We have here a private conference, which Christ had with His disciples concerning Himself. It was in the coasts of Cesarea Philippi, the utmost borders of the land of Canaan northward; there in that remote corner, perhaps, there was less flocking after Him than in other places, which gave Him leisure for this private conversation with His disciples. Jesus has been training the disciples and He wanted to deal with a new revelation of His identity and mission.

In the days Jesus walked in the flesh, the question was being asked by everyone, "Who is Jesus?" This one called Jesus was the hot topic of the day. The City of Jerusalem was asking, "Who is this Jesus?" The Pharisees and religious establishment of the day was asking who this Jesus was. In Luke 5:21 the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this that speaks blasphemies?" "Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

Jesus identified Himself as the Son of Man. The people answered Him in John 12:34 "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever, and how can you say, "The Son of Man must be lifted up?" "Who is this Son of Man?" The most important truth a man can learn is "Who is Jesus Christ!"

Jesus had begun the questioning with who others thought He was. He was some said, John the Baptist alive from the dead. Some thought Elijah had reappeared. Others thought He was like Jeremiah or another O.T. prophet. All these are false opinions of who Jesus is. Jesus affirms Peter’s confession of who Jesus is. Jesus affirms Peter’s confession of who He is. Peter’s answer is short, but it is full and true, and to the purpose. "Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God." Here is a confession of the Christian faith, addressed to Christ, the Son of the Living God, and so made an act of devotion. Here is a confession of the true God as the Living God.

Peter was now seeing Jesus, as John the Baptist had seen Him when John said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." In Vs. 17 Jesus confirmed Peter’s answer to the question that only God can reveal in the hearts of men and women who Jesus really is. Popular opinion can never do when it comes to deciding who Jesus is.

"Who is this Jesus?" Today people by the scores are finding the real Jesus by looking to the Scriptures. Wherever you go you will find people who will tell you: "Jesus is true and alive." They know because they are speaking from experience.

We sing "Follow, Follow! I will follow Jesus! Anywhere, Everywhere, I will follow on!" In the believers heart it is not a question of following Jesus. The real question is which Jesus are you going to follow? Some of you may have gone with Sam to see "Godspel" where Jesus as a teenager was portrayed as a "Clown" in the musical. In the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" Jesus is portrayed as a long hair hippie with the grudged look about Him. It’s enough to make a person say "Will the real Jesus please stand up?’ Who is this Jesus we say we will follow? Rev. 1:8 says "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." To the homeless He is the reason for living—the "Very Center of Life."

To the weak He is the Almighty God Who supplies your every need. To the hungry He said in John 6:35 "I am the Bread of Life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst." "To those who feel they can’t be saved or helped He is the Captain of Salvation. To those who can’t escape the Jaws of Death He is the Deliverer. Give yourself to Him and become why you were created.

In some churches I visit the congregation sings and then in unison read or say the Apostles Creed concerning Jesus Christ. "I believe in God, the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary. You and I call ourselves CHRISTIANS…CHRIST-ians. Of course, we believe with Simon Peter that Jesus is the Christ.

What about Jesus? When you come right down to it, we know rather little, at least concerning the details of Jesus’ life. Jesus left no record. He kept no diary. He wrote no book. All that we now about Him is crowded in a few pages at the opening of the New Testament. You can read it through in a few hours.

The story opens with the birth of a baby in an out-of-the-way town called Bethlehem with His first cradle a manger for the feeding of livestock. He grew up in he unsanitary mountain village of Nazareth with a reputation only for the fact that "nothing" good" had ever come from that town. As far as we can tell, it was a normal home; Jesus would have shared normal duties with his brothers and sisters. He knew how to fill lamps and to trim wicks. He knew what house cleaning involved. He knew how to build a fire and could prepare a fish fry. He learned the trade of a carpenter.

What we are saying here is that we believe Jesus is a real person, not some figure out of ancient mythology. Flesh and bone, muscle and blood. REAL!

Now that is no description of you or me. If Jesus is God’s only Son, does that put the rest of us down? No! In fact, exactly the opposite.. The very idea that Jesus would take on flesh and blood and become one of us is incredible, and elevates US beyond measure. "I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.

We believe Jesus was a real person, both human and divine, God’s only son. We also believe He was Jesus Christ. At about the age of 30 years, Jesus laid aside the "tools of His trade" and began to teach, and preach, and heal. Who do you say that I am? Simon answers, "You are the Messiah (from the Hebrew, or the Christ (the Greek equivalent of Messiah), the Son of the Living God.

Christ is not Jesus’ surname. It is a title. It indicates "the Anointed One"—Someone set apart for God’s service. This was God’s representative.

Jesus was betrayed by those He trusted; Abandoned by those He loved. A purple robe was thrown contemptuously across His shoulders, a crown of thorns jammed down upon his brow. He carried His own cross as far as He was able, to an outlaw’s execution. The life, which had begun in humble obscurity, ended in public shame. He who had been laid in a borrowed manger was now laid away in a borrowed tomb. "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him." (John 1:10)

But we know the story does not end there. And that is why today we can continue to affirm, "I believe in Jesus Christ—our Lord. Jesus Christ is Lord! Those four words were the first creed that the Christian Church ever had. To be a Christian then and to be a Christian now is to make that affirmation. Jesus Christ is Lord!

