The Great Confession

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:13-18 ESV). I “googled” the following question: “How many books have been written about Jesus?” It returned 29,700,000 results. I did not look at all the results! Suffice it to say that no one really knows. There were some intrepid bloggers who estimated it “in the tens of thousands.” I think that’s a bit conservative! I did find some interesting bits of information though. Some of the great names of history have written about Jesus. Pontius Pilate said, "I find no fault in Him." Napoleon said, "I know men, and Jesus was no mere man." Strauss, the German rationalist, said, "Jesus was the highest model of religion." The French atheist, Renan, said, "He was the greatest among the sons of men." Theodore Parker said, "Jesus Christ was a youth with God in His heart." Robert Owen said, "He is the irreproachable one." There are many more, of course. Yet all of these titles and descriptions fall short of identifying Jesus for who He really was: the Son of God, God in human form, the Messiah. Many today would describe Jesus as a great moral teacher. But in his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis responds to such a statement by saying that if this were the case, then Jesus was either a lunatic or a devil. He goes on to say, "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." We don't have the option of saying that Jesus was a great moral teacher. How could He merely be a teacher and say the things He said with His exclusive claims of divinity? And what about saying He was the only way to God the Father? Certainly that would be wrong if it were not true. So, Jesus really leaves us only two choices: to either accept Him, believing that He is indeed God the Son, or to reject Him. But to say He was a great man or a religious man is simply not an option. And, that is what this great confession of Peter was all about. He says, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus rewards him with a wonderful change of names and declares such faith would be the foundation of all believers. Who do you say Jesus is?