Behold the christ

"you are the christ, the son of the living god"

Matthew 16: 13-16 (ESV)
13Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
 
Is Jesus Moses; Elijah; some other prophet; John the Baptist; a great moral teacher; a life coach; an example; as “people” claim? Is Jesus someone who speaks God’s Word and points to a Savior, or is He God’s Word and is He the Savior?
 
The Son of Man identifies with us as brothers and sisters, born of a woman, with the vocation of a man. Yet Son of Man also points back to Daniel 7:13-14, with the vocation of an omnipotent God with an everlasting kingdom.
 
All of Christianity revolves around how one sees this Son of Man – Jesus (Yahweh saves) Christ (The Anointed One; as prophet, priest, and king), the Son of the living God – Peter’s answer.
 
“What is the Christian faith?” an: The Christian faith is the confession that Jesus Christ is the world’s only Savior and Redeemer (John 14:6; Acts 4:12, 1 John 5:11-12).
“What is Christian?” an: A Christian is someone who, by the power and work if the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, believes in and confesses Jesus as Savior and Lord. Through Baptism, a Christian is adopted into the Father’s family, the Church (Romans 8:15, and 10:10; 1 Corinthians 6:11, and 12:3).
2017 CPH Luther’s Small Catechism with explanation
 
Matthew 16: 17 (ESV)
17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
 
Simon, Bar-Jonah (son of Jonah) vs. Son of the living God. Jesus is not just flesh and blood (Son of Man) like others born in this world, but existed before the creation of the world. And He now says “Blessed are you…you have a wisdom that far exceeds anything in or of the world – no man’s imagination, no world religion, no works of man - but from the very God Himself revealed to you through and in His Word made flesh (God incarnate – Jesus) and/or His written Word (Jesus), by the Father through the Holy Spirit. This is the peace that surpasses human understanding.

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