In this scripture, the Lord Jesus and His disciples were taking a short break from their Israelite ministry. They were in the area of Caesarea Philippi, to the northeast of Galilee, under the shadow of Mt. Hermon. Taking the opportunity to do some doctrinal teaching, Jesus asked His men question: “Whom do people generally say that I am? I call myself ‘the Son of man,’ but whom do others say that I am?” Immediately various disciples shared what they had heard. “Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.”
This is an extraordinary group of answers, with some variety, but with similarities as well. For example, all of these people had been prophets – spokesmen for God in some fashion or other. But they had also all passed, with John being the most recent, having been murdered by a wicked king. Elias, the New Testament name for Elijah, had been charioted off into Heaven directly by the Lord. But Jehovah, through Malachi, had said, “Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” I wonder why someone selected Jeremiah? Was it because of Jesus’ tears? Moses might have been another person named, because he had been told that the Lord was going to eventually raise up a prophet like unto the great law-giver. What these answers indicate is that the common people of Israel looked at Christ as a very special person. He had an existence prior to His birth; He brought more of the revelation of God; and no one was surprised that He had miraculous powers.
But Jesus basically dismissed these opinions, because they were not true. Public opinion is very rarely accurate or important. Then Jesus asked: “But whom say YE that I am?” He didn’t point to any one disciple, but using the pronoun “ye,” he asked them all: “What do you think?” I wonder if anyone else got a chance to speak before Peter piped up? What would Andrew have said? Would it have been the same as after his first meeting with Jesus? “We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ, and with this he brought his brother, Peter, to the Saviour. And would the Apostle Philip have repeated what he said to his brother Nathanael? “We have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write.” We don’t know if anyone else got a chance to answer Jesus’ question, because Peter elbowed his way into the conversation, correctly saying: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
Taking Jesus’ question and moving forward, my question for you this morning is this: How important is Jesus’ question and your answer – especially in regard to your salvation from sin? Can a person become a child of God by simply “asking Jesus to come into his heart,” never going beyond that point? I’m not saying there are not true saints of God, who might have started out that way, but is that enough? Is the “Jesus” whom so many professing Christians trust for salvation, the same “Jesus” as Peter confessed?
This is an important question. At least Peter, Paul and most New Testament evangelists thought so. When Paul first arrived in the Macedonian town of Thessalonica, He, “as his manner was, went (into the Jewish synagogue), and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, Opening and alleging, that CHRIST must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this JESUS, whom I preach unto you, is CHRIST” – Acts 17:2-3. Who suffered, died and rose again? Before naming “Jesus,” Paul asserted that it was “Christ.” And in the next chapter, Apollos earned the wrath of the Jews, “For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by the scriptures that JESUS was CHRIST.” If your Saviour is not the Christ, then you don’t have the Biblical Saviour. If your theology has stopped with “Jesus” only, you may not be a child of God.
Moving beyond “Jesus” let’s consider the title – “CHRIST.”
“Christ” is the New Testament equivalent of the Hebrew word “Messiah.” When Andrew first met Jesus, becoming convinced of whom he had met, “He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ” – John 1:41. Andrew was a Jew, and was probably well-versed in the language of the Old Testament. His first thought was that Jesus was the “Messiah,” which in the Greek language was “Christ.” And then for some reason the Samaritan woman when speaking to the Lord said, “I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ.” I’m just trying to establish that “Messiah” and “Christ” are speaking of the same person but in different languages.
Second, I need you to understand that the Bible ties together “Christ” and the “Son of God.” Peter correctly declared, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And after a particularly pointed discussion about salvation and the person of Christ, we are told, in John 6, “ From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. AND we believe and are SURE that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” In John 11, Lazarus’ sister Martha said, “I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God…” Without multiplying scriptures, it safe to assume that the Bible teaches, and people in Jesus’ day believed, that the Messiah would be that very special Son of God. And so when the high priest was interrogating Jesus, he demanded, “I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.” Certainly, Christ was and is the Son of God; not just by birth, but also, if I might put it this way, theologically.
