The Faith Walk

Jonathan Evans: Who is this Jesus? was the question that was on the table. Not only was he healing, not only was he doing all of those spectacular miracles, but he was also teaching as one with authority in the synagogue. Who is this guy? Even the disciples said, "Who is this that even the wind and the seas obey him at his command?" Who is this?

So he asked his disciples, "What is the word around town about me?" Now, I hope you understand that that question back then is still that question today. I hope you understand that he was the topic back then and he’s the headline now. Whether people believe in him, they don't believe in him, they reject him, they scold you for believing in him, whatever the case, it's about him that all things are happening.

Guest (Male): You're listening to the Faith Walk with Jonathan Evans. In a moment, Jonathan will continue today’s message. But first, I want to briefly let you know that this week we have two gifts for you to thank you for your support of this ministry.

The first is the audio series called Discipleship for Everyday, equipping you to live out your faith with authenticity and impact every day. And the second gift is the book Your Time is Now. In this book, you’ll understand that God has a purpose for you, even if you think you’re not ready to make a difference.

Later in today's program, I'll give you more details about these special gifts. Or you can visit tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222. Right now, let’s get started with Jonathan’s message.

Matthew chapter 16, verses 13 through 19. "Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he was asking his disciples, 'Who do people say that the Son of Man is?' And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist and others Elijah, but still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'

He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.'" May God add a blessing to the reading, hearing, and most importantly, the application of his word.

Jonathan Evans: There was an important question that was asked by Jesus. Jesus looked at his disciples, he looked at the people who he was in relationship with, he looked at the people who were in church today. And he said, "What is the word around town about me? What are they saying about me?"

Because you’ve got to understand, Jesus was doing a lot of things that would spark the question. I mean, he was healing and giving sight and healing paralytics. They were bringing people from far away to get to Jesus so that they could experience the power of Jesus. And when people were seeing this, they were saying, "Man, who is this guy? Who is this Jesus?"

That was the question that was on the table. Not only was he healing, not only was he doing all of those spectacular miracles, but he was also teaching as one with authority in the synagogue. Mark chapter 1:22 says they marveled at how he would teach with authority. John chapter 7, verse 15 talks about how he teaches with all this knowledge and he hasn’t had any formal education.

They kept asking the question, "Who is this guy?" Even the disciples said, "Who is this that even the wind and the seas obey him at his command? Who is this?" So he asked his disciples, "What is the word around town about me?" Now, I hope you understand that that question back then is still that question today.

I hope you understand that he was the topic back then and he’s the headline now. Whether people believe in him, they don't believe in him, they reject him, they scold you for believing in him, whatever the case, it's about him that all things are happening. If you say God, won't nobody start tripping. But if you say Jesus, people's antennas go up.

Because it's still he's the headline. Think about it. After over 2,000 years, people are still talking about Jesus. I know superstars and famous people that died two years ago and nobody's talking about them. But Jesus, over 2,000 years. My dad used to tell me he never went more than 100 miles from the place of his birth, but there's no place on planet earth you can go where they don't know his name.

He's never written a song, but there are more songs written about Jesus than anybody who's ever lived. He never wrote a book, but the book written about him is the bestseller of all time continuously. So just like it was back then, it is today, 2,000-plus years later. There must be something about the name Jesus.

And so he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" Since I know they're talking about me. And so his disciples gave the answer. They said, "Well, some say you're John the Baptist." Well, that's nice. John the Baptist was that dude. Matthew 3: "Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

John the Baptist, they talked about him in Isaiah, that he would make the way of the Lord and cry out in the wilderness. There are prophecies about John the Baptist. John the Baptist is great. But that's wrong. That’s a nice comment, but it's a wrong comment. They said, "Well, maybe he's one of the prophets, Elijah or Jeremiah or one of those guys."

I mean, that's nice, but it ain't right. I hope you understand that there are a lot of people who say nice things about him that are not right about him. And just because it's nice doesn't mean it's not simultaneously offensive. I had a friend walk up to a couple, a young couple. They had a stroller, they had their first newborn baby, only a couple of weeks old.

They walked up to them and said, "Oh, look at that little girl. She's so sweet." They looked at each other and said, "It's a boy." I said, "Oh, that's nice, but it's kind of offensive." I'll give you one better. I don't know if I'm going to get in trouble for this or not, but I'll try it.

Another person walked up to a young lady and said, "Man, you just look so good pregnant." And I was like this, smiling, and then she went like this. And I said I got up out of there. She said, "I'm not." I mean, it was a good intention, but because it was wrong, it was offensive. These people had good intentions, but they were totally wrong and offensive.

John the Baptist knew who Jesus was. Because in John chapter 1:29 he says, "Look, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." John the Baptist knew who he was. He said, "Look, there's one who surpasses me because he existed before me." John the Baptist was clear on who he was: "I baptize you with water, but here comes one that baptizes you in the spirit."

