What Say You?

“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’” - Matthew 16:13-14

Some things never change. Today, there are all kinds of opinions and ideas about Jesus Christ. The same was true 2000 years ago. There were some who said Jesus was just a great preacher, like John the Baptist. There were others who said that Jesus was just a great person, like Elijah. Some others said Jesus was just a great prophet, like Jeremiah. Today we hear these same opinions. Jesus was a great teacher. He was a great humanitarian. He was a great example for all mankind. Most people think that Jesus was someone very special and practically every opinion about Him is a good one.

Most people would think they take a balanced position on Jesus. They accept that He existed. He was a Galilean Jew who lived and taught wonderful things during the 1st century. He was martyred for His teachings, which were very influential and life-altering. Add all of these things together and they are still completely inadequate to who Jesus was, and who He claimed to be. He claimed to be God in the flesh. He claimed to be able to forgive sins. These claims do not leave us with the choice to call Him a prophet or a good teacher. He is either who He claimed to be, or He is a lunatic. There is no room for in-between. C.S. Lewis put it this way:

“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 could 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.”

As Christians, we must always seek to clarify what we think about Jesus. We must never let anyone walk out of our churches without knowing what we believe about Jesus and who He claimed to be. So, what do you say about the Son of Man?

Father, please help me to always be clear about who I know Jesus to be. In Jesus’ name, amen.