And third, without a doubt Christ is “the Saviour.” God intended to send His Son into the world to redeem sinners like us. At Jesus’ birth, the angels told the shepherds, “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a SAVIOUR, which is CHRIST the Lord” – Luke 2:11. After the testimony of the woman at the well, many Samaritans put their trust in Christ Jesus, saying to her, “Now we believe, not because of thy saying; for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the CHRIST, the SAVIOUR of the world” – John 4:42. I Timothy 1:15 – “This is faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” And after the healing of the lame man at the temple’s beautiful gate, Peter testified in Acts 4 – “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of JESUS CHRIST of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” And what name is that? “Jesus Christ.”
So thus far we have Jesus, the Messiah, who is also called the Christ, the Son of God, redeeming the souls of sinful men, because He is the Saviour. If you have not been saved by Christ, the Messiah, then you are not really saved. I am not saying that from day one, you must understand and believe all these things, but it must never be denied. If the Son of God didn’t die on the cross, shedding His blood for your redemption, then you are not redeemed. Each of these terms refer to the same divine Person – the Saviour.
Moving on, what is the MEANING of the title “Christ?” What is the meaning of “Messiah?”
The word “Christ” is used a whopping 537 times in the New Testament, and the Greek word from which it is translated is used 32 times beyond that. It is a very common and a very important word. For example, it is found in every chapter of I Corinthians – almost as many times as it is in all the gospels. Paul uses the word “Christ” in every one of his epistles, multiple times, except in his letter to Titus. I can’t stress enough how often all the gospel writers use the term “Christ.” But – nearly a third of the time it is used in conjunction with “Jesus” in identifying the person “Jesus Christ.” Then there is an additional 82 times when the Bible speaks of the “Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Bible speaks of “Jesus Christ” so often that even Christians tend to forget the meaning of the word. They hear it so frequently, and use it so often, that they think that “Christ” is part of Jesus’ name. They think of it like George Washington or David Oldfield. But “Christ” isn’t a part of Jesus’ name. It refers to Jesus’ office. It is like saying; “Jesus, the Messiah,” like “George Washington, the President,” or “Pastor Oldfield.”
And in both Hebrew and Greek, “Christ” and “Messiah” mean “the anointed one.” Either word could be translated: “anointed one.” When Peter said, “Thou art the CHRIST, the Son of the Living God,” in effect he was saying, “you are the anointed One; the Son of the Living God.” This meant something special and specific to the well-taught Jew, but it is lost to many modern Christians.
The Old Testament scriptures foretold the coming of a great deliverer – greater than Moses, greater than Joshua, and greater than David. Earlier we read from Psalm 2, which begins with the question: “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain (empty, stupid and useless) thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against Jehovah, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.” The unbelievers of the world have been crying out from the very beginning of time, “We will not have this God and His anointed – His Messiah – to rule over us.” But the Lord goes on in that Psalm, “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree; the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my SON; his day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession… Be wise now therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”
Before we move on, focus on what this Psalm is saying. The world of wicked men, willful and rebellious men, woke men and witless men, refuse to admit there is a God in heaven, who is holding a very short leash. He is going to yank that leash tight very soon. The Triune God has His Son – “His anointed” – ready to sit upon His throne of judgment, and He will break those godless kings and judges with a rod of iron. It is almost too late to begin serving the Lord with fear, while rejoicing with trembling.
By the time of the birth of Christ – the anointed Son of God – the Jewish world was anxiously awaiting Him. So when John came along, people asked, “Who art thou? And he confessed and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ” – the anointed one. But then, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, John pointed toward Jesus of Nazareth and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” Slowly some of his hearers, like Andrew and Philip, turned toward Jesus and correctly said, “We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.” John said “Lamb” and they said “God’s anointed.” Again later, when many of His more shallow disciples were leaving Him, Jesus asked His twelve: “Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ – the anointed one – the Son of the living God.”
Generally speaking, there are three kinds of anointings in the Bible.
There are three classes of people who were anointed; people who, literally speaking, were “messiahed.” The first group of people were God’s priests, beginning with Aaron. Moses, “thou shalt anoint Aaron, and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.” Psalm 133 suggests that Aaron was drenched in oil especially prepared for that purpose. “It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard; that went down th to skirts of his garments.” That oil was a part of ceremonially setting the priests apart for their work in God’s service.
