"WHOM SAY YE THAT I AM?"
“WHOM SAY YE THAT I AM?”
Luke 9:18-36; John 3: 27 - 29; Revelation 21:9-11
What has impressed me whilst we have been together is that the Lord would, on occasions like the present, appeal to the affections of His people. He would endeavour to have the affections of His people aroused, and this is brought to pass by the presentation of Himself to us by the ministry of the Spirit. I think that was exactly what He had in view in raising this question with the disciples as to Himself, as to who He was.
In Matthew, you may recall, Peter’s confession was that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God; Mark, on the other hand, records that Peter’s reply to Christ was that He was the Christ — “Thou art the Christ”, (Mark 8: 29) he says. But in Luke we have recorded that Peter’s reply was, “Thou art the Christ of God”. Luke 9: 20. Now it is just because of that that I have felt encouraged to bring Luke’s account of this incident to your attention. It may appear that Peter’s confession in Matthew involves more the truth of Christ’s Person, but my impression is, that the truth of Christ’s Person is not exactly the point in Matthew.
Matthew’s account has in view the establishment of that which would be invulnerable down here in relation to the testimony, and what is stated as to the Lord’s Person is in this connection. The testimony had been connected with Israel, and the presence of Christ in the midst of Israel brought to light their utter inability to maintain the testimony of God. Christ was the embodiment of the testimony, and He found no place whatever amongst them; and there could not be more convincing evidence that Israel was utterly incapable of being the vessel of the testimony of God. Therefore, I apprehend that the object in view in the account given to us in Matthew, of Peter’s confession, is to bring to light One who had ability to establish [p. 467] that upon earth against which the gates of hades could not prevail; and this should supersede Israel in the maintenance of what is of God, and the administration of divine things. According to Matthew, Peter says, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Matthew 16: 16. The Lord answers, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. Matthew 16: 17,18. He is capable of building that which would stand against the attacks of the enemy. He is capable of such a thing, and none could be but He who is the Son of the living God.
Now in Mark the record of the incident has another object in view. There Peter says, “Thou art the Christ”. Mark 9: 29. That, I think, is in perfect keeping with Mark’s line. Mark’s gospel has the testimony in view, Christ is the vessel of the testimony. It was a great thing that He should be recognised by the disciples in this light. The Christ would be the resource of God when all else should fail. So that, in Mark, when the Lord probes the disciples as to what their estimate of Him is, they say that He is the Christ. It was a very great conclusion to come to at that time.
When we come to Luke, what is in view is the intervention of God for the deliverance and blessing of humanity. That is what Luke is engaged with by the Spirit. He relates to us certain features of the Lord’s life and ministry which set forth the fact that God had intervened for the deliverance and blessing of man. So that, in chapter 4, He stands forth as the anointed Vessel not there exactly as the vessel of the testimony, but as the vessel of divine grace to man, so that, they marvel at the words of grace that proceed out of His mouth, when He begins to preach. As the narrative goes on, everything is connected with God; God had come in on man’s behalf. Up to the beginning of [p. 468] chapter 8, the Lord is engaged in this blessed service alone, the result being that many become attached to Him, amongst them certain women who ministered unto Him of their substance. The twelve were with Him not as serving in conjunction with Him; but they were with Him, and having them with Him, He begins a certain course of instruction, so as to fit them to become vessels of the same service of grace; and in chapter 9, He sends them forth to preach the kingdom. That is to say, He had instructed them what to do, and then He sends them forth to work and preach the kingdom. Then they return to record what they had done, and He takes them aside to a desert place and the multitude throng Him. And then we get the feeding of the multitude. That is to say, He instructs the apostles not only to deliver man from what is adverse but He says, “Give ye them to eat”. Luke 9: 13. So the multitude is fed. Man’s need is completely met; he is delivered from the authority of evil, and fed. Then the Lord asks the disciples, “Whom say ye that I am?” Luke 9: 20. Ah! that is where the heart is tested. The Lord would say to you as it were, ‘What do you think of Me?’ ‘Who am I?’ I think that is exactly the question which the Lord would address to each one in this company. He first inquires as to who the people said He was. The answer is, John the Baptist, Elias, and so on. Perhaps you could hardly put a more puzzling question to the great mass of Christians at the present moment than to ask them about Christ. You remember how the Lord puzzled the leaders of Israel with that question; they could not answer Him.
