Various Estimates of Christ

Learning Objectives

By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:

1. Survey the estimates men have placed on Christ — and see that most fall short.
2. State the one true estimate: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
3. Recognize that one's estimate of Christ decides one's eternal destiny.

Thesis

Everyone forms some estimate of Christ, and most estimates fall short of the truth; only the confession "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" is the correct one — and which estimate a person holds settles his destiny.

Burden

At Caesarea Philippi Jesus asked the question that every person eventually answers, whether out loud or by the way they live: "Who do you say that I am?" No one stays neutral. The crowds had their flattering guesses, the world has its dismissive ones, and each, however respectful it sounds, falls short of the truth and so cannot save. The estimate you settle on is not a matter of opinion you can hold loosely; Jesus tied eternal things to it. This lesson sets the estimates side by side and asks which one you have made.

Introduction

No figure in history has had so many questions asked about him. And what a person believes about Christ shapes everything else — his view of God, the Spirit, the church, and the Bible — and finally determines his eternal destiny. Everyone has placed some estimate on Christ. The only question that matters is whether it is the correct one. Jesus Himself raised it: "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?... But who do you say that I am?" (Matt. 16:13, 15). Boles surveys three sets of estimates: those of the Jews, of the world, and of Christians.

I. The Estimate of the Jews (Matt. 16:14)

When Jesus asked what people were saying, the answers came back respectful but wrong (Matt. 16:14):

1. "John the Baptist" — a rumor Herod himself had started, in a superstitious time (Matt. 14:2).
2. "Elijah" — the great prophet expected to return.
3. "Jeremiah" — perhaps because, like the weeping prophet, Jesus wept over His people.
4. "One of the prophets" — when pressed, men feel they must say something; but a guess, even a flattering one, is not the truth.
5. And some said worse — "a blasphemer" — and sought to kill Him for it. Every one of these placed Jesus high — a prophet, a returned hero — and every one fell short. To call Him a great prophet and stop there is still to miss who He is.

II. The Estimate of the World (Matt. 16:14)

The world narrows it to two:

1. "An impostor" — a deceiver to be dismissed.
2. "Only a good man" — a fine teacher and moral example, nothing more. Both are verdicts that cost the hearer nothing and demand nothing. But neither fits a Man who claimed to be the Son of God; "only a good man" is precisely what He cannot be if His claims are false, and precisely what He is too great to be if they are true.

III. The Estimate of Christians (Matt. 16:16)

Then Peter spoke the one true estimate: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matt. 16:16). For the Christian, Christ is:

1. The Son of God — divine, not merely a prophet.
2. The Savior of the world — and MY Savior — the truth made personal.
3. The Great High Priest — who intercedes for His people (Heb. 4:14-16).
4. A constant companion — "I am with you always" (Matt. 28:20). This is the estimate Jesus called blessed and built His church upon (Matt. 16:17-18). It is not a higher opinion than the others by degree; it is the truth, where the others are guesses.

Application

You have already made some estimate of Christ — the only question is whether it is the right one. A respectful estimate is not the same as a true one; "great teacher," "good man," and "prophet" all sound honoring and all fall short of "Son of the living God." And the right estimate cannot stay an idea in the head; Peter's confession committed him to follow. Make Him not only the Savior but your Savior, not only High Priest but your High Priest, not only Lord but your companion through every day. What you decide about Christ decides everything else about you.

Conclusion

The crowds guessed, the world dismissed, but Peter confessed — and only the confession is true: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Every estimate that stops short of that, however polite, leaves a person short of salvation. Christ always blesses those who put the correct estimate on Him. What is yours?

Invitation

The right estimate of Christ leads straight to obedience. Jesus blessed Peter's confession, and the gospel calls you to make it your own — to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, to confess Him before men, to repent, and to be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 8:37; Rom. 10:9-10; Acts 2:38). Do not leave Him filed among history's great men. Confess Him as the Son of the living God, and let that confession move your feet today. Come while we sing.

Word Study

• "The Christ" (Matt. 16:16, Gk. ho Christos): the Anointed One, the promised Messiah — not a title of mere honor but the office of God's appointed King and Savior.
• "The living God" (Matt. 16:16): set against the dead idols and the merely human estimates; Peter confesses Jesus as Son of the God who is real and reigning.

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