Session 3
Matthew 16:13-26
Memory Verse: Matthew 16:24
Imagine taking a walk in a park and asking random people,
“Who was Jesus?”
You probably would get any number of interesting responses.
Some folks might ignore you completely.
Others might say Jesus was a prophet or a good teacher.
A few might question if He ever really existed,
while others might say He was a man who was greatly misunderstood.
The question of Jesus’s identity is an important one
for each adult to answer for themselves.
But the question that really needs answering is not “Who is Jesus to me?”
but “Who is Jesus?”
Individual takes on Jesus will vary from person to person.
But who Jesus actually is, no matter what anyone thinks about Him, is crucial to understand.
This lesson presents Jesus as “the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16).
The world is made up of leaders and followers.
The majority of us are followers.
As followers, it is critically important who we follow.
History is replete with people who followed others to destruction and death.
Leaders like Jim Jones of the Jonestown massacre,
cult leader Charles Manson of the murderous Manson family,
or David Koresh of the Branch Davidian tragedy,
all led their followers to disaster.
Each of us must choose leaders wisely.
Follow those who lead to life and not to death. You’ll be glad you did! (PSG, p. 27)
Matthew 16 continues to move toward the close of Jesus’s ministry in Galilee.
Explain Jesus’s “withdrawals” in Matthew 15-16.
From Understand the Context (PSG, p. 28)
to describe the setting for today’s passage:
“Jesus withdrew with the disciples to the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee (v. 5).
Their journey would take them north to the area of Caesarea Philippi,
where the events in this week’s study take place.
Thus began a new phase in the ministry of Jesus.
From Caesarea Philippi, Jesus would travel south directly to Jerusalem.
This move signaled the end of the Galilean ministry
and the beginning of the final weeks of Jesus’s earthly life,
culminating in His arrest and crucifixion in Jerusalem.”
In today’s passage, Jesus focused on what His disciples believed about Him. The question of who Jesus is remains the key question for every person who claims to have faith in Jesus.