MATTHEW 16:13-20 | “WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?”

“WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?”

MATTHEW 16:13-20

AUGUST 27, 2017

IN 1741, GEORGE FRIDERICK HANDEL, USING A SCRIPTURAL TEXT OF THE KING JAMES BIBLE COMPILED BY CHARLES JENNEN, WROTE HIS ENGLISH LANGUAGE ORATORIO MESSIAH.

IT SAYS, WHAT MANY OF US WOULD SAY, IN ANSWER TO JESUS’ QUESTION: “WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?”

“WONDERFUL… COUNSELOR… THE MIGHTY GOD… THE EVERLASTING FATHER… THE PRINCE OF PEACE…”

AND WHEN THE CHOIR SINGS: “AND HE SHALL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER… KING OF KINGS, FOREVER AND EVER; AND LORD OF LORDS, HALLELUIAH, HALLELUIAH…” AND AS THEY MODULATE UPWARD WITH EACH PHRASE…

STANDING THERE, LISTENING TO THEM SINGING, CHILLS RUNNING UP AND DOWN YOUR SPINE, THERE IS LITTLE DOUBT, THAT THIS, IS WHO JESUS IS: KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS… FOREVER AND EVER… HALLELUIAH, HALLELUIAH…

“BUT WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?” JESUS PRESSES.

JAROSLAV PELIKAN IN HIS BOOK, JESUS THROUGH THE CENTURIES USES 18 DIFFERENT NAMES AND TITLES FOR JESUS:

“RABBI, THE TURNING POINT IN HISTORY, THE LIGHT OF THE GENTILES, KING OF KINGS, THE COSMIC CHRIST, THE SON OF MAN, THE TRUE IMAGE, CHRIST CRUCIFIED, THE MONK WHO RULED THE WORLD, THE BRIDEGROOM OF THE SOUL, THE TEACHER OF COMMON SENSE, THE PRINCE OF PEACE…”

JUST TO NAME SOME OF THEM.

“BUT WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?”

IN AMERICA ALONE:

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN UNDERSTOOD JESUS AS A WISE MAN WORTHY OF IMITATION.  THOMAS JEFFERSON REGARDED HIM AS A MORAL TEACHER.

THE ASSASSINATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, WHICH OCCURRED ON GOOD FRIDAY, WAS POPULARLY INTERPRETED AS PARALLELING THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS…

AS ONE PREACHER AT THE TIME PUT IT, “JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR THE WORLD, ABRAHAM LINCOLN DIED FOR HIS COUNTRY.”

ELIZABETH CADY STANTON APPROPRIATED JESUS’ MESSAGE TO CHAMPION WOMEN’S RIGHTS; MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DID THE SAME DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT;

AND GEORGE W. BUSH NAMED JESUS AS HIS FAVORITE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHER.

AMERICAN HISTORIANS HAVE SHOWN HOW JESUS INFLUENCED SUCH MAJOR TURNING POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY AS:

• COLUMBUS’ VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY
• THE ARRIVAL OF ENGLISH PURITANS AND SPANISH MISSIONARIES
• THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
• THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY AND THE CIVIL WAR
• LABOR MOVEMENTS
• SOCIAL AND CULTURAL REVOLUTIONS OF THE SIXTIES AND BEYOND
• THE SWELLING OF CHRISTIAN VOICES IN THE POLITICS AND ENTERTAINMENT OF TODAY

WHO, AMERICA SAYS, JESUS IS, AND THE COMPANION QUESTIONS OF:

WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?  WHAT WOULD JESUS EAT?  WHAT WOULD JESUS DRIVE?

HAVE BEEN THE SUBJECT OF ENDLESS DEBATE RECENTLY AS WE TRY, AGAIN, TO ANSWER THE QUESTION: “BUT WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?”

THIS IS THE GENIUS OF JESUS’ QUESTION TO PETER AND THE OTHERS.

FIRST, JESUS ASKS, “WHO DO PEOPLE SAY THAT THE SON OF MAN IS?”

