February 15, 2026
Message

Welcome to the third week of the sermon series “Christianity 101”.  The focus today is the question “Who is Jesus?”  This morning, I want us to consider a Man, from a small town, who worked as a carpenter, and never harmed anyone, yet at the age of thirty-three, the corrupt Jewish religious leaders and a weak Roman governor arranged His execution.  He left no writings and, as far as anyone knows, He owned nothing but the clothes on His back.  Yet, some two thousand years later, He has had a greater effect on the world than every political or military leader and academic scholar combined.  How do we explain this, unless Jesus was exactly who He claimed to be?  The working thesis underpinning my message today is that Jesus Christ is unique because of His Person; that is, who He is as both fully God and fully man, and because of His work or mission; that is, what He did through His life, death, and resurrection.

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Current American culture is obsessed with identity—brand identity, national identity, digital identity, theological identity, social identity, denominational identity, political identity, racial identity, sexual/gender identity, and even identity theft.  Clearly, our modern culture thinks identity is vitally important, but the most significant identity question in history is the one Jesus confronted His disciples with near Caesarea Philippi.  Today, much like ancient Israel, there are many opinions about Jesus’ identity.  To some, he was a “good moral teacher”; to others, he was a “social revolutionary”; to still others, he is a ‘myth”.

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In our text for today, Jesus knew that everyone in the region of Caesarea Philippi was talking about His identity, so He asked His disciples, “. . . ‘Who do people say that I am?’” [Mark 8:27, NLT]  At that time, Caesarea Philippi was most Roman area of Israel; therefore, it was home to diverse theological views, much like our culture today.  It was in that pluralistic environment that Jesus chose to ask, “. . . ‘Who do people say that I am?’” [Mark 8:27, NLT]  As I indicated earlier, today the world still struggles with this question, with some seeing Jesus as a philosopher or a moral teacher or a social revolutionary or a myth.  These misunderstandings of Jesus’ identity create a problem: if Jesus was just a philosopher, or a good teacher, or a revolutionary, He cannot save us from the eternal consequence of our sins.  Likewise, if Jesus is only God, He cannot be our substitute when it comes to accountability for our sins.

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Clearly, the “Who is Jesus?” question is the most important identity question of all time.  Think of the massive, complex jigsaw puzzle of human history, without the “Jesus” piece, our picture of God remains blurry and incomplete.  To this end, referring to Jesus, Hebrews 1:3 says, “The Son reflects the glory of God and shows exactly what God is like. . . .” [NCV]  This verse goes on to say that “. . . After the Son had washed away our sins, he sat down at the right side of the glorious God in heaven.” [Hebrews 1:3, CEV]

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I mentioned earlier that Jesus is both fully God and fully man.  This fact is difficult, if not impossible, to explain fully; nonetheless, this mystery, as asserted by the New Testament [i.e., John 1:1 and Colossians 2:9], is crucial to our understanding of who Jesus is.  Jesus is the Logos in Greek or the eternal Word in English [John 1:1]; He did not begin at Bethlehem, He has always existed; therefore, Jesus is truly God.  In the Incarnation; that is, at His birth in Bethlehem, God the Son took on human flesh, not as a mere costume, but as His nature; therefore, Jesus was truly human.  We know from the writers of the gospels that He grew tired [John 4:6], wept [John 11:35], and felt temptation [Matthew 4:1-11], yet was without sin [Hebrews 4:15, Second Corinthians 5:21, and First Peter 2:22].  A bridge must touch both sides of a divide to be useful.  If a bridge only touches one side of a canyon or riverbank, it is a pier, not a path.  Jesus is the only Bridge to salvation because He “touched” the nature of God and the nature of humanity simultaneously.

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After Jesus asked, “. . . ‘Who do people say that I am?’” [Mark 8:27, NLT], His disciples responded by listing a few of the rumors: “. . . ‘some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.’” [Mark 8:28, NLT]  Note that all these answers are positive, but they are all wrong.  By and large, the people to which Jesus ministered saw Him as a miracle worker, while the Jewish religious leaders saw Jesus as a troublemaker, a risk to their status as experts on all things God.  Being impressed by Jesus’ miracles or liking His teachings is not the same as knowing Him.  If you asked one hundred people about a celebrity or a sports star or even a politician, you would get at least a dozen different opinions based on headlines, but rarely do those opinions define the person’s actual character, only those close to the person know the truth.  The same is true concerning Jesus.

