Luke 9:18-22

9:18-22 It happened that when Jesus was praying alone his disciples were with him. He asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" They answered, "Some say that you are John the Baptiser; others that you are Elijah; others that one of the prophets of the ancient days has risen again." He said to them, "But you--who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "The anointed one of God." Jesus warned and enjoined them to tell this to no one. "The Son of Man," he said, "must suffer many things, and must be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and must be killed, and must be raised again on the third day."

This is one of the most crucial moments in the life of Jesus. He asked this question when he was already turning his face to go to Jerusalem ( Luke 9:51 ). He well knew what awaited him there, and the answer to his question was of supreme importance. He knew that he was going to a Cross to die; he wanted to know before he went, if there was anyone who had really discovered who he was. The right answer would make all the difference. If instead there was dull incomprehension, all his work would have gone for nothing. If there was any realization, however incomplete, it meant that he had lit such a torch in the hearts of men as time would never put out. How Jesus' heart must have lifted when Peter's sudden discovery rushed to his lips--"You are the anointed one of God!" When Jesus heard that, he knew he had not failed.

Not only had the Twelve to discover the fact; they had also to discover what the fact meant. They had grown up against a background of thought which expected from God a conquering king who would lead them to world dominion. Peter's eyes would blaze with excitement when he said this. But Jesus had to teach them that God's anointed one had come to die upon a Cross. He had to take their ideas of God and of God's purposes and turn them upside down; and from this time that is what he set himself to do. They had discovered who he was; now they had to learn what that discovery meant.

There are two great general truths in this passage.

(i) Jesus began by asking what men were saying about him; and then, suddenly, he flashes the question at the Twelve, "Who do you say that I am?" It is never enough to know what other people have said about Jesus. A man might be able to pass any examination on what has been said and thought about Jesus; he might have read every book about Christology written in every language upon earth and still not be a Christian. Jesus must always be our own personal discovery. Our religion can never be a carried tale. To every man Jesus comes asking, not, "Can you tell me what others have said and written about me?" but, "Who do you say that I am?" Paul did not say, "I know what I have believed"; he said, "I know whom I have believed" ( 2 Timothy 1:12 ). Christianity does not mean reciting a creed; it means knowing a person.

(ii) Jesus said, "I must go to Jerusalem and die." It is of the greatest interest to look at the times in Luke's gospel when Jesus said must. "I must be in my Father's house," ( Luke 2:49 ). "I must preach the kingdom," ( Luke 4:43 ). "I must go on my way today and tomorrow," ( Luke 13:33 ). Over and over again he told his disciples he must go to his Cross ( Luke 9:22 ; Luke 17:25 ; Luke 24:7 ). Jesus knew he had a destiny to fulfil. God's will was his will. He had no other object but to do upon earth what God had sent him to do. The Christian, like his Lord, is a man under orders.