The sermon, focusing on Luke 9:18-22, delves into the critical question of Jesus' true identity. It highlights various miraculous acts performed by Jesus, such as calming storms, healing diseases, and feeding thousands, which demonstrate his divine authority. The sermon emphasizes the importance of understanding Jesus not merely as a prophet but as the Christ, the anointed one promised by God, who must suffer, be rejected, die, and rise again. It discusses Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ and the significance of the term 'Son of Man,' which conveys Jesus' divine authority and eternal kingdom. The sermon underscores that Jesus' mission is not only to establish a kingdom but also to offer salvation through his death and resurrection, urging believers to deeply understand and embrace this truth.

So in the last few weeks in our time in Luke we've been coming up to this very important, all-important question. We've been seeing it frequently. Who is this Jesus? Who is Jesus? Now Jesus has been showing us in the recent chapters through the things that he's doing and people are seeing this man is doing things only God can do over and over and over again.

And Luke, the author, the Holy Spirit, the real author of the Bible, wants us to be thinking who could this be? We've had Jesus calm a storm, which had his disciples going, who is this who even the winds, the waves obey him? We've seen Jesus cast out demons, Even the demons can't help but submit to Jesus. We've seen him heal diseases that doctors couldn't heal. We've seen him raise people from the dead.

We just saw Jesus last week feed 5, 000 people out of a couple loaves and a couple fish. We've heard that Jesus can forgive sins, which had the Pharisees asking, who can forgive sins but God alone? Herod, the ruler of this entire region, we had, I think just a couple weeks ago in our text, asking, who is this? I had John the Baptist killed, but who is this?" So over and over and over again this question has been presented to us, and Jesus has been working, and Jesus has been acting, Jesus has been doing. But what we're going to see today is marvelous.

Jesus, for the first time with such clarity, is going to begin teaching his disciples the reality of who he is, correcting the assumptions of the crowd, even adding to the disciples' understanding for our benefit, so we can truly understand who is this Christ. That's where all of this is going. That's what so much of this depends upon. And this will mark a turning point in Jesus' ministry towards speaking more clearly about who he is, teaching the things that we need to know for salvation. So this is a lovely text to spend some time in.

I pray that it's profitable to all of us this morning. Before we jump in, let me take a moment to pray. Forgot us, if you didn't tell us who you were, what you're like, who Jesus is, why he came. We would be left with so many wrong notions because we don't understand ourselves rightly, because we don't understand you rightly. And if you don't reveal these truths to us, we can't understand them.

We can be around all the evidence, hear all the right things, say all the right things, but apart from your will and the work of your spirit, nothing good will come from any of that. But God, you are active and working through the power of your Word and the power of your Holy Spirit. Praise you. Please bless this time that we spend in your Word. Would it be so profitable?

You gave this to us to be profitable. This word, this time, so please bless it. In Jesus' name, Amen. Let's begin with verse 18 and 19. I'll read them quickly.

Luke 9 verse 18 and 19. Excuse me. And it happened as he was alone praying that his disciples joined him and he asked them saying, Who do the crowds say that I am? So they answered and said, John the Baptist, but some say Elijah, and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again. So our text begins with Jesus.

As we see frequently, Jesus is alone praying. I spent a lot of time on this in particular trying to understand where does this fit in here? Why is Luke telling us that Jesus is praying? And I think there's several reasons. Mike preached several months ago on Jesus sending out the disciples and Jesus praying and I think there was a comment made in that text.

It was as was his custom he was praying. So Luke wants us to know, the Holy Spirit wants us to know it was a regular occurrence for Jesus to be praying. Jesus, God, the Son of God, going away into a quiet place and join communion with his Father. Mike said that Jesus the man needs time with his Father. That's certainly so right.

Jesus is here, he's alone, he's praying. We also learn that his disciples, as he's praying, are with him or joined him. Depending on what version you read, you'll see different things. The New King James says the disciples joined him, other versions say that the disciples were with him. It's not very clear whether Jesus is praying and the disciples show up as he's praying or if they're there all along, but either way he's praying in the presence of his disciples.

