The Voice Of One Crying Out In Suburbia

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." (Matthew 16: 15-16 ESV)

That really is the big question. Who do you say I am? The very Son of God, eternal and omnipotent? Very God of God? Or something, anything, else? Any other answer negates the nature of Christ and who He revealed Himself to be.

"But I believe in God?!" As if that is enough. That is the pat response, a generic beliefs in God of some sort as long as that belief doesn't require any precision or any submission on our part. We all want God but we want Him on our terms. We want to cover our bases, just in case.

People today believe all sorts of things about Jesus. He was a prophet, He was a great man, He was even some sort of divine being. People during Christ's earthly ministry believed lots of stuff about Jesus, and they were for the most part all wrong about who He was:

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." (Matthew 16: 13-14)

They were no doubt sincere about their beliefs, but they were sincerely wrong. Being wrong about God is not like picking the wrong Presidential candidate or rooting for the wrong sports team or even clipping the red wire instead of the blue on a time bomb. Only this question and the corresponding answer has eternal consequences. Mess this up and your fate is sealed for all eternity. God sent His Son, He left His Word to testify to us of our sin, our helplessness, our need for a Savior and that Savior in the person of Jesus Christ. That is enough. It should be enough, but all to often it is not. It can't be that way, what about my works? My righteousness? But it not only is that way, it must be that way. Praise God that I am not dependent on myself to be saved, for then I would truly have no hope.

Peter wasn't the brightest bulb on the tree, not the sharpest tool in the shed a lot of the time. He was full of enthusiasm and often missing temperance and common sense. In that way he was a lot like many of us, full of fervor but often directing it the wrong way. But give him credit, he got that question, THE question, exactly right.

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 (Matthew 17:17 ESV)