'Who Is Jesus To You'

Our choir brought us their special this morning, "He Set Me Free." Associate Pastor Ryan Crawford brought us the following Sunday morning message, "Who Is Jesus To You?"

Brother Ryan's focus text was from Matthew 16:13-20, with the primary verses being, "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Regarding the background of this passage, Jesus has left the region of Galilee and has entered into Caesarea Philippi. This was a Gentile stronghold, meaning there were a host of people living there who were not Jews. John I says that Christ came unto His own and His own received Him not. Even the Jews looking, expecting, desiring, believing in Him, rejected Him, when He came and lived among them.

Now, here He is in Caesarea Philippi where there was Baal worship, Pan (one of the Greek gods) worship, even Herod the Great had set up his temple there. The region was full of superstition, heresy, fallacy, on every street corner. It was, all in all, a bad place, with an even worse reputation, but Jesus is there. So you see church, it doesn't matter how bad a place is, its got a chance to change for the better, if Jesus is there. Our world is in much the same condition as Caesarea Philippi, even in the Christian realm, where we have a lot of opinion, superstition, lies, false teachings, just all around wrong. And as the world, of His time was seeing things getting worse and worse, and He was preparing Himself to leave this world, Jesus took the many problems that was in the region and He narrowed it down to just one problem, one question.

"Whom do you say that I am?" Not, what are we going to do about all this mess, but whom do you say I am! Jesus knew all problems centered around this remark. The world, our world of today, is not getting better either, no matter what side of the fence you are on, or even if you are trying to straddle the fence. What most of society use to think was absurd, is now calmly accepted. What was no way (and not all that long ago either) is now "no problem." What used to be yucky is now yippy. There is a heap of a mess, educationally, financially, philosophically, physically and any other way you might categorize the world's major and minor messes, in need of great change.

I, for one, can't change the problems of today, but I can deal with the one problem you may have, that no one can answer for you, and one you must answer yourself, "Who is Jesus to you?" Jesus, the one who led a perfect life; was spat upon; was beaten; was ridiculed; who died on a cross; who arose three days later...just for you. Not Mohamed, not Buddha, not any Pope, not the virgin Mary; just Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. If you used to be a sinner, and now you are still a sinner, but one saved by Grace, and on your way to Heaven, it is only because of Jesus.

So Jesus asks His Disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" What's the word on the street? What does the barbershop gossip say? What do your co-workers have to say about Jesus? What does you family say about Jesus, or has He been denigrated to nothing more than just a cuss word? How you view all the pressing issues in our world (rape, robbery, murder, abortion, idolatry, the rainbow coalition, global warming, etc.) all pale in comparison to, and are moot points, if we don't know who Jesus is.

So the Disciples responded, "Some say you are John the Baptist." True, John preached, and how he preached, especially the repentance message. But Jesus preached like no man ever did. "Some say you are Elias (Elijah)." Elijah did many and wondrous miracles, he even called down fire from Heaven. But Jesus walked though Death! "Some say you are Jeremias (Jeremiah) or one of the other prophets." And it is true, Jeremiah's ministry was one of passion, to the point that he is called the "weeping prophet." But no man ever wept for the world more than the Son of Man."

Much of the world somehow thinks that Jesus was just a good prophet, and a good teacher, or just somebody who came from God, and did incredible stuff. He did what He did, and said what He said because He is the Son of God! And you cannot get what you need from Him, by calling Him a good person."

If you are to be a church that is a beacon of light to a lost world, and you give to missions, and reach bus kids, and families at risk, it better be because of who Jesus is. Because, He is what it is all about.

Peter stated, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." The Messiah. The Promised One. Those words may not mean a lot to you, but Jesus was the promise of God to the world, even as early as Genesis, where God said, "we will make man in our image." Then when man sinned in the garden, we find the verse about the serpent bruising Jesus' heel, and Jesus crushing his head. Then in Numbers, where Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness on his staff, to cure the dying, if only those bitten would looked up, they would be saved; it mirrored how if we look up to Christ on the cross, we too will be saved from death. Joshua and Joseph were both pictures of Jesus. Job, near death said, "I know my Redeemer lives!" Even King David penned, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Jesus, on every page.

Jesus is to be crowned Prophet, Priest and King. Israel, in its long history had tried earthly prophets, priests and kings, and to different degrees they all failed. The Kings failed. The Prophets were rejected, some were even killed. The Priests started out faithful enough, but by the end of the Old Testament, God was silent for 400 years before He spoke to them again."

Then when the Bible commentary does pick it up again, we see John the Baptist proclaiming, "Behold the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world!" Jesus was what the world back then needed. He is what the world still needs. Jesus is our Anointed Deliverer."

You may be here today and you've tried everything only to have it fail you, or left you empty wanting more, or it may have even come close to destroying you. My question to you then is, "Who is Jesus to you? Rest assured, you do not have to look any further for another Christ, Messiah, the Promised One, an Absolute Deity."

He is everlasting. He is all knowing. Do you know who Jesus is? Do you realize that what you could not do for yourself the Blood did? What you couldn't fix yourself the Blood did? What you couldn't save yourself from the Blood did? Jesus' blood set you free, Jesus' blood redeemed you.

Why are you so excited about church? Jesus. Why are you not changing from the old paths to embrace some new doctrine? Jesus. Why are you willing to pick up kids on a van? Jesus. Why are you faithful to your spouse, to be a witness to the Gospel, to serve Him and His Kingdom in any capacity He calls you to? Jesus."

When Satan comes and ridicules you and reminds you of your sin, Jesus cares and says, "What sin are you talking about, you ol' devil?" That is why I do not follow a man, any man, except the Man, the Christ, the Son of the Living God of the Universe. I am not worthy of His love, but I am so glad He saved me. I know who Jesus is. So, my final two questions to you are, "Do you know Him?" and "Who is Jesus to you?"