Who Do You Say That I Am? Rich Nathan Christmas Eve – December 24, 2012 Advent: Questions Jesus Asks Mark 8:27-29

People Magazine has its 50 Most Beautiful People in the World; Time Magazine has its Person of the Year; and Mental Floss Magazine claims to have something that trumps them both. In typical Mental Floss Magazine’s understated way, a recent cover reads: The 25 Most Important Questions in the History of the Universe.

You ask: What could those 25 most important questions in the history of the universe be? Are they questions like: what is the nature of God? Is there life after death? Does life exist on any other planet other than planet Earth?

But if you’re asking these kinds of questions, friends, according to Mental Floss Magazine, you’re thinking too small. The questions being asked by this magazine are the really important questions, questions such as:

Why can’t you tickle yourself and make yourself laugh?

Wouldn’t that be fun? You’re a little down and so you just tickle yourself. The problem is because your brain controls your movement, you know where you’re going to be tickling and how hard, so it’s just not that much fun.

Or how about this most important question in the history of the universe:

Why does Hawaii have Interstate Highways?

The answer is that Interstate Highways is something of a misnomer. Some Interstate Highways don’t actually go from one state to another. It simply has to do with where the money came from to build the road. And it was federal money that built Interstate Highways.

And there are questions we ask around Christmas, questions like: What gift should I buy for friends and family who have everything?

Or the question married couples ask: Whose side are we spending Christmas with this year, your side or my side?

Or what should we say in our Christmas Letter? How many lies should we tell about how amazing our family is? What should we NOT say in our Christmas Letter?

Well, this Christmas Eve I would like to briefly consider a question that may, in fact, be the most important question ever asked in the history of the universe, and one that is certainly the most important Christmas question ever asked.

And the question that I would like to deal with this Christmas Eve is one posed by Jesus to his disciples. The question is this:

Who do you say that I am?

Mark 8:27-29 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

Let’s look again at verse 27:

Mark 8:27 27Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi . On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

Caesarea Philippi was way up north in Israel by the tallest mountain in Israel, Mount Hermon. And it is the location of one of the main sources of the Jordan River. Before the Israelites conquered the Promised Land, it was a center of pagan worship. Archeologists have dug up Caesarea Philippi and they’ve found dozens and dozens of idols there. Later on when the Greeks and the Romans invaded Caesarea Philippi was known for the worship of the Greek god, Pan, the god of nature.

So Jesus asked this all important question: Who do people say that I am? In the precise place where there was this multiplication of the gods – the Canaanite gods, the Roman gods, the Greek gods.

You need to understand, friends, that we human beings are by nature worshippers. Human beings cannot be divided between some people who worship and other people who don’t. Everybody worships! You can divide people up between church goers and non church goers, but every one of you is a worshipper whether or not you ever go to church. Every one of you is a worshipper whether or not you believe in the God of the Bible. To be human is to be a worshipper. The only question is what or whom do we worship and serve? Every moment of our lives we bow down to something or someone. If it’s not Jesus, then it would be something or someone else.

You are a moody person. You engage in lots of self pity. Or you’re a person who finds it difficult to get off the couch and to serve, to work in places that are inconvenient or uncomfortable. You find it difficult to say “no” to your appetites – to say “no” to a bowl of candy or a plate of donuts, or “no” to temptation. If you’re a self-indulgent person, whether you indulge your moods, or your appetites, or your laziness, you are a worshipper, you just worship yourself!

You can worship your mother or father as you live for their approval and can’t bear the thought that they would not approve of one of your choices. You can worship your career. You can worship your grade point average, or your friends, or your boyfriend, or girlfriend, or your husband or wife. You can even worship the number on the bathroom scale.

It has been often said that when people stop worshipping God the Creator, the God who made us, we don’t worship nothing; we will worship anything – money, our bodies, your favorite football team, alcohol, and food.

So Jesus asked the question:

Who do people say I am?

