Matthew 16:15-16: The Most Important Question

“Who do you say that I am?” Jesus to his disciples in Matthew 16:15

“No one can encounter Matthew’s Jesus without concurring that before us in the evangelist’s mind is God Incarnate.” (Rabbi Jacob Neusner, A Rabbi Talks with Jesus) “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…But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.”  (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)

These verses are the teaching climax of Matthew’s gospel.   Here Jesus reveals himself as the both Messiah and the divine Son of God.   He doesn’t just put an announcement in the church bulletin or update his status on facebook: “I am the Messiah.” Rather, the setting has been carefully chosen and the Master Teacher has been about his craft. 

In the shadow of the pagan temples of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks two questions.   The first is a lead-in; the second is the most important question that any human living at any time must answer.  The first question is a general question to his disciples: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” (v. 13).  Then he said to them the second question.   This time it was personal. “Who do you say that I am?” (v. 15, emphasis added).

When man stands before God and gives an account of his life, man will not be asked the question, “How much money did you make?”  Neither will he answer other questions such as, “What was your job title?” “How big was your house?” “What kind of car did you drive?”  “Did you faithfully attend church?” “Did your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds?”  Not even, “Did you ever go on a missions trip,” or “Did you lead someone to Christ?”  The question asked by Christ in the Day of Judgment that all humans must answer is, “Who do you say that I am?”

The Christian faith is a personal faith.   We are not seen in God’s eyes based on our ethnicity, nationality or even our family heritage.   Each person is responsible to respond individually to the revelation of Jesus Christ.   Jesus tells us at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that on the Day of Judgment that many will say, “Lord, Lord, did we not do all these great things in your name?”  To which Jesus will say, “I never knew you; depart from me.”  (7:23).

When Jesus posed the superlative question to his disciples, Simon Peter was the one who answered.   Peter was the spokesperson for the Twelve and is always mentioned first whenever a list is given in the New Testament of the Twelve Disciples:  10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-16 and Acts 1:13, 26.  Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” (v. 17).   Peter’s answer is perfect and worthy of unpacking.

First Peter calls Jesus “the Christ,” which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for “Messiah.”  Peter also uses the adjective “living.”  Our God is a living God, unlike the idols of Pan and Baal that were worshiped there in Caesarea Philippi.   Our God was not made with human hands; rather he spoke the universe into existence.  Peter’s words also point to Christ’s resurrection.  Rising from the dead is something no other prophet or god has ever done.   Jesus referred to himself as “…the living one.  I died, and behold I am alive forevermore,” (Revelation 1:18).

Peter also referred to Christ as “the Son of…God.”  That title is used frequently of Jesus, even in the proclamation of his birth (see Luke 1:35).   The title means that Jesus is a partaker in the Divine Nature of the Godhead, the Second Person of the Trinity.  One should not assume that the prefix, “son of…” implies “less than.”  Rather, in Scripture it references “of the same essence.” For example, James and John are called “the sons of thunder,” in Mark 3:17.   (See also “sons of disobedience” in Ephesians 2:2 and 5:6 as well as “sons of light” in 1 Thessalonians 5:5. )

Here in Peter’s great confession: Jesus is the Promised Messiah, the living God and he is divine.   At Jesus’ trial this same glorious confession comes up again.  It is prompted by the high priest: “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to him, “You have said so.”  (26:63-64, emphasis added).

Who is Jesus to you?  Merely a good man, a prophet, a wise teacher?  Or is he the Christ, the Son of the Living God?  There is no greater question that confronts man than this one; all eternity hinges on our heart behind our answer.

Matthew 16:13-15: In the Shadow of Idols

“Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Jesus to his disciples, Matthew 16:13

Some say he was an outlaw that he roamed across the land, with a band of unschooled ruffians and few old fishermen.   No one knew just where he came from or exactly what he'd done.  But they said it must be something bad that kept him on the run…Some say he was the Son of God, a man above all men, that he came to be a servant and to set us free from sin.  (Larry Norman, “The Outlaw”) 

Having arrived at “the other side” (v. 5) of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus and the disciples turned straight north along the Jordan River until he came into the district of Caesarea Philippi (v. 13).   This city had been revived by Philip the Tetrarch and named for the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus.  Philip added his own name to distinguish the city from the coastal city of Caesarea mentioned in Acts 10:1.

Caesarea Philippi was a place of pagan worship, including a Canaanite temple for Baal and a Greek temple for Pan.   Ironically, Jesus took his disciples to a place that would be as unfriendly to his claims of Messiah, just as Mecca would be today. Caesarea also represents the furthest point north of Jesus’ travels.   And by turning north from Galilee and then to turn again south immediately afterward, it appears as if Jesus went purposely out of his way to have Caesarea Philippi be the setting for this dialogue.

Jesus gathered and asked his disciples, perhaps in the shade of one of the temples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (v. 13).  It is noteworthy that Jesus addresses himself as the Son of Man.   This is a direct reference to Daniel 7:13-14, “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days…And to him was given dominion …and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” Jews understood the title Son of Man to be a specific reference to the promised Hebrew Messiah. 