You know from other places in Scripture, Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray. So as Jesus is discipling his disciples, their disciples, their followers, their learners, that means nothing if he's not doing any discipling. A part of that process is him bringing these disciples into his prayers. These disciples know, Luke knows from doing the research, these disciples know that Jesus prays over and over and over again, and we see that consistently. Also, we do see a pattern throughout the book of Luke of Jesus praying before things in the text that are momentous during Jesus' ministry.

I was hesitant to bring this out because it's a little speculative, but you do see this. Before Jesus' baptism, Luke records Jesus praying. We have the transfiguration coming up where Jesus revealed himself in his glory in a way he hasn't yet be seen and we'll see Jesus praying. Before the crucifixion in the garden we have Jesus praying. So I think this can signal to us what's about to happen is a momentous, it's largest, significant event in Jesus' ministry.

Jesus is going to begin speaking about the things that He came to do and making these things clear to His disciples. And as He's doing this, He's going to His Father. He's spending time with His Father. He's communing with His Father. All in preparation of this conversation with the disciples, he's about to communicate to them that he is the one God has been promising to come.

He is the one who must suffer, must be rejected, must die, and must rise again. And he's beginning that with prayer. So he asks his disciples, they're all gathered together, he's discipling them, they're all together, and he asks them, who do the crowd say that I am? Why is he asking them this? Do you think Jesus knows what the crowds say?

The disciples do, and sure the disciples just all went off in various directions and they were preaching the Kingdom of God as Jesus told them to do, but surely Jesus knows. If any of you have ever taught anything, the vast majority of us have, how often do we teach with questions? People don't naturally like to bring the things they know, the things they think out in the forefront. So I think Jason said a couple weeks ago, this is, Jesus asked a question, he knew the answer, this is a setup, that was last week. Same thing's happening here.

This is the same thing happening here is Jesus asking a question, he knows the answer to, to provoke the disciples' conversation, to provoke their understanding, to provoke what the crowd say, to present an opportunity for him to teach them. This is again part of his discipling. And what do they say? Who do the crowds say? That he is.

The crowds are talking, the crowds have opinions, the crowds aren't saying okay that was a cool show. Moving on there, they want to know. They say perhaps this is John the Baptist. Maybe this is Elijah, this great prophet from the Old Testament. He raised people from the dead, maybe this is Elijah.

Or maybe this is another great prophet. God is raised from the dead. And I want you to notice what these answers have in common. The crowds aren't saying, oh this Jesus, he's a nobody. Because the things Jesus have been doing are sending a very clear message.

These things raising from the dead, healing of diseases, casting out of demons, these things don't happen unless God is working. These things don't happen if God is behind us. So they go to John the Baptist. They go to Elijah. Elijah did things like this.

These are men who were very clearly sent by God. They go to another prophet. They're saying, surely this is somebody. This is somebody sent by God. And while that answer is, that part of the answer is correct, this is certainly someone sent by God.

Oh, they fall so short. They fall so short. One of the commentators this week, Stein, said they're not wrong, they're not fully incorrect, but this answer is inadequate by itself. Jesus is a prophet. Jesus is someone who comes to speak on behalf of God to say this is the word of the Lord, but he's so much more than a prophet.

So much of what Jesus will say will hinge upon that. But I just want us to notice how many of these crowds truly knew Jesus, knew who he was, what he came to do. They liked him. They were coming. They wanted to see there are probably many true believers, but a favorable opinion of Jesus, apart from an understanding of who Jesus truly is and truly clinging to Jesus, cannot do anything for the soul.

It's so easy to have a favorable opinion of Jesus, even to the point of saying, surely this is somebody sent from God! We would love confessions like that from more people. But as we're going to see from Jesus, There's so much more to be said. There's so much more that has to be known about who Jesus is. It's not enough to say, oh, I believe that Jesus was sent by God.

And over and over and over again, we'll see Jesus adding to, yes, and surely, please don't stop there! Please don't stop there! Continue on to verse 20. Jesus is going to turn the question to his disciples now. He's not going to let them off the hook for young people in men's Bible study.

