Have you ever been in a conversation that was surface level and comfortable, until someone asked a deeper question that changed everything? I have. We’re going to see something like this happen in Matthew 16:13-17.  Let’s read the passage together first. 

¹³ When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” ¹⁴ So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 

Side note? When Luke wrote about this same conversation in Luke 9:18-20, he mentioned Jesus had been praying privately before opening this line of questioning. Interesting. I wonder if he’d been praying for his inner circle and decided to quiz them to see how much they were beginning to understand. Whatever his motivation, Jesus asked the guys a straight-forward question, “Who do the people say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

What were there four answers?

1. Without commenting on the opinions held by the masses, Jesus presses the issue.

Record Jesus’s next question in Matthew 16:15  

2. Jesus got personal, faster than quick, right? Granted, I’ve got a vivid imagination, but I wonder if that question landed in the middle of the conversation like politics at the Thanksgiving table. The Word doesn’t record a nano second of silence, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the clock ticked a second or two while the other guys waited to see if Mister Impulsive would answer, “Go on, Peter. You’ve got this.” 

Record Hebrews 4:12

Record John 1:1

And indeed, Peter did answer, but let’s state the obvious before looking at his response. Jesus the living Word of God nails us all with a question that slices between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, thoughts and intentions. 

“But who do you say that I am?” 

How will I answer that? How will you? Who is Jesus to us, today? I’m not asking for a testimony of when we came to believe. I want to stretch this question beyond our initial conversion. Who is Jesus to us, today? Is he a memorial figure, a place keeper of what God has done for us? Or is he our present treasure, our dearly beloved?  

Back to the scriptures. In verse sixteen Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 

If you’ll remember, Jesus called Himself the Son of Man. Peter went further. Peter said, yes, and you are the Son of the living God. Deity in our midst. God with us right here, right now. 

The potential for you and me to live our everyday lives with fresh heavenly revelation of Immanuel, God with Us, can be found in Jesus response to Peter’s announcement.  Verse 17, And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”

3. According to that verse, where did Peter’s revelation originate and from whom? 

That’s right! Peter didn’t figure out who Jesus was by fact-finding, study, or superior intellect. His revelation came to him from the God of heaven. This was true for Peter, and it’s true for us. 

We see Jesus for who He is when the Spirit reveals Him.

I want to stir us up to live hungry for more ongoing supernatural revelation of our Jesus – so that we might have an ever-increasing appreciation of His glory – so that we might live out His purposes for calling us out of darkness and into the light. Circle the “so that’s” and hold onto this thought. We see Jesus for who He is when the Spirit reveals Him and this type of open-ended journey of living with Christ being actively revealed to us, by the Spirit in us, is ours for the asking.

Record Luke 11:13. 

Holy Spirit lives in us to reveal Jesus to us. In John chapter 16 Jesus said He had many more things to say to his disciples that they couldn’t bear and in verse thirteen he added, “However when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me; for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” 

Unless the Holy Spirit is presently showing us Jesus, we’ll act much like the world around us.

Apart from the work of the Spirit, we’ll see Jesus as a good man; a holy man, at best. At worst, we’ll succumb to Isaiah’s words, “He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” 

Those words can describe our experience on any given day. We can know of Jesus, and believe in Jesus, but our hearts won’t burn without heaven’s aid resting on us, revealing Him.  Later in the gospel accounts, we’ll find Jesus repeatedly saying to this same disciple, “If you love me, tend my sheep.” Love me, love my sheep. That’s our call and do it by fresh revelation of the Spirit because Jesus is Love to draw on, not a commodity to stockpile.

It’s no secret where to find this ongoing revelation of Jesus. We’ll see Him in the Word, and we’ll find Him in prayer. Holy Spirit lives to reveal the beauty, glory, and the mysteries of Christ’s finished work to His people. 

Praying hearts burn and burning hearts pray, and heaven stands ready to light the fuse of the willing.  I’m in. I want to see Jesus. You?

Answer key:

1. John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.

2. But who do you say that I am?

3.Where did Peter’s revelation come from and by Whom?