Luke 9:1-22 Who is Jesus? (Part 2)

Who Jesus Is: The Most Important Question

Well, today we're going to address the most important question in all the world. What's the most important question that could ever be asked? Of course, I did what any self-respecting pastor would do is I asked Google that question.

What did pastors do before Google? I guess they had to read illustration books. The most important question in life. And one responded with 21 most important questions, including, am I happy? Am I grateful?

Do I like my job? Do I feel good? Do I spend enough time on my education? How meaningful is my work? What can I get better at? I mean, Voltaire said, judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.

I don't think those are the good questions to ask. What's the most important question in all the world? Found some other websites. Maybe they're a little better. What are my values? Am I living my values?

Looking back over the last five years, where did I go right? Where did I go wrong? How can I take better care of myself? How am I improving the lives of others? For what must I forgive myself? What is worth smiling about right now at this precise moment in time?

As you know, dear congregation, the most important question, because it has eternal ramifications, is who do you say Jesus is, right? Who is Jesus? Because sin is real, death is real, hell is real, God is real, and we need to make sure that we stand before God on that day, blameless, clothed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus, completely forgiven.

The most important question of all time is who do you say Jesus is? And in light of that, let's take our Bibles and turn to Luke chapter nine, because that's really the question we're going to address today after we finish off the last section.

I mean, we might be able to argue mode of baptism, believers, infant. We might argue eschatology, pre-mill, ah-mill, post-mill, pro-mill, are you for the millennium to be pro-mill? It'll all pan out, you know, you've heard all those jokes.

We might argue ecclesiology, who's really in control of the church? Of course, the Lord Jesus, but is it Episcopalian, is it elder, is it congregational, is it a hybrid? We might argue some of those things.

We might argue a lot of things about Christianity, but you need to know who Jesus is so that you can trust in him, the only God-man, the only sin-bearer, the only one that can save you from your sins.

Who is Jesus? By the way, parents, this is a great question to not only ask your children once, but all the time, over and over. What do you know about Jesus? Tell me about Jesus. And then to use those possessive pronouns, or those, what in grammar is called the weak possessive pronoun, he's my savior, he's my Lord, I'm trusting him.

Not only who Jesus is, but are you believing him, are you trusting in him for eternal life? And that's really what Luke is all about. Luke wants you to know who Jesus is. And over and over and over, people have been learning about Jesus.

The angel knew about Jesus, and then therefore Mary did. Demons know about Jesus, we've seen that in Luke 8. Some of the people aren't so sure who Jesus is, and the disciples have been given a view of Jesus that keeps getting sharper and sharper, coming more and more into focus.

Jesus as the One Who Sends, Gives, and Calls

And so today, we're going to look at Luke chapter one, we'll kind of review the first couple sections, verses one to six, and seven to nine, focus on the feeding of the 5 ,000, and then we'll ask that question that Jesus asks Peter, who do you say that Jesus is?

So that's where we're going today, that's the roadmap, Luke chapter one, verses one through about 22 or so with some review. Remember last week, we were looking at three events, three actions that revealed who Jesus was.

For God, he reveals himself by what he says, and also by what he does. And so there were some things that were going on that were revealing who Jesus was. So let's pick that up again for a quick review, Luke chapter nine, verses one through six, the first event that reveals who Jesus is, of course, the God of the Old Testament, the only God, is the sending.

Remember the sending? Remember in the Old Testament, who sends? Remember who sends Abraham, who sends Israel? Remember in the Old Testament, who gives Israel promises and blessings and privileges? Do you remember in the Old Testament, who gives Abraham promises and blessing and privileges?

Do you remember in the Old Testament, who calls out of Egypt, who calls out of the land of Ur? It is God, and so we'll see that very thing here. This sounds like Yahweh to me. When I read Luke six, that's nine, chapter one through six, verse one, and he, Jesus called the 12 together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

So you see it right there. Jesus calls, just like God of the Old Testament calls. Oh, Jesus is God, Jesus is Yahweh. He gave, just like the Old Testament shows God giving. Jesus is God, Jesus is Yahweh, and he sent, verse two, just like God in the Old Testament sends.

Jesus is God, Jesus is Yahweh, and he sends them out to proclaim. Kind of a mini sneak peek of the Great Commission, where the truths of the resurrected Jesus will be proclaimed. Side note, was Judas one of the 12?

