The most important question

Matthew 16:13-19

 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are ^[he Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

To put this passage in context, Jesus had been ministering and performing miracles among the people for some time. There were healings, changed lives and He had on two seperate occasians fed several thousand people with a few loaves of bread. So Jesus had quite a following, yet we see by the answer to Jesus question that the people had not really come to know Jesus yet. Then Jesus asks the question "But who do you say that I am".

Peter answers, "You are the Christ the Son of the living God". The Christ, we need to remember that Christ is not Jesus last name. It is who He is. Christ means Messiah, Savior. The Jewish people had been awaiting the coming of Messiah, the one who would reestablish their nation, for many years. Unfortunately most of the nation of Israel missed the coming of Messiah because He came as a personal savior, to deliver individuals from bondage to sin, not as a military leader coming to fight against their political captors.

Who do you say that I am? I believe that is the most important question any and every one needs to answer. It is the only question that holds the key to eternity. In John 14:6 Jesus says,  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. So for each one the answer must be You are my Christ, my Messiah my Savior. He came as Messiah to all. 2Corinthians 5:19 says, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.... The reconcilliation of the world is achieved one person at a time.

Let's look though at the rest of Jesus response to Peter. Jesus said that the revelation that He was the Christ was given to Peter by the Father, and it is on that revelation that Jesus will build His church. He says the gates of Hades will not stand against the church built upon the revelation that Jesus is the Christ. The gates of Hades or Hell, are the entry points for all the evil of Hell to enter into this world. But those gates can not stand against us if we remain steadfast in the revelation that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus says that He will give us the keys to the kingdom of heaven and whatever we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. That's what we pray when we pray Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We bind all that tries to come through the gates of Hell and we loose all the blessing and fullness of heaven into every situation.

Jesus asks who do you say I am. One of the names for God in the old testament is I Am. In I Am, He is the fullness of everything we need. Jesus throughout the Gospels,  reveals Himself through a series of I am declarations. I am the good shepherd, I am the door of the sheep, I am the way the truth and the life, I am the light of the world, I am the bread of life, I am the living water. In short, for every need that you have in your life there is an answer for that need in I Am.

Whatever you need today Jesus is the answer. If you have never asked Him to be your personal Christ then answer that question today. If you need provision, know that He is your provider. If you need comfort, know that He is your comfortor. If you need healing, He says I Am the Lord who heals you.

Jesus asks you today, who do you say I am?

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit help me today to walk in the fullness of the revelation of who You are. To know and believe that who You are is the answer for my every need.