Who Do You Say That I Am?

A Reflection on Gospel of Luke 9:18–22

Over the last month we have been addressing “Who is Jesus” in our morning worship sermons. This is adapted from a sermon on Luke 9:18-22.

Luke chapter 9 brings us to one of the most important moments in the Gospel. After chapters of teaching, healing, miracles, and growing crowds, Jesus presses His disciples with a question that gathers everything that has come before it: Who is this man?

For eight chapters Luke has shown us Jesus preaching the kingdom of God, casting out demons, healing diseases, feeding multitudes, and exercising authority over nature itself. Each scene has quietly demanded an answer. Now the question is asked directly.

Jesus first asks what others are saying about Him. The answers are revealing. Some think He is John the Baptist, raised from the dead. Others suggest Elijah, whose return was promised before the day of the Lord. Still others believe He must be one of the great prophets of Israel.

None of these answers are hostile. The crowds recognize that Jesus is extraordinary. They sense that God is at work through Him. Yet every answer falls short.

Then Jesus turns the question toward His disciples: “But who do you say that I am?”

Who Jesus Is

The first question—Who do the crowds say that I am?—matters, but only as preparation. It exposes how easy it is to admire Jesus while misunderstanding Him. The crowds were close to the truth, but not close enough.

The same dynamic exists today. Many are willing to speak well of Jesus. Some treat Him as a moral teacher with helpful insights. Others see Him as a spiritual figure worth respecting. Still others reduce Him to a cultural symbol or religious example.

But speculation does not save. Admiration does not reconcile sinners to God.

Christian faith is personal. It must be confessed. It must be owned.

That is why Jesus asks the second question: Who do you say that I am?

Not theoretically. Not academically. Personally.

Who do you say Jesus is when sorrow presses in?
Who do you believe Him to be when sin accuses you?
Who do you trust Him to be when your children wander or fear takes hold?
Who do you confess Him to be when the culture says something entirely different?

Peter answers on behalf of the disciples: “The Christ of God.”

This word Christ is not a name but a title. It means “the Anointed One.” It gathers up the entire story of the Old Testament—God’s promises after the fall, His covenant faithfulness, His repeated assurances that a Savior would come.

From Adam onward, God promised that sin and death would not have the final word. Prophets, priests, and kings were raised up to point forward to that promise, but none of them could accomplish what was needed. They revealed the need for a greater Savior.

When Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ, he is declaring that the waiting is over. God has kept His word. The Savior has come.

That confession presses two responses upon us.

First, we are called to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith cannot be borrowed or inherited. It must be personal. We must lay aside secondhand opinions and come to Christ ourselves: trusting Him, receiving Him, resting in Him.

Second, Peter’s confession calls us to courageous faith. J. C. Ryle once noted that although Peter was often unstable and painfully aware of his own weakness, he possessed a rare boldness, a willingness to stand with Christ even when many did not. We need Christians of that sort.

Parents need this conviction when faithfulness feels exhausting or counter-cultural. Children need it when peers walk a different path. Church officers need it when clarity and courage are required. Men need it for sacrificial, Christlike leadership. Women need it for steadfast faith and wisdom in a confused world.

May we all share this resolve: Jesus is the Christ, our Savior and King—and we will cleave to Him.

What He Came to Do

Peter’s confession feels like a natural climax. But Jesus immediately moves in an unexpected direction. As soon as His identity is confessed, He begins speaking of suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection. Why?

Because the title Messiah was easily misunderstood. Many expected political deliverance. Others anticipated national glory. Even the disciples were tempted to imagine a Christ who would reign without suffering. Jesus corrects that misunderstanding immediately.

“The Son of Man must suffer,” He says. He must be rejected. He must be killed. And He must rise.

Centuries earlier, Isaiah had foretold a Servant who would be oppressed and afflicted, silent before His accusers, cut off from the land of the living for the transgressions of God’s people. The Messiah would save not by conquering Rome, but by bearing sin.

The shock for the disciples is understandable. Standing before them was the Christ of God and He spoke openly of His death. Yet His death was not the death of a helpless victim. It was the willing sacrifice of the Son of God. The only way to heal humanity’s rebellion was for God Himself to take its punishment upon Himself. “He was pierced for our transgressions… and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

But Jesus did not come only to die. He came to rise. His resurrection confirms that His sacrifice was accepted and that death itself has been defeated. As the apostle Paul makes clear, if Christ has not been raised, faith is empty. But Christ has been raised—and in Him there is life.

The Question That Remains

When Peter confessed, “You are the Christ of God,” he corrected the misunderstanding of the crowds. Jesus is not merely another prophet. He is not simply a teacher to admire. He is God’s promised Savior, sent into the world to redeem sinners.

The Christ did not come to gather admirers or meet human expectations. He came to suffer in your place, to be rejected for your rebellion, to be killed for your guilt, and to rise for your justification. This is the heart of the gospel.

And this is the question that remains for every reader: Who do you say that Jesus is?

What matters is this: Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ of God? Do you trust Him? Do you rest your hope on His suffering, His death, and His resurrection? Wherever you find yourself… confident or doubting, near or far… make Peter’s confession your own: “Jesus, You are the Christ of God.”