Who is Jesus to You? Matthew 17:1-13
It is good to be with you here this week. For those who may be guests with us, or if I’m a new face for you, my name is Brad. I’m one of the elders here, and I’ve had the privilege of being the lead pastor for many years and getting to handle the Word of God on a regular basis.
We are in the Gospel of Matthew. If you have your Bibles, we’re going to be at the very backside of chapter 16, starting in verse 28, and then we’re going to finish around verse 13 of chapter 17. We’ve been in a series in Matthew for many weeks now. If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t like watching the end of a movie without knowing what happened at the beginning, the good news is every message we’ve done is online. You are welcome to go check those out to catch up on the series. What we tend to do here is simply pick a book and crank through it. We’ll handle fourteen verses this week, a couple more next week, and when you put enough weeks together, you’ve walked through the entire book.
Who Is Jesus to You?
As we begin this week, the question I want to ask you to answer in your own mind is this: Who is Jesus? To you, personally, who is Jesus? Have you ever really asked that question? I would imagine if you’re here this weekend, or watching online, you’re at least intrigued enough to have asked it, or you’re asking it right now. The answer to that question is critical because the answer to that question changes everything. It is arguably the most important question we could ever ask: Who is Jesus?
I remember as an adolescent growing up asking that question, and I answered it back then by thinking He was a teacher of some sort. A religious figure. There was something about the Golden Rule: don’t jack others if you don’t want them to jack you—I think that’s how it went in my mind! I knew He taught things that were supposed to be good for moral people to live by. But to me, Jesus was nothing more than that: a teacher, a moral figure.
Then something happened, just as has happened to so many of us. Our hearts began to open to the reality of who Jesus is—not merely as a teacher, but as something infinitely more: the very Savior of the world. Our minds began to wrap around the awesomeness of Jesus. In doing so, we began to think less of ourselves, which is a fascinating process. We became aware of something broken inside of us called sin, and we embraced the gospel. We embraced the finished work of Jesus, and we began to get a proper view of who Christ really is. I trusted Christ later in college, and I answered that question very differently as a young adult than I did as a child.
In Matthew 16, Jesus asked His disciples a very similar question. He started with, “Who do the people say that I am?” and then He brought it home: “Who do you say that I am?” The disciples had to wrestle with that personally, beyond popular opinion.
What about you? Who is Jesus to you? Is He a religious teacher? Is He simply a moral example, a spiritual leader, or a personal help when needed—like a genie you summon when life gets rough? How you answer determines how you respond to Him. If that’s all He is, then He might be worthy of acclaim, respect, or even emulation. But it would be very difficult to submit to Him and obey Him if He is merely a moral example or a good teacher.
Simply put, our view of Jesus determines how we respond to Him. If He is not Lord of all, then we find ourselves picking and choosing the things He said that we like, while discarding the things we dislike. When we do that, we effectively make ourselves Lord. We say, “Jesus, I’ll take that command, but I reject this one,” which means we are the ones claiming to be in charge.
Building a Proper Christology
Scripturally speaking, there is a theological term called Christology. It’s a fancy way of saying the study of Christ. You might have taken biology years ago—the study of life—or anthropology, the study of humanity. Christology is the study of Christ. What is happening throughout the gospel accounts is that Jesus is helping the disciples build a proper Christology. He is answering the question of who He is, not based on human opinion, but from divine revelation, raising their belief into the fullness of who He truly is.
Each gospel approaches this with unique nuance. For example, in the Gospel of John, the Greek word for “believe” is used 98 times. It is almost redundant! If you read through John, you see it everywhere: believe, believe, believe. But what the disciples believed in the early chapters of John was very different from what they believed at the empty tomb. At the wedding of Cana in John 2, after seeing what Jesus did, it says they believed. Yet standing in the empty tomb after Jesus rose from the dead, it says they believed. Same word, but the depth and breadth of their understanding had radically expanded. They developed a broader, more robust Christology, and it changed the way they related to Jesus.
Over time, their Christology matured. Because of that, it became easier—not easy, but easier—for them to submit to Jesus when He asked hard things of them. Just consider what Jesus commanded right before our passage today: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.” Denying yourself is hard enough; taking up your cross and following Him in everything, all the time, is impossible without a proper Christology. If you don’t have a high view of who Jesus is, that kind of surrender is out of reach.
As you read the Gospels, especially Matthew, you clearly see that the disciples are growing in their Christology, but they have not arrived yet. One of the reasons I love the Bible is that these guys are an absolute mess. They don’t fully get it. We often paint the disciples as the spiritual elite, but they were just like us—ordinary men and women trying to put the pieces together in an ever-increasing understanding of Christ. A right Christology changes everything.