It's like when you get asked a question and somebody else answers the question or whatever the situation is, you think, okay, I'm off the hook. I don't have to be the one to front the answer. Jesus isn't going to let them off the hook. He's a good teacher. And he wants his disciples to get the point, so he asks them, okay that's enough of the crowds, but who do you say that I am?

This is very personal. Who do you say that I am? Do you say that I'm John the Baptist? Just another prophet? Raised from the dead?

Even Elijah? That's quite a title. Do you say these things? Jesus is asking this question to draw an answer out of them, to teach them, again because he's discipling, he wants them to know, He wants them to express their opinions. Maybe they're going to be wrong.

That's a great teaching opportunity. Maybe they're going to be close to the answer. We'll see in Peter's answer. That's a great teaching opportunity, and we benefit from that even today. So Jesus asked this question and Peter answers.

We're familiar with Peter. We've read so much of the Gospels over and over and over again. Peter is very often the first to speak up and he's often reprimanded for it and I know in my heart I read about Peter I think of Peter as being the impetuous one who just can't help himself but speak so Peter gets a pretty bad rap but please God Peter speaks up here Peter doesn't hesitate and Peter gives a better answer than what the crowds give. Does Peter think he has all the answers? What do you think?

Do you think Peter thinks he has all the answers here? No, but Jesus asks and he says, Jesus, I believe you are the Christ of God. You are the Christ of God. He answers in boldness. He says, I think this is you.

You are the Christ of God. We should commend Peter for being quick to speak in this instance and not waiting until he felt like he had a perfect answer but he was eager, ready to confess. You're the Christ of God. You're the one that Christ promised he would send. And that's what he's talking about.

So We're going to talk about Jesus being the Christ of God. We have to define some terms here. So Jesus is the Christ. I think Gary frequently say, and we know the term Jesus Christ. Christ is not Jesus' last name.

I think that's a Garyism. I'm sure you get it from someone else. I don't know. Jesus Christ. Christ is not his last name.

Christ is a word that means something. Christ is a Greek word. It's the translation of the Hebrew word Messiah. That name should sound familiar as well, this one who the Old Testament speaks of who is going to do so much good for God's people, and we'll talk about what that good is, but it's a word which simply means the anointed one. The anointed one.

If you're familiar with the Old Testament, you'll know that anointing is something that is done for people who are chosen, who are appointed for a specific task. So Peter is remembering these things said in the Old Testament, which we'll speak about, and he's saying, Jesus, that's your title, but what we're saying here is you have been set apart. There is someone who God has been promising to set apart to do something special, to do something important. He doesn't just say you are an anointed one, he says you are the Christ. You are the anointed one of God.

God has set one apart to do something. That is you. You are not, notice the difference, you are not John the Baptist, you're not Elijah, you're not another prophet, you're not another one. You are the anointed. How many religions will happily acknowledge, oh Jesus was a prophet, Peter's not doing that.

Peter is saying you are the anointed one, the one God has promised. All throughout the Old Testament, God has made promises upon promises upon promises in the face of a sinful people who need something to redeem them. It begins in Genesis 3. I'm just gonna read quickly. Hopefully we don't get whiplash from turning into too many passages, But you give me a text with Christ in it, there's so many, there's so many passages to turn to, and I've tried to be judicious as much as possible.

But in Genesis 315, this is after the fall, God made mankind sinless, mankind sinned, mankind is no longer sinless, in fact now mankind is guilty, can no longer dwell in the presence of God and they need to be saved from this. So in Genesis 315, we're on like what the second page of my Bible. God says, and I will put enmity between you and the woman. This is you being the serpent, the one who deceived an Eve into sin, plunging man into their desperate condition. God says, I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed, and it's her offspring.

He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. So he's saying, second page of the Bible, this is in the wake immediately after sin enters the world and people are guilty of their sin, and he says, I'm going to send someone who's going to crush the head of the serpent. I'm going to send an offspring of the woman, someone descended from these two people, who is going to do something about this problem of man having to be cast out of the presence of God. Later in Genesis 22, God speaking to Abraham, 22 18, God's telling Abraham that he's going to multiply his descendants like the stars of the heavens and of the sand which is on the seashore and he tells Abraham in your seed in your offspring someone descended from you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice So he's going to send someone, we'll be drawing this line, from Adam and Eve, now from Abraham, someone who's going to bless all the nations despite the sinful condition. And then we have in 2 Samuel 7, And this is where we start to get closer to the language of Messiah or anointed that we're familiar with.

