"Who Do Men Say That I Am?"

Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

Peter was being kind here. Some men called Jesus a drunkard and a glutton. Others said He had a demon.

Anyway, the main point here is that men say a lot of things about Jesus that simply aren't true. There have always been such men. There will always be such men. What that means to you and me is that we cannot just take any teacher's word for it concerning Jesus Christ.

Peter did not take other people's view of Jesus to heart. Peter walked with Jesus and learned who He was through first hand experience. Even then, when Peter gave the right answer, Jesus pointed out that this knowledge of who He was is not attainable through flesh and blood teachers without the Father giving a revelation of Who He is.

Too many teachers raise themselves up as authorities on who God is but they are speaking out of their own limited hearts and understanding and they muddy up the waters of true understanding.

Everyone who would ever want to lay hold of Jesus Christ needs to spend time away from organized religion.

Time with Him in the prayer closest and with the Gospel words written in red, away from the clamoring noise of teachers promoting their own, controlling religion is not a bad idea. But it also must be done with caution and humility, lest we fall into the same trap as controlling teachers.