A Mountaintop Moment
Starting in verse 28 of Matthew 16, Jesus begins to unveil a proper Christology. Verse 28 really belongs with the transfiguration account in chapter 17. Jesus is about to create what I call a “Christologically marked moment” for His inner circle. He takes them somewhere special, shows them something unique, and completely blows their minds with who He truly is.
Have you ever had a moment where your view of Jesus suddenly expanded? Maybe you read a passage of Scripture you had read a hundred times before, but the Spirit of God opened your eyes to see Jesus in a brand-new way. Or maybe you heard a message and thought, My view of Jesus has been so small, and He is so much bigger than I realized.
For me, that happened in Decatur, Texas. Not much happens in Decatur other than Whataburger! But in the fall of 1995, I was sitting in a Bible study listening to a teacher walk through the books of Matthew and Daniel, showing the redemptive connections and what Jesus came to accomplish. I was completely blown away. I had trusted Christ a couple of years earlier, but my faith was basically, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” That’s a good start, but it was small. Suddenly, I saw the sovereign purposes of Christ moving on my behalf—loving me, redeeming me, dying, rising, and reigning at the right hand of the Father. I realized, This is not a flannelgraph story. This is awesome.
During the break, I walked outside, sat down on a tree stump, and wept. I said, “Jesus, I yielded my life to You before, but if I yielded to the JV version of You, I want You to know that I see You more clearly now than I ever have. I am all in. I am on my face before You. Whatever You want me to do, I’ll do it—just please don’t send me to Fresno!” And yet, here we are! In that moment, my Christology was expanded.
Look at what Jesus does with His disciples:
Matthew 16:28 (NASB)
‘Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.’
Matthew 17:1-2 (NASB)
Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.
As a quick side note, Luke’s account mentions this happening about eight days later. Don’t lose your mind over that! Matthew and Mark count the six days in between, while Luke includes the day they left and the day they arrived. It’s the exact same timeline.
Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up onto a high mountain. Out of the twelve disciples, these three were in His inner circle. Which mountain was it? It could have been Mount Hermon, Mount Tabor, or Mount Meron. Hermon and Tabor are the top candidates, but the truth is, we don’t know for sure—and that’s not the point. The point isn’t where it happened; it’s what happened.
The Transfiguration: Glory Revealed
Notice that the text says He was transfigured before them, not transformed. To be transformed means you were not something and then you became something. Jesus didn’t become divine on that mountain; the fullness of deity has always dwelt in Him bodily. What happened at the transfiguration was that the veil of His humanity was pulled back, like Superman revealing His suit. His true, uncreated glory shone through. He has possessed that glory from eternity past, but here He gave them a supernatural glimpse of His radiance.
His face shone like the sun, and His garments became white as light. Mark’s Gospel adds that His clothes became radiant, intensely white, “as no launderer on earth could whiten them.” This was bleached before bleach was even a thing! His true identity broke through.
Matthew 17:3 (NASB)
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
Why Moses and Elijah? In the Old Testament, Moses represents the Law, and Elijah represents the Prophets. On this mountain, you have Jesus in revealed glory standing alongside the Law and the Prophets—the entirety of the Old Testament scriptures standing with Christ.
Remember how the Old Testament closes in Malachi 4:
Malachi 4:4-5 (NASB)
’Remember the law of Moses My servant, [even the] statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. ’Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.
The Old Testament left Israel on a cliffhanger: remember the Law of Moses, and watch for Elijah, who will prepare the way for the Lord. Now, Peter, James, and John are standing on a mountain looking at Moses, Elijah, and the Messiah all together in one place, having a conversation.
What were they talking about? Luke 9 gives us the answer:
Luke 9:30-31 (NASB)
And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
They were talking about His departure—His exodos—which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. They were talking about the cross! Here is the incarnate God speaking with the Law and the Prophets about the very thing the entire Bible points toward: the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus had once told the religious leaders, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me.” The hero of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is, and always will be, Jesus.
Terrified in the Cloud
It is an awe-inspiring scene. And then, in verse 4, Peter speaks up:
Matthew 17:4 (NASB)
Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’
I give Peter a hard time here, but I can’t say I’m surprised. You tend to be most annoyed by people who are most like you, and when I read Peter, I often think, Peter, just stop talking! And then I realize I’m often just like him. Peter offers to run to REI, grab three tents, and set up camp.
Why did he say that? Mark 9:6 tells us frankly: “For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified.”
Mark 9:6 (NASB)
For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified.
Luke adds that Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep, but when they woke up, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.
Luke 9:32 (NASB)
Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.
They had hiked up a mountain to pray, they fell asleep, and they were suddenly awakened by blinding light, standing before the glorified Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Of course they were terrified!
Then, to add to the holy weight of the moment, Peter gets interrupted mid-sentence:
Matthew 17:5 (NASB)
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!’