Did Judas preach the real gospel? Did Judas perform miracles? You bet he did. So close, yet so far. Down to verse six, and they departed and went through the villages, they're obedient, and they do exactly what Jesus told them to do, preaching the gospel, here's the good news about who Jesus is, and healing everywhere.

How to deal with the sin problem in your own life and how to deal with the sin problem that's affected your life. That is to say you can have forgiveness for all your sins that you've ever committed, and you can have bodily healing for the sin of Adam that has affected you, as sin has affected creation and as sin has affected everyone.

And off they go, and they begin to preach. Mark says, and they told men that they should repent, that they should think rightly about sin, rightly about the Savior. When I look at this section, I'm reminded just for emphasis sake, it is God in the Old Testament who sends, gives, and calls, and we see Jesus do that.

We saw last week that it is the order of preaching and then healing. Beware of ministries that conflate that or mess that up. It is always preaching, then healing. Second event we saw in verses seven through nine.

The second historical event that reveals the sending, and here's the asking. Asking the right question about Jesus. Even Herod did that. He's puzzled, it says in verses seven through nine. Now Herod the Tetrarch heard about all that was happening.

They say there was about 204 small villages around Galilee, and so he's heard of what's going on there because the 12 disciples have been preaching and healing, and he gets word of that. And he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead.

By some, Elijah had appeared, and by others, that one of the prophets of old had arisen. Herod said, John, I beheaded, but who is this? He's asking, we should be asking, Luke wants you to ask, who is this about whom I hear such things?

And he sought to see him. Herod knew that the scriptures talked about in the end times, Elijah would come, the forerunner. It's gonna be the end, and it's gonna be the end, therefore, of his kingdom, and he wants to know what's going on.

The Feeding of the Five Thousand as a Sign of Jesus' Identity

And now we come to the feeding, the third historical event that we started last week, the sending, the asking, and now the feeding. Jesus, the greater Moses, feeds the 5 ,000 men. And remember, last week, it was juxtaposed in Mark.

Herod's having a great feast, and he kills John the Baptist. What kind of feast are we going to have in the wilderness? Verse 10, on their return, the apostles told him all that they had done, and he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida by the Sea of Galilee.

When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing. They get back, and then they have a little debrief.

We did that years ago, and we went to all the places, the houses in West Boston, and knocked on the door and asked them if they wanted to come to a Christmas concert and gave them a Jesus video, and then we met back here, and we all told stories about when people received our message or when they rejected our message, and it was just a time of praise.

And I just imagine, if I was given the power to proclaim the gospel and to heal, and then I went and did it, and I'm back now telling Jesus, and then this happened, then that happened, that would have been a wonderful place to be a fly on the wall.

They needed some rest. They needed some retirement, as it were. An old preacher, Vance Havner, said, if you don't come apart and rest, you will come apart. And so that old slogan, weary in the work but not weary of it, it's time to get some rest.

But there's all these people, and Jesus kindly welcomes them. That's what it says in verse 11. Mark says the disciples and Jesus didn't even have any time to eat. They go to rest, they have a little download session, but they can't even eat.

But they'll deal with the people because Jesus loves people. He's compassionate. He sees they're like sheep without a shepherd. I read it this week, and I thought, it's so, so true. If you ever want to get to know who Jesus is, have a meal with him.

That's a good way to get to know people. Not kind of the fast food meal or anything, but just sit down and have a meal with somebody. You really get to know them. Even in Luke 24, after Jesus was resurrected, they drew near to a village in which they were going.

He acted as if they were going farther, but they urged him strongly, stay with us. It's evening, and the day is far spent. So he went in to stay with them, and when he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to them.

Their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And so now we're going to have a meal with Jesus. There's going to be a meal here with the Lord Jesus out in the middle of nowhere. Jesus is teaching them, Mark says.

He's healing them, not sending the crowd away. The day is ending. It's getting dark. What will happen next? Verse 13, he said to them, you give them something to eat. We have no more than five loaves and two fish unless we're to go and buy food for all these people.

Mark 6, twice it says, it was late.

It was late.

I mean, I live in Lancaster, Massachusetts. If you want to get something to eat after 9 PM, it is impossible unless you want to go to Cumbie's and get some kind of who knows what, tabletop pie or something, a slushie.

How's this for a meal, have a slushie? This is completely irrelevant to anything, but whenever I used to travel and I had little kids in the house, I got tired of buying them. You go to Cleveland, you buy them a Cleveland Brown sweatshirt or whatever, and I have to go shopping for the kids.

