The Confession

6 · Summarizes Luke's careful documentation in the first four chapters, which provide at least 15 pictures of Jesus' identity

So from the very start, Luke has been very careful to write down the events about Jesus' birth, about His genealogy, about His childhood and His early teachings and His early miracles. In just the first 4 chapters, Luke gives us at least 15 different pictures of who Jesus is.

7 · Exposits Luke 1, tracing the angel's announcement to Mary

In the first chapter, we read of Jesus' virgin birth. We hear a young Mary asking the angel how this is going to be possible since she's a virgin. The angel Gabriel answers, that this Holy Spirit will come upon her. The power of the Most High will overshadow her. So the child that's going to be born will be fully human and fully divine, born of the Spirit through a woman, unlike anyone else ever born. The Incarnation itself is one of the most amazing and marvelous and wonderful miracles in all of Scripture. The child to be born will be called Jesus. The Son of the Most High. He will be given the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. Luke tells us that Jesus is from the kingly line of David and takes us back to the story and says that he's going to reign over the house of Jacob forever. The brief encounter between Mary and the angel Gabriel gives us unique insight into who Jesus was. He's fully human, he's fully divine, he's the Son of the Most High, He's descended from King David. He's going to sit on the throne of King David. He will rule over the house of Jacob forever. And of His kingdom there will be no end. So He's the Savior. He's the Messiah. He's the Son of David. He's from the kingly line of David. That's just chapter 1.

8 · Exposits Luke 2, recounting the angelic announcement to the shepherds that Jesus is the Savior, the Christ, the Lord, born in David's city

Chapter 2, we read of a group of shepherds who are out doing what shepherds do, watching over their sheep. And at some point in the night, an angel of the Lord appears to them. And to give the shepherds some good news. But it's not just good news, it's amazing news that these guys are told. These lowly shepherds sitting out by the campfire watching the sheep are told this. The angel said, 'Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.' They're told of the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Christ, the Savior, the angel tells them. He's the one who's been promised throughout all the Old Testament. Jesus is the Savior, the one who's come to save us from our sins.

9 · Exposits Simeon's blessing in Luke 2

8 days later, when Jesus was presented at the temple, an old man named Simeon approaches the family as they come in. And Simeon, full of the Holy Spirit, we're told, says this. He says, 'My eyes have seen your salvation, which you,' speaking to God here, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.

10 · Exposits the boy Jesus in the temple at age twelve, revealing his unique awareness that God is his Father and the temple is his Father's house

When Jesus was 12, he was taken by his parents to the temple in Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When the feast ended, they all packed up, decided to go home back towards Nazareth. A day into the journey, what happens? You know the story. His parents realized Jesus is not around. He's not there with them. So they make their way back to Jerusalem. They begin to search around the city, and after 3 days it says they finally found Him in the temple. He was there listening to the teachers and interacting with them, asking them questions. So His parents asked Him, questioned Him, and asked Him what's going on. He says, 'Didn't you know?' He responds to them, 'Didn't you know that I had to be in my Father's house?'

11 · Exposits Luke 3, where John the Baptist announces the mightier one, and at Jesus' baptism the Father publicly declares Jesus to be his beloved Son

Chapter 3, John the Baptist reminds the crowds that there is one mightier than John who will come and baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. At Jesus' baptism, the heavens open up, the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus in the form of a dove, the heavens open up and there's this voice, booming voice comes out and says, 'You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.' Jesus here in this picture is God's Son.

12 · Exposits the genealogy in Luke 3, showing Jesus as the center of all history, the son of David, Abraham, Adam, and God

Luke ends the third chapter with a genealogy that traces Jesus' lineage clear back to Adam, the son of God. This genealogy shows how everyone and everything in the Old Testament pointed forward to Jesus, Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham, the son of Adam, the son of God. So everything in all of history pointed forward to Jesus, and everything in history since his birth has pointed back to him. It all centers and revolves around Jesus. We're not the center of history. Our generation is not the center of history. The United States is not the center of history. There's billions and billions of people that have come and billions and billions of people that have gone. Great and mighty empires have come and gone. Countries and nations, kings and queens, presidents, dictators, have come and gone through the years. At the center of it all, Christ remains.

