The most important question you could ever ask or answer is, “Who is Jesus?” Who do you say He is today? A great teacher, a good man? How you answer this crucial question has profound implications for your day-to-day life, in addition to eternal consequences. It will affect your marriage or singleness, work or unemployment, time and finances, and relationships with friends (and enemies). In the bigger picture, it will determine where you will spend eternity – what will happen to you after you die. His identity is everything.
There is only one correct answer to, “Who is Jesus?” as recorded in Luke 9:18-22 and Matthew 16:13-23. The crowds were confused as to His identity; they thought He was John the Baptist, the prophet Elijah, or maybe another prophet from of old. When Jesus asked this direct question of His twelve followers, Peter spoke up: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said this was true. It is the correct answer, the only answer that matters, the answer that hits the bulls-eye and is not off target. Jesus then said He was the Son of Man, who came to do the work of His Father: to suffer and die and rise. Nothing less than these four components (the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Son of Man, who came to do the work of His Father) will suffice as you consider and answer the question, “Who is Jesus?”
I am Jewish, by birth, brought up in a Jewish home outside of New York City. I was taught, “We don’t follow Jesus,” and was not seriously confronted with Him and this question of His identity until my 20’s, in college. Through the witness of godly men and women and my own reading and study, I came to see the sin of my life and proclaimed Him as Lord and Savior. I am thankful to the Lord for showing me this truth, and it changed my life. I was born again, a new creature, belonging to Him. This radical undoing of myself and remaking in His image is part of the day-to-day answer to the question, “Who is Jesus?” It is worked by Him and through Him and for Him, for His good purposes. He asks this question of you today, and I urge you to consider your answer. Who do you say Jesus is? His identity is everything.