Welcome to the Daily Disciple Podcast, where we seek daily to be with and to become like Jesus, our teacher. Welcome to the Daily Disciple Podcast, Travis, and I get the privilege and the honor of being your host for just a couple of minutes as we talk about Caesarea Philippi. I'm sure you got up this morning hoping that you could access a podcast today that would be titled Caesarea Philippi because you're so interested in that topic. It's actually an important topic.
It's not so much a topic as much as it is a geographical location. Now, we're just going to name the podcast Caesarea Philippi. And Caesarea Philippi is an area in Northern Galilee, about as far north as Jesus and his disciples ever traveled. Well, that's not true.
It's as far north as Jesus ever traveled. The disciples after the death and resurrection of Jesus traveled much further north than that, at least some of them did. But Jesus and his disciples during the earthly ministry of Jesus did not travel beyond Caesarea Philippi. So, it's a place of town, it has spring, and the point is a very, very important conversation happened at Caesarea Philippi.
Now, the question I would just like for us to ponder this morning before we read this passage is simply this question. Who do you say that Jesus is? Now that is a very important question. It's probably the most important question.
And honestly, it is so important that sometimes we take it for granted, like, well, I don't need to answer that question because I already know. Do you know who you think Jesus is? Or do you know who your parents thought that Jesus is, who your pastor teaches that Jesus is, who this culture says that Jesus is? Because Jesus has been pushed and pulled every which way, every party, Republican, Democrat, independent has Jesus as their patron saint, every angle on what's important in life, every scholar of the New Testament, secular or Christian scholar uses Jesus as their patron saint.
I mean, Jesus has been pushed this way and pushed that way. There's a shirt I think I saw the other day that says, Jesus is my buddy. Now I'm not saying that's true or not true, but that's a certain view of Jesus. Oh, yeah, he's my buddy.
Some people if you ask them what Jesus wants from them, they'll say, well, he just wants me to be perfect, be perfect, you're heavenly fathers, perfect, be perfect, you're heavenly fathers, perfect. That's a certain way to frame up Jesus. And it's quite a different way than the Jesus is my buddy line. And so most everyone appeals to Jesus.
And so who do you say that Jesus is? Now that is a question that brings us into this passage in Matthew chapter 16, beginning in verse 13, when Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say that the son of man is? Now the son of man is referenced from the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, and it really is a circumlocutary term that Jesus uses in order to describe himself. Son of man meaning I and sometimes the gospel of Luke actually replaces the phrase son of man with I.
And so we know at least in the Synoptic Gospels that Jesus is using this phrase son of man to refer to himself. And that becomes apparent as this dialogue continues. So Jesus says, who do people say that I am? Who other people say that I am?
Well, guess what? That's a really safe question that the disciples are feeling at this point. Who do other people say that I am? So let me just ask you that question.
Who do other people say that Jesus is? Who have other people said that Jesus is? What does our culture say that Jesus is? Well, the disciples replied, well, some say John the Baptist, some say John the Baptist, you know, others say Elijah, others Jeremiah, you know, are one of the prophets.
Notice how simple it is to answer this question. Some people say, other people say, you know, if you ask us Jesus, who other people say that you are? Oh, some people say, other people say, very easy question to answer. And for some of us, that's the only question we've ever answered in regards to Jesus.
I was having a coffee with a young man in our church just a couple of days ago, and I kind of did this accessory of Philippi experience with him. And I said, hey, who do other people say that Jesus says? And he gave me the answer that his church gave. He gave me the answer that his parents give.
He gave me the answer that the culture has given him. And then I looked right at him and I said, yeah, but who do you say that Jesus is? You see, that's a different question. And that's the question I'm getting at myself.
That's the question Jesus turns to in verse 15. But what about you? Jesus has his disciples. Who do you say that I am?
Now that is a difficult question. That is a profound, powerful, deep, transformational question. Who do you say that I am? And I know that anyone in their teens is making the shift from who do other people say that Jesus is to who do you say that Jesus is.
But in my opinion, in our post-Christian culture and because of a whole bunch of other factors, I think that all of us are always wanting to play it safe with who do other people think that Jesus is. And this accessory of Philippi moment, this accessory of Philippi question reaches out right here right now. And we get to grapple with who do you say that Jesus is? I love the, see, as Lewis line where he said Jesus is either a liar or a lunatic or exactly who he said he was.
Lewis brilliantly said that those are really the only three options. And he was talking about this in your Christianity where he was asking folks to grapple with who do you say that Jesus is? Because that, the answer to that question makes a total claim on our lives. We can either leave Jesus behind or we can shamelessly adore him as we apprentice ourselves to him both now and forever more.
Who do you say I am? Jesus says, and Peter speaks up and he says, you're the Messiah, meaning the King. You're the son of a living God, meaning possibly more than the Messiah. Now I don't think that Peter is attributing divine qualities to Jesus yet.
I think that Peter is saying Messiah in two different ways. You're the Messiah or AKA the son of the Blessed One, the son of the living God. Because Messiah in the first century was a human term and son of God in the first century was a human term. Only later will the disciples realize that there was more to who Jesus is.
So I'd love for that question to simmer today as we live our lives as daily disciples. The question is not who do other people say that Jesus is, that's an easy one. We can keep Jesus at arm's distance with that one. And that is largely why we like that question.
It's a question where we can keep Jesus at arm distance or we can continue to judge Jesus based on the ways in which those that have influenced us concerning our view of Jesus have got him inside and upside down. But the question, the all important question, who do you say that I am? That's where it's at. Because as we answer that question, it's impossible to keep Jesus at arm's distance.
And why would we want to? Because he's inviting us into life that is abundant. So as daily disciples today, let's clear away the clutter. What do other people say about Jesus?
And let's ask the question, who do you say that he is? We'll talk soon. Thanks for listening to the Daily Decycle podcast. We truly hope that you were encouraged by it today.
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