13 · Exposits Luke 4, showing that even the devil and demons recognized Jesus as the Son of God and the Holy One of God, though they tempted and opposed him

As we read on in chapter 4, it's clear that even the devil knew who Jesus was. At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus is tempted by the devil, and the devil asks him, or says to him, 'If you are the Son of God,' implying or trying to imply that Jesus wasn't God's Son. 'If you are the Son of God,' trying to goad Him on here. So the devil was very— he knew exactly who Jesus was. And he then proceeds to tempt Jesus to look after Himself, to do spectacular things, to take the easy way out, to avoid the cross. And in the early days of Jesus' ministry, we encounter a couple of times where the devil and the demons come into contact with Jesus and they shout out, 'We know who You are. We know who You are, Jesus. You're the Holy One of God.' So the devil and his demons were very well aware of who Christ was.

14 · Summarizes the exposition of Luke 1-4: Luke provides at least 15 pictures establishing Jesus as the Son of God incarnate

So just in the first 4 chapters, if I counted correctly, at least 15 pictures that Luke gives us about who Jesus was. Luke is wanting to leave us with no doubt about who Jesus is. Jesus is the very Son of God, God himself living as a man on the earth.

15 · Marks a structural shift at Luke 4:14: after Jesus begins public ministry, Luke stops making explicit announcements about Jesus' identity, though the stories themselves reveal it

But if you notice, there's a little transition that takes place as we get into verse 14 of chapter 4, Jesus now begins His public ministry. And there are no more announcements after that about who Jesus is specifically. There's a couple of times where He encountered some demons and they began to confess who He is, but Jesus takes quick authority over them and does what He can to silence them and to keep them quiet. Hello, Luke. So although Luke makes no more explicit announcements as to who Jesus is, doesn't mention him as the Christ, as the Savior, as the Messiah, the stories themselves for us leave little doubt about who Jesus is.

16 · Notes that the original audiences did not have the explicit identity declarations Luke gave in chapters 1-4

But to the people of Nazareth who were there watching Jesus, they didn't have the benefit of this.

17 · Exposits the perspective of the Nazareth crowd in Luke 4: they were amazed but could not see past Jesus' familiar human identity as Joseph's son

In Luke 4, Jesus was just Joseph's son to them. The people were amazed at what Jesus was doing, but they're thinking, 'I know that guy. I know him. He used to live around the corner from me. My kids were playing with him. We used to go to his house for dinner. That's Jesus. That's Mary and Joseph's son.'

18 · Recounts the miraculous catch of fish in Capernaum, demonstrating Jesus' authority over nature and prompting fishermen to become his disciples

In Capernaum, the crowds were amazed at his teachings and the healings he was doing. One day after he finished teaching by the Sea of Galilee, he told the fishermen to put out into the deep to drop down their nets. For a catch. And after a brief conversation with them, they finally relent and do so. And what are we told? That they brought up the greatest catch, the biggest catch they'd ever seen. Very soon, some of those very fishermen were to become his disciples.

19 · Catalogues Jesus' miracles the disciples witnessed: healings, exorcisms, raising the dead, calming storms, feeding the 5,000

They would follow him for months. They would travel around, they would hear his stories, they would see his miracles. Over the course of this series in Luke, we've read about a number of other amazing things that Jesus did. In the sight of His disciples. He cleanses a leper. He heals a paralyzed man. He heals a man's withered hand. He teaches with authority over and over again. Later on, Jesus will heal a centurion's servant. He raises a widow's son from the dead. He calms a raging storm. He frees a man from a legion of demons. A woman is healed after 12 years of misery. And a 12-year-old daughter of one of the synagogue rulers is raised back to life. And just last week we read the story of how he fed 5,000 people with just 2 loaves— sorry, where'd he go? 5 loaves, 5 loaves and 2 fishes.

20 · Contrasts the reader's knowledge (given Luke's explicit declarations) with the disciples' situation: they had to discern Jesus' identity from his works alone without prior explanation

So in all these stories though, not once is the crowd told who Jesus really was. But it's obvious to us, isn't it? We have the insight provided by the first 4 chapters of Luke or Luke's very explicit about who Christ was. We've been given the answer to the question before we even knew there was a question to be answered. But the crowd didn't know all that, and the disciples didn't know all that. They didn't have the insight that we've been given through those first 4 chapters. The disciples are asked a question, and they had to figure it out and answer based on only what they had seen and heard. They had to work it out for themselves.