In 2 Samuel 7, starting in verse 12, this is God speaking to David. David, this great king of Israel, he tells David, When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, so when you die, I will set up your seed, your offspring after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father and he shall be my son. If he commits iniquity I will chase him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men but my mercy shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul whom I removed from before you and your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you your throne shall be established forever." So God says he's going to send someone who's going to be anointed just like David was anointed when he became king But this king is a little different.

Quite different actually. He'll be an offspring of David. God says that he will be his father, and that this anointed one will be his son. God says his kingdom won't be like the kings they've known. God anointed Saul to be king.

Was Saul king forever? Saul wasn't king for very long. Was David king forever? David wasn't king for very long. But God says, your house, the reign coming from David that belongs to this anointed one and your kingdom shall be established forever before you." And I'm sure Peter knows all of these things.

God's making promise after promise after promise after promise after promise in the Old Testament that someone is going to be sent who will reign forever over God's people. And we can trace this all the way back to the beginning and see that these promises began in response to a sinful people who were separated from God because of their sin. And Peter is saying, I know all of these things, that's you. That's what Peter is saying. That's you.

You are the Christ. You are the one that God is sending to reign on David's throne. One more for this section. Listen to Psalm 2. This is an incredible Psalm.

Listen to the majestic kingly language here in Psalm 2. The psalmist is speaking about the nations and he says, why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? It's all around the world. People are raging about something. What are they raging about?

The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying let us break their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us. So what's this picture we have? We have God and his anointed one, the Father and his anointed one, reigning in glory and majesty and the people are opposed to them and standing against them as this this God in this anointed one and says in verse 4 he who sits in the heavens shall laugh the Lord shall hold them in derision so they sit in the heavens there's a powerful they can look at all the kings of the earth in their opposition and laugh about it in verses 6 and 7 the psalmist says yet this is God speaking yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree, the Lord has said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you. So the picture at least as far as clear, there is someone who's coming who will fulfill all the promises, he's an offspring of David, he's coming to rule.

No question about that. This son is coming to rule in a way that you can combine all the kings of the earth, all their power, all the forces they can muster, and it's nothing to him. This is the Christ we're speaking of. This is the Anointed one. This is the extent of his power and his glory.

It's important to note here, we don't have this in our account in Luke, but in Matthew 16, a parallel account, So this is Matthew speaking of the same thing that's happening through a different lens. He records what Jesus responds to Peter directly here. Matthew 16 and verse 17, right after Peter's confession, And Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you, Simon, bar Jonah, that's Simon's son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. So we need to notice here, Jesus hears Peter's answer, you are the Christ, the anointed one, the one who is coming to reign forever and ever and ever on David's throne, and Jesus says yes. That's correct, And not only yes, but the Father has revealed this to you.

You see, what did Peter see that everybody else hasn't seen so far? Peter's had closer access to Jesus than the Pharisees, than the crowds, but they've seen him raise people from the dead. They have the Old Testament scriptures. They can go back and see these promises. They've heard him say that he can forgive sins.

They've heard all the same. The stories are being told. Enough is being said about him that Herod, from who knows how far away, is saying, who could this be? So the people know, the people have evidence. But what differs here is that Peter has had this knowledge revealed to him.

By the grace of God, Peter hasn't just been left with the evidence. God has done something with his heart, has done something with his mind, so he can look at these passages in the Old Testament that say this has to be Jesus. This has to be Jesus. So you can be close, young people, you can be here in church every Sunday morning and hear all of these things. You'd be amazed how many times I've spoken to young people and asked them for their understanding of the Gospel, hearing it a thousand times!

And it means nothing. Because these things, these realities are spiritual. If you don't get it, it's not because you don't have the evidence. It's because your eyes are not open so that you can see. So ask God.

The evidence is all there, but if you can't see, ask God, God. If this is who you are, Jesus, if you're the one who's going to reign forever, make that so abundantly clear to me so I can't help but see it. You can do that. You can ask that question. Here goes my voice.

