Christ Church Sermon, Questions Jesus Asked: Who Do You Say I Am? May 17 2026

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Park, Pennsylvania. We're a United

Methodist congregation with the mission

of building inclusive community, sharing

Christ's transforming love. To learn

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Thank you for listening.

Our scripture this morning comes from

the Gospel of Matthew chapter 16.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

When Jesus came to the region of Cesaria

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?" Hear what the spirit is

saying to the church. Thanks be to God.

>> Thanks be to God.

>> Well, over the last several weeks, uh,

in our questions Jesus asks sermon

series, we've walked through several

different questions. Questions like, who

are you looking for? What good is it? Do

you want to get well? Why do you doubt?

Why do you involve me?

Why are you afraid? And hopefully what

we've discovered is Jesus never asked

these questions because he needed to get

information. He asked these questions

because he wanted transformation.

Because questions have a way of

revealing what's beneath the surface.

Questions reveal what we believe.

Questions reveal what we fear. Questions

reveal where our hearts really are.

And today we come to the final question

of this series. In many ways, it's the

biggest question of all. It's not what

church do you attend. It's not what do

your parents believe. It's not what

political side are you on. It's not even

are you religious?

Jesus asked who do you say I am? And the

way we answer that question changes

everything. Because Christianity is

ultimately not built on a list of rules.

It is built on a relationship with a

person and that person is Jesus Christ.

Now we read that Jesus takes his

disciples to a place called Cesaria

Philippi. Now just to give you a little

background on Cesaria Philippi, it's

this place that is filled with temples

to false gods. It it it's Roman power is

everywhere. People worship Caesar there.

people worshiped a god called pan there

it was this place full of comp competing

identities and competing loyalties and

it's in that place surrounded by

confusion and noise and false claims

that Jesus asked the disciples the

question who do people say that I am and

they replied some say John the Baptist

others say Elijah others say Jeremiah or

one of the prophets in other words

people had opinions opinions about who

Jesus was. Kind of sounds a lot like our

world today. Everybody has an opinion

about Jesus. Some say he's a good

teacher. Others say he is a moral

example. Some people say he's a

revolutionary. Some say he was a myth.

Others say he is a spiritual guide along

with a bunch of other spiritual guides.

I mean, in our world today and in

Jesus's world back then, even people

that didn't follow Jesus had an opinion

on who Jesus was. But Jesus didn't end

the conversation with the disciples

after hearing what everyone else was

saying. He decides he's going to make it

personal. Jesus says, "But what about

you? Who do you say I am?" And that's

the final question of this sermon

series, questions Jesus asked. Suddenly,

Jesus shifts the conversation from

public opinion to personal conviction.

Notice Jesus is not going to allow the

disciples to hide behind what other

people are saying. I mean, sure, he

first asked what who do other people say

the son of man is? And the disciples

gave their patented safe answers, right?

Well, he's like John the Baptist or

Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the

prophets. In other words, Jesus hears

what everybody is saying, who you are.

But then Jesus shifts the conversation

and he looks directly at the disciples

and he says, "But what about you?"

And that changes everything

because eventually faith has to become

personal. At some point we can no longer

live off of borrowed belief. Now we do

it all the time without even realizing

it. We say, 'Well, my parents believe

this, or or my church growing up said

this, or my spouse believes this, or or

the culture says this, or or my pastor

says this. But eventually, Jesus brings

the question straight to us. What about

you?

Because there's a moment where

secondhand faith is no longer enough.

There comes a moment where we have to

decide who Jesus is for me. Not just

intellectually, not just historically,

not just culturally, but personally.

Now, next weekend, we have the honor of

celebrating confirmation weekend. And

you're going to get to see a group of

confirms answer this question for

themselves when they are confirmed. It's

also part of youth weekend. So youth

will be leading worship next weekend as

part of all that. And the youth are

going to be answering that question for

themselves as they lead us in worship.

But the truth is every one of us needs

to answer that question for ourselves at

some point. Now the reason that matters

so much is it is possible to be around

Jesus without truly knowing Jesus. I

mean just look at the disciples as an

example. The disciples had spent a

couple of years with Jesus. They had

heard the sermons. They had seen the

miracles. They had watched blind eyes

open. They had watched storms calm. They

had watched crowds gather everywhere

they went. They knew the stories better

than anyone else. And yet Jesus still

asked them the question, "Who do you say

I am?" What that tells us is that

proximity to Jesus is not the same as

surrender to Jesus. And that's important

for us to hear because we can come to

church every week and still keep Jesus

at a distance. We can know the Bible

verses a and still not trust him with

our entire life. We can sing hymns and

worship songs and still never surrender

our heart. We can know church language

without experiencing transformation.

