Who is Jesus?

Who is Jesus?

"But whom say ye that I am?" (Matthew 16:15).

Christ asked His disciples, "Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?" (Matthew 16:13).  He knew, of course, the thoughts and words of all men, but He was about to draw from them a most vital confession.  He was not referring to the statements of the Pharisees who had said that He worked through the power of Satan.  The question revealed, first of all, the state of the common gossip of the multitudes who had eaten His created bread and who had seen His miracle power.  Truly they were blinded.  These people had not spiritual discernment, that rarest of all of the gifts of the Spirit.

Ministers who are members in good standing of great evangelical denominations have been known to sit tranquilly on the platform of fellowship meetings where representatives of various faiths have passed compliments about the Lord Jesus Christ.  In a meeting of a fellowship of faiths an Oriental rose to say—"Jesus was once an object of such hatred that I would spit when I heard His Name, but now I am willing to place Him on a level with Buddha and Confucius."

The disciples, by their answer to Jesus’ first question, demonstrated that they were good reporters.  They were able to echo public opinion.  But Jesus asked a much more important question.  "But whom say ye that I am?" (Matthew 16:15).  This is the question for which the incident was opened. Peter answered and said, "Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God."  This was indeed a breath–taking reply.  This was saying that Jesus of Nazareth is the Anointed One, the promise of the Old Testament Scriptures.

Let those who claim that Jesus Christ was not God judge Him, then, by the ordinary standards of modest gentlemen.  Peter cried out, "Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God."  Jesus Christ did not withdraw from the statement.  There was no shrinking away from its implications.  Rather there was a full rounded acceptance of the position and all it involves as Christ said that Peter’s answer was God’s revealed truth.

Dr. Barnhouse rejects any attempt to give accolades to  Jesus that deny His deity or Messiahship.  The Church must never allow compliments to replace biblical truth when it comes to the Person and Work of Jesus.

 Further Reading: Matthew 16:13-23