(JESUS EVEN USING ONE OF THE PROPHETIC TITLES FROM THE HEBREW TESTAMENT IN ASKING HIS QUESTION.)

AND THEY SAID, “SOME SAY JOHN THE BAPTIST, BUT OTHERS ELIJAH, AND STILL OTHERS JEREMIAH OR ONE OF THE PROPHETS.”

BUT JESUS WON’T LET PETER AND THE OTHERS OFF THE HOOK BY SIMPLY SAYING WHO OTHERS SAY HE IS.

JESUS ASKS: “BUT WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?”

SIMON PETER ANSWERS: “YOU ARE THE MESSIAH, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.”

THE REST, AS THEY SAY, IS HISTORY.  NOT ONLY HAS PETER ANSWERED CORRECTLY, BUT FOR HIS EFFORTS, CHRIST TELLS PETER THAT ON HIM, THE ROCK, HE WILL BUILD HIS CHURCH;

TO HIM WILL BE GIVEN THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM;

AND THAT “WHATEVER HE BINDS ON EARTH WILL BE BOUND IN HEAVEN, AND WHATEVER HE LOOSE-S ON EARTH WILL BE LOOSED IN HEAVEN.”

OTHER TRANSLATIONS TRANSLATE THIS VERSE AS: “WHATEVER DOORS YOU OPEN ON EARTH WILL BE OPEN IN HEAVEN; AND WHATEVER DOORS YOU CLOSE ON EARTH, WILL BE CLOSED IN HEAVEN.
ANOTHER TRANSLATION: “A YES ON EARTH IS A YES IN HEAVEN, AND A NO ON EARTH IS A NO IN HEAVEN.

“TO BIND OR TO LOOSE” IS TO INTERPRET JESUS’ TEACHINGS, TO USE THEM FOR OURSELVES, AND TO PASS THEM ON TO OTHERS.

IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WHOLE CHURCH, ALL OF US, TO SHARE JESUS’ TEACHINGS.

THE KINDS OF TEACHINGS WE TALK ABOUT IN WORSHIP; TEACH OUR CHILDREN IN SUNDAY SCHOOL; AND LIVE OUT IN OUR DAILY LIVES.

GRACE THOMAS WAS A GENTLE CHRISTIAN WOMAN RAISED IN THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCH.  SHE WAS THE SECOND OF FIVE CHILDREN BORN TO A BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA STREET CAR CONDUCTOR AND HIS WIFE.

WHEN SHE MARRIED IN THE LATE 1930s, SHE MOVED TO ATLANTA AND TOOK A CLERKING JOB IN ONE OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT OFFICES.

THROUGH HER WORK, SHE DEVELOPED AN INTEREST IN LAW AND POLITICS, AND SHE ENROLLED IN A LOCAL LAW SCHOOL THAT OFFERED NIGHT CLASSES.

AFTER YEARS OF PART-TIME STUDY, SHE FINALLY COMPLETED LAW SCHOOL, AND HER FAMILY WONDERED WHAT SHE WOULD DO WITH HER LAW DEGREE.

THEY WERE SHOCKED WHEN GRACE ANNOUNCED THAT SHE HAD DECIDED TO ENTER THE 1954 ELECTION RACE FOR GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA.

THERE WERE NINE CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR THAT YEAR – EIGHT MEN AND GRACE.

THE DRIVING ISSUE OF THE CAMPAIGN WAS THE FAMOUS CASE OF BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION IN WHICH THE U S SUPREME COURT HAD RULED EARLIER THAT YEAR, THAT “SEPARATE BUT EQUAL SCHOOLS” WERE UNCONSTITUTIONAL, THUS PAVING THE WAY FOR INTEGRATION.

EIGHT OF THE CANDIDATES CAMPAIGNED VIGOROUSLY AGAINST THE COURT’S DECISION; ONLY GRACE THOUGHT THE DECISION WAS FAIR AND JUST AND OUGHT TO BE WELCOMED BY THE CITIZENRY.