And the disciples answered in verse 28:

Mark 8:28 28They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

They’re saying the common people are all very respectful of you, Jesus. They’re saying that you’re one of the greatest, if not the greatest person who ever lived. Your hand, Jesus, may reach further across the gulf towards God the Father than any one in all of history.

But you know, friends, it is not enough that we recognize Jesus as the highest reaching human hand, reaching out for the hand of God. The issue is which side of the gulf between human beings and God does Jesus stand on? Is Jesus simply the hand of man reaching up towards God? Or does Jesus also stand on the other side of the gulf with God reaching out his hand towards human beings? Is Jesus merely our hand, even our best hand, even our holiest hand, reaching up? Or is Jesus God’s hand reaching down?

One German pastor, who pastored during the Nazi era in Germany, and himself was very nearly executed on orders from the Gestapo, a pastor by the name of Helmut Thielicke said:

Where you place Jesus on which side of the gulf, on man’s side or on God’s side, is the point on which you stand or fall.

It is the ultimate dividing line. Is Jesus simply someone we give prizes to? Jesus, you should be on Time Magazine’s Person of the Year cover instead of the President. Jesus, you deserve to be on Sport’s Illustrated instead of Lebron James. You deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. In other words, is Jesus merely someone we give prizes to or is Jesus someone we give worship to? Is Jesus a great hero, even a super-hero, or is he a different order of being? Is Jesus the very best creature, or is Jesus the Creator? Is he a spokesperson for God, or is he God speaking to us?

You know, if Jesus was simply a prophet like the people said, we would be grateful to God for sending us a prophet. If Jesus was an angel, the highest archangel like Gabriel, who came to Mary, we would count it an enormous privilege to have an angel come to us.

But if Jesus is God come to us in human flesh, then we never have to guess at what God thinks, or what God feels, or what God is like. Concerning all of our questions about God, we simply answer: Well, God is like Jesus. Is God kind? Well, Jesus was kind and God is like Jesus, so God is kind. Is God forgiving? Well, Jesus was forgiving and God is like Jesus, so God is forgiving.

But Jesus does not allow the question of his identity to remain an abstract, philosophical item of discussion for any of us. The question moves from the poll taking realm – what are the polls saying about who I am; how do people in general view me – to the more personal v. 15, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?”

Who do you say I am?

Jesus gets very personal with us, intensely personal. It is not enough for you to say, “Well, my family says, my mother says, my father says, my grandparents said, my church, my pastor, or my Catholic or Christian School taught…”

“Well, Jesus you must understand I was raised as a Jew so my cultural heritage says, my religious upbringing taught me…”

Jesus never asks us, “Tell me what your family thinks of me.” The ultimate question is not what does your religious upbringing suggest regarding who I am? What did your philosophy, or biology, or psychology professor say? What do your friends and those in your social circle say?

Jesus always asks the more personal, probing question, “Who do you say I am?”

There is no salvation by way of heritage. It doesn’t matter what your family background was or what everyone around you says. What do you say about Jesus? What difference has Jesus made in your life? Have you personally received the gift of salvation offered to us in Jesus Christ? Have you invited Christ to take control of your life? There is a personal decision to be made. There is a line that must be crossed by each individual.

I often compare salvation to marriage. It doesn’t matter that your parents are married. It doesn’t automatically make you married. You need to make a decision. It is the same thing regarding the gift of salvation. You either extend your open hands to Jesus and say, “Jesus, grant me the gift of salvation. Come and rule over my life. I make a decision to receive you.” Or you remain unsaved. You choose to cross the line with Jesus, or you choose not to.

What about you?

Notice the question: Who do you say I am?

The question is not only confrontational –

Who do you say I am?

…the question is also self-focused

Who do you say I am?

You see, one thing that people miss about Christianity is that Christianity is not primarily about you and me and what we do. There’s an old saying that Christianity is Christ – Christianity is about Jesus and what Jesus did. It is not primarily about you and me and what we must do. Or to put it differently, as I’ve said many times the gospel is not just good advice; it is good news. Advice is something that when you hear it you’ve got to do it. News is something that has already happened. The gospel doesn’t say, “Here is something you need to do.” The gospel tells us about something that’s already been done. Christ has already accomplished your salvation at the cross. The gospel doesn’t say do, it says believe. The gospel is not a self-help program, or a self-help book. The gospel offers a relationship with God as a gift through Jesus Christ to be received by faith.