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After hearing the list given by His disciples, Jesus then asked the most important question in history: “. . . ‘But who do you say that I am?’” [Mark 8:29, NKJV]  In the original Greek, the “you” is plural, meaning that Jesus was asking all His disciples this penetrating question; He was asking each of them to take a stand on His identity.  Peter, acting as the spokesperson for the group, declared, “. . . ‘You are the Christ.’” [Mark 8:29, NKJV]  The term “Christ” in English or “Messiah” in Hebrew literally means God’s “Anointed One”.  Christ is not Jesus’ last name, nor is it merely a religious title; it was a claim that Jesus was the long-awaited King who would set everything right.  “Will you marry me?” is an important question that demands more than an intellectual answer; it requires a commitment of the heart.  Similarly, Jesus was not looking for a head nod from His disciples, nor is He looking for mere mental assent from us; instead, He is looking for a life-altering confession.  That is what He received from Peter and ten of the other disciples, with Judas Iscariot being the exception.  Judas was well versed in things religious, all the while confused about Jesus’ identity, seeing Him as some sort of insurrectionist or political leader, not as Savior.  I urge you not to make the same mistake.

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Journey back with me to a time before GPS.  If someone told you about a fabulous restaurant in downtown Knoxville and you decided to go there, but you were not very familiar with the area, you would need a map.  After searching through the glovebox of your car, you found a map of Nashville and attempted to use it to find the restaurant; after all, all maps are the same.  It does not matter how fast you drive or how sincere you are about your journey, if you use the wrong map, you will end up in the wrong place.  Seeing Jesus as only a good teacher or as an insightful philosopher or a social revolutionary is like having the wrong map for eternity, so let us consult the proper Map.  Scripture generally categorizes Christ’s work by these three offices: First, Jesus is our Prophet.  He is the final Word from God.  Jesus does not just bring a message from God; He is the Message.  Second, Jesus is our Priest.  He is the Mediator who offered Himself as the final sacrifice to satisfy divine justice on our sin.  And third, Jesus is our King.  He is the sovereign Lord who rose from the dead and now sits at the right hand of God the Father, ruling the universe.​

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In the Old Testament portion of our Map, priests never sat down while in the sanctuary of the temple because their work was never done, but again Hebrews 1:3 says that “. . . After the Son had washed away our sins, he sat down at the right side of the glorious God in heaven.” [Hebrews 1:3, CEV]  If we have put our faith in Christ, then the work of our salvation is not a “to-do list” for us to accomplish; rather, our salvation is a “done deal” that Jesus has fully completed.

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In the Gospel of Matthew’s recording of Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus told His disciple that He would give  him “. . . the keys of the kingdom of heaven; . . .” [Matthew 16:19, NIV].  I believe that the keys Jesus gave to Peter and indeed to all believers is the good news of the Gospel and that good news finds its completion in the heartfelt confession that Jesus is the Christ.  Many teachers have keys to better living, but only the Christ has the key to the human heart and the gates of heaven.  As I pointed out earlier, knowing about Jesus is not the same as knowing Him; to truly know God the Son we need the help of God the Holy Spirit.  When I do yard work, I often wear gloves.  While I wear gloves designed for work, they cannot pick up a rake on their own; they need hands to fill them.  Similarly, we cannot confess Jesus as the Christ and faithfully follow Him in our own strength; the Holy Spirit must be fill, direct, and empower us to do Christ’s work.  Following Jesus means more than church attendance; it is an “apprenticeship”, where we learn to become like the Teacher.

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In the last verse of our text for today, Jesus strictly charged His disciples not to tell anyone that He is the Christ.  After giving them the keys of the kingdom of heaven, which again, I believe is the Gospel, why would Jesus tell them not to tell anyone the good news?  Because the Jewish people, like Judas Iscariot, still expected a political king or military leader to overthrow their Roman occupation, but Jesus came to overthrow sin and death.  This victory would require Jesus’ crucifixion and Jesus still had much to teach His disciples before that horrific event could occur.  In fact, in the very next verse of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus “. . . began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” [Mark 8:31, NKJV]

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While, through His grace, God makes salvation totally free to all who will embrace it by confessing that Jesus is the Christ that confession leads directly to a cross.  In Luke 9:33, Jesus said, “. . . ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.’” [NIV]  We tend to want a Jesus who is a “spiritual aspirin” to take away our pain, but Jesus is a Surgeon.  He comes to cut out the “cancer” of sin from our lives, which requires the pain of the cross before the joy of the resurrection.

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Folks, we have reached the moment of decision.  The crowds at Caesarea Philippi are gone, the shrines to the Greek and Roman gods are nothing but dust, only one voice remains and He is asking you the same question He asked His original disciples: “. . . ‘. . . who do you say that I am?’” [Mark 8:29, NKJV]  Do not just give a “head nod” to a historical figure, commit to the Christ who gave His life for yours.  In other words, answer Jesus’ question with your life.  If Jesus is the Christ, then He is the Master of your time, the King of your home, and the Savior of your soul.  Scripture says that one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord [Philippians 2:10-12], but you do not have to wait until that day.  You can bow now in love or bow then in judgment.  Choose Jesus today; let Him be the Christ of your heart starting right now.