The response that Jesus received from his disciples varied greatly.   They said, “Some say John the Baptist,” (v. 14); this is what Herod thought (see 14:1-2).  “…others say Elijah”:  Those days were thick with anticipation of the arrival of the day of the LORD.  Therefore there was an expectation of Elijah also returning based on Malachi 4:5: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.”  Likewise, some wondered if John the Baptist was Elijah (See John 1:21.).

“And others” thought Jesus was “Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”    Jeremiah preached of judgment on Israel for her unfaithfulness (see Jeremiah chapters 2-6; Lamentations chapters 1-2).  Jesus likewise had very strong words for the unbelieving cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum (see 11:20-24).  Jesus had just finished a scathing rebuke of the Pharisees and Sadducees (v. 6) and referring to them as an evil and adulterous generation (v. 4).  So its not surprising some people believed Jesus to be Jeremiah.

Now, Jesus the master teacher, takes the questioning from the general to the personal.  Instead of asking the disciples, “Who do others say I am?” Jesus now asks, “Who do you say I am?”  (v. 15, emphasis mine).  

I have used this style of questioning during evangelism, particularly with those from cultural Christian backgrounds.  For example, I remember being on a beach full of Russian-speaking tourists.   I initiated a conversation with a Russian man.  I asked him who the people of his country thought Jesus was.   His answer was fairly predictable: (i.e., “God’s Son”).   Then it was a small jump to ask him, “Who do you think Jesus was?”   I honestly don’t remember how he answered the question but I do know that afterward we had a great talk about who Christ is and how salvation is by faith according to the Scriptures.   

Who do you say Christ is? One cannot merely adopt what others say; it is a decision every man must make for himself.  Was Jesus just a prophet? A good moral teacher?  Or is he your personal Lord and Savior?    

Matthew 16:7-12: The Bread of Life

“How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread?” Jesus, Matthew 16:11 

“If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?” (John Piper, God is the Gospel, p. 15) 

Have you ever tried to call a dog’s attention to something by pointing?  What does the dog do?  The dog totally misses what you are pointing at instead sniffs the end of your finger!   If we really want the dog to notice something, rubbing his nose in it seems to do the trick.   Often times God works among us and we miss his point altogether.   He must sometimes rub our noses in it in order for us to grasp what he is saying.

Before Peter’s confession of faith (see v. 16), Jesus endures two emotional encounters of non-faith.    The first involved the Pharisees and Sadducees demanding a sign in the sky (vv. 1-4).  The second encounter, unpacked here, involves the disciples focusing on the temporal and missing Jesus’ revelation of himself.    Jesus is with his disciples on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee.  They began discussing it, Jesus’ statement, among themselves (v. 7): “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees,” (v. 6).

Their response to Jesus’ words was “We brought no bread,” (v. 7). They missed Jesus’ point altogether and thought Jesus was telling them to boycott the bakery run by the Pharisees.   They came to an “unimaginative conclusion” as Carson puts it in his commentary.  But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive?” (vv8-9a). 

On one hand, the disciples did have faith.   They “left their nets and followed him,” (4:20); when Jesus called, they “rose and followed him,” (9:9) leaving behind everything.    On the other hand, they were with Jesus around the clock; they were the ones Jesus poured himself into.  They saw things and heard things that the masses did not.   Even though they were very close to the Son of Man, they had lost sight of him.  Jesus had to rub their noses in it.

“Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?  Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?” (v. 9b-10).    “If bread was the problem,” Jesus seemed to say, “I can create bread out of thin air.”    The problem with us humans is that, simply put, we forget the Lord.  We worry over bread, clothing and the circumstances of this life (Matthew 6:25-33). Even though the Lord has shown himself faithful, he must continually bring our attention back to himself.

 “How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread?  Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees,” (v. 11).  To trust God is not a natural part of our fallen human nature.   But unlike the Pharisees and Sadducees, the disciples eventually get it right.   Jesus was patient with them.   Soon the scales fell off their eyes and the disciples had an “aha moment;” then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees, (v. 12).

Jesus wanted the disciples to know that He is at the center of those miracles and that he can be trusted.   Like the lilies in the field, the sparrows in the air, the sheep in the pasture, the Lord will take care of his own.  As Christ-followers our faith is not perfect.  But the object of our faith is perfect: Christ himself.  He is our sufficiency, He is our provider, He is our healer, our helper, sustainer, banner, foundation and cornerstone; he is our everything.   

What is the goal of your Christian faith?  Is it to be a better person?  Is it to be healthier and wealthier?  Or is the goal of your Christian faith to know Christ better?   Often times the practice of religion gets in the way of knowing Christ personally.   When I was doing campus evangelism in the southeastern United States, frequently I had to convince a student he was NOT a Christian before I could share the gospel with him.   Here in Eastern Europe, the obstacles are similar; Christian symbols and practices abound but personal knowledge of Jesus is harder to find.  

Even as sincere Christ-followers, we all must beware that the very practice of our faith does not become an idol (i.e., the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees), lest it get in the way of our pursuit of Christ, the Bread of Life.