Who Do You Say That I Am?

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: May 22, 2005

Who Do You Say That I Am?
by Dan Trygg

" Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ 14 And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ 15 He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ 16 Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’"
Matthew 16:13-16

I have belabored the fact that in the previous two chapters of Matthew Jesus had been crisscrossing land and sea, looking for some private time with His disciples.

He had gone from the west side of the Sea of Galilee to the east side, where He was met by a large crowd (over 5,000 men), whom He ministered to and miraculously fed. Then, He crossed back to the west side, where He was recognized and another crowd soon formed. He taught them, and healed their sick. Some Pharisees and scribes attempted to pull Him into a squabble about religious traditions and ritual purity. Jesus exposed their foolishness and hypocrisy, declaring that the real issue was the condition of the heart, not keeping rules of outward cleanliness. After this exchange, He and the disciples journeyed on foot some 40 miles to the northwest, along the Mediterranean Sea to escape notice in gentile territory. Even there He was discovered, and He delivered the daughter of a Canaanite woman from a demon. Once again, He left and and traveled to the southeastern side of the Sea of Galilee, again to gentile territory. Crowds gathered, and He taught and healed for three days, before feeding a crowd of over 4,000 men, plus women and children. Again, He crossed the sea to the western shore. Soon a delegation of Pharisees and Sadducees approached Him, asking for a sign. He refused, and crossed the waters again eastward, this time to the area on the northern end of the lake. From there, they traveled 30 miles north to the region of Caesarea Philippi.

This journey would have been an uphill trek, climbing some 1850 feet in elevation. The Jordan river cascades down a narrow gorge through much of this journey, barely visible from the ground level on either side. Because the river is virtually inaccessible, there are few towns along the rim of this gorge. Most of the countryside is rural, with no settlements of any significant size nearby. Nine miles and 690 ft up in elevation, they would have come to marshy Lake Huleh, around which was a plain, offering a distance of some 8 miles of relatively flat elevation, although riddled with ravines going down to the lake. The northern end of this plain slopes upward for about 7 miles, and attains another 140 feet in elevation. From there, it is another five miles and 1,000+ feet in elevation to the site of Caesarea Philippi, located on the southern slopes of Mt. Hermon, a snow-capped peak which towers another 8,000 feet above. (It would be comparable to climbing from Lake Superior to Eagle Mountain on Minnesota's North Shore of Lake Superior. Another comparison is that St. Paul is 702 ft above sea level, and New Orleans is over 1,000 miles away. In the case of Jesus’ trip, the elevation is almost 3 times, but the distance is only 30 miles.)

There are actually four main sources of the Jordan river, but Caesarea Philippi was considered by the Jews to be the true headwaters of the river. At the actual source of the river, as you come through the trees, you come to a high, vertical rock face, where there is a gaping cave entrance. From this cave, the Jordan waters flow out from under the mountain in sufficient quantity to be a 30 foot wide stream. In a land where water is supremely valuable, this sight was an overwhelming, awe-inspiring vision of abundance. It is no wonder that ancient peoples had worshiped the Baal idols in that place (the site was called Baal-Gad [Lord of Fortune] in Joshua 11:7). The Baalim were thought to be localized fertility gods, usually having to do with rain and water supply. Here, it was perceived that the Lord of Fortune brought water out from the mountain to water the valley below, before ascending to the skies to become the god of rain and thunder. Later on, when the Greeks conquered the area under Alexander the Great, they established a shrine there to Pan, the woodland god of their mythology. It became a center for Pan worship, and the entire area became called Paneion. There were niches carved in the rock face, which contained statuary in honor of Pan. There, in this isolated place, in the midst of these symbols of pagan idols, Jesus began to question His disciples.

"Who do people say that I am?" What prompted this question? Why was it so important to get His men alone for an extended time? Let’s go back to the first time these suggestions surface. In Luke 9, Jesus sent the twelve out on their mission (vss.1-6), and then we have recorded Herod’s perplexity over the report of Jesus’ activities. In those verses (7,8), we discover that people were already discussing who Jesus was, and they were saying the very same things which the disciples report in answer to Jesus’ question at Caesarea Philippi. "…it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen again." Luke stated that, because of these reports, Herod began to try to see Jesus.
This, and the return of the twelve from their mission, are the two events which seem to have initiated the wide-ranging attempts to find privacy, which culminated at Caesarea Philippi.