So I just changed it all. When dad gets home, we go to Cumbie's for a slushie. That's our big deal. And so they're like, $0 .59 slushies. Times four, that's pretty cheap. Stomach's growling. Jesus has compassion.

There's no food. And he says to them, John, it says he's testing Philip and the men. You give them something to eat. Based on everything they know about Jesus in the past, that's not only in Gospel of Jesus according to Luke, but in John, and the wedding at Canaan, and that wine, and all the healing, all the sicknesses, all the diseases, the demons all taken care of.

You give them something to eat. I mean, if I heard Jesus say that, and I saw 5 ,000 men, Matthew says, and there were men and women there too, and children. So 20 ,000 people, that's a lot of people. Just imagine a stadium.

Imagine going to, well, Holy Cross Stadium, football.

Stadium.

I don't think that fits 20 ,000 people. 5 ,000, 7 ,000, you feed all those people. I mean, maybe Jesus is joking. Maybe this is too much even for Jesus. Five loaves and two fish, tiny little kind of biscuits almost, and a couple of little anchovies, this little snack.

Not much bread, not much fish, not much of a problem for the master. Not much bread, not much fish, not much of a problem for the master. Hey, hey, boys, I sent you to preach, and you did. I gave you the ability to cast out demons, and you did.

I gave you the ability to cure diseases, and you did. You give them something to eat. I've just given you a charge. I've given you power. I've called you. I've given you. I've sent you. You give them something to eat.

I mean, the men didn't even say, we have nothing, Lord, but we depend on you. And we lift our eyes to heaven. And we know Jesus has given us the power to take care of these people spiritually, now physically.

God, would you provide?

You provided in the Old Testament. Manna came down from heaven. Would you please bring down manna again? They're just like, we don't know what to do. Send them away. And of course, just like every other sin, what we see in other people as sin looks a lot worse than when we see it in ourself.

One writer said, it never entered their minds that Jesus might provide for the multitude with the miracle. God has resources we know nothing about, so we can trust him and be at peace, even when we can't figure out how he will provide.

I mean, we think about sins as what we don't do, excuse me, as what we do, versus what we don't do, trust him for everything. Verse 14, for there were about 5 ,000 men, and he said to his disciples, have them sit down in groups of about 50 each.

When Jesus said, go preach, they did. Okay, have them sit down in groups of 50. Kind of reminds me of some of the Old Testament. Sit down in groups of 100 and then 50, as Jethro told Moses. And they did so, and had them all sit down.

I just kept thinking, I was one of the 12. Okay, get everybody and put them in groups of 50. How do we know there are 5 ,000? Well, there's 100 groups of 50.

It was easy to count.

50 people lined up. Mark uses a word for put them in groups of 50, like in rows of vegetable plots, like you would arrange rows, like seed rows. Matter of fact, some people here are teachers, and I've taught some, and typically when I go into a class, they have lines, rows.

Literally, that's a seed plot. It's like how you would plant corn. You'd plant something else in seed plot. And by the way, for those of you that want to know this, the word seminary comes from seed plots.

Line them up in rows and teach them. Isn't that interesting? I thought it was interesting. That's not the highlight of the sermon, though. Go by faith, and we don't have any food yet. Set them down in groups of 50.

Line them up in rows, okay? And if you're a person who is hungry, being told by Peter or Judas, all right, everybody line up in rows and sit down.

Here we go.

5 ,000 men besides women and children. I love Jeremiah 32. Lord God, behold, you've made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. What's the next sentence?

Nothing is too difficult for you.

Nothing is too difficult for you. Remember, dear Christian, you start off with faith, and it's supplemented by reason. Reason is the instrument. Reason supports. Reason is perfected by faith. But we start off with faith, and then we move to reason.

We never start off with reason and work to faith. Here, it's faith first. Verse 16, and taking the five loaves and the two fish. I think the men should have done this, but now Jesus is doing it. He looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them.

He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples.

To set before the crowd.

He looks to heaven because that's where the help is coming from, asking the Father. Regularly, this happens with Jesus. Mark 7, looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, he said, be opened. John 11, they removed the stone, and Jesus raised his eyes and said, thank you, Father, for you have heard me when he raised Lazarus from the dead.