Now note; it is not a question of what the Scripture says; the Lord did not ask what the Scripture said. The Scriptures make no mistakes; they have their own voice in regard to Christ. “They are they which testify of me”. John 5: 39. They do not err. No doubt most believers today would point to the statements of Scripture and this, of course, is right as to doctrine,
[p. 469] but the question is, What conclusion have you come to? Were the Lord to speak to you, He would ask you, “Whom say ye I am?” The Scriptures are very clear. Any unconverted person who reads the Scriptures can tell you what they say on that point. He is “Over all, God blessed for ever”, the Scriptures say (Romans 9: 5); but that is an entirely different matter from your saying it. What do you say about Christ? I think the Spirit of God would raise that question with every believer.
Now the Lord will not belittle any reply that you give. If you only know Christ as Redeemer, tell Him so. The Lord delights to hear you tell Him what you think about Him, if you know Him as the Life-giver, tell Him so. He is the last Adam, “a life-giving Spirit”. 1 Corinthians 15: 45. Whatever the phase of the testimony presented to you, it has in view that your soul should become acquainted with Christ as presented in it. I think that is a point of the very greatest importance. The testimony is not only for your relief; when you come to this chapter, the Lord raises the question as to who He is “Whom say ye that I am?” He is to be known in the light in which this gospel presents Him to our hearts. Here He is “The Christ of God”. Luke 9: 20. As I was saying, Luke presents Him as on the part of God here. According to Peter’s testimony in Acts 10, God had anointed Him, and He went about doing good, for God was with Him, and I think, beloved friends, that Peter’s witness here is in entire accord with it; he says, He was the Christ of God. The Lord would bring God to your affections, and that is exactly what is presented in Luke. He brought to the attention of his people the blessed fact that God had visited them, so that in result the confession is, Thou art “The Christ of God”.
Well now, directly this question is raised and the confession is accordingly made on the part of God’s people, there is a point of departure — a new path is [p. 470] to be taken up. The course is to be changed. He says the Son of man is going to suffer: “The Son of man must suffer many things”, etc. (Luke 9: 22 - 26). These are solemn words, but they are in perfect keeping with their connection. In other words, it is a moral consequence that, if the Son of God has come into this world on the part of God to relieve your soul from the domination of evil and to feed your soul, you should become acquainted with Him, and, as becoming acquainted with Him, you should cast in your lot with Him. It is imperative: the Lord recognises nothing else. He has no appreciation whatever of lukewarmness or half-heartedness. Look at these words: “whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels” Luke 9: 26. These are strong words: He will be ashamed of us. Are you ashamed of Christ? Ashamed of such an One! He will be ashamed of you, and you deserve it. The Lord delights to hear us tell Him what we think of Him; but He holds you to your confession. He says in effect, ‘I am going to suffer and die, what are you going to do? Are you going on with the world that is going to crucify Me? What will it profit you if you gain it all?’ You will not gain it all, but even if you do, it will profit you nothing if you lose your soul. And lose your soul you will if you go into the world.
The Lord does not stop here. He says: “there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God” Luke 9: 27. It is not the kingdom of the Son of man; it is the kingdom of God. “And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistening”. Luke 9: 28,29. That is what you get. That is what follows upon the path of suffering for [p. 471] Christ here. Confessing Christ in the scene of His rejection and death involves suffering, but there is the bright side, and this the Lord immediately proceeds to unfold. He says, as it were, ‘This is not all: I am going up on high’. “There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God”. Luke 9: 27. And from what follows we can see that the kingdom of God is very wonderful.
You remember what the Lord said of John: “Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is a little one in the kingdom of God is greater than he”. Luke 7: 28. Why are we greater than he? We are of another birth. Birth after the flesh gives you no footing in the kingdom of God. If the greatest has no footing there, and was less than the least in the kingdom of God, you can depend upon it that no other will have any footing there. Do we take account of ourselves as belonging to the kingdom? It is a wonderful thing to belong to the kingdom. It involves another birth. “Except a man be born of water and of Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”. John 3: 5. It requires another birth, and as little ones in God’s kingdom, we are far beyond those who are accounted to be great in man’s account, as John was. The disciples here have to be regarded in this light, for some of them were about to see the kingdom of God; they were children of the kingdom. But the point is that we should know the Lord in that sphere; that we should know Him, not as here, in rejection and in suffering, but in the place that is in every way suitable.
