“Who do you say that I am?” Luke 9:20
John Stott says in his book Why I Am a Christian:
One of the most extraordinary things Jesus did in his teaching (and did it so unobtrusively that many people read the Gospels without even noticing it) was to set Himself apart from everybody else.
For example, by claiming to be the good Shepherd who went out into the desert to seek his lost sheep, He was implying that the world was lost, that He wasn’t, and that He could seek and save it.
In other words, Jesus put Himself in a moral category in which He was alone.
Everybody else was in the darkness; He was the light of the world.
Everybody else was hungry; He was the bread of life.
Everybody else was thirsty; He could quench their thirst.
Everybody else was sinful; He could forgive their sins.
These are Jesus’ claims, and now He has a question: “Who do you say I am?” Peter had an answer. He said, “The Christ of God” (9:20). We know from Matthew’s Gospel that Jesus affirmed this answer.
Throughout the history of the church, this has been the central confession that marks a person as a Christian. We confess that Jesus is the Christ of God.
Many people today want to make their own definition of what a Christian is, but that is not what you find in the Bible. The name “Christian” comes from the name “Christ.” A Christian is a “Christ-One,” that is, one who believes that the Christ has come, a person who confesses, as Peter did here, that Jesus is the Christ.
It is very important that we understand what Peter says and then think through whether we are able to stand with him in making this confession.
Are you able to stand with Peter in his confession? Why or why not?