Imagine the terror of that moment. In the Old Testament, when the glory cloud descended on Mount Sinai, anyone who touched the mountain without consecration would die. Now, these disciples are enveloped in a bright cloud, and the Father’s voice speaks directly out of it: “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him!”
What is God saying without saying it? Peter, be quiet! Have you ever been in a breathtaking moment, and someone beside you just wouldn’t stop talking? You want to say, “Please just stop and take in the awe.” The Father says, “This is My Son. Listen to Him.”
In that moment, their Christology was supersized. Their view of Jesus as a good teacher or moral leader was shattered and replaced with the holy reality of God incarnate. A proper view of Jesus should be both wonderful and terrifying, beautiful and holy, because He is pure, righteous, and completely set apart.
Jesus Alone
Matthew 17:6-8 (NASB)
When the disciples heard [this], they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. And Jesus came to [them] and touched them and said, ‘Get up, and do not be afraid.’ And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.
Falling face down is the only proper response to the presence of holy God. They are flat on their faces, trembling in fear. But look at the tenderness of Jesus. He comes over, touches them, and says, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” And when they lift their eyes, they see no one except Jesus alone.
That detail is deeply significant. When you see the beauty and supremacy of Christ, the Law fades into the background, the Prophets fade into the background, and everything else dissolves. Everything else becomes shadows and dust compared to the beauty of our Savior, who is altogether lovely, holy, and gracious. If ever there was a moment Jesus could have mocked Peter for speaking foolishly, this was it. But that’s not who He is. In His grace, He touches them, lifts them up, and reveals Himself as sufficient.
Years later, Peter wrote about this Decatur, Texas moment in his own life:
2 Peter 1:16-18 (NASB)
For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, ’This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased ’– and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
Peter never forgot that mountain. It anchored his entire life and ministry.
Matthew 17:9 (NASB)
As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.’
Keep your finger on verse 9. It is amazing how quickly the disciples would forget what Jesus plainly told them about rising from the dead. When the crucifixion happened, they acted as though they were completely blindsided. Yet right here, Jesus tells them clearly that He would rise.
Understanding the Suffering Servant
As they walk down the mountain, the disciples try to connect the theological dots:
Matthew 17:10 (NASB)
And His disciples asked Him, ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’
They knew Malachi 4:5 promised Elijah’s return before the great day of the Lord, so they asked Jesus to explain how it all fit together.
Matthew 17:11-13 (NASB)
And He answered and said, ‘Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.
Jesus explains that Elijah had already come in the person and ministry of John the Baptist. Luke 1:17 told us that John would go before the Lord “in the spirit and power of Elijah.”
Luke 1:17 (NASB)
‘It is he who will go [as a forerunner] before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’
John was the forerunner who suffered and was rejected, and in the same way, the Messiah would suffer at their hands.
The disciples struggled with this because of their unmet expectations. The number one source of conflict in human relationships is unmet, uncommunicated expectations. The disciples had an expectation of what the Messiah should look like. Their traditions taught them that the Messiah would enter the city and be crowned King, not taken outside the city and crucified on a Roman cross. They couldn’t wrap their minds around the reality that Jesus had to come first as the Suffering Servant to bear our sins, die, rise, and ascend, before returning one day as the conquering King.
Their expectations got in the way of a proper Christology. We do the exact same thing today. People say, “I just have a hard time believing Jesus would ever say or do that.” But if Scripture says He said it and did it, then He said it and did it! Our personal preferences and expectations do not define Him. If Jesus is not Lord of all, then we end up reshaping Him in our own image.
Lord of All
Why is this passage in the Bible? Because a proper view of Jesus changes everything. In the transfiguration, God pulled back the veil to show us that Jesus is far more than a good teacher, moral example, or spiritual helper. Because of who He is, He is worthy of far more than our polite admiration. He is worthy of our total submission and lordship.
Because Jesus is God incarnate, He is worthy to be obeyed in all things. Remember the Father’s words: “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him!” Jesus requires only one thing of us, and He is completely worthy of it: He requires everything.
Denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following Jesus is impossible if your God is small. If your faith is limited to a childhood Sunday school rhyme, it will be very difficult to lay down your life for Him. But when your Christology expands to see Jesus as He truly is, everything changes. You see that He is worthy of complete surrender because He loved you enough to go to the cross on your behalf to purchase your salvation.
Paul describes the supremacy of Christ in Philippians 2:
Philippians 2:8-11 (NASB)
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
A proper Christology recognizes that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Some will bow in joyful worship; others will bow in fearful judgment. But everyone will bow, because that is who He is.
A right view of Jesus invites us today—while the offer of grace stands—to willingly bow our knee and surrender our lives to Him as Lord, because He alone is worthy.
So let me close by asking you the question we began with: Who is Jesus to you?