HER CAMPAIGN SLOGAN WAS, “SAY GRACE AT THE POLLS.”  NOT MANY DID, AND SHE CAME IN DEAD LAST, AND HER FAMILY THOUGHT SHE HAD GOTTEN IT OUT OF HER SYSTEM.

BUT IN 1962 SHE RAN AGAIN; THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT WAS IN FULL SWING BY THEN, AND HER MESSAGE OF RACIAL HARMONY WAS HOTLY CONTROVERSIAL.  SHE AND HER FAMILY RECEIVED DEATH THREATS.

SHE FINISHED LAST AGAIN ON ELECTION DAY, BUT HER CAMPAIGN WAS A TESTIMONY TO GOODWILL AND RACIAL TOLERANCE.

ONE DAY, GRACE MADE A CAMPAIGN APPEARANCE IN LOUISVILLE, GA.

IN THOSE DAYS THE CENTERPIECE OF THE TOWN SQUARE WAS NOT THE COURTHOUSE, OR A WAR MEMORIAL, BUT AN OLD SLAVE MARKET, A TRAGIC AND EVIL PLACE, WHERE HUMANS HAD ONCE BEEN BOUGHT AND SOLD.

GRACE CHOSE THE SLAVE MARKET FOR THE SITE OF HER CAMPAIGN SPEECH:

“THE OLD HAS PASSED AWAY,” SHE SAID, “AND THE NEW HAS COME.  THIS PLACE REPRESENTS ALL ABOUT OUR PAST OVER WHICH WE MUST REPENT.

A NEW DAY IS HERE, A DAY WHEN GEORGIANS WHITE AND BLACK CAN JOIN HANDS TO WORK TOGETHER.”

THIS WAS PROVOCATIVE TALK IN THE GEORGIA OF 1962, AND THE CROWD STIRRED.  “ARE YOU A COMMUNIST?” SOMEONE SHOUTED AT HER.

GRACE PAUSED IN MIDSENTENCE.  “NO,” SHE SAID SOFTLY.  “I AM NOT.”

“WELL THEN,” CONTINUED THE HECKLER, “WHERE’D YOU GET THOSE GALL DURNED IDEAS?”

GRACE THOUGHT FOR A MOMENT, AND THEN POINTED TO THE STEEPLE OF A NEARBY CHURCH.  “I GOT THEM OVER THERE,” SHE SAID, “IN SUNDAY SCHOOL.”

THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST WE “BIND ON EARTH WILL BE BOUND IN HEAVEN, AND WHATEVER WE LOOSE ON EARTH, WILL BE LOOSED IN HEAVEN.”

“THE ROCK” ON WHICH JESUS BUILDS HIS CHURCH IS NOT JUST PETER, BUT ALL WHO BELIEVE IN AND FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST; THE “KEYS OF THE KINGDOM” HAVE NOT BEEN GIVEN TO HIM ALONE, BUT TO ALL OF US;

AND THE RESPONSIBILITY TO “BIND AND LOOSE” THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST IS NOT JUST PETER’S, BUT OURS, ALL OF US WHO PROCLAIM JESUS CHRIST.

JESUS KEEPS ASKING THE QUESTION, EVEN TODAY: “BUT WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?”

WE MAY ANSWER THAT QUESTION PRETTY MUCH THE SAME WAY OTHERS ANSWER IT, MOST OF THE TIME; BUT THEN AGAIN, SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FROM ONE ANOTHER AT TIMES;

AND EVEN DIFFERENTLY FOR OURSELVES, DEPENDING UPON THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF OUR LIFE AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT.

TODAY WE MAY NEED JESUS AS OUR FRIEND; “WHO WALKS WITH ME, AND TALKS WITH ME, AND TELLS ME I AM HIS OWN…”

TOMORROW WE MAY NEED CHRIST JESUS TO BE THE “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS,” “RULER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.”

