The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Father’s Day
June 19, 2016
Luke 9:18-24
Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
A number of years ago I saw an article in the newspaper that really grabbed my attention. There was a program in the community where I was living where local churches were paired up with local schools in kind of a support network. On a regular basis someone from the church— usually the pastor— went into the school and simply made themselves available to anyone who needed someone to talk to. When I first started reading the article I thought to myself, “This sounds pretty nice. Not only could this help a lot of young people, who usually have more questions than answers, but it could also be a good way for me and for the congregation I was serving to become better known in our community.” But the more I read the less enthused I became. If I were to volunteer for this program I would not be allowed to talk about Jesus nor would I be allowed to bring the Bible into any of my discussions. If I can’t talk about Jesus and if I can’t bring in the Truth that God reveals to us in His holy Word— then what’s left?
Both as individuals and as a congregation we are steadily becoming more and more a minority. Unlike many other church bodies we are not heavily involved in politics. Unlike many other church bodies we do not have a huge social agenda that we are striving to promote. No, my friends, unlike many other church bodies we have a very focused, a very specific purpose for being on this earth. That purpose is to bring people into contact with Jesus as their only Lord and Savior. We strive to achieve that goal through faithful proclamation of God’s holy Word and through faithful administration of God’s holy Sacraments. And yet, before we can fulfill that purpose effectively there is one all-important question that we first need to ask and answer for ourselves. It is the question which Christ Himself asked His disciples here in our text: Who do you say I am? Today let’s see how this text reveals to us the only correct answer to that question. Then let’s see how this text reveals to us how that answer directly impacts the way that we live our life.
It’s kind of interesting isn’t it? You can talk to most people about “God” and the conversation will move along quite nicely. With some exceptions most people believe that there is “someone” or “something” out there “somewhere.” But as soon as you try to turn the conversation and focus it on Jesus of Nazareth you encounter resistance and maybe even objections. Why is that? Because ever since the days Jesus walked on this earth people have been answering that question, “Who do you say I am?” in many very different ways! Luke highlights this exact point when he records this conversation in our text for today, “Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, `Who do the crowds say I am?’ They replied, `Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.'”
The Lord Jesus had now reached a very important turning point in His public ministry here on this earth. The large crowds of people who had gathered everywhere He went now began to disagree on who this Rabbi from Nazareth is. As Luke brings out, some people thought that perhaps Jesus was John the Baptist reincarnated. Some people thought that perhaps Jesus was the fulfillment of Malachi 4:5 where the Lord promised to send the prophet Elijah as the Forerunner of the Promised Messiah. Maybe Jesus was this Forerunner! (On this point see Matthew 11:13-14; 17:10-13) Some people thought that perhaps Jesus was one of the other powerful prophets of old who had now miraculously come back to life. And still others had decided that for them at least this Jesus was of no importance at all. So, they turned away from Jesus and followed Him no more (see John 6:66).
Isn’t it amazing how people today— and even some churches today— are still giving those same basic answers to the question, “Who is this Jesus of Nazareth?” A great prophet! An excellent example! A tremendous teacher on the cutting edge of a new, higher morality— a morality which emphasizes: Judge no one! Love everyone! Accept all things! Always be tolerant! Yes, my friends, to this very day opinions concerning Jesus are wide and wild and varied. But notice very carefully that here in our text Jesus gave absolutely no support and no credibility to these sadly mistaken opinions concerning who He is! Instead, Jesus turns to His disciples and asks them that eternally important question, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” Good ol’ impetuous Peter then jumps up and gives the only correct answer to that question! Peter confesses: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!”
Yes, Jesus is a Prophet— but He is no ordinary prophet! Jesus is the Christ, the Promised Messiah! Yes, Jesus is a Teacher— but He is no ordinary teacher. Jesus is the Christ, the Promised Messiah! Yes, Jesus is a very good Example for His children to follow— but He is not just an ordinary example. Jesus is the Christ, the Promised Messiah! Purely by the grace and power of God alone Peter’s confession recorded here in our text— the confession which serves as the rock solid foundation upon which the entire Christian Church is built— this confession is our confession as well!