The key words in this passage are I will build my church. Church is ekklesia, which in Greek usage meant an assembly. This is the first use of the word CHURCH in the Gospels. Only two other uses are found in the gospels, and all are in Matthew. MY, is important. The church belongs to Jesus Christ, and he is building it. The church is here described as something being built, but this does not mean that it is a building. The church—whether universal or local—is not a literal building. Peter later wrote in 1 Peter 2:1-9 that the church is a spiritual building made up of people of faith.

Nearly every word in these verses has been a source of disagreement. For example, what is the rock on which Jesus builds His church! Ephesians 2:20 says that the church is built on the foundation of the apostles, but his refers to their testimony to Jesus, not to them as people.

There are differences of opinion about the gates of hell. Hell translates hades. Jesus is pictured as victor over death and the grave (hades). Prevail means "overcome". "Death itself will not have any power over the church." This is because it is Christ’s church, and Christ overcame death. Revelation 1:18 says that He has "the keys of death and Hades." The church and those who are part of the church will not be defeated by death.

This assures us that the enemies of the church shall not gain their point. While the world stands, Christ will have a church in it, in spite of all the opposition of the powers of darkness. They shall not prevail. Christ has promised to preserve and secure His church, when it is built. The church is the body of Christ.

If we say "Jesus Christ is Lord," it mans that, for us, Jesus Christ is uniquely in charge—we are prepared to obediently follow in whatever direction the Lord chooses to lead, even if He goes where we might rather He did not.

If we say, "Jesus Christ is Lord," that means His priorities will become our priorities. We will be drawn to those on the margins, the outcasts, and even those society, (and sometimes even the church) suggest we stay away from.

The Keys of the Kingdom represent the responsibility of the church to provide opportunities for people to hear and respond to the good news. This is also involved in he power to bind and loose.

If we say, "Jesus Christ is Lord," it means we are prepared to give to Jesus a love and a loyalty that will be given to no other person in the entire universe.

All we that are priests received, in the person of the Apostle Peter, the keys to the kingdom of heaven. The keys were put first into Peter’s hand, because he was the first that opened the door of faith to the gentiles. Jesus does not say, "The keys shall be given, but, I will give them."

Jesus charged or warned the disciples to tell no man that He was Jesus he Christ. Later, in the great Commission in Matt 28: 18-20, Jesus ordered them to make disciples of all people. How can we explain that one time He told them to not tell and later He told them to tell? During Jesus’ ministry, many Jews (including the disciples) were expecting an earthly Messiah who would restore Israel to its former glory under David. Jesus was the Messiah; but as Vs. 21 shows, He was not their kind of earthly Messiah. Therefore, He did not want to stir up their false Hopes.

Jesus would have His Messiahship proved by His works. He was so secure of the demonstration of His miracles, that He waived other witnesses. The greatest proof of Jesus being the Christ was His resurrection.

From Vs. 18-20 we learn these truths: (l.)The church refers at times to all God’s people and at times to a local congregation. (2.) The church belongs to Jesus Christ, whom the church should follow and serve. (3.) Death cannot overcome the church. (4.) The church has the responsibility to open the door of opportunity for others to come to Christ and to enter His church.

This was not the first time Jesus had spoken of dying, but it was the first time strong statements about the necessity of His death and resurrection. He began…to show this to His disciples. Must, refers to a moral necessity. He did not explain why here, but elsewhere He tied His death and resurrection to salvation from sin and death. Jesus had to lay down His life to atone for sins of the world; His resurrection won His victory over death.

He had to go to Jerusalem. In Matt. 23: 34-39 Jesus spoke of the reputation of Jerusalem for killing the prophets of the Lord. From this point on, Jesus was committed to go to Jerusalem.

Jesus predicted that He must…suffer…and be killed, and be raised again. The death of Jesus for our sins and His resurrection form death are inseparable parts of the gospel of salvation. (1Cor. 15:3-4) The cross without the resurrection would lack power and meaning. The resurrection validated the death of Jesus and provided salvation and new life.

The disciples were surprised and dismayed by both the crucifixion and the resurrection. How could they have felt this way since Jesus so clearly predicted these events? Vs. 22 shows why. Peter took Him aside, and began to rebuke Him. Be it far from thee, Lord can be translated, "Never, Lord!" or "God forbid it, Lord! This shall not be unto thee can be translated, "This shall never happen to you!" or "God would never let this happen to you Lord!"

Why did Peter presume to do such a thing? He shared the false notion about an earthly Messiah. In spite of the O.T. prophecies, the Jews of that day could not conceive of the Messiah’s suffering and dying. This explains why the followers of Jesus had failed to hear Jesus’ prediction of His resurrection. Apparently, Peter’s mind stopped on the words "and be killed," so that he failed to hear "and be raised again the third day."

Jesus’ response to Peter was, Get thee behind me, Satan. Peter went from being a "rock" to being a "stumbling block." Jesus accused Peter of thinking like people of the world rather than like a man of God In other words, Peter as unknowingly an instrument of Satan in renewing the temptations of Matt. 4: 1-11. Those temptations tried to lure Jesus into choosing some way other than the way of the cross.

Here is another Easter emphasis. The resurrection was God’s way of demonstrating that the cross was atonement for human sins. The enemies of Jesus thought they had silenced Him, but the resurrection vindicated Him in what He had said about the necessity of His death to atone for human sin.

From Vs 21-23 we learned these truths: (l.) After the divine revelation of who He is, Jesus began to show His disciples the necessity of His death and resurrection. (2.) The death and resurrection of Jesus are the heart of the good news. (3.) The disciples were unable to understand at the time, but after the resurrection, they did. (4.) Jesus continued to be tempted to bypass the cross.