“Who Do You Say Jesus Is?”
Matthew 16:13-23
Bias
The Cambridge Dictionary defines bias as “the action of supporting or opposing a particular person or thing in an unfair way, because of allowing personal opinions to influence your judgement.” There is also something called unconscious (or implicit) bias, it is a term that describes the associations we hold, outside our conscious awareness and control. Unconscious bias affects everyone. Unconscious bias is triggered by our brain automatically making quick judgments and assessments. They are influenced by our background, personal experiences, societal stereotypes and cultural context.
What caused me to think about this is the disciples. They were spending quite a lot of time with Jesus; hearing Jesus speak and teach about who He was and what He was doing. Yet they still had a wrong understanding of who Jesus was, an incomplete understanding of who He is and what He was doing. The question that came to my mind was what caused them to view Jesus the way they did? It must have had something to do with what they thought the Messiah should be and do. They were biased, probably even unconsciously biased because of their culture, how they were taught, what was going on around them. My point is, if this was possible for the disciples and the Jewish people who were living with and around Jesus, is it possible that could happen with us?
This is something we need to pay attention to. It is possible, if we do not guard against it, for our past circumstances, our upbringing, our culture, our experiences, even our denominational affiliation (including the nondenominational denomination) to affect how we view Jesus. That without even recognizing it, we can make Jesus fit our idea of what He should look like and act like. If we allow our bias, even unconsciously, to affect our view of who Jesus is we will not be following the real Jesus.
The real Jesus is trustworthy.
- Our level of commitment will probably be the same as our level of trust.
- We live in a world that doesn’t trust anybody. In fact, they’ve done studies, and they found that our culture right now is at the lowest level it has ever been when it comes to trust.
- We don’t trust the medical institutions. We don’t trust political institutions, we don’t trust educational institutions, we don’t trust religious institutions, we just don’t trust anybody. And for good reason, we’ve been let down.
- Some of us have trust issues because of past trauma. We’ve been hurt. Somebody promised something, they didn’t come through.
- But if we’re not careful, our trust issues with the culture will become trust issues with Jesus, and we won’t follow Jesus if we don’t trust Him.
Jesus asks Two Questions
Jesus asked the disciples two questions, and the first one is, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” “And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Then Jesus asks a second question, “But who do you say that I am?” Now these two questions that Jesus asks His disciples are two questions that you and I are going to have to answer.
Who or what does the culture say that Jesus is? It’s important for us to note who the culture says Jesus is right now, because we are in an anti Christian culture right now. If we aren’t careful, before we know it, as we’re scrolling through Instagram, TikTok, social media, talking to co-workers, watching the news; if we’re not careful what the culture believes about Jesus will bleed into our belief of who Jesus is.
Jesus continues, now that you have identified who the culture says I am, who do you say I am? And Jesus says to each one of us, “Who do you say that I am?” In this moment, Peter responds with this brilliant answer. He says to Jesus, “You are Christ, the Son of the living God.” “And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Peter’s likely feeling pretty good about his answer. But they continue on, now they’re heading towards Jerusalem. Jesus is heading, in just a few days, to the cross. “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Peter, fueled by the last great answer, pulls Jesus aside and quietly says to him, “Oh Lord, this doesn’t have to happen to you. You don’t have to go to the cross, because what we’re seeing right now is amazing. People are being healed everywhere. The dead are coming to life. Blind eyes are being opened. The lame are walking. Oh, Jesus, we’ve never seen crowds like this before. They’re following you, and the teaching you’re giving is so inspiring, you don’t have to end this beautiful moment by going to the cross.” “But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Jesus is not calling Peter Satan. What Jesus is calling a lie from the enemy is this thing that Peter just said, “Jesus you don’t have to go to the cross.” He had just said to Peter, you have a rock-solid revelation from God that I am the Messiah, the Son of the living God. But now the revelation you have is a stumbling block revelation from satan. You’ve gone from a rock-solid revelation of who I am to a stumbling block revelation of who I am. I can do that very quickly. I’m like, “He’s the Messiah.” and then I’m like, “Oh, you’re not doing it the way I think you should.”
I want to ask, “Have you felt like you’ve been stumbling around lately? The last few days, weeks, months, years? Could it be that because of circumstances, experiences, the culture, that you haven’t been following the real Jesus? Is it possible that even unknowingly, because of unconscious bias, you’ve not been following the real Jesus who is a rock and absolutely trustworthy?
How does Jesus respond to us?
- Read John 18:15-18, 25-27 and John 21:15-19 to see how Jesus responded to Peter’s denial.
- Read John 20:24-31 to see how Jesus responded to Thomas’s unbelief.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” Psalm 139:23-24 ESV
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 ESV
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