“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Matthew 16:15-16  

Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
         “‘The Lord said to my Lord:
    “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet.”’
“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
Acts 2:33-36  

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In Matthew 16:15-16, Jesus asked, “Who do you say I am? This question is the most critical one anyone can answer. It reminds me of a C.S. Lewis quote from his book, “Mere Christianity”. He wrote:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. 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 — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — 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, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

If I could sit with C.S. Lewis, I might share with him that I have a friend who was raised Hindu who can readily accept Jesus as yet another god among many. So I must include the caveat that Jesus is the only God and He tolerates no other gods before Him. 

Back to today’s Scripture text, though Peter answered the Messiah, Son of God, he did not yet know Jesus was divine. He held the view typical of his day. The Messiah was a human king appointed by God to save Israel from her enemies. However, when we fast forward to Acts, we see that having witnessed Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, Peter now knows Jesus is the divine King. He explains that Jesus reigns at God’s right hand and that Jesus caused the outpouring of the Holy Spirit they had just witnessed. There is no doubt in his mind as to who Jesus is.

Have you ever asked yourself the question, “Who do you say Jesus is?” If not, perhaps now is the time to answer this pivotal question. Perhaps your own answer will help you respond to someone else’s non-committal response—those that might say Jesus was only a great prophet or teacher. There is a definite choice. Yes or No. As Lewis has said, “God or madman.” 

Next Steps

Tommy Walker was a worship leader here at Willow years ago. If you agree, then sing this with him and let Jesus know you answer the question with a resounding “Yes! You are Lord and Messiah”  We Say Yes

Also, don’t forget that throughout this series, we’re reading the book of Acts as a church. Take a look at the reading plan and join in!