From John’s gospel, we also find that Jesus got very direct with those who had followed Him across the Sea of Galilee, after being fed by the multiplied loaves of the 5,000. "Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you,… …My Father …gives you the true bread out from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven to give life to the world. …I am the bread of life… …I have come down out of heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. …I am the living bread that came out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I give for the life of the world is My flesh. …unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who gnaws on My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate [the manna], and died, he who eats this bread shall live forever" (6:27,32,33,38,51.53-58). John records that many were offended and put off by this teaching, and stopped following Jesus. Jesus asked His twelve, "Do you want to go away, too?" On that occasion Peter replied, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life." From there, He led the little band to Tyre and Sidon, searching for privacy outside of the Jewish territories.

Finally, after failed efforts to find a place where they could be alone, Jesus dialed up the question of who people thought He was. (Again, I feel it is important to underline that knowing God’s will does not always mean immediate success in one’s attempts to carry it out, …not even for the Son of God. What Jesus modeled for us, however, is a faith that did not give up when met with a dead end. Cf. Acts 16:6-10. He also had to "test-out-by-trial-to-discover [Gk. – dokimazo] the will of God" – Rom. 12:2.) Note that He does not even comment on their speculations, but goes straight to the real issue, "But who do you say that I am?" Jesus needed to refocus His men on the core issue, their relationship to Him. Speculations mean nothing. The real question is, "Who is Jesus to me?" Were the disciples enamored with their experiences of spiritual power in their missionary tour? Were they caught up in theories of who Jesus was? Did they only want Jesus because of what He could give them in the short term? Were they looking for positions of importance? Food? Spiritual excitement? Did they remain loyal, even though so many had abandoned Him?

Peter’s confession gets to the core issue. It obviously expressed what Jesus was looking for, although our 21st century ears may miss the point. Peter said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Lest we misunderstand, let’s check the parallel passages. Mark has, "You are the Christ" (8:29), while Luke records, "You are the Christ of God" [i.e., God’s Messiah] (9:20). What does this mean? The words, "Christ" or "Messiah" mean "Anointed One", the Jewish title for their King. The Jewish leaders had to explain this to Pilate, who, like us, was not raised in Jewish culture. Their charge against Jesus was that He was "saying that He Himself is Christ, a King" (Lk. 23:2; cf. Psa. 2:2). Matthew includes the additional phrase, "Son of the living God", because to Jewish ears that was also a technical title for the King of Israel (Psa. 2), not a statement about His origin. Bottom line, what Jesus was doing was regrouping and refocusing His disciples, centering their thoughts and attention on their acknowledgement of Him as their King. What mattered was their loyalty and committed obedience to Him.

After drawing out this confession, Jesus told them to not tell what they understood to anyone. That is kind of strange, isn’t it? Why go to all this trouble to get the disciples alone, wring out this commitment, only to tell them to keep it to themselves? The problem was that the notion of a Jewish king meant different things to the people at large than what God was intending to accomplish at this time. This event, this time alone with the disciples initiates a key turning point in Jesus’ ministry toward His disciples. From this point on, He begins to prepare them for the suffering and death that await Him in Jerusalem. He begins to try to teach them that He has come to conquer, but not in a way that they expect. He tells them that He has come as a suffering servant, as One who will lay down His life for others (Matt. 16:21). He also begins to train them to see their own lives as following this same path. If they are going to pursue Him, they must deny themselves, lose their self-agenda and follow Him (16:24-26). From this point on, He begins to face the cross, and He challenges them to do the same.

Who is Jesus to you? Who do you say that He is? Is He the Source and focus of your life? Are you willing to be committed and loyal to Him? Do you take the time to learn and hear from Him, so you can do His will? Are you willing to take risks, to be different, to lay your life down for Him? Is He truly your King?