Peter thinks he got it right
Luke 9:18–22 “[Jesus] asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’ And they answered, ‘John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.’ Then he said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ And Peter answered, ‘The Christ of God’ ” (vv. 18–20).
From the beginning of Luke’s gospel, it has been clear that Jesus is the Son of God and the promised Son of David sent to rule perfectly over the nations. Luke 1:26–38, for example, records the core truths about Jesus’ identity that the angel Gabriel spoke to Mary. But the disciples of Jesus did not hear these words of Gabriel; instead, they came to understand who Jesus is over time as they took part in His ministry. Today’s passage tells us about a key moment during Jesus’ earthly ministry when the disciples, through Peter, revealed who they understood Jesus to be.
Luke gives his account of Peter’s confession right after Jesus’ miracle of feeding the five thousand. In so doing, commentators suggest Luke is making the essential theological point that Jesus’ miracles demonstrate the fullness of His messianic vocation in providing for all His people’s needs. In other words, He came not only to save us from His enemies but also to give us abundant life (see John 10:10).
We see in Luke 9:18–20 that the disciples gave their conception of Jesus’ identity after Jesus asked them two questions. First, He asked who the crowds said that He was. Having interacted with the crowds who came to hear and see Jesus’ ministry, the disciples indicated that the masses believed Jesus to be a prophet. While that belief was true enough since prophets bring messages from God and Jesus gives us the words of the Father (see John 12:44–50), the crowds’ view was incomplete, as seen in the second question of Jesus that probed the disciples’ own view of Him. Simon Peter said Jesus is “the Christ of God” (Luke 9:20). The title “Christ” means “anointed one,” and it signifies Peter’s understanding that Jesus is the promised Davidic King, anointed by God to rule over His people in justice forever (see Isa. 9:1–7).
Jesus agreed with Peter’s assessment (see Matt. 16:17). Yet He charged the disciples not to tell this truth to others (Luke 9:21). Why? Luke 9:22 gives us an important clue. Luke has arranged his material to show that Jesus’ messianic vocation brings abundant life, but this life comes only through Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. At that point, few Jews were ready to understand that truth—not even Peter (see Matt. 16:21–23)—for they expected a military conqueror to free them from Roman oppression. Until the resurrection demonstrated the whole truth about the messianic vocation, Jesus wanted only a few people to know He was the Messiah.
In Jesus’ day, many people had a false understanding of who our Lord is, thinking Him to be a mere prophet. In our day, people continue to have wrong views of Jesus, seeing Him no differently from any other religious figure. Only the Holy Spirit can convince us of the truth of who Jesus is, as He did to Peter (Matt. 16:16–17). He does this in His sovereign timing and through His Word, so we must be concerned about teaching Scripture rightly.
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