21 · Sets the scene for Luke 9:18-22: Jesus withdraws with the twelve and asks them directly about his identity because they will be his ambassadors to the world

So here we are in chapter 9. Notice it is now Jesus gathered with his disciples who raises a question regarding his identity. And it isn't the crowd that he's asking here. He's pulled away with the 12 and he's asking them, those who are closest to him. And these were the men who were just a short time would be sent out to be his ambassadors to the world. And if anyone needed to know who Jesus was, it was these 12 guys.

22 · Exposits Jesus' first question: 'Who do the crowds say that I am?' The disciples report three answers: John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets

So Jesus begins by asking His disciples, 'Who do the crowds say that I am?' This is the first question to the disciples that He asked them. 'Who do the crowds say that I am?' This wasn't for Jesus' benefit. He wasn't curious about what the crowds were saying about Him and thinking about Him. He knew very well who they thought He was. Jesus, though, wanted His disciples to put it into words and to repeat what the crowds were saying. They didn't hesitate to give an answer. It was an easy one for them to answer. 'John the Baptist,' say some. Others think, 'You may be Elijah.' And still others, 'One of the prophets of old that has come back to life.'

23 · Connects the disciples' report to Herod's earlier perplexity (Luke 9:7-9), showing these were widespread rumors: John the Baptist resurrected, Elijah returned, or an old prophet

Do those answers sound familiar? They should. We heard those ones just last week as Matthew was taking us through the first part of chapter 9. Herod the Tetrarch was also perplexed about who Jesus was. And what was taking place. Remember, Jesus had just sent out the 12 on their first mission, and things are happening, things are taking place, and Herod's kind of curious about what's going on. It says he was perplexed. Herod heard all that was going on, and he heard others, he heard people that were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. If you're Herod, keep in mind that you had just taken off John's head. Not too long ago. So now people are coming back and saying that John has been raised from the dead. It's understandable that Herod was a little perplexed about what they were saying. Herod still heard others that were saying that Elijah had reappeared, still others that were suggesting again that one of the old, the prophets of old, had come back to life. Disciples' answer to Jesus clearly isn't something that they had made up. They would have heard people talking the crowds talking just as Herod had.

24 · Summarizes the three crowd theories and notes that all three indicate Jesus made a profound impression—people knew he was extraordinary

So the crowds had come up with 3 options. First was Jesus was John the Baptist raised from the dead. Secondly, he could possibly be Elijah. And thirdly, Jesus could be one of the great prophets from long ago come back to life. Apparently it would seem that Jesus was making quite an impression on the crowds as he traveled around the countryside.

25 · Catalogs crowd reactions across multiple towns: amazement, awe, praise

In Nazareth, all the people spoke well of him. And were amazed at His gracious words that came from His lips. In Capernaum, the crowds were amazed, we're told, at His teachings because they had authority. Jesus spoke to demons and to evil spirits, and they came out. When He healed the paralytic, proving that He was able to forgive sins, we read that everyone was amazed and began to give praise to God. They were filled with awe, it says. We've seen remarkable things in our midst today. In the town of Nain, Jesus raised up a dead man, and we read that they were all filled with awe and praised God there. 'A great prophet has appeared among us,' they said. 'God has come back to help his people.' Jesus was making quite an impression, and the crowds were talking, as you can reasonably understand that they would be. And they were wondering, 'Who is this guy?'

26 · Explains why people might reasonably think Jesus was John the Baptist resurrected: both were outspoken, confronted Pharisees, called for repentance, and proclaimed the kingdom

So some concluded that he was John the Baptist. That was certainly a very reasonable conclusion for people to come to. Many of these same people had probably seen John preach and baptize out in the wilderness. Others, no doubt, had heard about John. John was a very outspoken man. He encouraged people to repentance, and he was telling them and teaching them how to live. So Jesus comes along. He's outspoken. He's fearless, just as John had been, particularly when it came to the Pharisees. Jesus was telling people how they should be living, just as John had done. Jesus was speaking much about the kingdom, kingdom of God to come, just as John had done. So it wasn't too far of a stretch to see how some people might conclude that Jesus could be John the Baptist raised from the dead.