Uh-oh. So Jesus continues on. Sorry, I'm losing my place, flipping around. Jesus continues on in verse 21. So Peter says, you are the Christ.

We know that Jesus affirms his answer. So of course Jesus, it says he strictly warned them and commanded them to tell this to no one. So Your answer is correct. I am the Christ of God. But don't tell anyone.

And listen to that language here. Strictly warned, commanded no one. That's quite absolute. Jesus is speaking forcefully here. Jesus is speaking forcefully here.

Why is He doing that? If Jesus is the Christ, why shouldn't everybody know that? And I think the answer is clear if we think about the the feeding of the 5, 000 from John's perspective. I'm not going to turn there. We're in the feeding of the 5, 000 last week.

But what John tells us is after Jesus feeds 5, 000 men, plus women and children with just a couple loaves of bread and a couple fish, he has to go away. He has to go away to a desolate place, a quiet place. Oh, thank you. I have water in here too, but more water is good. He has to go away.

Why does he have to go away? Because the people wanted to take him by force and make him king. We see this all over the place. The people hear about Jesus that maybe convinced like Peter, okay this is this has got to be the one. This has got to be the one.

Let's go take him by force, let's go make him king. And Jesus says, don't go tell everybody that I'm the Christ. Because there's a misunderstanding about who this Christ is, what he came to do, and what this order of things has to be first. And Jesus needs to correct that understanding here. They might get the title right, but they totally misunderstand his mission.

They totally misunderstand his mission. What is he here to do? Verse 22 begins with saying, so and he strictly warned them and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, So he's explaining, I'm telling you don't go tell anyone, here's the explanation. Here's the explanation, he's saying, the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day." You see, saying is linking all of this together. Yes, I'm the Christ, but don't go tell anyone, because the Son of Man, I the Son of Man, have things to do first.

There are other things that must be true. Do you think the people were expecting These words, the Son of Man, must suffer many things, many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day. But as we're starting here, Jesus is using a term that disciples didn't use. Peter says, you're the Christ. Jesus says, yes, I'm the Christ.

Don't tell anyone I'm the Christ. The Son of Man must. He's introducing a new title. He's not saying I'm not the Christ. He's expanding their vision of who this Christ is.

And I do have to take us to another text for this one. I'm going to take us to Daniel 7. Because you have to hear the imagery that the Bible used to describe this son of man to understand what Jesus is saying here. To understand the force of Jesus is saying here, and I think to understand the shock that the disciples must be experiencing with this the statement from Jesus. So this appears to the prophet Daniel hundreds of years before Christ in a vision.

Daniel says, I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, this is a title Jesus uses of himself quite frequently in the book of Luke. Daniel uses this term several times. We're going to see this term used of Jesus in Revelation 1 when Jesus is described on His heavenly throne in heaven forever and ever. He says, Behold, one like the Son of Man, listen to this, listen to this, coming with the clouds of heaven, he came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him. Then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed." Does this sound like an earthly kingdom to anyone? Can you think about a kingdom that compares to this? First of all, can you think of a ruler who comes with the clouds of heaven? One? Any?

Can you think of one to whom was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples nations and languages should serve him so Jesus using this term the son of man is this just another king on Israel's throne to be taken away by that people? His dominion is an everlasting dominion, so Jesus is saying, I am the Christ, I am also the Son of Man, these are the same person! And the kingdom isn't just a kingdom over Israel it's a kingdom over everyone his rule will be unopposed we will see a day when the rule of Jesus will be unopposed Bible tells us every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. It shows us that his rule is everlasting. His dominion will last forever.

Jesus is drawing attention to his glory. Can you see that? Before he's about to say what his mission is, Jesus wants to make it so abundantly clear he's not backing down from their expectations of kingship and glory. He's blasting this through the roof. This is not just a king.

He's blasting the roof off of this thing. This is an everlasting king. Everybody will answer to this King, I am the Son of Man, who will come with the clouds in glory. What do you think is coming next? Put yourself in the disciples shoes for a moment.

You're a prophet. No, I'm more than a prophet. You're the Christ. Yes, but I'm more than the Christ. This is forever.

