Who Is Jesus?

A significant step in Jesus’ teaching the twelve disciples was in an event just prior to His being shown in His glory and in the presence of Moses and Elijah on the mount.  The event was a further unveiling of just who He was, what was coming (death and resurrection), and His call on mankind.

Luke 9:18, …as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

• The use of the question.  Jesus was going to teach them some important truths but began by inquiring about what they were hearing concerning Him.

9:19, So they answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”

• Logical.  Jesus was surely anointed by God for ministry as were John and Old Testament prophets.

9:20, He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

• “And you, what do you think?”  Jesus was honing in on His mission which was to give them more information about Himself.

9:20, Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”

• Peter declared a revelation from God (Matthew 16:17) that Jesus was God’s promised descendent of David who would deliver the nation back to glory days.  This was a great desire of the Jews which someday would be true, but first a number of very difficult things and many years lay ahead.

9:21-22, And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”

• This was important info for His followers in order to cope with the events soon to unfold.  He was and is the Son of Man.  This harkens back to Daniel 7:13, “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven!… 14, Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom.  Acts 7:56, And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Declaring Himself the “Son of Man” opened up a whole new idea to His followers about who He was. Furthermore, as both Messiah and the Man at God’s right hand, He would suffer, be rejected by the Jewish leadership (the Sanhedrin) to be killed and then to rise from the dead.  Whoa!  The Messiah was supposed to be King – to overthrow Rome and return national sovereignty!  This was radical news – suffer, be rejected, and die??  And rise??  What?

So, what was to be known about this new order – this new Messianic revelation?

9:23, Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

• The citizenship process in this new kingdom is fourfold:  1.) must desire to be His, 2.) must repent – die to self, 3.) must embrace Jesus and His way – His cross where their sin was dealt with and taking up a cross – a daily statement of death to me and commitment to Jesus, and 4.) follow Jesus.

9:24-25, For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?

• Dying to self and embracing Jesus is the way to true, abundant life!

9:26, For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.

• A true believer will openly and boldly talk about Jesus to any and all.  A true believer loves Jesus and wants others to love Jesus as well.

Jesus here tied Himself clearly to the Old Testament (Son of Man) as well as to Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 53 (His death to life) and enlarged on His call for men to reject their self-rule and to embrace His life and way for eternal life.  This teaching for them is a powerful one for us today.