But why? Why is it so very difficult for some people— even some people who profess to be Christians— to even allow much less believe and confess the truth about Jesus? The second half of our text for this morning explains the answer to that question from two different perspectives. First, confessing that Jesus is the Christ leads us to see Jesus’ life and His death in a truly special unique light. The Lord Himself tells us, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” If Jesus were just another prophet or just another teacher or just another holy man then the way in which He lived His life and the way in which He encountered His death may indeed be inspiring, but it certainly wouldn’t be unique. But when a person possesses the gift of faith which prompts them to confess that Jesus is the Christ that gift of faith also enables them to believe, teach and confess the uniqueness of Jesus’ life as well as the uniqueness of Jesus’ death! As our true Brother and as our divine Substitute the Lord’s Christ lived the absolutely perfect life we could not live. And then in humble, faithful, loving obedience to the Father’s Plan of Salvation for sinful mankind the eternal Son of the Living God allowed Himself to be arrested and crucified so that He could completely pay the tremendous debt of sin which we owed to the one and only true God. Having finished His work, having reached His goal Jesus then raised Himself from the dead so that you and I can now stand before the throne of the living God completely justified! Yes, through faith in Jesus as the Christ, through the faith that was graciously given to us at the time of our Baptism we have been declared “Not Guilty!” by God Himself!
This, my friends, why it is so extremely important that we have a proper understanding of who Jesus is! Once the Holy Spirit enables us to see that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Lord’s Promised Messiah, only then we are able to comprehend the true meaning of Jesus’ life, only then are we able to comprehend the true meaning of Jesus’ death, only then are we able to comprehend the true meaning of how His life and His death are relevant to our life and our death today. Our Savior highlights this true when He says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”
Following Jesus, being His disciple is not an easy thing to do. Loving Jesus more than anyone or anything else will not allow us to simply blend in with the crowd and go with the flow. Once we know who Jesus is, once we understand that Jesus willingly died on the cross so that we might joyfully live in His heaven then we begin to understand! Then we begin to understand that out of thankfulness to Jesus we strive to be the kind of person our Savior wants us to be. Then we begin to understand that out of respect for Jesus we strive to live our life in the way our Savior would have us live it. And sometimes, maybe we should even say oftentimes, our thankfulness and our respect for Jesus means that you and I need to adamantly say No! We need to say No! to the cravings and the desires of our old sinful nature with its warped idea of what is right and what is wrong, with its tainted perception of what is permissible and what is finally out of bounds, and with its skewed understanding of what is important and what is not!
Here is where our text for today ties in very well with the fact that today is the day we celebrate Father’s Day. As Christian husbands, as Christian fathers and grandfathers, as Christian men we understand that the Lord our God has given to us the leadership role— both here in His house as well as in our homes. This means that we have both the joy and the privilege to not only teach our family and our friends but we to show our family and our friends what these powerful words of our Savior mean:“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”
My dear Christian brothers, we cannot lose sight of the joy, we cannot lose sight of the privilege that comes with our God-given rose as leaders, leaders who set the example for others. If we are called upon to suffer either physical or emotional pain simply because we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God— so what! Let’s take up that cross and bear it! Certainly, whatever we might be called upon to suffer for Jesus can’t even begin to compare to what Jesus has suffered for us! If people laugh at us because church attendance and Bible study and prayer come higher on our priority list then partying and sports and recreation— so what! Let’s take up that cross and bear it! If people snicker at us because we strive to give our very best to our Lord— whether it be our time, our talent, or our earthly treasures— so what! Let’s take up that cross and bear it! If we are looked down upon or perhaps even shunned because we believe that what the Bible says is true even if it goes against all human reason and all human logic and all human understanding— so what! Let’s take up that cross and bear it! If our goals and if our priorities were to blend in and conform to the goals and the priorities of the unbelievers here on this earth we run a very good chance of forfeiting what God’s Son won for us on the cross. But when our eyes are fixed on things above, when our faith in Jesus Christ is the most treasured gift we possess then we can show others that even if we were to lose our life here on this earth the life we automatically gain with Jesus will certainly make it all worthwhile! So as the leaders that God has called us to be let’s make sure that we are setting a good example of what it means to be His disciples! (Pointing to the cross)
Who is this Jesus of Nazareth? Although it may seem like a simple question it still remains the most important question of all. In one way or another, either through our words or our actions, each and every day we give answer to Jesus when He asks us, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” May the good Lord always grant us the grace to loudly and proudly chime in with the apostle Peter and confess: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!”
To God be the glory!
Amen