27 · Explains why people might think Jesus was Elijah: Elijah performed miracles, called Israel back to God, never died, and Malachi prophesied his return before the day of the Lord

There was another group of people that thought perhaps Jesus was Elijah. Elijah had been sent by God at a very critical point in Israel's history. When it seemed as if the whole nation was deserting God. Elijah performed a number of miracles to prove that God was with him. He was instrumental in setting up schools of prophets in the land, and he was about trying to call the people back to the Lord. And we don't forget that Elijah actually never died. He was taken up into heaven on a chariot of fire. And there's a prophecy in Malachi, the prophecy that the people would have would have known. The prophecy was to the effect that the Lord would send the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord would come. So when Jesus comes on the scene and begins to perform miracles and is seeking to bring the people back to the Lord, concluding that Jesus could possibly be Elijah isn't that much of a stretch for us either. It's a reasonable assumption.

28 · Explains why people might think Jesus was an old prophet resurrected: prophets spoke God's word into the present, called people back to God, and Jesus taught with prophetic authority

Still others were saying that Jesus was one of the prophets of long ago. Come back to life. Now there are a lot of prophets in the Old Testament, as we know, and there's no indication in Luke's Gospel as to who they might have had in mind. Matthew's parallel passage for this tells us that maybe it was— they were thinking, some people were thinking maybe it was Jeremiah. He was certainly a possibility. But what did the Old Testaments do? In the Old Testament, what was their role? They were God's messengers. They were God's mouthpiece. They did speak about the future at times, but they were often more concerned with the present than the future. One of their main tasks was to speak into the present situation, call God's people back to himself. So when Jesus comes on the scene, people see someone like the prophets of old who spoke direct word from God. Jesus came and spoke and taught with authority, so it's easy to see the people may conclude that Jesus could possibly be one of these Old Testament prophets raised again, brought back to life.

29 · Synthesizes the three theories: all three recognize Jesus as extraordinary, sent by God, and different from the religious leaders

But the crowds knew that Jesus was different, that he was someone special, someone out of the ordinary, perhaps someone even sent by God himself. Jesus wasn't afraid to speak out and be different like John. He was showing and speaking of bringing in God's kingdom like Elijah had been. He was speaking God's word like the prophets had done. He wasn't the same as the religious leaders of their day. This was someone different. Jesus was a man worth listening to, someone with a word from God.

30 · Exposits Jesus' second question: 'But who do you say that I am?' The question is emphatic, personal, and directed individually to each disciple

After they answered the first question, Jesus poses them the second one. He says, 'But who do you say that I am?' He asks the second question to the disciples. It's very similar to the first one, but now He personalizes it. This is an emphatic question here. Who do you say that I am? John, who do you say that I am? Andrew, who do you say that I am? Peter, who do you say that I am? Philip, who do you say that I am?

31 · Peter immediately answers Jesus' personal question without hesitation: 'The Christ of God

And as with the first question, there appears to be no hesitation in answering this question. Peter jumps up and answers, 'The Christ of God.'

32 · Explains the weight of Peter's confession: 'Christ' is not a last name but a title—the Messiah, the anointed one chosen by God

We need to be very clear about what Peter is saying here. This confession is the climax of Luke's Gospel up to this point. Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ of God. This is an amazing response. Christ was not Jesus' last name here. Let's be clear on that. If anybody thinks that Jesus Christ was his first and last name, Mary and Joseph Christ were not his parents. Christ is a title of honor. It's not a name. It's the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah. So when Peter says that Jesus is the Christ, he's saying that Jesus is the Messiah. And literally, the Christ or the Messiah means the anointed one, one who has been chosen and consecrated by God for a sacred office.

33 · Traces the Old Testament practice of anointing prophets, priests, and kings, showing that 'Christ' (anointed one) connects to this history

In the Old Testament, when a a prophet or a priest or a king was set apart for service to God, these individuals were almost always anointed with oil. When Aaron was ordained as the high priest over Israel in Exodus 29, we read that Moses was instructed to take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and to anoint him. Other priests were anointed in the same way. Isaiah said, 'The Lord has anointed me to bring good news.' When Israel had new kings, we read about them being anointed. Samuel anointed David, Zadok anointed Solomon, Elisha anointed Jehu. There were many prophets and priests and kings that were anointed to lead Israel throughout their history. But along the way, if you read the Old Testament closely, there are numerous little hints and clues that are dropped letting us know that there's going to be one day God is going to send a new king, a new prophet, a new priest. And people were on the lookout for this Messiah.

