Who Do You Say Jesus Is?

“Who Do You Say Jesus Is?” by Rev. Whitney LP Bruno, August 27 2023, Little Current United Church Pastoral Charge

Matthew 16:13-20: Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

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Who do you say Jesus is? I imagine you’ve been taught to say ‘the son of God’ or ‘the Messiah’ or ‘the Christ,’ but… who do YOU say Jesus is? Not what you’ve been taught. Not what you think the right answer is. I’m asking about the answer in your heart of hearts. That spot. Jesus is asking that question today. And Christians have never had one answer.

In the ancient world there were three main ways someone could be divine. 1) a god could have always been a god. They had gods as parents, or they were the first god, and were never created by another. For example, Zeus – always a god. Although always a god, a god could temporarily become incarnated – they could temporarily take on a mortal body.

This is how a lot of demi-gods or half-gods were created. A god became human for a bit, entered a relationship with a human, and had a child who was then both god and human. So, 2) a god could be a demi-god. Heracles is a hybrid of god and human.

3) Another way a person could be a god is if they were “lifted up” to become one from being a human. Julius Cesear was declared a god. People prayed to him. His adopted son called himself “the son of god.” Julius was exalted, and the other gods chose to make him a god.

All three of these appear in our faith tradition too. The God of Abraham and Isaac is and always was God. The Genesis story of Nephilim may be a story of divine-human hybrids. And, arguably, Elijah is “lifted up” to heaven rather than dying because he is made divine.

Our ancient faith ancestors knew all these stories. Witnessed neighbors and politicians arguing these points. They were faced with the same question we face to this day: Who is Jesus? Where does he fit in this?

And… they didn’t know. Or rather, couldn’t agree. Each person had a different perspective, just as we do today.

In Matthew, Jesus seems mortal until he is baptized – where he is adopted by God and declared God’s own son. So Jesus lifted up to divinity, per se.

While in Luke, Jesus is a hybrid of Mary, a human, and God.

And in John, Jesus is God who temporarily became human.

Jesus, himself, refers to himself as “the son of man.” A human. Much like you are a son of a man or a daughter of a man. A humble title. He doesn’t call himself “the son of God” like Cesear does. Perhaps this is quite purposefully mocking Cesear and the Roman empire.

We heard today people called Jesus John the Baptist. This was Herod Antipas’ position. He thought Jesus was John reincarnated and feared him. John was back for revenge against Herod since Herod murdered John.

Others said Jesus was Elijah. Recall – Elijah was lifted to heaven and never died. So he could return to Earth. It was said, and is still said, that Elijah will return right before the full inbreaking of God’s perfect realm. So people are hoping Jesus is Elijah and ushering in God’s perfection – bringing heaven on earth.

In Matthew alone, others say Jesus is Jeremiah returned. The Prophet Jeremiah is said to have taken the Ark of the Covenant and hidden it in a cave before the people were sent into exile. So, when the end times came, Jeremiah would return and return the Ark to the Chosen One. So, perhaps, Jesus – who fulfils a lot of Jeremiah’s prophecies and, like Jeremiah, preaches destruction when all other religious leaders see peace in the future, perhaps Jesus is Jeremiah. And the day of the Lord is nigh.

Simon Peter says Jesus is the Messiah. That means the Anointed One, the Christ. The Messiah is the promised king of the Jews – the leader of the re-establishment of a royal and divinely ordained kingdom. Recall elsewhere in scripture the people want to take Jesus and crown him as king.

Some scholars think the second part of Peter’s announcement – “the son of the living god” was later added. This is because Jesus orders not to tell he is the messiah. Not that he is the messiah AND son of the living God. Some think it was Peter’s original words – and Jesus was okay being known as the son of God but not as messiah because the first is theological but the second political. Yet, Cesear was calling himself the son of God so… both terms are pretty political.

The early Christians debated among themselves about Jesus too. There was no orthodox, official, stance on who Jesus is until Emperor Constantine adopts Christianity. At that time, he wanted a single answer, called the various Christianities to come to a single agreement, and we begin to have creeds. Statements. Agreements.

And what was that agreement? Jesus is God and is human. Jesus is the Son and also the Godhead. Jesus is wholly human and wholly divine – without mixing these – without making a hybrid – yet both aspects wholly within him. A paradox. Over the centuries a paradox was agreed upon.

And therefore, to this day, we have churches that focus on this part or on that part of Jesus. We have churches with Jesus, our God. And we have churches with Jesus, our brother. We have affirmations of miracles and divinity and also affirmations of crying, and hunger, humanity.  Who is Jesus to you?

During the last General Council, the United Church focused on this question. We heard from people all over the country. People knew Jesus in kindness, in nature, in others. People spoke of Jesus as the presence among us – as love – as judge and righteous defender for the vulnerable. There was no one image. No one word. No one experience.

On the East Coast of Canada, United Church people tend to think of Jesus in high Christology. That means, to them, Jesus is God. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. Jesus is who John writes about – the Word before all. Pre-creation: never created – was and is and always will be God who temporarily took on flesh and walked among us incarnated. The creeds and ancient agreements, and the paradox, are embraced.

On the West Coast, a low Christology is stressed. That means, to them, Jesus is our brother, a rabbi, a historic figure. Jesus was born like we are all born. Lived as we all live. Died like we all die. Since Jesus was human, and we are human, we can and ought to do the good he did. We are his continuing body on earth – his hands and feet, his presence and love. To be human has been made very good, and full of promise to do very good things. Some believe Jesus was always human, and never divine. Some believe Jesus was human and became divine. In both, the human aspect is emphasized and the start.

I, myself, sometimes Jesus is my buddy and cheerleader. A companion, who encourages me. And sometimes Jesus is my saviour, who lifts me up when the world brings me down. Or who lifts me up from my own bad choices and reminds me to do better. Be better. Love deeper. Sometimes Jesus is the reflection of God- to know him is to know God. And sometimes to me Jesus is God, God’s self, choosing to come to us and take on human flesh and infuse the experience of being human with divinity. In my own head and soul I fluctuate between a high and low Christology. The paradox makes sense to me because it doesn’t make sense – it is changeable, vibrant, a verb, moving, living. It reflects my experience of sometimes knowing Jesus as God and sometimes as a human just like me.

How about you? Who is Jesus to you? Not the right answer. Not the scriptural answer. Not the creedal answer. The answer your heart whispers in this moment. I conclude with a time of reflection listening to the amazing voice of Shayna Jones, of wearestoryfolk, who sang our scriptures today at General Council (listen.) Amen.

For further reading, check out “How Jesus Became God”, by Bart Erhman.

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