31 Mar April 13, 2025 Matt. 16:13-19 “Who Do You Say Jesus Is?”
April 13, 2025 Matt. 16:13-19 “Who Do You Say Jesus Is?”
I think that it is fairly easy for us to get caught up in our society. As a senior citizen, I get calls every day from people trying to separate my money from me. Everything they present is to make it easier for me to live or whatever and they just happen to sell it. They should just come out and say the truth. They want my money and they will pester me until they get it. And it is not just telemarketers, this happens all the time. The government finally wants to help us get all our social security after we have been robbed for years. If you haven’t noticed already, we are taxed at an almost or better than 50% when you add all of the taxes together. The city of Fargo has dived into the fray by jumping senior golf membership fees to the point where many seniors are not able to golf in Fargo anymore. They tried this also with swimming passes. It is tough to be a senior citizen in this country. We pretty much have everyone against us. So, the question becomes, ‘How can we tell legitimate deals from fraudulent deals?’ It’s an age-old question. It is a question the Jesus is asking today. Unfortunately, many people are caught in false religions of today in this country and they don’t even know it. So, where are you? Are you in a real church or one that follows society? Does your church change theology like those who change clothes every day? Who do you say that Jesus is? Today’s passage is a well-known one and I think that it can apply to everyone. So let’s proceed and see if we can do this and also apply this to all of our everyday lives.
There used to be a game show on TV that was called ‘To Tell the Truth.’ You probably have to be at least my age to remember this one so I will explain a little how it worked. They would have 3 people of which one of them was famous for something he/she did. All 3 people would introduce themselves as this famous person. Then there was a panel of celebrities who questioned these 3 to try to find out which one was the real person as the other two were faking being the famous person. The famous people came from all walks of life. The famous person might have invented the 10 speed bicycle or something else that might be a common improvement to everyday life. It was a fun show that lasted 12 years in the 50’s & 60’s. The game show was pretty much mindless as is most TV. However, the point I’m making is that one person told the truth and the other two were imposters. Your job, our job was to find the real deal from the fake deal. You have to be able to decide who is the real Jesus and who is the fake Jesus.
The same thing had been happening in Israel as Jesus is nearing the end of His ministry. There were people trying to pass themselves off as the Messiah. Many people were following these imposters. This isn’t any different than what we have today. Many of us remember cult leaders who said they were divine and holy, only to lead their people to their deaths. I think of Jim Jones and David Koresh and the terrible things they did. They were fakes and frauds. There are several churches in this country that pose as the real deal that are imposters. We even have to be careful in our main line churches that we don’t get an imposter in the pulpit. Unfortunately, we even have main line churches, whole denominations who don’t follow the Bible anymore but follow what society is saying. It happens and the results aren’t good. We read in John that when Jesus came to Jerusalem this last time, He wept. Because of all this and more, Jesus wept.
Today’s reading comes shortly before this. The question that Jesus asks Peter is, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” These people had seen John the Baptist and knew of his works for the Lord. Therefore some said Jesus was John the Baptist. Some said Jesus was Elijah or Jeremiah. Whoever they thought Jesus was, they thought He was great, one of the greatest prophets. At least they assigned greatest to Him.
I don’t think we can do this today. Unless you are a churched person, who most people in this country are not, you really don’t think that Jesus ever existed. Or if you do think He existed, you say He was just a great philosopher or a very smart man. Even when we get to churched people, we find wrong ideas abound. Many think Jesus is the great wish granter. Jesus will give us a place in heaven no matter what we do. God doesn’t really mean all the things He says in the Bible. We like to think that we are the ones who get to decide who Jesus really is. The list goes on and on. Therefore we have the same problem today as they did 2000 years ago. Jesus weeps.
We could go on and on about this but that isn’t the real issue that I want to discuss today. Jesus asks Peter The $64,000 Question, yet another old game show title, when He asks, “Who do you say I am?” That is the question I ask you today whether you are young or old or if you are celebrating Palm Sunday and getting ready for Easter; ‘who do you say Jesus is?’
If you answer this by saying that Jesus was and is God, then you are absolutely right. Most scholars, most religious leaders of all faiths do not really doubt that Jesus was a man. He was born, He lived and walked on the earth and He died. There is not much dispute there. However, if you try to tell some of these people that He was also God, they will disagree with you, sometimes violently. Wars have been fought over this very question! Some will say that He could be God, but they have to put their own conditions on who Jesus is and what He can do. Have you ever heard anything more ridiculous in your whole life? Like people are smart enough to tell you what God can and cannot do. I do know one thing that He can do and that is anything. I have talked about this many times when I have said that we try hard to define who Jesus is. However, we cannot do it because Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit are defined by the Bible. Nothing else will work in defining God. This upsets many people.
