The Person of Jesus: Who Is He?
30 min read
The question of who Jesus is does not come after the question of what he teaches. It comes first — because the authority of everything he says depends entirely on who he is.
"Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.'" — Matthew 16:16
1. Wrong identity produces wrong application.
If Jesus is a wise teacher, his words are suggestions to weigh against other teachers'. If he is the eternal Son of God, his words carry the weight of divine command. The application changes entirely based on identity. This is why identity comes first.
2. The Gospels establish identity before application.
Matthew opens with a genealogy showing Jesus fulfills Abraham and David. Mark's first sentence: "the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Luke traces his lineage to Adam — the new humanity. John begins with the pre-existent Word. In every case, identity before content.
3. Every major heresy is a wrong answer to the identity question.
Make Jesus less than fully divine, and the atonement fails. Make him less than fully human, and the resurrection is theater. Make him one savior among many, and the exclusivity of the Gospel dissolves. The identity question is the load-bearing wall.
4. Peter's confession is the turning point in Matthew.
Matthew 16:16 is the center of the Gospel. Everything before it leads to the question. Everything after — transfiguration, Jerusalem, cross, resurrection — proceeds from the answer. The church is built on the truth Peter declares (v. 18): Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
5. Your identity is inseparable from his.
The New Testament consistently ties the believer's identity to Jesus'. You are "in Christ" 2 Corinthians 5:17. Your life is "hidden with Christ in God" Colossians 3:3. You are a "child of God" because of what Christ accomplished John 1:12. Who you are is not separable from who he is.
Treating Jesus' identity as a doctrinal matter to be settled at the beginning and filed away. The identity question is never finished. It deepens with every encounter.
Write a revised one-paragraph answer to Matthew 16:15 based on what you have studied in Part I. Keep it — you will revise it again at the end of the course.
Complete after this lesson.
Submit your revised paragraph on Matthew 16:15.
A: Because the authority of his teachings depends on who he is. A teacher's advice and a Lord's command are not the same thing.
A: Everything — the atonement, the resurrection, the exclusivity of salvation, and the believer's own identity.
A: That Jesus is the Christ and the Son of the living God — the truth on which the church is built.
Lord Jesus, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Let that truth be the foundation of everything else. Amen.