"Who is YOUR Jesus anyway?" Part 1

Matthew 16:13

"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?"

Preaching the Gospel across this country affords me the opportunity to minister in many different churches and denominations. Additionally, when you minister beyond the proverbial "four-walls" of the church buildings and venture into the market places of Americana--you are confronted with so many varying ideas and definitions of "who Jesus is."

I learned long ago never to merely ask the question, "Do you believe in Jesus?" and just leave it at that. The reason being, is that not every version of Jesus is the One spoken of in the Word of God. Not every "Jesus" that people claim to believe in can stand up to the scrutiny of "who the Word says that He is."

Evidently the disciples of our Lord Jesus were also finding many defintions of The Christ as well.

"Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." Verse 14

Hmmm, John the Baptist-- that's a pretty good guys from what I read. Jesus even offered some pretty strong compliments concerning him. He even "leaped" in his mother's womb when he and Jesus met prior to their births. But, there was already a John the Baptist--and by his own addmission, "There was one coming after him (Jesus) who he wasn't even worthy to unbuckle His shoes."

What about this Elijah---now THAT'S a Bad Dude! Calling down fire from heaven, making the rain stop for 3 1/2 years, causing the widow's food to last indefinitely and THEN raising here dead son back to life. I could sure think of worse people to be compared with. But, then again--he did run from Jezebel and the "Real Jesus" would never do something like that!

There is Jeremiah---it's funny that some would dare liken Jesus to this prophet considering his message to Israel. While he did enjoy a great period of longevity (40 years) and he was the last prophet to Juday (and Jesus was the Lion of the Tribe of Judah), yet Jeremiah never saw any marked success--as a matter of fact he was called to a deliver a message judgment--wherein the Word says that "Jesus came not into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." Jeremiah came to bring some unfortunate bad news, and Jesus was the bearer of the ultimate Good News!

Strike one...strike two...strike three (You're out) Next Question please...

Matthew 16:15 "He said to them, But who do you say that I am?"

At the end of the day, it won't really matter who anyone else tells you Jesus is---because He will look into your heart and into the fruit of your life for the answer to that question. I hate to break the news to you, but the Jesus that you will one day stand before will probably look somewhat different that your: Baptist Jesus, your Pentecostal Jesus, your Catholic Jesus, or your (fill in the name of your sect or denomination) Jesus.

It seems that the more we try to hedge Him in and limit Him by our own fears, traditions, and worthless personal opinions--the more we sound like those saying, "uhhh, well maybe He is John the Baptist or Elijah the Pentecostal or Jeremiah the Catholic."

Worse yet--some have even digressed to the point of saying that He was just a "good man" or "a prophet" or "an alegorical hoax."

The Jesus, so discriptively described in both the Old and New Testaments seems to far surpass the power, holiness, love, and majesty that most churches, denominations, and therefore people "say that He is" by the fruit manifested in their lives.

Matthew 7:20 "Therefore by their fruits you will know them." or another way of saying this could be:

By their conversation (or)

By their faith (or)

By their willing to witness to others (or)

By their love, compassion and mercy for the lost and hurting (or)

By the attitude of their heart (or)

By the way that they worship Him (or)

By their desire for His Word...you will know them.

Without opening your mouth, who does your life's testimony say that Jesus is?

(look for part 2 of this blog)