Jesus,
entering the region of Caesarea Philippi, came to His followers - and more
specifically, His disciples who had been with Him for, at this time, about three
years- and He asked this question, “Who
do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
Jesus didn’t
ask this question as a man who needed to be informed. A.B. Bruce, the great
Christian mind who learned Christ, said it wasn’t from “some morbid
sensitiveness such as vain men feel, respecting the opinions entertained of
them by their fellow contemporaries.”
Several
disciples enthusiastically shared the opinion of the people around them. They
were quick to be able to tell the Lord what the public had to say…Jesus waited
till all the blabbing stopped and He looked them square in the face and said….”But who do ‘you’ say that I am?
Jesus did
what He did so often throughout His ministry…He used a question to locate the
position of their hearts - of their faith. He made each man come to a true
realization of what they did or did not believe! These men are like many of the people in the
church today. They’re living off of someone else’s thoughts, songs, clichés,
belief’s…But not their own convictions—which come from a knowledge of God
Himself and His Word.
Peter said,
“Thou art the Christ”, and Jesus told
him “upon this rock I will build my church”. That rock wasn’t Peter, the person,
it was the revelation faith given him from Jesus’ Father. The Holy Spirit told
him who Jesus was. It was revealed knowledge. Wisdom from the Father. When you
have that revelation knowledge, you are indestructible, and that kind of faith the gates of hell will not prevail against.