And, moreover, it is related that His external appearance was changed. The Lord Jesus was here in flesh upon earth, He was here in the likeness of flesh of sin; His external appearance was not commensurate with His Person. He had to become Man to die, so as to effect the great work of redemption,
[p. 472] but on the mount He was transfigured before them. This is not before the eyes of men. No: the veil is before the eyes of men. The veil was His flesh, but upon the mount of transfiguration He comes out according to what He is. It says, “as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered”. Luke 9: 29. In chapter 4 He had attracted the multitude, and yet here the fashion of His countenance was altered from what it was then, and His raiment became white and glistening. That is a wonderful scene. I take it to be the holiest of all; the veil is gone. The Lord Jesus Christ appears to these favoured ones according to what He is.
Well, that is the holy portion accorded to us; but, as I said before, it has a moral consequence of one’s accepting His path of suffering and death here on earth. It seems to me to be wonderful that all this is opened up and accorded to the believer, And it begins, as I said, with this: “Whom say ye that I am?” If you make a confession, the Lord will tell you faithfully what it involves upon earth, but He goes further than that; He will tell you what it will involve for you in heaven. It will involve this much, you will see Christ without a veil; “his countenance was altered and his raiment became white and glistening”. Luke 9: 29. Have you any desire to see such a sight as that? The Lord would encourage us to it. It is the privilege of the assembly. We have title to the holiest of all. This is a foreshadowing of what Christ is in resurrection glory, where we see Him without a veil. “We all with open (unveiled) face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” 2 Corinthians 3: 18. Peter and James and John were not changed; they were not equal to the occasion, but those of us who have the Spirit are capable of change; the assembly is capable of change; we are changed into the same image from glory to glory. That is what we are called to; that is our privilege: to see Jesus; to see that [p. 473] face, perfectly identified as His, but, altered. Peter talked about making three tabernacles: one for the Lord, one for Moses, and one for Elias. He was incapable of appreciating the moment. In truth, the way to the holiest was not yet made manifest. There was no man capable of appreciating the marvellous sight, but the Lord has formed us through grace, having given us the Spirit as we see in Stephen who looked up steadfastly into heaven. He saw it and was moved by it; he did not talk about making three tabernacles. He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. He said: “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God”. Acts 7: 56. Only Jesus occupied him. I think that is what marks the assembly — it is engaged with Jesus; Jesus fills the vision, and in result the assembly becomes transfigured. Her countenance is altered, her raiment is made to shine. You may recall the bride: “His wife hath made herself ready; and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white” — clean and bright (margin) Revelation 19: 8. Her clothing becomes shining, and her face shines. How? By occupation with Christ. In that way she becomes a suitable companion for Him. She comes down from heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. The Spirit has so engaged her with Christ that she is a complete reflex of Himself.
Well now, there is not only in this marvellous scene the appearance of Christ as thus transfigured, but the Father s voice is heard. “While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him”. Luke 9: 34,35. So that there is a perfect picture of privilege presented to our hearts. The saints are seen as admitted to see Jesus in His glory, and as the object of the Father’s affections. That is what these men were introduced into, and that is the exceeding [p. 474] privilege that is accorded to us as members of the assembly.
The kingdom of God affords a view of the glorious personal appearance of Christ; but there is another glory that I would dwell upon for a moment, and this is, that He has the bride. This was the distinctive glory that John recognised: “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom” John 3: 29. It might seem like making light of the Lord to speak of her as enhancing His greatness, but it is so, and my understanding of the book of Revelation is that the assembly is introduced that we might understand the greatness of the Lamb: what a Person He must be if He has such a bride as this! “The bride, the Lamb’s wife” Revelation 21: 9. It is the Lamb’s wife; not the wife of the Son of God, but of the suffering One. John is not asked to come and see the Lamb; it is remarkable, but in result it is really to see the Lamb. That is to say, your thoughts of Christ, of His greatness, become intensified when you see that He has such a marvellous bride. That is, I think, what is introduced to us in the book of Revelation. So he speaks of her coming down, having the glory of God: and her light like unto a stone most precious, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. I take it to be brought in to bring out the greatness of His Person, who was known as the suffering One here below.
Well, may the Lord encourage our hearts in the way of their becoming acquainted with Himself, so that He may take us into His own region, where we are in the holiest of all; and in the land of promise — the sphere of the Father’s love. May the Lord bless the word to each of us!