AT TIMES, AS WE MENTIONED LAST SUNDAY, WE MAY NEED JESUS TO BE THE ONE WHO SAYS TO US: “COME TO ME ALL YOU WHO LABOR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST;”

THE ONE WHO REMINDS US THAT NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD IN HIM.  SOMETIMES, THAT’S WHO WE NEED JESUS TO BE.

AT OTHER THE TIMES, IT IS THE COMMANDING CHRIST WE NEED; THAT THE WORLD NEEDS.

THE ONE WHO SENDS US OUT: “GO INTO ALL NATIONS, MAKE DISCIPLES, BAPTIZING THEM, AND TEACHING THEM ALL THAT I HAVE COMMANDED YOU…”

OTHER TIMES, WE MAY NEED THE JESUS WHO SAYS: “I AM THE GREAT SHEPHERD, AND YOU ARE MY SHEEP;”

OR THE ONE WHO SAYS: “I WAS HUNGRY AND YOU GAVE ME FOOD, THIRSTY AND YOU GAVE ME DRINK; A STRANGER AND YOU WELCOMED ME; NAKED AND YOU CLOTHED ME; SICK AND YOU TOOK CARE OF ME; IN PRISON AND YOU VISITED ME.”

“WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?”

THE ANSWER MAY CHANGE FROM TIME TO TIME;

BECOME MORE, OR LESS PROPHETIC; MORE ABOUT CARING FOR OTHERS, AND LESS ABOUT OURSELVES;

AND THEN AGAIN, AT OTHER TIMES, MORE ABOUT US AND OUR SALVATION, AND LESS ABOUT WHAT WE BELIEVE OR DO.

THE POINT IS, THERE IS NO ONE RIGHT ANSWER; NOT FOR US, NOT FOR OTHERS, NOT FOR THE CHURCH, OR THE WORLD.

IN FACT, OUR BEST ANSWER TO THE QUESTION OF WHO JESUS IS, MAY BE:

ALL THE ABOVE.

TAKE EVERY NAME FOR JESUS, EVERY TITLE, EVERY DESCRIPTIVE PHRASE;

TAKE EVERY BIBLICAL EXPRESSION FOR HIM; EVERY HYMN TITLE EVER WRITTEN ABOUT HIM; EVERY ARTISTIC RENDERING – PAINTING, SCULPTURE, CARVING, TAPESTRY, AND CHILD’S CRAYON DRAWING OF HIM…

AND THIS IS OUR ANSWER.  “WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?”  ALL THE ABOVE… AND MORE!

CAROLINE MARCIA NOEL (1817-1871) WAS BORN IN LONDON AND DISPLAYED A GIFT FOR POETRY VERY EARLY.  FOR A TIME, SHE GAVE UP WRITING, BUT AT AGE FORTY SHE BEGAN WRITING AGAIN.

BY THIS POINT NOEL HAD BEEN AN INVALID FOR FIVE YEARS.  THROUGH HER WRITING SHE SOUGHT TO COMFORT OTHERS.  HER FIRST EDITION OF POETRY WAS PUBLISHED IN 1861.

BUT IT WAS IN A PUBLISHED WORK, THE NAME OF JESUS AND OTHER VERSES FOR THE SICK AND LONELY, THAT HER POEM, AND LATER, THE HYMN, BASED UPON PHILIPPIANS 5, WHICH WE WILL SING IN A MOMENT, WAS PUBLISHED.

AT THE NAME OF JESUS

AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW,

EVERY TONGUE CONFESS HIM KING OF GLORY NOW;

‘TIS THE FATHER’S PLEASURE WE SHOULD CALL HIM LORD,

WHO FROM THE BEGINNING WAS THE MIGHTY WORD.

IF I COUNTED CORRECTLY, THERE ARE AT LEAST FOUR, MAYBE FIVE, DIFFERENT NAMES FOR JESUS IN THAT OPENING VERSE ALONE.

“BUT WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?”  JESUS ASKS.

IT IS UP TO EACH OF US TO ANSWER HIM, WITH OUR LIPS, AND WITH OUR LIVES.