Confessing Jesus Christ

“But what about you? Who do you say I am?” (Luke 9:20). This question of Jesus rings out, not only to His disciples, but to the entire world. It is the question; the question which brings us face-to-face with Jesus and leaves no place to flee. It is no longer the trouble-free question Jesus previously asked, “Who do the crowds say I am?” (Luke 9:18), but it is now an inescapable confrontation that brings even the strongest to their knees. Not what do you say about yourself, but who do you say Jesus is. Not what do others say, not what do the scholars say, not what does your church say, not what does your reason say, not what do you think are the possibilities; but clearly and unavoidably, who do you say Jesus is?

The mind of the natural man races: Who is this Jesus? What does He have to do with me? Of what relevance is He? How is He possibly confronting me today, wasn’t He just some man who grew into a mythological figure? Wasn’t He crucified, shouldn’t He be long dead? Can’t I just leave Him confined at church on Sunday mornings or up in heaven far away? The questions are endless, but we have been put on the spot. There is no escape. An answer must be given.

This question of Jesus – “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” – is the question which is posed to the world by Jesus again and again. Repeatedly He stands before men with this question, and continually His followers must answer and confess for all to hear. Their responses are varied and range from the bold proclamation of Peter to the betraying kiss of Judas. Therefore it is the duty of the followers of Jesus to continually answer this question before the world: Who is this living Jesus Christ for us today?

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). The historical person of Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of the living God, the anointed one of the line of David, Immanuel - ‘God with us.’ Where we were helplessly separated from God and unable to find Him, Jesus came down to us and met us in our place. He is the promised seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15), the promised seed of Abraham (Genesis 22:18), the promised seed of David (2 Samuel 7:12-13), and the promised suffering servant of God (Isaiah 52:13-53:12).

“My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Jesus Christ is the revelation of God and therefore the person by whom we come to know the one God, the entire Trinity. We do not start by thinking we know God the Father, but Jesus Himself tells us that we know the Father only through His person. When we see Jesus, we see God the Father (John 14:7, 9). Additionally, we only know the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ because the Spirit is sent by Jesus in order to testify concerning Him (John 15:26). The Spirit is given to convict the world according to sin, righteousness, and judgment found in Jesus Christ, revealing the truth of the Son of God and glorifying Him through this (John 16:8-11, 13-14).

“This man really is the Savior of the world” (John 4:42). We only know God in the incognito of this Jesus Christ, the full historical man who has taken on the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3) and stands in our place, revealing His divinity fully hidden beneath His humanity, crucifixion, and resurrection. Jesus Christ is here as a servant (Luke 22:27) who has emptied Himself in order to take the fullness of humanity onto His back (Philippians 2:7), to become sin on the behalf of mankind (2 Corinthians 5:21), and therefore the life of all mankind (John 11:25). Born as a helpless child in a stable, bloodied and dying on the cross, and raised to new life, Jesus Christ is indeed the heart and core of all our knowledge of the true God. Here and only here, in the most unlikely mask of the man Jesus Christ, do we find our Creator, Judge, and Redeemer.

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). All true study of God is not about systems, programs, ideas, theories, abstractions, or speculations; all true study of God is about the crucified and resurrected man Jesus Christ who boldly proclaims today: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). We must notice that Jesus firmly attaches the way, the truth, and the life to His very person. It is Jesus Christ Himself who is the truth, the way, and the life, not some abstract teachings or ideas. Salvation, forgiveness of sins, life itself (1 John 5:20, Philippians 1:21), are completely and totally rooted in the person of Jesus Christ. In Him exists the entire message of law and gospel, judgment and redemption, relationships to both God and our fellow man, and the only true righteousness, the restored identity to God and man mediated by Himself. As a result, we discover that Jesus Christ is truly the center: all creation is by Him, through Him, and for Him, and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:16-17). It is through Him alone that we live (1 Corinthians 8:6). Stick to Him at all costs, for in Him alone is life (Acts 4:12).

