Matthew 16: 13-16 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
Learning from the Scriptures:
I have always loved reading the Bible. For me, it was like playing 'connecting dots', from two different perspectives. Primarily, looking at the connections within the various Bible passages, trying to figure out the riddles and understand (a little more) the mysteries and riddles that God has placed in for us. It is super fun. Secondly, I (prayerfully) look for connections drawn between God's word and God's world. I enjoy meditating on both of the above perspectives - an intellectually and spiritually pleasurable exercise. In Luke 24: 27 we read about Jesus taking such a Bible study for the two at the road to Emmaus, "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." He connected the dots from the whole of the old testament, and then connected it to the reality of its fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth. How I wish I was there!
As I listened to more and more Bible teachers, and to many recommended videos from YouTube, I began to see that the interpretations of different people were quite different. It was like reading the answers to the question, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" I believe that one of the main reasons for different interpretations is the undue emphasis on one part of the Bible at the cost of another. The new testament emphasized, and the old neglected; the gospels emphasized and the epistles neglected, and so on. In Luke 24:27 Jesus brings out the importance of knowing the whole of the old testament to truly understand who He is. Mike Winger, a Bible teacher in one of his Bible study series mentions that without the old testament if we just have just the quote of John the baptist - Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the whole world, we would be thinking, 'the what of what, who takes away the what of the world?' (Mike Winger has a wonderful series on finding Jesus in the old testament - link.) Gospels mention the importance of eye-witness accounts of the life of Jesus and Hebrews 1 mentions the importance of understanding God's words revealed to them by the Son. In all, we have God's words and revelations given us through all of His words. Thus, 2 Timothy 3:16 mentions that all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.
Learning from the Spirit:
Once, while I was preparing for a session on God's sovereignty my mind just froze. I was easily able to distinguish and find myriad errors in the interpretations of the cults and the heresies. Yet, some interpretations of fellow Christians were confusing to me. I was wondering about who that preacher said that Jesus is, or who that philosopher said Jesus is, 'who do people say Jesus is?' in some sense was the question running in my head, and I was trying to see if there are errors, and inconsistencies between them and so on. On the night of 06th July 2019, in my dream, someone told me, "you have to pray so that God reveals Himself to you", and as I was pondering it in the morning, we left to attend the church. The sermon that day was on Matthew 16, and the pastor was stressing on the question, 'Who do you say I am?' and was mentioning that it was not just the question to Peter, but also the question to each one of us! He took my focus to Jesus' reply to Peter - this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. Additionally, we also read in Matt 11:27 that the Son reveals about the Father to those whom He chooses. We also read in several places that the Holy Spirit is our teacher, and He teaches and brings to remembrance all that Jesus said. This is a personal endeavor! Of course, God's Word and God's Spirit will not contradict each other.
If someone asks me to tell them about my husband, and I say, "he is a male, he is so many years old, from this place, and is working here" and end with that, I'm pretty sure they would be thinking I barely have any relationship with him. If I add, "he cooks for me, he drives me to church, he plays keyboard while I sing", then too, people will be concerned as all my answers are just pertaining to what he does for me. If I truly know him, won't the answers I give to the question be much deeper?
How deep is your relationship with Christ? If Jesus is asking you today, "Who do you say I am?", what is your answer? Is your answer going to be personal or generic? If you have not thought about it earlier, would you take time and think about it today?
Link to the previous article: How long will you grieve? Link to the next article: Is anything too hard for the Lord?
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