are interested check with the elders for resources for varying ages and maturity levels.)
- Be willing to make Jesus the most important thing in your life.
- Fellowship and grow with other believers that you may be encouraged and strengthened in your daily walk with Christ.
The church is still being asked the same question today that Jesus asked His disciples. Our answer will clearly indicate our commitment to Him. It is easy to say we believe in Him and to still not understand completely who He is. We read the Bible and see all kinds of words to describe Him. To discover His identity we have to go all the way back to Genesis.
The church that gets to the truth of the gospel which tells us why the Son of God found it necessary to come to earth, we will have a message that can be proclaimed to the world. To do less is to dilute our effectiveness in the world. Jesus calls us to hear and know the truths of His word. He then lays out for us the heart attitude it takes to be a disciple. In order to be a testimony to the world He calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him.
God promised that His disciples would see His kingdom in their lifetime. Thankfully we now are beneficiaries of what Christ did on the cross. Let us show the world what it means to us by faithfully serving Him.