The second class of men whom God ordained to be anointed, were His chosen kings. After Samuel anointed the first king of Israel, he was later sent to Bethlehem to anoint the second. When the prophet ordered Jesse to bring his youngest son before him, “he sent, and brought (David) in. Now (David) was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him” (he messiahed him) “in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.” – I Samuel 16.
The third group of men anointed by God were His prophets, but this was usually in a special way. Elijah anointed Elisha by throwing his mantle or cloak over him. More importantly, the Lord anointed His prophets with His Spirit and with His message. I’ll refer back to this in a moment.
But there is another important anointing, which no ordinary human being has ever experienced. I’m referring to the anointing of the Messiah, the Christ. Remembering Peter’s words: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” please turn to Matthew 3:16 and Jesus’ baptism. “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Remember what God said in Psalm 2. After speaking of His “anointed” – His messiah – God called that anointed one “His Son.” And what did God say about the One upon whom the Holy Spirit descended at that baptism? “My Son.”
Now, please turn to Luke 4. Jesus returned to Galilee from Judah in the power of the Holy Spirit, verse 14. When He came into his home town of Nazareth He went into the synagogue where He was given a copy of the Book of Isaiah. Verse 17 – “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath ANOINTED me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
I am not going to be dogmatic about this, because as far as chronology is concerned it may not be important. But there are good scholars who say that Jesus actually and physically became “the anointed,” when He was baptized and the Holy Spirit descended upon him. And in Luke 4:18 Christ said, “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel.” Those scholars say that Jesus became “Christ,” the “Messiah” when the Holy Spirit came upon him.
Now, let’s go back to Peter’s confession of Christ in Matthew 16.
Jesus asked, “Whom do ye say that I am?” “Thou art the Christ; thou are the Anointed One; thou art the one foretold in the Old Testament as the specially anointed of God.” Anointed for what purpose? To be the ultimate Prophet, and Priest and King. Christ is the superlative prophet and teacher, revealing the God-head unlike anyone ever did before. And He is the King of kings and Lord of Lords, whom we all need to kiss with the utmost love and respect. Furthermore, Christ Jesus is the highest of all high priests, after the order of Melchizedek, not Levi. This priest not only made the highest of all offerings, but offered himself a sacrifice for many. “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”
Here then is what is meant by “Christ” or “Messiah.” Again I ask you: How important is Jesus’ question and your answer especially in regard to your salvation? The disciples in John 6 said, “We believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” And the men of Samaria “said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”
Both the disciples and the men of Samaria, along with hundreds of others, all said, “We believe, we believe.” The visitor from Ethiopia asked Philip in Acts 8, “See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?” And Philip said, “If thou BELIEVEST with all thine heart, thou mayest. And the man said, I BELIEVE that Jesus Christ (the anointed one), is the Son of God.” Can you say that you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God? You say that you can believe, and you do? That is good, but it may not be enough, if it is not “with all thine heart” as Philip said. As James points out in his epistle, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well” (but not great, because) “the devils also believe, and tremble.” On more than one occasion, demons cried out to Christ saying things like, “What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art through come hither to torment us before the time?” Satan and his demons know and believe, intellectually, that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed of God. Your faith must be more than that in order to become one of Jesus’ disciples.
“Faith” may be expressed in three words. It may be “belief,” when it relates to someone’s testimony. “Hey, I believe that. I believe that Jesus is the Christ.” That is the belief of a demon, a creature destined to spend eternity under divine judgment. “Faith” can also mean “trust,” particularly when it relates to a promise. But perhaps more importantly, “faith” involves acceptance, like the reception of a gift.
It is very important to believe that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” But more importantly, for you personally, is faith in the sense of the trust that you put in the anointed Saviour. As a sinner, you need the only sacrifice which God accepts – His Lamb, the anointed Sacrifice. You must believe that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” but you must also believe ON Him in the sense of accepting Him as your Lord and Saviour.
Whom do you say, that Jesus the Messiah is? Can you say with all confidence: “He is my Saviour – someone I love and worship – the one with whom I will spend eternity, because He shed his blood for my salvation?” This is the Jesus you need. Is this the Saviour you trust?