You know, I think one of the greatest

dangers in church culture is we can

become very familiar with Jesus without

actually following Jesus. I mean, like I

just said, we know the songs. We know

the routines. We know when to stand and

to sit or maybe not if you're watching

the offering at the end of of every

service.

But familiarity with something is not

the same as faith. And information is

not the same thing as transformation.

We can know about someone without truly

knowing that person. For any of you that

know me, you know I am a sports geek. I

love all sports. I love statistics. I

have a photographic memory so I remember

those statistics. My family hates

watching games with me because I

generally say what the announcers are

going to say before they say it because

it's all in my head. So I know all about

those players. Here's the thing. I don't

actually know any of those players. You

see, there is a difference between

recognition and relationship.

Unfortunately, sometimes people approach

Jesus the exact same way. They know

about him, but they've never really

truly trusted him, never surrendered,

never followed, never allowed Jesus to

redefine their priorities or their

relationships or their identity or their

future.

But Jesus refuses to remain just an

interesting guy. He refuses to stay at a

distance as some religious figure or a

cultural symbol or or just a Saturday

night or Sunday morning routine kind of

person. Jesus always moves the

conversation towards response, towards

decision, towards surrender. Who do you

say I am?

This is the question that every human

being eventually has to answer. Not what

do Christians say, not what does the

United Methodist Church say, not what

does the culture say, not even what does

social media say, but who do you say

Jesus is? Because that answer,

man, that that changes everything else.

It changes how we live, how we love, how

we handle suffering, how we respond to

fear, how we view forgiveness, how we

see ourselves,

how we face death,

how we understand grace.

Everything flows from that question.

Because if Jesus is only a good teacher,

then we're only going to listen when

it's convenient. If Jesus is only

inspirational, then we're only going to

admire him from a distance. If Jesus is

only part of our tradition, well, then

our faith just becomes routine.

But if Jesus is truly the Messiah, the

son of the living God, then he cannot

simply be attached to our life. He has

to become Lord over our life. Now

getting back to our scripture, we see

that Simon Peter is the first one to

answer. Big surprise that Simon is the

first one to talk, right?

Simon says, "You are the Messiah, the

son of the living God." Now, this is one

of the defining moments in all of the

gospels.

Peter is declaring that Jesus is not

merely a prophet, not merely a teacher,

not merely inspirational, but you are

the Messiah, the son of the living God.

Now that is not just a compliment. That

is a declaration. Peter is saying you

are the one who we have been waiting

for. You are the one who was sent by

God. You are the one who changes

everything. And that phrase living God.

Well, that matters too because again

remember they were in Cesaria Philippi

when this conversation happens. And that

place was filled with idols and temples

to false gods, to dead gods, to

powerless gods, to man-made gods. But

Peter says, "You are the son of the

living God."

In other words, you are real. You are

alive. You alone have authority. You

alone can save. And that confession

changes everything because once Jesus is

no longer just simply admired, once he's

recognized as Lord, life can never stay

the same. If Jesus is truly the Messiah,

then he is just not someone we

occasionally consult. He becomes the

center. He becomes the authority. He

becomes the foundation.

The one who defines truth instead of

culture defining truth. The one who

defines identity instead of our success

identifying our identity. The one who

defines purpose instead of our

achievements defining our purpose.

Peter's confession is not merely

theological. It is transformational.

Now, I love this moment with Peter

because I want you to notice something

about Peter. Peter doesn't fully

understand everything yet. If you keep

reading through the gospels, you're

going to notice that Peter still has

doubts later. He still struggles later.

He still still fails later.

But imperfect understanding did not

prevent genuine faith. And that really

matters because I hear people say all

the time, I can't follow Jesus until I

understand everything. I still have

questions. I still wrestle with doubts.

I don't fully understand the Bible. I

don't have theology all figured out. I'm

not spiritually mature enough.

Here's the thing. Here's a secret. I

have all those same questions sometimes.

And I preach Jesus for a living.