God sent Jesus, His Son, to us for the very purpose of this Easter season. Before this, Jesus was with God. He was there when the universe was made. He was there during the whole history of the Old Testament. He knew Abraham and Elijah and all the rest who had come home to heaven. Jesus tells us that He is the Son of God and the Son of Man. The only limitation that Jesus might have had while He was on earth was that He couldn’t be in two places at the same time. He knew all about what was happening everywhere but He couldn’t physically be in two places, I don’t think. Now I suppose I could get an argument on this but please let me have my way on this one. It can be your Palm Sunday gift to me. If you are still skeptical, read about all the miracles He performed. Only God could do these things. Therefore Jesus was God in the flesh. This is what Easter is all about. The body of Jesus would die but Jesus would live on forever and ever! Do I hear an ‘amen?’
I want to warn you today that this is very exciting news. It is the news that the world doesn’t want to hear but it is the news that we are to shout from the mountain tops or maybe from the tops of elevators here in North Dakota. We can celebrate by having palm parades. It is the news that keeps me going when there are tough weeks. It is the news that took me from a postal worker to a preacher. It is the news that changes the world for the better. To this day I cannot understand how people can keep on trying to live without this news when their lives are one calamity after another. They keep making wrong decision after wrong decision when Jesus is right there for the asking. I know this for a fact because He did this in my life.
Now how do I know Jesus is God? I know by what the greatest book the world has ever seen has to say about it. Jesus was and is God. He is the maker of all things. There is not a good thing that you have today that is not a result of the wonderful creative nature of Jesus. Let’s look closer at this.
Jesus was there to help make it all and then when He came into His ministry at age 30, He put a huge exclamation point behind everything He did! He begins at the wedding in Cana by turning all that water into the best wine. He healed the centurion’s son, the official’s son and many, many others in His 3 years of travel. We know of 2 instances where there was a miraculous catching of fish, not to mention when he pulled the coin from the fishes mouth. He healed people who were crippled and the people with leprosy. He healed the man who was deaf and dumb. There is not a physical illness in the world that has a chance against Jesus. He just healed people. So many don’t believe because they think that Jesus has to obey the laws of nature and physics. He doesn’t have to because He made these laws!
And the evil spirits were deathly afraid of Jesus. That is why I know that I can cast out these evil ones in the name of Jesus if they ever show up in our sanctuary or on my broadcast. He drove out an evil spirit in a man and a demon from a possessed daughter. He drove many spirits out of the man at the tombs and sent them into the pigs which in turn went so crazy from these evil spirits that they ran into the lake. After reading this, I have often wondered ‘why do we just accept evil spirits?’ Why do we insist that we keep living with evil controlling our lives. You should always be casting the demons out. You need to be embracing Jesus!
Of course, we all remember that He walked on water as did Peter until he looked down. Who could do these things except God? He fed 5000 people with next to nothing. If that wasn’t enough He turned around and fed 4000 more people with next to nothing. He put someone’s severed ear back on his head. Modern surgeons have a tough time with that one. And if that wasn’t enough, He raised Lazarus from the dead. He was telling the people then and now that death doesn’t have a chance against Jesus. Jesus has power over everything. Hopefully, when we all die, we can be together with Jesus in heaven.
This is only a partial list of what Jesus/God did while he was here. John tells us that all the volumes of books in the world couldn’t contain all the things that Jesus did. You can scour the literature and writings of Mohammad, Confucius, Buddha, John Smith and all other religious founders and you will not find any of the miracles of Jesus. This is because they were not God which can be proven because they are all dead. But, praise the Lord, Jesus is still alive and well and He always will be!
So, who do you say Jesus is? He is God through and through! What does this mean for you here today and for everyone in the world? Jesus knew that He was going to take the sins of the past, present and future upon His back and die on the cross. Because Jesus beat death, death has no more meaning for you. Jesus rose from the dead which means that you now have a way of redemption from the sin in your life. Jesus gives you salvation. Only, and I say only, through Jesus Christ can you live on forever. Death has no hold on you!
Friends and neighbors in Christ, the only way for you to have a chance at the best possible life ever is through Jesus Christ. He is God and He will live inside you to help you in any and all circumstances. That is His promise. All you have to do is accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Students, young people, congregation, Jesus wept as He came to Jerusalem because so many did not understand. Please do not make Him weep over you because you cannot accept Him. Go to Him today and every day. Talk to Him, pray to Him, and thank Him. Thank Him for first loving you. Let’s pray.
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