So Jesus asks the question,

Who do you say I am?

Christianity is all about Christ. It is all centered on him.

Let me put it this way. Have you ever gone to a professional sporting event with a small child – a baseball game, a football game, a hockey game, a basketball game? Or have you maybe taken a child to an OSU Buckeye game? If you take a child to a sporting event, they pay attention to everything BUT the main thing which is the game. They want to get one of those big fingers to wear. They’re watching the mascot. They’re excited by the people shooting the t-shirts into the crowd with those air bazookas. The kids want another ice cream. They’re watching the cheerleaders. They’re interested in everything other than the main thing which is the game on the field.

Folks come to churches all over America and they’re also paying attention to everything other than the main thing. They’re paying attention to the style of music, whether there’s a choir, what people are wearing, what the building looks like, the decorations, whether the church has stained glass windows, what the pastor is wearing, do they wear robes, or do they wear a suit, do they wear cardigan sweaters, how comfortable they feel with the person sitting next to them in the pew – everything other than the main thing which is Jesus.

And at Christmas it gets worse. We’re talking about Santa Claus and reindeer and chestnuts and Jack Frost nipping at your nose. Christmas even at its best finds newspapers and TV news talking about the spirit of giving and family gatherings and everything other than the main thing – namely that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday . Christmas is about Christ. But we make the footnote the main text and the main text Jesus is reduced to footnotes or less.

I love the story of Mary and Martha and can picture them at holiday time. Martha was concerned about making things, being a good hostess, making sure everyone has enough to eat, serving her guests. But Mary was concerned with Jesus. She has eyes only for him. Jesus absorbs her attention. Mary as a woman knows her place, but her place is not in the kitchen; it is at the feet of Jesus.

And that’s the place for every woman – not in the kitchen, but at the feet of Jesus! And that’s the place for every man – not in the kitchen, or in the garage, or in front of a TV watching the big game, but at the feet of Jesus. And that’s the place for every child – not in front of a video game or a cell phone, but at the feet of Jesus.

Martha resents Mary for not pitching in and offering a helping hand. And she asked Jesus to get Mary to help her. But Jesus responds this way:

Luke 10:41-42 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one . Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

It is easy to get sidetracked with the busyness of the season. And it is easy to get sidetracked with the busyness and pressures of life in the 21 st century and miss the game, the main thing, the main show which is Jesus. Jesus says: Who do you say I am?

Now some people say that it’s pretty narrow to focus attention just on this one person, Jesus, to call Jesus the main thing, the main show. To say the question that Jesus asked, “Who do you say I am?” is the most important question ever asked. Don’t all religions basically teach the same thing?

The answer is no. All religions do not basically teach the same thing especially as they answer Jesus’ question, “Who do you say I am?”

Ravi Zachariah, who is an expert in comparative religions, wrote this:

[That] far from all religions essentially being the same thing with different clothes on, they are in fact superficially alike, but fundamentally different.

Who do you say I am? Islam says Jesus was a righteous prophet, but he is not God. Judaism said that Jesus was a false prophet and a blasphemer of God. Hinduism says that Jesus was one god among millions. Christianity says that Jesus is the one and only God Incarnate. These aren’t minor nuances. These are fundamental differences.

But rather than being narrow, Christianity is the widest funnel possible. It is narrow at the bottom that we need to go through Jesus, but wide at the top. It is the only truly universal faith.

Some folks say, I just want to add one little thing to what you’re saying about Jesus being the main thing and the only way to God. Don’t say that good people with no religion or good people in other religions don’t get to God. Don’t insist that people go to God through Jesus. Don’t say that if we answer the question differently about who we think Jesus is, that that will somehow affect our relationship with God. I just want to add this one little thing.”