34 · Emphasizes the weight and certainty of Peter's confession

So this is really an amazing confession that Peter makes here. I don't want us just to blow by this and think it's just 4 little words. These are amazing 4 little words that Peter answers. Peter has no doubt. He's pretty emphatic about it. You are the Christ of God. Jesus was the Christ of God, Peter confesses.

35 · Catalogs Peter's personal encounters with Jesus: miraculous catch of fish, healing of his mother-in-law, witnessing miracles the crowds also saw

Peter had heard Jesus' teaching with authority just as the crowds had. He'd seen Jesus perform miracles, cast out demons, just as the crowds had. Peter had seen his own mother-in-law healed. If you go into Matthew 8:14, you see where Jesus comes into Matthew's home— or sorry, Peter's home and heals Peter's mother-in-law. Now we're not told what Peter thought of his mother-in-law, But no doubt he has a strong impression. He was impressed when Jesus came and when Jesus healed her. Peter was on the boat when Jesus ordered them to lower their nets down. They had worked all night the previous night and caught nothing. Just the fish just weren't there. The next day, the biggest catch they'd ever seen. He was so astonished, we're told, that Peter was so astonished at the size of the catch that he falls on his knees and he says to Jesus, 'Depart from me.' For I am a sinful man, O Lord.

36 · Continues cataloging Peter's firsthand experiences: healing the leper and paralytic, winning debates with Pharisees, raising the widow's son, calming the storm

Peter had been there when Jesus touched the guy with leprosy and healed him of that dreadful disease. Peter had been there when the paralyzed man had taken up his bed and walked home just like that. There you go. Can't catch that very good. No one else did such things in that day. Peter saw and heard Jesus debating with the Pharisees, not only debating with them, but winning with them. ABC, CNN, Fox News, NBC, if they'd been there, they would have all declared Jesus the winner of these debates. Peter had listened intently to Jesus' teaching for some time. He'd seen that widow's son raised to life. Peter was in the boat, he was in the boat when Jesus calmed that storm. It wasn't something he heard about or read about, he was there to experience it.

37 · Continues Peter's eyewitness catalog: exorcism of the demoniac, healing the woman with the issue of blood, raising Jairus' daughter, feeding the 5,000

Peter was there when the wild demon-possessed man had confronted Jesus, and Peter watched, probably in amazement, as that whole herd of pigs ran down off the cliff and into the water and drowned themselves. Peter was the guy, if you remember, who thought Jesus was crazy for asking who had touched him in the midst of a crowd. Dude, there's people all around you. We were in a crowd. Dozens of people have probably touched you, and that's probably true. But Jesus persists, and we hear of the woman who was immediately healed from 12 years of bloody discharge. Peter was one of only 3 disciples that were allowed into the room when Jesus took the 12-year-old girl by her hand and raised her from the dead. And immediately prior to this question, Peter had just witnessed Jesus feed 5,000 people from 5 loaves and 2 fish. And there was enough left over that each one of the disciples had a basket of leftovers, of scraps, to take home.

38 · Asserts that Peter's confession was the only plausible explanation for all he had witnessed

And now Peter, having seen all of that, after hearing all that he'd heard about, about Jesus, he knew— Peter knew that Jesus could not be John the Baptist. This wasn't Elijah, and this wasn't just one of the Old Testament prophets raised from the dead. Jesus was more than an outspoken man. He was more than a miracle worker ushering in God's kingdom, and Jesus was more than merely God's spokesman. Jesus was none other than Christ, the Christ of God. Jesus was the Messiah. For Peter, it was the only plausible explanation for what he had seen and heard. The answers the crowd provided weren't good enough. Those answers couldn't explain it all. Jesus was more than a good man, he was more than a miracle worker, and he was more than a great teacher. He was God's man. He was God's Messiah. Jesus was the one they had been waiting for for generations. Jesus wasn't simply a forerunner of the King. Jesus was the King.

39 · Asserts that Peter's confession was not merely logical deduction but also a work of faith—a divine gift

This is more than a simple matter of inductive reasoning on Peter's part. It's also a matter of faith.

