When Jesus walked the earth as a man, almost all the people of His day had an opinion about who He was. Rumors swirled about a man who was becoming both more popular and controversial. Two sides formed, one believing He was from God and the other from the pits of Hell (John 7:12; Matthew 9:34). Within the two camps were many more divisions.
King Herod believed Jesus was John the Baptist back from the dead. He fell into the camp of those who believed Jesus was a man of God, but stopped well short of believing Jesus was the Messiah. At least Herod had an answer when anyone asked about Jesus, “Who do you say He is?” But to his eternal damnation, his answer fell short.
When Jesus asked His disciples who the crowds were saying He was, they replied that some agreed with Herod that He was John the Baptist, some thought a resurrected Elijah or Jeremiah, and some thought He was one of the other prophets come back to life (Matthew 16:13-14). Those who believed Jesus was from God saw the miracles He was doing and knew there was no other explanation. But, like Herod, they stopped short of the truth. All their answers were of those who were forerunners of the Messiah, and thus less than the Son of God.
The people weren’t thinking big enough. They were thinking about who Jesus was in that day and what He was doing in this world, instead of seeing who He is and what He is doing in light of eternity. When people asked, “Who do you say He is?” their response was one of marginal belief but also showed a lack of true faith. They couldn’t conceive of a Messiah who did not come in military power to deliver them from the oppression of the Roman Empire.
When Jesus asked the question of His disciples (Matthew 16:15-16), Peter made his famous declaration of Christ being the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Peter’s faith pushed him past the point of mere belief and into the realm of accepting Jesus as the Lord and Savior He is. On this occasion, Peter got it. He understood and accepted who Jesus was and why He had come. Peter didn’t live a perfect life after this (Luke 22:54-62), but he never lost his faith (John 21:15-17).
The crowds asked each other, Jesus asked His disciples, and now I ask you, “Who do you say He is?” Is He just a brilliant teacher, an interesting philosopher, a delusional egomaniac, or do you think nothing of the claims of Jesus and live your life ignoring Him? There is only one right answer, both in correctness and in having the ability to secure your eternity. If you say, like Peter, that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” is that lip service or genuine conviction? You can answer that question by examining the way you live.
If you believe Jesus is who He said He is, then your life can never be the same as it was before you came to believe. You must change because to accept Christ is to accept His transforming work in your life (Romans 12:2). All the old stuff is gone, and everything has become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). If your life doesn’t look more like Jesus every day, you haven’t yet understood who He is, why He came, and what it means to follow Him. When you follow Jesus, there is no turning back (Luke 9:62). Not today, not ever (Hebrews 10:39). From that point on, it’s eyes forward and wanting nothing to do with this world (Galatians 6:14). Jesus becomes an obsession that He alone is willing and worthy to satisfy. Is that who He is to you?