A typical prayer of thanksgiving for food for the Jewish person was, blessed are you, O Lord God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. And Mark says Jesus had that blessing and that he kept giving the bread to the disciples.

We're not told exactly what's going on, but it's an ongoing thing. He just keeps handing out bread, and instead of he hands, like if I were to hand out bread, if I had bread, I don't have bread, I have throat lozenges and water, but if I have bread and I hand out bread, then pretty soon I have no more bread, but it's just like, it just keeps multiplying in the hands of Jesus, and he keeps handing it out, handing it out, handing it out.

As the song says, little becomes much in the master's hand, right?

He's the God man.

He looks up to heaven, he says, Father, and he starts blessing. The Jews had thought, not in the Bible, but derived from the Bible, that when the Messiah comes, he's going to feed people with the bread from heaven like Moses did.

I think they're right. Verse 17, and they all ate and were satisfied, and what was left over was picked up, 12 baskets of broken pieces. One commentator said, no littering, so wrong. They all get to eat, and he reminds them with a little doggy bag, as it were, you're covered, I've got you, I provide for you, and you've got plenty left over.

Moses, Lord, I've got too many people to feed, too many soldiers, Numbers 11. God said to Moses, is the Lord's power limited? Now you will see whether my word will come true or not, and of course it did.

Elisha had to feed prophets. There are too many of them. His attendant said, what shall I set before 100 men? Elisha said, give them to the people that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, they shall eat and have some left over.

Wait a second, 5 ,000 men plus the women, 20 ,000 people, all eat, they're satisfied, and there's some left over. Sounds exactly like the God of the Old Testament. They all ate and were satisfied. You give them something to eat.

I hope you can hear in that, again, a little type, a little foretaste, a little echo of the great commission. Jesus fills every need. Psalm 37, I've been young and now I'm old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children, what?

Begging for bread. How did the people respond? Here's how the people responded in John 6. The people saw the sign that he'd performed, and they said, this is of a truth of the prophet who is to come into the world.

Therefore, Jesus, perceiving that they were intended to take him by force to make him a king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself alone. They didn't get it. They didn't get it that Jesus is the greater Moses providing for the people.

They didn't get it that Jesus is the true God. Oh, he's just a prophet. Three actions that reveal, and now here comes the question. As we focus in.

Peter’s Confession and Jesus’ Suffering Messiahship

Verse 18.

Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him, and he asked them, who do the crowds say that I am? My son Luke was just in town. I think he's 28 or 29 now. He said to his wife Hannah, when I was about ready to do something dumb, my dad would always say to me, think.

I thought, I forgot about that. That was a really good thing to say, think. Before we do anything dumb and think Jesus is just a miracle provider only, that he's just a prophet only, that he's just a good teacher only, he's just a really wise man only, he's one way of religious education only, before we do anything eternally dumb or stupid, we need to think.

Or I could say this, we need to focus. You know the word Latin for focus has to do with fire, has to do with the convergence of fire, where everything is just, when there's fire and you're sitting around a fire pit, everybody looks at the fire.

Here's the focus. We're coming to where we need to come to in Luke to understand who Jesus is. Everything's leading to this. It happened, he was praying alone, disciples with him. Who do the crowds say that I am?

By the way, if Jesus is ever praying, you should say to yourself, something exciting is going to happen. Something big is going to happen. I should be paying attention now. I should be focusing now. I should be thinking now.

Because when Jesus prays, it's before something important. Something big is going to happen. What is going to happen? Jesus is praying. You can see that in Luke over and over and over, chapter five, six, chapter 11, chapter 22.

When Jesus prays, you got to get ready. Who do people say that I am? What about these other people?

What do they say?

Verse 19, and they answered, John the Baptist. By the way, John the Baptist was good. Others say Elijah.

Elijah's good.

So far, no disrespect to Jesus. Not some kind of con man. He's a con man. He's this, he's that. He's a false prophet. So far, so good, allegedly. And others that one of the prophets of old has arisen.

Not negatively stated, but not all the way right. Not he's the Messiah. He's the son of God. He's the son of man. Oh, maybe John the Baptist, maybe Elijah, maybe some of these other people. I mean, yeah, he did some miracles.

We don't question those. There's no hostile views here. But the answers are inadequate. John the Baptist, great man, but he's not the sin bearer. Elijah, great man, but he's not the perfect one who obeys God's law.