40 · Introduces Matthew 16 as the parallel account that explains the source of Peter's confession

The parallel version of this encounter in Matthew 16 gives us more insight into Peter's answer and how he came to it.

41 · Asserts the divine source of Peter's confession: God the Father revealed Jesus' identity

Matthew 16, Jesus tells Peter this, He said, 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.' Peter spoke on what was on his mind, but it was God who had revealed that to him. This is how any of us come to know Jesus as the Christ. We can study our Bibles, we can hear the gospel preached and proclaimed, but it's a supernatural work of God and God alone that reveals the true identity of Christ to any of us.

42 · Asserts that unbelief is not a problem of insufficient evidence but of hard hearts

When people are struggling with the claims of Jesus, or they aren't willing to acknowledge him as the Christ, it isn't more evidence that they need. What they need, what we all need, is a gracious work of God that changes our hearts and our minds and makes alive to us who Jesus is, that he is the Christ, that he is the Savior. And that is a work of the Holy Spirit. It's God alone that enables us to have faith, to confess Christ as our Savior.

43 · Pastoral digression connecting the sermon to earlier worship service comments about terrorists

Seth was talking about those terrorists this morning, and he said that we're no different than they are, and that's true in more ways than we want to acknowledge. They are lost and without hope in this world. We were the same way, and if it hadn't been for the gracious, kind mercy of the Holy Spirit, to make the truth of this question, who do we say that Jesus is, alive to us, we would not be sitting here this morning worshiping him. Those men, just as much as we do, need the Holy Spirit to come and change hearts.

44 · Returns to Peter's confession, reiterating that the Holy Spirit enabled Peter and enables all believers to confess Jesus as the Christ

It was the Spirit of God that enabled Peter to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ. It's the same way for us. Those of us this morning who agree with Peter that Jesus is the Christ of God, that he is the Messiah, We do so only because God has revealed that wonderful truth to us.

45 · Transitions from Peter's confession to Jesus' correction: Peter got the answer right, but he did not yet understand what kind of Messiah Jesus would be

Peter had answered Jesus' question correctly. He got an A on the test. Now Jesus needs to clarify for them exactly what all of that meant. Yes, I am the Christ. I am the Messiah. But he has to tell them, let them know about who that Messiah is. He's going to be the suffering Messiah.

46 · Exposits Jesus' command to silence in Luke 9:21

So after Peter responds, Jesus immediately instructs them, gives them a strict charge to not tell this to anyone. I don't know about you, but when I am asked a question and I find the question difficult and I get it right, I want to, you know, I get a little puffed up. I want to get a little pride creeps in and I want to let other people know, 'Hey, I knew who that was. You're the Christ. I got it right. Look at me.' I want to tell everybody. 'Look how good I am.' But Jesus commands them to be silent. Tells Peter and the others, 'Be silent on this.' But why would Jesus say that? Why would He not want the disciples to go and tell others who Jesus was?

47 · Answers the question via Philip Ryken: Jesus commanded silence because the disciples did not yet understand what kind of Messiah he was

Philip Ryken answers the question this way. He says the disciples were just beginning to understand who Jesus was, and they had no clear idea what He had come to do. If they started to tell everyone who Jesus was, they were bound to give people the wrong idea. At most, they would have given a half gospel that was really no gospel at all. It would be like when a parent starts giving instructions to a child, the child runs off before the instructions are finished. The job will not get done right, if it gets done at all. Jesus needed to make sure that the disciples were absolutely clear on what kind of Messiah he was going to be.

48 · Explains the first-century Jewish expectation: the Messiah would be a political and military king who would overthrow Rome

They correctly identified him as the Christ, as the Messiah, but it's likely they didn't yet understand exactly what kind of Messiah he was going to be. The popular expectations for the Messiah during their day were that he was going to be a political and military leader, that the Messiah was going to be a king that would come and destroy the Romans and to set God's kingdom in all its glorious splendor back up right there in Palestine. That's what the Jews were waiting for, for the Roman oppression to be ended and for Israel to be restored to its past glory. When you compare the expectations that the Jews had for a Messiah with Jesus, it's easy to understand why the crowds didn't think that Jesus was the Messiah. He didn't fit the mold of a conquering hero. The ragtag group of fishermen and tax collectors that were following him around were no match for the Roman army. So they conclude that this can't be the Messiah.