What must be coming next? And think for a moment. So we're in Israel. Israel used to have a glorious kingdom with kings like David and Solomon that brought in prosperity and joy and gladness, everything was overflowing. Then they were sent into exile for their sin.

They were brought back, but it's not like the old days. The old temple has been destroyed, their kings are gone. Now they're under the rule of the Romans. So you hear these things, you hear the disciples, they're saying, okay, all our hopes and dreams, this is right! This is the glorious one what's he gonna do next bye-bye Romans bye-bye rule he's going to crush all his enemies all things are gonna be under his feet and we're here for the ride and Jesus says keep losing my place gives me a time next moment to breathe Jesus says this son of man this son of man must suffer many things this son of man must be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes.

This son of man must be killed and be raised the third day. How? Why? And the truth is the Old Testament has a lot to say about this too. There are so many promises in the Old Testament and it would be so hard to understand that they could all be made of the same person.

But in Isaiah, starting at the end of verse of chapter 52, God speaking says, Behold my servant shall deal prudently. I think we should know we're servant, anointed, the one God would send. It's clear to us we're speaking of the same person, but it might not have been clear to Peter. It might not have been clear to the crowds. But Jesus is making it clear that these are the same person.

He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Okay, expected that. Just as many were astonished at you, So his visage was marred more than any man his appearance was marred more than any men So shall he sprinkle many nations king shall shut their mouths at him for what had not been told them they see What they had not heard they shall consider For who has believed our report Into whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? So again the Lord speaking of the servant who he would send, people are going to look at him and be astonished because his appearance is marred. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground.

He has no form or comeliness and attractiveness, and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him. He was despised and rejected by men. We hid our faces.

We went, I don't want to look at that! Surely, verse 4, surely he, this one, has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we have seemed him stricken, submitted by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed." I'm going to stop reading there, but Isaiah doesn't stop there.

The things that we see in this text, the things that the Son of Man here says that he must do, he must be rejected. He must suffer many things. He must be killed. Isaiah doesn't leave here either. Isaiah doesn't just say that he must be killed.

It does say that he's cut off from the land of the living. It also says that he will see his offspring. When people die, do they see their grandkids and great grandkids and great-great-grandkids? Do they see the fruit of their labors centuries down the road? No, but a king who raises from the dead does.

Isaiah is making these things even clearer hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years before Christ. If I were, if I just had the Old Testament, can you just imagine just having the Old Testament and reading about the Son of Man, a reading about this one who has been, who has suffered, has been marred, has been put to death in such a way that people hide their faces. That's disgusting. I don't want to look at that. Can you see how hard it would be to somehow think that these could somehow be the same person?

How? How can these be the same person? Isaiah also makes the motive clear. Why is he doing these things? Why is God gonna send someone to be so marred that people won't even look at him?

To cause people to say, surely he's being punished by God. That can't be for my sin. Surely God's got something against this man. As A.T. Tells us, he was punished for our iniquities, the nature in our hearts that makes us sinners.

He was punished for that. God's going to send someone to take the place of sinners, to pour out all of His wrath on sinners in the place of sinners. That's what God is saying about the servant. And I think it's so clear when Jesus says, yes, I'm the Christ, but the Son of Man must, and he goes down this track. He's saying, the Christ, the Son of Man, the servant, find these promises to be fulfilled in the Old Testament, and I am the fulfillment of all of these.

Can you see that? These things are being unified together in one person so mysteriously. It's also important to notice the must here. Jesus just doesn't just say, the Son of Man will suffer and be rejected and be killed and be raised again. He says he must.

We believe Jesus is God. Yes, we believe Jesus is God. The Bible teaches that Jesus is God. What must Jesus do? Think about that for a moment.

What compels God to do anything? Can anything, can you compel God to do anything? Why, If Jesus were just coming to be a king, why would he have to die? Jesus isn't just coming to be a king. Jesus is coming to be a Savior, to save people from their sins.

What does it say about my sin? If the only way to address the problem that God said he would address in Genesis 3, right, mankind being cast away from God's presence because of their sin, the only solution is that the Son of Man who comes with the clouds must suffer and be rejected and die in such a way that people hide their faces from him. If we understood that we would think so much more of our sin. This is God. This is the creator of the universe.