One of the prophets, well, maybe Deuteronomy 18. Remember, Moses said there's gonna be a greater prophet than me, but not the ultimate prophet. Matthew adds, what, maybe he's Jeremiah. Because Jewish teaching was Isaiah and Jeremiah are gonna come back one day before the end and preach judgment, preach repentance.

Who do the crowds say that I am? I mean, if I ask the demons, they have the right answer. If I ask Jairus, he's got the right answer. If I ask the woman with the issue of blood, she's got the right answer.

And I said to myself, why won't people believe that Jesus is the eternal God? Why won't they believe that he's the only way? Some because they want the approval of man instead of the approval of God. Some because they don't wanna give up pet sins.

Some, they're blinded, and the list goes on. Verse 20, everything's driving to this. This is the question. I ask you this question as Jesus asked them this question. Then Jesus said to them, but who do you, that's plural, he's asking the whole group.

Who do you say that I am?

So I ask you.

We've got children sitting on the second row. Hey, Ferreras, who is Jesus? They're smiling, they're frowning. Now they're smiling. Boys, girls, moms, dad, grandparents, who is Jesus? This is the question.

Because you have to be trusting in him now. It's too late when you die to answer the question. You will answer the question now then because every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.

Who is Jesus? And it can be he's a good teacher, he's one of the prophets, he's a wonder worker, he's an amazing man, he's a great teacher, he's this, that, or the other. Sometimes you don't answer the question because we don't really realize how sinful we are.

And Peter answered, the Christ of God, the Christ of God.

That's the right answer.

The angel knew it. Mary knew it. Satan in Luke chapter four knew it. The leaders of Israel did not know it. The population of Israel was wondering. John 7, among the crowds, there was widespread whispering about him.

Some said, he's a good man. Others said, no, he deceives the people. Remember, the disciples were asking, who then is this that even the winds in the sea, what? Obey him.

They're asking the question. That's a good question.

Now it's time for the question to be answered. Is Jesus the Messiah that we want?

He feeds us.

Or is he the Messiah that God the Father sends? John six, the people saw the sign which he'd performed. They were trying to make him king by force.

As I read earlier.

This is the dividing line. The Christ of God. Who do you say, he says to the group, and Peter answers as the spokesman. Peter says, if I go all the way back to the Messiah in Genesis three, the Satan crusher, that's Jesus.

If I go all the way back to the Old Testament, all the promises of the Messiah, the anointed one, that's Jesus. If I go back to the little manger in Bethlehem, that's the God of the Old Testament. That's the God of the New Testament.

That's God.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but through Jesus. Matthew adds to Peter's words, you're the Christ, the son of the, what?

Living God.

And I love definite articles, but when I was growing up, I could care less about grammar. And speaking of seminary, one of the first classes you have to take in seminary is an English grammar test, because you need to know grammar.

Grammar's important. You know, if I were to say to you, you're saved because of faith, is that true or not? No, you're not saved because of faith. You're saved because of the Lord Jesus and what he did, but you receive it by faith or through faith.

Grammar's important. Here's the grammar in Matthew 16. You are the Christ, the son of the God, the living one. You particular and you only, definitely. So I say to you, can you say with Peter, I believe Jesus is the Messiah.

On God's definition of Messiah, on his terms, I believe that I'm sinful and I need a Messiah, and Jesus is the anointed one, the God of the universe. But you know, Peter needed a little help, and sometimes we do as well, verse 21.

Focus, Peter. Think, Peter. Peter, Jesus said, and he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one.

Why?

We typically think, well, because we don't want some kind of nationalistic, political ruler and kingdom, and Jesus is gonna then get killed before he's supposed to. That could be true. I'm not discounting it, but Peter needs to focus because his view of the Messiah isn't too bad, as we say in Nebraska, isn't too shabby, but it's not quite right.

It's not quite focused. Don't go running and telling people anymore until you get this fact. Here's the fact, verse 22. This Messiah is a suffering Messiah. Here's the focus. The son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.

Boys, you're not ready to say anything else until you realize that I'm a suffering Messiah. Your idea that I'm the Christ, the son of the living God is good. It's appropriate, but there's something more.

It's partial. It's incomplete, your confession. There needs to be something more. Suffering Messiah. And by the way, we'll get there next time. I'm such a suffering Messiah, verse 23, you're gonna die too.

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me for whoever would save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. When Jesus heals, here's a little excursus.