49 · Exposits Luke 9:22, Jesus' first passion prediction

In verse 22, Jesus begins then to correct the understanding for the, their misunderstanding for the disciples. This is what he says. He says, 'The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.' This is quite different than the prevailing view of the Messiah at the time. Again, people were looking for a king who was going to come and destroy, set up a kingdom. He was going to destroy their enemies, destroy the Roman Empire. Instead, Jesus says, 'You got it all wrong. I've come to suffer many things and to be rejected by the elders, by the chief priests, and the teachers of the law. Then I'm going to be killed, and on the third day I may be raised to life.'

50 · Drives home the cognitive dissonance the disciples would have experienced: a Messiah who dies on a cross contradicts everything they expected about kingship

Put yourself in the disciples' shoes for a second. Consider this: you're sitting there having one expectation for Messiah, you correctly identify the Messiah, and he says something totally opposite to what you were expecting. Consider how that news would have been taken by these guys. How could a king bring in a kingdom by dying? Kings live in beautiful, luxurious palaces. They sit on great thrones. Kings don't die on a cross. Kings have command over large armies in order to defeat their enemies. What Jesus is saying to the disciples here just doesn't click in with their prior understanding of who the Messiah was to be, or what their expectations of the Messiah were.

51 · Asserts that Jesus affirms his identity as Messiah but redefines it as a suffering, rejected, dying Messiah

So Jesus affirms to them that, 'Yes, I am the Messiah. You got that right. But I'm going to be a Messiah who will be rejected, a Messiah who's going to suffer, a Messiah who's going to die.' The crowds had identified Jesus as a great teacher, a miracle worker, and a great prophet from God. They were inspired by him. They benefited from his teachings. And they were curious about him, and he attracted crowds wherever he went. But later, when he began to say things that they didn't like, to demand things that they didn't like, they would turn on him and they would kill him, just like their forefathers had done to the prophets.

52 · Asserts the divine necessity of Jesus' suffering and death

So the suffering, the rejection, the death on a cross, the resurrection were not just things that would happen, but the things that must happen. It was a divine necessity for the Messiah to be this way. Jesus was the Christ, and these were all things that were necessary for him to endure in order to be the Christ. They were necessary because they were promised in the scriptures, because they were part of God's plan. It was part of God's covenant between him and his Son. The everlasting agreement for our salvation. They were necessary because in the court of eternal justice, there was no other way for sin to be forgiven except for the atoning death of God's perfect Son.

53 · Marks a structural pivot: from this point forward in Luke, Jesus will unfold the suffering Messiah theme, leading to the cross

From this point on in Luke's Gospel, Jesus will begin to unfold this statement further, and it will eventually have a second climax on the cross. It would take some time for Jesus to readjust what his disciples understood about the Messiah, but waiting for instruction for their understanding to be corrected was important. That's why he said, 'Don't tell anyone what you know,' because they didn't fully understand that yet. The day would come soon enough when Jesus would send these men out to tell the whole world who he was. That would only be once their training had been completed.

54 · Transitions from the historical question to the present-day question: who do people say Jesus is today? The answers vary but are not what matters

So today, who do the people say that Jesus is? If you went out in the street and asked people, you get a variety of answers. But their answers aren't really that important for us.

55 · Presses the question personally on the listener: You must answer for yourself who Jesus is, not rely on others' opinions

The important question is this one: Who do you say that I am? That's the important one. Knowing what other people say about Jesus isn't enough. We've got to answer the question for ourselves. Who do I say that Jesus is? Who do I think that Jesus is?

56 · Presses the evidence on the listener through a series of rhetorical questions: How do you explain Jesus' authority, his miracles, his death and resurrection, the growth of the church, the transformation in your friends' lives?

How do you explain his authority that we read about in the Gospels? How do you explain His authority over diseases? His authority over nature? His authority over death? His authority to forgive sins? How do you explain His ability to teach with authority? How do you explain that when He says, 'Follow Me,' to 12 guys, they leave everything behind—their jobs, their homes, their family, the security and the comfort that goes with that? They get up and they follow him? How do you explain his death and his resurrection? How do you explain the growth of the church over the last 2,000 years? There are millions and millions of people who claim to have a real living relationship with Jesus. How do you explain, explain the change in your friend's life that has recently come to faith? You know what that person was like a few months ago or a year or two ago, Maybe you knew them in high school or college and you knew what they were like. How do you explain that change in their lives? How do you explain the change in Scott's life or Adrian's life? If you haven't talked to these guys, they've got some tremendous stories of God's grace in their lives. How do you explain that kind of change?