John the Baptist was clear, but the community was confused. The sad reality today is that people in the church are just as confused as people who aren't in it. They don't really know who Jesus is. They know that he's spectacular, they give him credit, they give him honor, but at the same time, if someone were to ask you who Jesus is, you wouldn't be able to tell them about your own faith.

He says, "What is the word around town about me?" Now, you’ve got to understand the belief back then that was wrong is still a common belief today. That's why we need to know who he is. That's why we need to be disciples who can stand on the rock of our understanding of Jesus Christ in our faith, because the world outside is wrong.

They think it's us, but we ought to know better. Let me show you. If you don't know this, you’re too churched. If you're shocked by people speaking wrong about Jesus, you're in here, but you ain't getting out there. Somebody asked me about Jesus being God. So I just made a little statement on Instagram.

And I must have got 5,000 comments on Instagram about this statement of people laughing and saying how wrong I am about Jesus. We live in a society today who knows about Jesus, but doesn't know Jesus. Unfortunately, we live in churches today that know about Jesus and have respect and even will give him credit, but they don't know who he is.

And so he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" Because you’ve got to understand, people will be nice and offensive and you might miss it. See, if you don't know who he is, you'll end up in a cult. Because the word around town about Jesus is favorable, but it's not faithful.

The word around town about Jesus is okay, but it's not right. You can be right and totally offensive. And so he moved to his disciples and he said, "But what do you say about me?" I heard what they said, but I want to know who you say that I am. In other words, he uses the term "but." "But" is a contrast conjunction.

Means what you say and what they say should not be the same thing. You should not agree with them. The fact that they think wrong shouldn't be that you think wrong. There should be a difference between the world and the church. There should be a difference between what they say and what we say. There should be a difference between how they live and how we live.

We should not be going for sameness with the people who don't even know who he is. So he says, "But what do you believe about me?" Now, this is interesting because this is kind of a setup. Jesus knew when he asked the first question, he was going to ask the second question. "What are the people around the way say about me?" Well, they say this, that, and the other. "Uh-huh. What do you say?"

Now, I had a friend in small group who got set up. Ladies, I'm only going to say this from a man's perspective. You’ve got to be patient. He was in my small group and we were talking. We split up back in the day when we did the small group, we split up men and women. We were all married, but we split up men and women.

So we were talking accountability and he was talking about him and his wife and they were doing all that and we were just being accountable to one another. We all knew each other very well. And so when he got back to his wife, his wife was like, "I know y'all was talking and doing all that. What did they say about me?"

Now, fellas, we’ve got to understand that some of these questions are leading. There's a follow-up. And he said, "Well, you know, they was just saying this and that. I said this about you, they said that about you, you know, whoop-de-whoop-de-woo." So she was smiling, listening to what they said about her.

And then he turned and looked back to her and her face was set. And he was like, "What?" She said, "Oh, okay. What did you say about me?" All of a sudden he started stuttering. "I don't know. I was just there. I didn't say nothing." Oh, because once you say that, there's another follow-up: "Why you ain't say nothing?"

I was just watching it like let me learn from this situation because I'm not trying to get that. He did the same thing to his disciples. He said, "What's the word around town about me? Let me go ahead and get that. Okay. But most importantly, since we're in relationship and you're a disciple, what do you say about me?"

And hopefully we're not stuttering. Hopefully we're not still trying to figure it out. Because you can't follow someone you're still thinking about. You can't follow someone you're still guessing about. You can't follow someone that you're still intellectualizing, pontificating, conjecturing, whatever you're doing. If you're still doing that, you can't simultaneously be a disciple.

Disciples are clear and definitive on who he is. He says, "So, what do you say about me?" Now, if there's anybody in here who’s still on the edge or you're still a little confused, I'm going to take a moment just to tell you who he is. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one gets to the Father except through him.

He is the first and he is the last. Colossians 1 says he is the creator of all things. Colossians 2 says full deity in bodily form. Philippians 2 says God emptied himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, being made in the likeness of man. I'm telling you, he was at the beginning, from the beginning, before the beginning.

He is the mediator between God and man. He is the one. Even in John chapter 14, Philip, one of his disciples, was still trying to figure it out. And he said, "Jesus, when are you going to show us the Father?" And Jesus looked back at Philip and said, "You ain't been with me long enough? When you have seen me, you have seen the Father."

The Pharisees were confused. In John 8, Jesus said, "Abraham is glad to see my day." And the Pharisees said, "What are you talking about? You’re but 50 years old. How are you going to talk about Abraham?" And Jesus looked back at them and said, "Before Abraham, I am." He is saying two things. He's letting you know "I pre-existed Abraham."

And he’s also saying, "I am." That is the name for God used in Exodus 3 when he was talking to Moses and he told Moses, "Tell them the I AM that I AM sent you." And then they picked up stones to stone him. Why do you think they were trying to kill him? They were trying to kill him because they viewed it as blasphemy.