But is it a little thing to say that if you’re good enough, God will accept you? No, that’s a huge thing. The funnel that leads to God is bigger than that because the gospel message is not just for good people. See, every system in the world says the good people get in, but the bad people are kept out. But in the gospel, God says, “I’m welcoming everyone will go through Jesus – everyone – people who are successes and people who are failures; people who were loved by their parents and people who were abused by their parents, everyone; people who were valedictorians and people who were drop outs. The gospel says everyone and anyone can come to God through Jesus – millionaires and folks who are bankrupt, people who live in million dollar homes and people who live in a tent. Accountants and addicts, doctors and divorced people, kids and 80 year olds. Everyone and anyone can come to God through Jesus.

Christianity is the only truly universal faith. It is not tied to any ethnic group. It is not tied to any nationality or culture or language or age or IQ. It doesn’t ask are you a success or a failure. It doesn’t ask about the color of your skin or your height or weigh. People from every culture, every language, every religious background, able-bodied or disabled, can come to God through Jesus.

Let me tell you about one of my heroes, a man many of you have never heard of. His name was Daniel Zion. He was the chief rabbi of Bulgaria during the Holocaust. He was instrumental in saving thousands of Jewish lives during that horrible time in Jewish history. Some settled in Israel after the war. Yet Rabbi Zion’s name is almost entirely unfamiliar to Jewish people today because Daniel Zion, the chief rabbi of Bulgaria during the Holocaust, was a believer in Jesus. He answered the question: Who do you say I am? by saying along with Peter, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

During the days of the Nazi occupation in Bulgaria, Daniel Zion was publicly beaten and humiliated. On one occasion he received a vision from Jesus in which the Lord told him to warn the Bulgarian King Boris not to submit to Nazi pressure to deliver the Bulgarian Jews over to the Poles and to the German death camps. This warning was delivered to the King in writing one day before King Boris went to Germany to meet with Hitler. The King refused to submit to Hitler’s demands. And of all the nations in Europe, Bulgaria protected the Jews the most during the Holocaust and had the fewest Jews murdered.

This was due to the work of Rabbi Daniel Zion. In fact, Daniel Zion was so highly respected by Orthodox leaders in Israel that in 1954 the chief rabbi of Israel offered Daniel Zion a position as a judge on Jerusalem’s Rabbinic court. The only obstacle was Daniel Zion’s belief in Jesus. But the chief rabbi of Israel said that he could be on the rabbinic court, if he kept his belief in Jesus to himself. “You are such a righteous man; we respect you so much that we want you to sit on the rabbinic court in Israel. Just do this one little favor for us, don’t talk about Jesus. Don’t answer the question concerning who Jesus is by saying he is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

But Daniel Zion couldn’t agree to that demand. He said, “I will give up all my earthly honors, including this great honor of being on the rabbinic court, for the sake of my Messiah, whom I love.” He was stripped of his title of Rabbi in the rabbinic court, but he continued to serve as the Rabbi of the Bulgarian Jews in Israel until 1973. Daniel Zion died in 1979 at the age of 96, firm in his commitment that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah.

Now, when we answer the question: Who do you say I am? by saying you are the Messiah, the King, the Son of the living God, we also need to remember what Jesus did. Many Jewish people object to calling Jesus the Messiah. They say, “Well, if Jesus was the Messiah, the fulfillment of all the hopes of Israel, where is the worldwide peace that

Messiah is supposed to bring?” Remember when Jesus was born the angels sang, “Peace on earth, good will to men.” If he was the Messiah, then where’s the peace?

Is there anything more evident today than that the world is at each other’s throats? Syria has descended into complete civil war. Egypt is imploding. The Congo has been at continual war for the last 50 years. And here in the United States we experienced a tragic week of violence in Newtown, Connecticut. Where’s the peace that Messiah was supposed to bring?

Peace is available through Jesus right now. As Messiah Jesus brought about peace with God. Let me tell you a story.