This is the one who comes on the clouds and will rain forever. And somehow, something about the situation we're in, because of what we're like, is so desperate that the only way to do something about that is if this one is rejected and dies. So it says a lot about us. It also says a lot about God, doesn't it? Would God have had every right to say they are traitors?

I made them in my image to worship me. If God is properly represented by these descriptions, if He's the agent of days who made you, does He not have every right to your uncompromising worship? Every right to it. Yet because of who he is, he says that he must suffer many things, be rejected, die, and rise again. That's wonderful.

Nobody compels him to do that. Jesus, yes, is carrying out the mission of his father, so he must do these things to carry out the mission of his father, but don't think for a moment that his mission is different than his father's mission, And don't think for a moment that God would have been well in his rights to do otherwise and to cast sinners into hell. But this is what he ordains, this is what he says he must do. It's wonderful, Praise God. But it doesn't end there either, does it?

It doesn't end with death, is what he says he must do. He says, excuse me, the sun also must rise again. This is where things begin to make a little bit of sense. How can you have someone who will die and will reign forever? Well, don't get the order wrong.

People want to go make him king right now. But Jesus isn't establishing an earthly kingdom, he's establishing a heavenly kingdom filled with people who trust in him because he has died for their sins. He's going to rise again, he's going to live forever, And you're going to have this one who has died and also this one who will reign in glory forever. This doesn't happen without the resurrection. This doesn't happen if Jesus isn't alive today.

Jesus is alive today. Jesus isn't somebody who just lived a couple thousand years ago and made some predictions about himself and poof there he goes just like the rest of history He's he's raining This ancient of days make no mistake. He's raining now It will be different when he comes again and he brings people with him to heaven for eternity and he judges the wicked, but he's reigning now because he has risen again. Lastly before I make a couple applications, I want to go to 1 Peter 1. Somehow this didn't appear in the cross references, but this is Peter and I can't help but think that certainly Peter was thinking about these things as he's writing this.

Peter is speaking to his readers of salvation and the resurrection actually. He's going to talk about the things that the prophets knew, the people who wrote this Old Testament in the power of the Holy Spirit about this ancient of days and this son of man and this Messiah and this one who would die. Peter says starting in 1st Peter 10, of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully. They're looking, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what? What manner of time?

The Spirit of Christ who is in them, so the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, is in them when they're writing these things, and as this is happening they're looking carefully to understand what he was indicating when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. You catch that. The prophets were confused. Why? Who could the word be talking about when it's talking about somehow in one hand these glories and another hand these sufferings.

This same mystery. I have to think Peter is thinking about this conversation with Jesus. And Peter says it's a grace to us that had this revelation. We don't have to figure it out. We couldn't figure it out apart from working at the Holy Spirit.

But God has given us this revelation. Thank you we have Jesus telling us who he is here. And Peter tells us what we should do with that in verse 13. Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Rest your hope fully upon the grace That's been revealed to you.

Somehow this glorious King humbled himself to die as though he had broken every one of God's commandments and wanted to. That's the way he was punished. Somehow this and this glorious king will reign forever of the same person. Take comfort in that and rest your hope in him. So what should we do with this?

To borrow Jason's time, we have to do something with this, and I think the most obvious one, you must lay hold of Christ. It's not enough to have a favorable opinion. It's not enough to say, I like Jesus. I think Jesus is great. Do you know how many people like Jesus and will meet Him on the final day and He will say, depart from me, I never knew you?

Do you know how many? We have to ask ourselves. The people are talking too, they're not just favorable, he's occupying their conversations and their thoughts. They're putting some thought into this. So you have to understand who is Jesus.

Is he somebody that you can talk about because you've been in church enough times? Is he somebody who you understand some things of because you've read your Bible enough times? Is he somebody who gives you some hope because he speaks of an afterlife? Is he somebody you're tangentially familiar with because I grew up in a church? This is just the things that we talk about.