57 · Answers the rhetorical questions: the only plausible explanation is that Jesus is the Christ of God, the Messiah

How do you explain all that? If it's not that Jesus is the Christ of God, is it not that Jesus is the Christ of God? That's the only plausible answer. That's who he is. He wasn't just a great teacher or a miracle worker or someone to admire or someone to go to for wise advice. Jesus was the Christ. He's the Messiah.

58 · Applies the confession: if you say Jesus is the Christ and believe he died in your place, then he is worthy of more than casual religion

If you say that he is the Christ, if you believe that, if you believe that he's the Messiah, the one who took on your sin and bore God's wrath in your place, died on the cross in your place, You've got to come to one conclusion: that He is the Christ of God. If that's who you say that Jesus is and truly believe it, then Jesus is clearly and absolutely worthy of more than just nominal adherence and church association.

59 · Rebukes the modern tendency to patronize Jesus or reduce him to a weak Savior

We must not reduce Jesus to a poor, puny Savior who is just begging people to come to Him. He doesn't need our acceptance. We're the ones who need His acceptance. We desperately need Him. He doesn't need us. And Jesus is infinitely worthy of all glory in all the entire universe, and He doesn't need us. We need Him. So let's not be guilty of patronizing Jesus.

60 · Applies the demand of discipleship: Jesus is worthy of total abandonment, as the twelve demonstrated

Life is not a game. Jesus is worthy of more than nominal adherence to His teachings, to His commandments, to casual church attendance and association. Jesus is worthy of total abandonment, just as those 12 did when He came and said, 'Follow Me.' They abandoned everything and followed Him. It should be no different for us. There's no room for a casual response to Jesus. We can turn and run when He calls, or we can bow and worship. Everything changed in the lives of the disciples when they followed, and everything needs to change in our lives when we follow as well.

61 · Warns against false profession: people who say they are Christians but whose lives are unchanged do not know the Christ of Luke's gospel

We all know people who profess to be Christians but whose lives look just like the rest of the world. Those folks are deceived. There are people who say they made a decision, they prayed a prayer, they signed a card, they walked an aisle, they accepted Jesus into their hearts and so on, but their lives don't look any different than they did before. They say they're Christians, but the reality is they don't know the Christ that has just been revealed to us in Luke.

62 · Asserts that encounter with the true Christ produces radical transformation

You know that when this Christ, the Christ that Luke tells us about, and the Christ the disciples knew, everything in your life changes. It's safe to say that when a person comes face to face with God, comes face to face with this Christ in the flesh, the Messiah, the Savior King, the Sovereign Lord, that when Jesus, when that Jesus reaches down and touches your heart and saves you from the grasp of sin, and selfishness, that you're gonna look and act and behave differently. You're gonna look radically different. Everything changes when we follow that Jesus, the one that's described here in Luke.

63 · Closes with a second Tozer quotation calling for total devotion to God

I'm gonna close with one more quote from A.W. Tozer. He says, 'I want the presence of God himself, or I don't want anything at all to do with religion. I want all that God has I want all that God has, or I don't want any. That should be our confession as well. I love A.W. Tozer. Some great quotes from that gentleman. I want all that God has, or I don't want any. Let's not settle for anything less than all that God has for us.

64 · Closing prayer asking God to personalize the question, help the congregation see Jesus as the suffering Messiah, and empower lives consistent with that confession

Let's pray. Father, this morning, You've asked us to consider a difficult and weighty question: Who do we say that Jesus is? I pray that you would personalize that question. Who do I say that Jesus is? Help us to see him this morning as the Christ of God, a suffering Messiah who had to suffer and die to become sin in our place, to face God's wrath, that we might have life, that we might experience forgiveness and grace and mercy. And those who didn't know you, those who were enemies, now sit at your table. Help us not only to see that, but help us by the power of your Spirit to live lives that are consistent with that confession. Lord, we need your Spirit to reveal that truth of who Jesus is to us, and we need your Spirit to empower us to live lives that are worthy of that calling. We ask that you would do this in Jesus' name. Amen.