
Who Do You Say That He Is?
We find ourselves at a critical crossroads in Luke’s gospel. Jesus ends his Galilean ministry and begins moving toward Jerusalem. Here, Jesus makes his purpose, mission, and identity unmistakably clear. This passage represents a significant moment in the narrative where Jesus pinpoints who He is and what He’s about to do, yet nobody around Him fully grasps it.
Now it happened that as He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him. And He asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” Then He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”
And He strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priest and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
And He said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
The Identity of the Messiah
We must know who Jesus truly is, not just our imagination of Him. The world remains confused about Jesus, attaching Him to every political thought and philosophy imaginable. But, we must come to grips with who He is.
Peter nails it: “The Christ of God,” the Messiah, the one sent by the Father to bring the kingdom. Yet Jesus doesn’t bring what we often expect. He brings pardon rather than power, grace rather than force.
Throughout Luke’s gospel, the evidence was there in miracles, teachings, moments that should have shouted this confession. The angels knew it (Luke 2:11), and even the demons recognized Jesus as the Christ (Luke 4:41). But humans, those for whom the Messiah was sent, remained silent on His true identity until this moment.
We have a real problem with weakness. Our addiction to progress makes it difficult to study things lower than ourselves. We desire things that win, that climb, that shine; a God who conquers, not One who bleeds. We can’t stomach a Messiah who loses.
The crowds recognized Jesus as supernatural but couldn’t precisely identify Him. Maybe He was Elijah, or a resurrected prophet, or John the Baptist. They sensed something extraordinary but hesitated to name Him as Messiah. Until Peter cracked the case: “The Christ of God.”
What’s remarkable isn’t just that Peter had the right answer, but that God gave him this revelation even though Peter didn’t fully understand what it meant. Peter would later deny even knowing Jesus. He gets the right answer but doesn’t grasp what kind of Messiah Jesus is.
This is why knowing who Jesus is matters not as a test answer but in real life. What saved Peter wasn’t his ability to answer correctly and then live perfectly, but the actual truth of his answer despite his inability to live up to his confession. Peter was saved because the truth of Jesus held onto him when he failed.
We miss Jesus when we try to understand Him apart from our sin and suffering. We only understand the reality of His salvation as we see grace in the midst of our mess.
The Direction of the Messiah
This is the messianic secret. Jesus wanted His identity kept under wraps. Not because He didn’t want it revealed, but because He wanted it revealed with clarity and at the right time. Peter knew, but didn’t know. He believed, but didn’t believe. Jesus was telling him to wait until he could see more clearly what kind of Messiah Jesus would be—not a political or forceful one, but a suffering one.
As the Messiah, Jesus must die. These things have to be done according to the Father’s will. To demonstrate power, He must become weak. To accomplish holiness, He must become sin. To bring life, He must succumb to death.
Where do we look to find God’s power and holiness? We might choose nature, a magnificent cathedral, or theological texts. But God’s holiness and righteousness are displayed most clearly on Christ’s cross.
The power of God in the gospel is seen as He forgives sins, silences the law, crushes Satan, breaks death’s grip, reconciles rebels, clothes sinners in righteousness, and reigns with grace. This is the direction of the Messiah. This is where He’s going. It must be this way.
The Demands of the Messiah
One way we know we don’t want a God who suffers is that we don’t want to suffer. We’ll follow a victorious God, a God of progress and upward mobility, but what about following Him through loss, surrender, and pain?
Jesus is clear: if you want to follow Him, it will look like death. Just as Jesus died and gave up His life to embrace life with the Father, His followers must follow His path.
Real life isn’t found inside you but outside of you. The only way to gain real life with the Father is to give up control and godlike status of our own lives. This is what Jesus means by “deny yourself.” Discipleship is a return to creaturely status, drawing life from the outside source.
Denying Your Unrighteous Desires
As followers of Jesus, we are to embrace the truth that ultimate satisfaction cannot be found in this world. You won’t find your purpose through an ideal career, more money, marriage, parenthood, or experiences of pleasure. This world cannot satisfy you.
Denying Your Self-Righteous Desires
We are also called to reject the notion that we can earn life on our own terms with God. It was the religious who crucified Jesus. Grace always rubs the religious the wrong way. We must deny the self that resists the free grace of God.
You’ll never understand grace until you’re convinced that winning isn’t the goal. In progressive sanctification, you learn how to lose, how to give up, how to deny self, and how to rest on someone else’s victory.
To follow Jesus into His life is to follow Him through His death. Gaining the world but losing yourself is a net loss. The only way to experience God’s grace and the full life He offers is to become skilled in the art of losing.
The Promises of the Messiah
In our passage, Jesus gives two promises:
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“Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” This promise can only be caught on the flip side. Faith is like being pushed from an airplane and hoping your parachute works. Jesus walked out of the grave. The parachute of power works! His power is enough.
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“There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” Jesus is pointing to the cross and resurrection, which are the pinnacle of God’s good news working in real time and space. The disciples will see the kingdom in action.
In baptism, we’re marked by the cross. The life of the crucified Christ is forever impressed upon us. We will experience the loss of self and the anguish of self-denial. But through that same baptism, our lives are impressed upon His body. Everything that is His is now forever ours. The kingdom and all its eternal blessings have been given to us freely.
So who do you say that Jesus is? Not just the right test answer, but where is He saving you? What parts of your heart is He bringing good news to? What in you is He drawing out in death and applying His life to?
Collectively, we say He’s our Messiah, but we don’t pretend to understand everything that means for our lives. We look to the sufferings of the cross, see His all-sufficient grace, and let go of every lesser thing. We know who He is, we see where He’s going, we die to it all, and we receive Christ.
Take His promises for whatever you need them for. Take them to the deepest, darkest part of your heart—the part you think Jesus can’t save. Let His promise run to your most suffering and sinful places, and let Him do His life-giving work.
This article is a recap of a sermon preached by Pastor Hunter Sipe at Good Shepherd Bible Church on Sunday, April 6, 2025 entitled Who Do You Say That He Is?. This sermon continues our expositional series on Luke’s gospel entitled Luke: Good News for the Rest of Us. This sermon and others are available for listening on the Good Shepherd Bible Church Sermon Podcast.
Good Shepherd Bible Church is an Acts 29 church located in Pataskala, OH serving the eastern Columbus area.
We invite you to explore our website to learn more about GSBC, consider connecting at our church, or read about our core beliefs.