“Jesus is Lord” (1 Corinthians 12:3). One day a rich ruler approached Jesus and asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). This inquiry is a question that haunts all introspective men and is ultimately our own question to God. There is also an ignorance that is displayed immediately in its phrasing. The man falsely asks what he must “do” to “inherit” eternal life, when inheriting is always about relationship and identity and not about deeds. Without delaying Jesus fires back a pointed question to the man: “Why do you call me good? No one is good—except God alone” (Luke 18:19). This man has a false sense of the concept of “good” and Jesus looks to destroy that immediately. The ruler thinks that goodness is a quality of man and his ethics, choices, teachings, etc. Jesus, however, knows that “good” is something that flows and exists in God alone. Jesus then tells the man what he already knows: “You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother’” (Luke 18:20). Upon hearing this, the ruler boldly tells Jesus that he has satisfied these commandments: “All these I have kept since I was a boy” (Luke 18:21). Therefore, the ruler wants to know what else there is for him to do. He assumes that the commandments of God are incomplete for inheriting eternal life; he is not satisfied with what God has given him. Instead of trusting that he is the creature of His Creator, a child of God’s chosen people, this man searches and looks for a way to justify himself.

Jesus continues on to tell him what he lacks: “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Luke 18:22). What is this that Jesus is telling him he lacks? Is it more commandments and deeds? Is it simply a spirit of giving? No, it is a lack of devotion and adherence to God. Jesus tells him that the final thing he must do is forsake all the idols of this life and come cling to His person, following Him wherever He leads. Here in these words of Jesus, “follow me,” we have the whole counsel and call of Jesus Christ in its most simplistic form. Here law and gospel meet. The call of Jesus is simultaneously a condemnation of everything in our life and what we have held onto in the past, but at the same time it is also a gracious redeeming promise that life exists and is given in His person. He bids us to attach ourselves to Him, for if we are with Him then we are in the way, the truth, and the life.

After the ruler heard this very call of Jesus to leave his previous life behind and come after Him, he was disturbed and deeply saddened. He had great wealth and it was weighing him down in idolatry. Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said: “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:24-25). Here Jesus states the impossibility of doing what he has called this man to do. The sheer magnitude of this call is expressed elsewhere in Luke: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple…any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27, 33). This call of Jesus is irrevocable, must be followed immediately and without hindrance, and it requires a clean break with everything.

After this astonishing proclamation of Jesus, all those who heard responded in the only way possible: “Who then can be saved?” (Luke 18:26). Those present understood clearly that it wasn’t just the ruler that Jesus was confronting, but that He was in fact confronting each of them also. Jesus, however, responds with a word of grace: “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). Where men will never be able to heed the call and demand of Jesus, God bridges the infinite gap.

Peter then replied: “We have left all we had to follow you!” (Luke 18:28). Peter understood that they (the disciples) had left everything to follow Christ. They didn’t do it as a way of self-justification or because they thought it would make them “good” before God, but simply because they knew there was no hope apart from the person of Christ. Jesus then reassures them that with Him there is hope and life, even though they had to lose everything for His sake: “I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life” (Luke 18:29-30). The love found in Jesus Christ is truly better than life (Psalm 63:3).

“Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39). The cross is the height and culmination of Jesus’ life and through its mystery and foolishness we see the truth of the person of Jesus Christ. Let us set the stage: Jesus’ disciples have fled (Matthew 26:56); Peter, who had claimed he would follow Jesus to prison and death (Luke 22:33), was nowhere to be found and had disowned Him (Luke 22:54-62); the people had chosen Barabbas to be released (Luke 23:18) instead of Jesus. Jesus is completely alone and rejected by all, even by those who had confessed Him most faithfully.