In 1962 Don Richardson, along with his wife, Carol, and their 7-month old baby went to work among the Sawi tribe in what was then Dutch New Guinea. The Sawi were known to be cannibalistic headhunters. Don and his wife worked hard to learn the language and customs of the Sawi people, but they were frustrated that they couldn’t get them to understand the story of Jesus or his death for their sins. They prayed that God would show them a way to convey the true message of Christianity in a form the people would understand.

God gave the Richardson’s an unexpected opportunity. Another tribe attacked the tribe that the Richardson’s were living with. For weeks they fought with one another and then the tribal chief decided to initiate peace. He did so by taking his own newborn son from the arms of his wife and he gave his newborn son to the tribal chief of his enemy. The other tribe disappeared into the bush with the infant. The baby was gone, never to be returned to his grieving parents. The Richardsons asked what the ceremony meant. The tribal chief said: “I offered my son as the peace-child for our tribes. As long as my son lives, there will be peace between our tribes. If he dies, war will resume. Anyone who kills a peace-child will himself be killed.”

Don Richardson realized that the chief was giving him the key that would open this primitive people to the truth about Jesus Christ. So Don gathered the tribal leaders together and told them the story of God’s Peace-Child. Don spoke of the war that wages between the kingdom of this world and the Kingdom of God. Don showed how our Heavenly Father sent his Son Jesus to earth as his Peace-Child to make peace between God and human beings.

Let me close with this. Some of you say, “You know, Rich, I’m just not absolutely certain about Jesus. I’ve certainly heard enough about Jesus to admire him. You might say I admire real Christians – not just church-goers – but real Christians who seem to know Jesus. I see goodness in Christians; I see self-sacrifice. I see charity. I believe somewhat, but in answer to Jesus’ question: Who do you say I am?, I’m not absolutely certain that I can say that he is the one and only Messiah, the Son of the living God like Peter did.”

Friend, I will tell you today that if you see unusual goodness in Jesus, if you are attracted to Jesus and see God in him in some way, then the most reasonable thing you could do right now is to run to him. The most unreasonable thing you could do is wait around until you had absolute certainty or some angelic visitation, or you were hit with some bolt of mystical lightening. If you are attracted to Jesus and attracted to the life Jesus offers, the most reasonable thing you could do today on Christmas Eve is to turn your life over to the control of Jesus Christ.

Listen, suppose someone terrible precious to you lay dying and the doctor offered to try a new miracle drug that he could not guarantee, but had a high probability of saving your beloved friend’s life, would it be reasonable for you to tell your friend to take that life saving drug even if you weren’t absolutely certain that it would save his life? Wouldn’t it be unreasonable to not try the drug?

Suppose you heard a report that your house was on fire and your children were inside. You’re not certain the reports are true. What’s the reasonable thing to do? Ignore the reports? Well, I can’t be certain; I’m not going to press in; I’m not going to look into it. Or would it be reasonable for you to run home and check it out?

Or suppose you were in love and you said to your beloved: “I would like to marry you,” and your beloved said back to you, “Well, I think I love you also, but I’m not certain. I’m not absolutely sure. Give me a month to think about it.” And you went back a month later and said, “Well, what do you think?” And they said, “Well, I’m still not certain; I think I love you, but I’m not 100% sure. Give me another month.” And another month, and another month, and another month.

There comes a time when there are no more tomorrows. Christianity is God’s marriage proposal to your soul. Some of you have said for years, perhaps tomorrow. There is a time for a decision, and there is no better time than Christmas Eve. I will tell you, friend, the only reasonable thing to do is to take a chance, to risk, to take a step of faith, to say, “I’m far enough down the road that it makes sense for me to take one more big step and surrender control of my life to Jesus. To trust what the Bible says about Jesus is true. He is the Messiah; he is God’s Son; he is the Peace Child who makes peace between me and God and who can give me peace and who will one day establish peace on earth.”

This Christmas Eve, if you want to turn control of your life over to Christ, here is what I’m going to ask you to do…