Matthew 16:13-20 - "Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He began asking His disciples..."

Matthew 16:13-20

Jesus waited until we were sixteen chapters deep into Matthew's Gospel to ask his disciples this critical, fundamental question: "Who do you say that I am?"

This strikes me as odd. You mean, all the way up to this point he wasn't indoctrinating them with the correct answer? He wasn't catechizing them daily? "Question: Who is Jesus of Nazareth?" "Answer: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!" He actually waited until the disciples spent quite a bit of time observing him, seeing his works, witnessing his interactions, doing ministry for themselves, having him save their bacon a few times, and then he came to them with the question: "Who do you say that I am?"

This is not someone who's interested in hearing only what he wants to hear. This is someone who's interested in what you really think after you've had plenty of time to process. After you've had a chance to develop enough trust in the relationship to be totally honest with him. Jesus actually wants you to weigh the evidence and come to your own conclusion about him.

He didn't even land the question on his disciples right away, but first asked them what other people were saying about him. Was Jesus just warming up to the subject? Getting the ol' icebreaker going before closing in on what he really wanted to know? Probably not. By asking them to list the theories being generated by the rumor mill, he was allowing the disciples to sift through their own hearts. "Well, some say John the Baptist, but we know that's not true. Some say he's Elijah come back from the dead, but we know John had the spirit of Elijah, so it's not that. Jeremiah? But our Teacher is not claiming to be any old prophet. The way he talks about God being his Father and all the miracles we've seen? No, this is big. This is waaaay bigger than even Jeremiah."

Jesus' wise approach was rewarded when Simon Peter confessed, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Because then he could respond, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." You got that straight out of the mind of God himself, Simon. See how you have been chosen for this blessing? And if you think that's exciting, well it's only the beginning. You are the first among many who will make the same confession. In fact, from now on I will call you Peter, which means rock, because your confession will lay the rockbed foundation for my church that I am building. Many will come after you confessing me as the Christ, and the power of my name is so great not even Hades itself can prevail over it. It is so great you will wield it on earth with the authority of heaven itself."

And Peter did. In the name of Jesus Christ he healed a lame man (Acts 3:6-7) proclaimed salvation before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:12), and suffered a flogging (Acts 5:40-41). He judged Ananias and Sapphira for putting the Spirit of the Lord to the test (Acts 5:1-11). He raised Tabitha from the dead (Acts 9:36-41). He preached to Cornelius and witnessed the Holy Spirit fall upon Gentile believers (Acts 10:9-48). All this began humbly and stumblingly in Peter's simple confession of Jesus as the Christ. Not out of indoctrination or outside pressure, but out of the depths of his own heart, his own personal conviction. It started small and grew up big. Just as Jesus told us in 13:31-32:

"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds; but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."