Finally, Jesus is led up to Golgotha, outside the city walls, and there He is nailed to a tree and crucified in the midst of two criminals (Luke 23:33). He is counted among the transgressors and yet meekly He prays for those who are putting Him to death: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). The rulers, the soldiers, and one of the criminals crucified with him, all hurl insults at him and mock him, saying: “He saved others; let him save himself if this is the Christ of God, his Chosen One… If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!...Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:35-37). Jesus however knows the will of His Father, the way of the cross, and knows His own words to His disciples, “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it” (Luke 9:24), and cannot violate them. He knows that the way of victory is not the way of this world that the people of Israel envision.

Amidst all the rejection, however, there is one who miraculously sees through the foolishness of what is going on. It is the least likely prospect, not a disciple, not Jesus’ family, not the learned scholars, but the other criminal who hangs next to Him. This criminal rebukes his fellow prisoner who had mocked Jesus: “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:40-41). Here in these short words we see the most profound confession of the true fear of God. This criminal sees Jesus on the cross and through this sees the judgment of God that stands against humanity. The sentence of condemnation that stands over Jesus, this innocent man who has been numbered with the wicked criminals of the world (Luke 22:37), is a proclamation of God’s sovereignty and His judgment against all of mankind. This criminal clearly sees that he personally deserves to die the sinner’s death and if not even Jesus (God’s own Son!) can be spared, then who can be?

The criminal then turns to Jesus: “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom!” (Luke 23:42). Here the criminal acknowledges that before the judgment of God he has no recourse but to cling to this mysterious person of Jesus Christ. He most likely does not understand exactly who Jesus is but He clings to Him as the King and Messiah sent by God, his only hope for deliverance! Jesus replies to him: “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). This language alludes to the paradise of the Garden of Eden when the right relationship between God and man, and man and man once existed. Jesus therefore tells the criminal that in His person He has come to restore the peace, order, and harmony of Eden. In the person of Jesus Christ, through this bloody crucifixion and subsequent resurrection, the relationship to God and man is restored and made whole once again.

But what about today, what about us in this present age? How are we confronted with Jesus Christ today? How do we hear His call to discipleship today? How do we follow Him today? How do we cling to Him like the criminal on the cross? We are not Peter, Paul, or even Zacchaeus; we live in largely different circumstances, cultures, and contexts. Therefore, how does the person of Jesus of Nazareth meet us today when we no longer have Him walking among us as He did amongst His first disciples? The answer turns out to be simple and yet extremely radical: the Church.

The Church of Jesus Christ is the actual Body of Christ (Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 12:27, Ephesians 1:22-23, Ephesians 4:15-16, Colossians 1:17-18, 24), it is the presence of the living Christ in this world and it has been given the duty to proclaim His Word (Ephesians 3:10-11), bringing itself to people of all walks of life through preaching and sacrament, and thereby bringing the living Jesus Christ, the same Jesus Christ who walked and talked with the twelve disciples, into the world. What happens to the Church is what happens to this same living Jesus Christ (Luke 10:16, John 15:20, 1 Thessalonians 4:8). The Body of Christ is in fact the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Temple (Exodus 15:13, 17, 2 Samuel 7:5-14, John 2:20, 1 Corinthians 3:10, 6:19, Ephesians 2:21, 1 Peter 2:4-10, Hebrews 8:2, Revelation 21:22), and therefore it is the true presence of the living God amongst and in the midst of His people and children. God goes forth into the world by means of the Church, through the Body of Christ. Subsequently, as the Body of Christ we are called to be Christ to the world, bearing our fellow man and his sin just as Christ bore us, becoming the servant of all (Matthew 8:17, Mark 9:35, Romans 12:14-16, 15:1, 1 Corinthians 9:19, Ephesians 4:2, Colossians 3:13, Hebrews 13:13).