But faith often begins before we have

complete understanding. Peter doesn't

have all the answers, but he knew enough

to trust Jesus. We don't have to have

every answer to every theological

question solved before taking a step

toward Jesus. Faith grows as we follow.

The goal was never just to admire Jesus

from a distance. The invitation has

always been to know Jesus personally. We

just simply need to respond to who Jesus

is. You see, disciplehip is not having

everything figured out on day one.

it is continuing to follow.

Now, Peter's understanding would deepen

over time. His faith would mature over

time. His courage would grow over time.

He went from telling Jesus he was the

Messiah to denying Jesus to a

12-year-old servant girl to eventually

asking to be crucified upside down

because he didn't feel worthy to be

crucified the same way Jesus was. So,

his faith grew. I think sometimes we

forget that Christianity is not

primarily about mastering information.

It's it's it's about knowing a person.

Jesus did not say memorize everything

and then come and follow me. He simply

said follow me. And when the disciples

followed their understanding grew as

they walked with him their faith

developed as they trusted him their

lives were transformed. And the same

invitation still exists for us today.

Now again, what's fascinating for me is

that Jesus asked this question in a

place filled with false gods and

competing voices.

And quite honestly, not much has

changed. We live in a world that does

the same thing. Our culture is

constantly trying to redefine Jesus. You

know, it's a Jesus that never challenges

us. A Jesus that only exists to affirm

who we are. a Jesus made in our image

instead of us being transformed into his

image. But notice Jesus does not ask,

"Who would you like me to be?" Jesus

says, "Who do you say I am?" Because the

real Jesus confronts us. The real Jesus

calls us to repentance. The real Jesus

calls us to forgiveness, calls us to

surrender, calls us to trust. But he

also offers grace and mercy and hope and

healing and purpose and a new life. You

see, Jesus is too big to simply become

an accessory to our existing lives. He

needs to become Lord of our life. Now

Jesus still asked the question today

not just to the disciples but to each

one of us to every person in this room.

Who do you say I am? Now for some of us

maybe Jesus has become distant. Maybe

faith has become routine or habitual.

Maybe we've settled for knowing about

Jesus instead of actually walking with

Jesus.

For others, maybe you're wrestling with

questions and doubt. Now, the good news

is Jesus was never afraid of honest

questions. That's what this whole series

is about. But eventually, the questions

lead us here to the central question.

Who is Jesus for you? Not just on Sunday

morning, not just intellectually,

not just theoretically.

Who is Jesus in your actual life?

Who is Jesus in your fear?

Who is Jesus in your grief?

Who is Jesus in your relationships?

Who is Jesus in your future?

Because Christianity rises and falls on

the identity of Jesus. That's why this

question matters so much. And that's why

we're using it to close this series

because every other question points us

to this question. For example, why are

you afraid? Well, because we're still

learning who Jesus is. Why did you

doubt? Well, because sometimes we forget

who Jesus is. Who are you looking for?

Well, because we're searching for things

that only Jesus can actually deliver.

And now Jesus asked this question

above all the other ones. Who do you say

I am?

Because how we answer that question

changes how we see everything else.

Because if Jesus was merely a teacher,

then we would take his advice when it's

convenient. If Jesus was merely

inspirational, then we're going to

continue to just admire him from a

distance. But if Jesus is truly the

Messiah, the son of the living God,

then he changes everything.

He changes our priorities, our identity,

our purpose, and our future. Now, I love

that Jesus asked that question so

directly and so personally. What about

you? You see, Jesus isn't looking for

crowds to impress. He's calling for

disciples who are willing to trust him.

And that invitation is being given to us

today. the invitation not just to attend

church, not just to admire Jesus, not

just to know the Bible stories, but to

truly know him, to trust him, to follow

him, to surrender our lives to him.

Because at the end of the day, the most

important thing about our life is not

our success. It's not our failures. It's

not our titles. It's not our politics.

It's not even what other people say

about us. The most important thing about

us is how we answer the question Jesus

asked. Who do you say I am?

My prayer is that we will boldly declare

you are the Messiah, the son of the

living God, and that our answer will

change our lives.

Let's pray. Lord, we are so grateful for

who you are. We're so grateful that you

meet us where we are.

Give us the courage to answer this

question for ourselves.

This isn't about what the church

believes. This isn't about what the

pastor believes. This isn't about what

our parents believed. This is about who

we say you are.

May we be able to answer the Messiah,

the son of the living God. And may that

change everything else that we do.

Amen.