“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Christ of God.”
(verse 20)
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This is a key moment in all three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). It’s as if the veil is pealed back and Peter, by revelation, has insight to see for himself the reality of Jesus’ identity: he is the Christ of God.
Jesus had already asked the disciples what the crowds were saying about his identity. They report back the various responses they’d heard – perhaps John the Baptist, come back from the dead, or Elijah, returned from the past, or one of the other eminent prophets of long ago. The crowds knew he was someone significant. Clearly, they had respect and honour, as far as it went. But it wasn’t far enough.
“Who do you say I am?”, Jesus pressed. Peter, pushing right past all the other alternatives, with piercing insight, nails it. “You are the Christ of God!”
Each of the Gospel writers report what happens next somewhat differently. Matthew gives us Jesus’ immediate response. Blessing Peter, he tells him, “This was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17). It’s revelation, direct from the Father.
Mark leaves that bit of dialogue out, but immediately reports the tense confrontation that broke out between Peter and Jesus. In a nutshell, Jesus began to teach the disciples about his coming suffering and death, then Peter rebuked him strongly for such talk. Jesus in turn rebuked Peter because he did not have in mind the things of God. Matthew also includes this heated dialogue. It’s an important interaction.
But Luke skips past all of this. He goes directly to two statements from Jesus – one about himself and one about his followers. Matthew and Mark report these as well, but because Luke strips away all intervening dialogue, the statements themselves are more tightly tied to Peter’s strong affirmation of Jesus as “Christ of God.”
The first statement is Jesus’ teaching about his suffering and death. He says, “The Son of Man must suffer many things … and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (verse 22). This is the reason he came. This is integral to what it means for him to be “Christ of God” – he suffers and dies in order to win salvation for all who will place trust in him. The title itself might lead us to expect a future of unending glory and majesty. But our expectation would be misguided. As Christ, his purpose is to lay down his life (John 10:11). He will be the ransom for many (Mark 10:45), the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), the seed that dies to provide many seeds (John 12:24), the one whose love is so great that he gives his life for his friends (John 15:13). His suffering and death are a direct expression of who he is – “Christ of God.”
The second statement, following immediately, is about us. If we would follow him, we too must lose our lives and take up our cross daily to follow. We must not be ashamed of this Christ who suffers and dies. Rather, we are to follow in his steps. We are to pattern our own life after his. We are to deny ourselves.
We embrace the truth that Jesus is the Christ. As we do, we rejoice that our life is tied tightly with his. We are saved because he laid down his life. We have new direction because he calls us to follow in his steps. We, too, take up our cross as he did. It’s an ongoing challenge, a continual dying to self, that draws us closer to the One who saved us. Praise his name.
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Lord Jesus, I honour you as the Christ of God, gratefully rejoicing that you have suffered and died to save me for all eternity. Praise your name. Strengthen me now by your Spirit to walk in your footsteps, denying myself and taking up my cross to follow. May it be to your glory. Amen.
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Reflect, Follow:
Pause to praise the Lord – he is fully worthy – he is the “Christ of God.” Then, choose again to follow – what will it mean for you today to take up your cross?
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Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash
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