The Word, the person of Jesus Christ, creates the Church. In addition, however, the Word only exists in the Church and flows out of the Church (1 Timothy 3:15). Neither Word nor Church may exist apart from each other; one cannot be found without the other. Where Jesus Christ is (the personal Word), there is His Body, the Church; where the Church is, the Body of Christ, there is Jesus Christ, the Word (Ephesians 5:29-33). To tear the work of Jesus Christ apart from His Church is to destroy Jesus Christ and tear Him from His Body. In the same way that our heads cannot be separated from our bodies without destroying both, so too we cannot tear Christ, the Head, apart from His Body, the Church, without destroying both. It is therefore through the Church, His disciples and followers, that Jesus Christ works in the world today and personally confronts men with His life-transforming call.

To further understand this it is important to look at an essential analogy that the Apostle Paul employs: “in Adam” vs. “in Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:22). This analogy is a good summary of the full counsel of God (Acts 20:27), and a critical framework for understanding the place, role, work, and importance of the Church. In this analogy we see the whole message and polarity of judgment and redemption, sin and grace, God against us and God for us.

“In Adam” the entirety of mankind fell into sin and death (Romans 5:12-19). Adam was both an individual man and the representative of the entire human race. To be “in Adam” is to be in sin and a member born into this fallen world, standing in rebellion and rejection towards God the Creator. “In Adam” we set ourselves up in the place of God, placing ourselves as creator and judge over what is good and evil in the world. “In Adam” we seek to justify ourselves in regards to our morality, living, choices, and self. Instead of living from God and His judgment and will, “in Adam” we live from our own selfish judgment and will.

As Adam each of us stands alone, frighteningly alone and detached from all, God and man alike. Each of us “in Adam” is not just some victim but we are also Adam himself. With everything we do apart from faith in God the entirety of mankind falls and is torn away from God. No man is excused from the sin of Adam; we all bear the full responsibility of plunging humanity into the depths of sin and death (Hosea 6:7). Adam is therefore not an excuse that removes the responsibility from the shoulders of the sinner, but is the reality of our own rebellion against our Creator. Any true recognition of sin must lead to the conclusion that we ourselves are Adam and the worst sinner in all of creation (1 Timothy 1:15). We fail the rest of humanity around us with every thought, word, and deed of our wicked hearts.

Jesus Christ is the historical son of Adam, a son of all humanity (Luke 3:38). Like Adam, Jesus stands not only as an individual man, but as the representative of mankind (1 Corinthians 15:45); like Adam before Him, He is mankind. “In Christ” we all undergo the judgment, wrath, and death of the cross, but instead of suffering alone we are united with Jesus Christ. The old Adam is judged and condemned to death “in Christ”, but in Him we are subsequently restored to the fullness of our humanity in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the same way that “in Adam” we stand in the work of Adam, so too, “in Christ” we stand in the work of Jesus Christ (Romans 5:15-19).

“In Christ” we are no longer consumed with our own judgments of what is good and evil but we live completely and totally from the will of God. “In Christ” we no longer stand alone, but we stand as individuals who are united into the fellowship, community, and unity of the Body of Christ. Because “in Christ” we are in perfect communion and fellowship with God Almighty there is no need to stand as judge any longer, we can now live with single minded focus and action upon the desires of God in Christ Jesus. We are no longer our own, but are now completely God’s, offering our entire life into His hands (Romans 12:1-2). Our entire life is our act of worship (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17) as we live boldly, stepping out in confident action and response to God’s will. Through Jesus Christ everything in life has become good and sanctified (1 Timothy 4:4-5), we are restored to be the creature of our Creator and the servant of our fellow man. “In Christ” we are both a completely passive recipient of God’s work and an active member of the Body of Christ who brings God’s work into the lives of others. To stand “in Christ” is to ultimately stand in grace and in the Church.