Hang in there with me. When Jesus heals, does he not do it instantaneously, organically and completely? That's why I know a lot of these false teachers that say they're healers aren't really healers because it's gold teeth and leg lengthening and all these other things.

Jesus heals organically, instantly and totally except for one time. What's the one time? It's the one time right in this discourse in Mark chapter eight where he heals a blind man and he can't quite see perfectly and he says, I see people but they look like what?

Trees.

And then he heals him completely. Do you know why that's happening? This is a backdrop for the disciples and here's the backdrop for the disciples. Do you know how you see that I'm the Christ, the son of the living God?

Yes, but you need to be a little bit more discerning and focusing and seeing and that is I'm the suffering savior. So what Jesus uses is a little illustration. Just like this man needed to be healed and he could kind of see and then he needed to go one step farther by the healing of Jesus, by the revelation of Jesus, you need to see who I am.

Killed, suffering, raised.

This is who I am.

I mean the Messiah who has to suffer, Messiah that gets killed, Messiah that three days later rises from the dead. We all get it but can you imagine Peter hearing that? So what does Peter say, Matthew says?

When Peter hears this, he's the one, Christ, the son of the living God. But wait, you have to come into more focus. Peter, you need to think and I'm gonna be the suffering servant. And what does Peter do?

He took him aside and began to rebuke Jesus and said, far be it from you, Lord, this shall never happen to you. Remember, in Matthew?

And what did Jesus say to Peter?

You're right, Peter, I went overboard.

What does he say to Peter? What does Jesus say to Peter?

Get behind me, what? Get thee behind me, Satan. Because Satan's view is, crown now, forget the cross. Glory now, forget the cross. This, by the way, is much of the world of evangelicalism. It's all glory now, it's not suffering now.

The way of Jesus, the way of the master, the way of Christian, biblical Christianity is, it is suffering, then the cross. Suffering, then glory. Suffering, then the cross and then the resurrection. Get behind me, Satan, you're a hindrance to me.

You're like a trap, I'm stepping in a trap. You're not setting your mind on the things of God but the things of man. Peter, just like Satan, who said when I was tempted in Luke chapter four, bypass all this stuff, just have glory now, who needs to suffer?

And next time when we're in the passage, that's the exact same thing for us. I'm sure they're processing it. Wait, Jesus is the Messiah, victorious. Hey, we're his followers, the victorious Messiah. We follow, victorious, ruling, reigning.

But wait a second, now Jesus is the victorious Messiah but first he has to suffer and be killed. And now Jesus is gonna talk about us suffering and us being killed. I don't quite see this, but it's the truth.

This is the way. Raised from the dead, the father says amen to the Jesus of the suffering servant way. I don't know if you like that song that goes like this.

I love it.

One day they led him up Calvary's mountain. One day they nailed him to die in a tree. Suffering, anguish, despised and rejected. Burying our sins, my redeemer is he. Hands that healed nations stretched out on a tree and took the nails for me.

Living he loved me, dying he saved me. Buried he carried my sins far away. Rising he justified freely forever. One day he's coming, oh glorious day. One day the grave could conceal him no longer. One day the stone rolled away from the door.

Then he rose over death he had conquered. Now is ascended my Lord evermore. Death could not hold him. The grave could not keep him from rising again.

I must suffer.

Look at verse 22 again. The son of man must. It's part of God's eternal plan.

Must suffer.

Jesus is the suffering Messiah. Jesus is the suffering servant. So I ask you again, who is Jesus? Who is Jesus? I'll take that answer. If they won't give the answer, you little one will give the answer.

But then it goes a little farther. It goes to personal pronouns and possessives. It's one thing Luther said to say Jesus is God. It's another thing to say he's my God. It's one thing to say Jesus forgives sinners.

It's another to say I completely trust that he's forgiven my sins. It's one thing to say he's the Lord of lords and it's another to say by the grace of God, I believe he's my Lord. It's one thing to tell your children, is Jesus virgin born?

Does he suffer?

Does he get killed? Does he rise again? It's another to say, and you ought to be trusting in him. Are you trusting in him? The most important question that can ever be asked is who is Jesus? And it's not as simple as some great prophet, even the Christ of the Son of God, unless it involves a death penalty substitution because Jesus has to die, why?

He didn't sin, the wages of sin is death, why would Jesus die? Because here everything's coming together. The substitutionary death of Jesus. We've committed sin and we're underneath the penalty of sin.