When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. (Matthew 16:13-20)

How did Jesus teach? Sometimes he taught by telling stories. And sometimes he taught be asking pointed, open-ended questions. Asking questions the way Jesus did is sometimes called the “Socratic method.” It was a technique used by the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, who had died nearly four hundred years before Jesus was born. So sometimes when Jesus wanted his disciples to understand something new about himself, he started by asking them some questions. Jesus didn’t ask the questions because he didn’t know the answer. Rather, he knew his questions would get the disciples to recognize something that they might not otherwise understand.

Jesus’ question about his identity was one that everyone must answer for himself or herself sooner or later. Who is Jesus? Is he a prophet? A teacher? Human? Divine? The author and apologist C.S. Lewis said that Jesus purposely narrowed the possibilities. Like Jesus’ disciples, we must decide if Jesus is really God in human form or not. If he is not God, then he is either nuts or else he’s a con-man. He’s certainly not someone to follow or listen to.

So as we think about Jesus, we have no other option, just as Peter and the disciples had no real choice in how they identified him. Once you start thinking about the possibilities, you’ll understand why Peter made the statement he made. Peter’s conclusion is the only one that makes any sense given the facts.

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