Do you think of Jesus and talk about Jesus because that's simply what we do here or in your families? Are you like, oh, the world who thinks, you know, it's good to have religion? You know, with religion comes morality, with religion comes hope, with religion comes a better life. I want my, I want to have that perhaps, perhaps I want my kids to have that, because those are good things to have. Is that what Jesus wants us to take away from this text?

Let's just talk about Jesus more and have a favorable opinion? No! Does something... When you read Jesus after saying he's the Son of Man, say, I must suffer and be rejected and die, does something in your soul cry out, Praise God, because that's what I need. If Jesus is just coming to be a king, that won't do anything for you.

If Jesus, and following the things that Jesus said, is just a way to have a better life. That won't do anything for you. If Jesus is just somebody who you nod to because if you don't you're not gonna have the approval of your parents, that will do nothing for you. Is there anything in your heart that reads Jesus say the glorious one has to suffer and die and you you know in your soul nothing else will do. You must.

You must. If you don't, plead with God. Plead. I beg you. Plead with God.

Don't let another day pass. Listen to this quote from Ryle. Speaking of those who never do business with God like this they never boldly lay hold of Christ they never set themselves hardly to the great business of serving God they never take up their cross and become thorough Christians and at last after all they're talking they die in their sins unprepared to meet God. May that not be true of any of us. God needs to weigh the sin on your heart so you can understand why a holy God has to die, plead with them for it.

If you don't have something in your soul that cries out, thank you God that this is you. Something is dreadfully wrong, go to God. Weil also says, let us not be content with religion of this kind. They never set themselves heartily to the great business of serving God. Nope, I just read the wrong quote.

The Jews of our Lord's time might have found out, I love this, the Jews of our Lord's time might have found out, think of Nicodemus who went to Jesus, If they had been honest inquirers that Jesus was the Christ of God, the speculative Christian of our own day might easily satisfy himself on every point which is needful, required for salvation, if he would really candidly and humbly seek the teaching of the Spirit. So my intent isn't to leave you without hope. Oh, you don't have an urge in your heart? You don't have something in your heart that says, oh I need this kind of Savior? Then go to God and ask for it.

You can do that. Nicodemus didn't understand these things, so he went to Jesus and he asked. You can do that. But until you can say like Peter does in John, Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

Peter didn't have all the answers, but you have to say, I cannot go anywhere else because an earthly king, a great forever king, isn't going to solve the problem that I can't have eternal life if I don't have something done about my sins. And secondly, for the believers, we have every reason to just marvel at Christ. Christ could have, Jesus could have any title he wanted. The Bible ends, or the last book of the Bible rather, begins with this picture. This description of what Jesus is like.

He's sitting on a throne that will last forever. His voice is like many waters. A two-edged sword is coming out of his mouth. I think I've heard Jason say that Revelation is a picture of what heaven is like, not what it looks like. So Jesus doesn't literally have a two-edged sword, but what is this communicating power?

Glory! He reigns! He could have had every title. And we'll happily sing all of these titles to Jesus for eternity, too, but Jesus asks who he is and he's content to be called the one anointed to die for sinners. How about that?

That should never grow old. I hope that never grows old with us. Jesus isn't just a cool rain forever. Jesus isn't just a man who once hung up on a cross. He says, God, who had every right to give us exactly what we deserved, but instead humbled himself even to the point of death, because He's merciful and because He loves His people.

Let's never stop marveling at that. Let's never stop encouraging each other to marvel at that. Let's pray. Oh God, you've been so good to us to do the things. Here what we read from Jesus is a prediction, not just a prediction, he's telling his disciples what he's going to do, what he must do because of who he is, and we can look back 2, 000 years later and say, praise God, he's done it.

Jesus has been rejected. He has suffered many things. He has gone to the cross and died for the sins of those who trust in him and he reigns because he's risen. God make us a people who love that, who can't help but talk about that. Would our conversation around tables even this afternoon be so quick to rejoice in that, when our conversation not be idle facts about Jesus, but glorying in Jesus our Savior and King.

God, would you, your spirit, rest heavily in conviction on those who don't know you. Those who know they don't, those who think they do know you, those who aren't sure, will they not rest until they could say with joy that you and your goodness have provided exactly the kind of Savior that we need. In Jesus' name, Amen.