And people were saying on my Instagram, "Jesus never claimed to be God." Read it again. Even in the prophets, Isaiah 9:6 says, "A child will be born and a son given, and the government will rest on his shoulders, and you will call him Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." That's who he is.

And that was 700 years before his birth. Micah 5:2, 500 years before his birth says, "He will be born in Bethlehem and he comes from ancient times." He is your Savior. He is your Deliverer. He is your Redeemer. He is all in all. When you're praying, he's the one who's listening. When you're lost, he's the one who finds you.

When you're divisive, he's the one who brings unity. When you stumble, he's the one who stands you up. Like, he is everything. He is the every in everything. He's all in all. So if you're at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship and you're claiming to be a disciple, you stand on who he is and you say what Peter said in Matthew 16:16.

Peter answered the question and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Now, Peter stepped up. Because when he said, "But who do you say that I am?" the "you" there is plural. He was talking to the group. He basically said, "Who do y'all say that I am?" Peter said, "Let me handle this one. You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Forget about what everybody else is saying. I know exactly who you are. So let me just make this clear once and for all at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship. What we believe about Jesus is exactly what Peter said about Jesus: that he is the Christ, the Son of the living God, period. We're not still thinking about it. We're not still trying to figure it out.

We're not still guessing about it. We're not still unsure about it. We know exactly who he is and we’re not ashamed of the gospel. We’re not ashamed of Jesus Christ. This is our faith. He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, period. So we have, they may be still flying, we landed the plane on that thing.

It's important because as Christ, see, Peter covers the gamut in a few words. As Christ, he's the Messiah, the Deliverer, the Savior, the Anointed One. The Anointed One from Psalms chapter 2. When it first brings up Christ as the Anointed One in scripture is back in Psalms chapter 2. And it says, "He is my son. I have begotten him," in Psalms chapter 2.

And he has the whole earth as his inheritance. And he's going to break them with a rod of iron and shatter them like earthenware. It's going back to when he says, "You are the Christ." He's going all the way back to the Anointed One in the Old Testament who the Old Testament spoke of. This is not just a prophet. This is the prophecies from the prophets.

But then he says, "You are the Son of God, the Son of the living God." So he doesn't just bring in his Messiahship or his being the Anointed One. He says, "Oh, you're deity in bodily form." Pulls in the whole faith. And many people understand why that's important. Well, it's important because as Christ he delivers you. As God he owns you.

Some people want to get in on the Christ part and leave out the God part. No. If you're a disciple of Jesus Christ, you're going to be unleashed, you’ve got to have that whole thing. I'm saved and ready to be unleashed at your beckoning will, at whatever you say. I am your servant and you are my God.

People have to understand that God's son here is also God the Son here. Oh, y'all missed that. I had somebody on my social media that said, "Well, how can he be God's son and God? That don't make sense." Well, I understand the logic. Sometimes it won't make sense. You’ve got to understand that God is God.

There's something called the incomprehensibility of God. You're finite. You can't make sense of everything that God is. But he's God the Son. God the Son is the second member of the Trinity. God is one God who is simultaneously three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

So you’ve got to understand that when Genesis 1:26 says, "Let us make man in our image," who's "us" and "our"? If Matthew 28 says, "Baptize them in the name (singular) of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit," that's bad grammar unless it's a singular plural. That is who he is.

If I was holding up a pretzel, you'd only see one pretzel, but you would at the same time see three individual holes. One hole’s not that hole, this hole’s not that hole, that hole’s not that. There are three individual holes, but you're only looking at one pretzel because they're all connected by the same dough. The reason why that was so good is because that was from Tony Evans.

Guest (Male): That was Jonathan Evans. Before you go today, I want to remind you that we have a couple of gifts for you: Jonathan's book called Your Time is Now and his six-part audio series Discipleship for Everyday. You may think you're not ready to make a difference in God's kingdom, or that you're too young for others to take seriously.

But that's not what God thinks. The book Your Time is Now by Jonathan is our gift to you as a thanks for your donation to help support the ministry of the Alternative. And along with the book is Jonathan's six-part audio series Discipleship for Everyday. This six-part collection goes beyond routine religion, equipping you to live out your faith with authenticity and impact every day.

It's designed to help you grow as a disciple and inspire others to do the same, leading to stronger families, more vibrant churches, and communities transformed by the gospel. Both are a gift to you to thank you for your donation to help support the ministry of the Alternative.

It's our way of showing appreciation for the continued support of listeners like you who make this program possible. Get all the details online at tonyevans.org. Again, that’s tonyevans.org. Or you can call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members help you.

That’s 1-800-800-3222. Find your way out of distractions and into God's purpose for your life. Thank you for listening to The Faith Walk with Jonathan Evans. The Faith Walk is produced as a part of the Urban Alternative, a ministry of Dr. Tony Evans.