But how do we come to stand “in Christ,” in the Church? Through the declarative Word of baptism into the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are united into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-13), and therefore into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3-5). We are clothed “in Christ” (Galatians 3:27), put to death on the cross and raised to new life in Him. Through the Lord’s Supper we are continually united in the Body and fellowship of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16-17), receiving all the benefits of that intimate relationship. The forgiveness of sins is certainly an important part of this grace (Matthew 26:28), but the true gift is so much more than simply that, it is the full person of Jesus Christ; it is fellowship, union, and peace with God our Father. Through the prophetic and apostolic proclamation of the Scriptures (Ephesians 2:20) we are built together into a holy temple in Jesus Christ. The proclaimed Scriptures are God’s very Word spoken to us today and through the Body of Christ and the Spirit’s work they confront us as such.

“But what about you? Who do you say I am?” Jesus Christ Himself is confronting us today in the story of the rich ruler. Who of us is not rich in the values, sins, and idols of this world? The question of who can be saved haunts all who take the call of Jesus Christ seriously. If we do not water down the call we will see the depth of what it demands. It requires us to completely deny our self, to leave everything behind, pick up our tool of execution, and to stake our entire life on the person of Jesus Christ (Luke 9:23). We are simply called to attach ourselves to Jesus completely and leave everything else in God’s hands. We are helpless and therefore have no recourse but to trust in the mercy of God. We are called to step out of the boat, not on the strength of any choice of our own, but solely on the strength of the call and promise of Jesus Christ. His promise stands that even though we will give up all to follow Him, we will never lack anything along our journey (Luke 22:35).

“But what about you? Who do you say I am?” We ourselves stand at the scene of the cross. We, Barabbas, have been released and Jesus has taken our place. We truly belong with the criminals who hang alongside Jesus; we deserve to be nailed to the cross for we have not feared and loved God and served our neighbor in place of our self. We are the person who has sinned against both God and man, even as we eagerly condemn those around us (2 Samuel 12:5-7). The condemnation of God’s wrath against our sin stands against us and yet we look and see that we are not alone. There, Jesus, the Christ of God, hangs in our place on the cross. He stands in our place, where we should stand but cannot. We have forsaken God, and yet Jesus is the one who becomes forsaken in our place so that we might have life in His person. The person of Jesus Christ stands in our place under the judgment of being a son of Adam, and graciously bears with us in death so that we might also be raised with Him to new life (1 Peter 2:24-25). In the person of Jesus Christ, God is transformed from God who is against us (Deuteronomy 6:15, 29:20, Job 19:11-12, Isaiah 1:25), to God who is for us and gave Himself up for us (Romans 5:8, 8:32, Galatians 1:3-4, 2:20, Titus 2:13-14)!

We, the Church, the Body of Christ, exist on the brink of the valley of death, and suffering, trials, and tribulations follow us always (Matthew 24:9, Philippians 1:29, 2 Timothy 3:12, 1 Peter 5:10, Revelation 2:10). God deems this necessary for us so that we will always be forced to rely on Him, His mercy, and His grace and never on our own devices. With the entire Church we call out in need: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty” (Luke 17:10). “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:38). Even when God humbles us daily and we face death all day long for His sake, we never despair, for He is with us and His unfailing love and eternal promises comfort us. As the Body of Christ we know that it is the person of the living Jesus Christ who is with us and for us at all times and through all things. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). Our duty is simply to confess Jesus Christ and to proclaim His righteousness to the world, serving all men for His sake. We never point to ourselves, but always point outward to our Lord (2 Corinthians 4:5), to the one who gave Himself up for us all. Regardless of the outward state of the band of believers we hold fast to this our singular mission. Whether we are like sheep to the slaughter or are sharing in a time of peace, we fear not for we hold to the promises of God and know that He is our deliverer in Christ Jesus our Lord. So into battle we go with Jesus Christ’s name on our lips, always ready to confess, proclaim, preach, and bear witness to Him to a world that is ready to devour us (1 Peter 3:15). We believe and therefore we speak (2 Corinthians 4:13), for we know the one in whom we have believed (2 Timothy 1:12). Jesus Christ stands before us and with us today, calls and confronts us with His Word, looks us straight in the eye and asks: “But what about you? Who do you say I am?”