Are you familiar with QBQ? It has nothing to do with football or with grilling food. It is actually an organization accountability concept. And the idea is that as people ask questions there are really deeper questions that they want to know the answer to. QBQ stands for the question behind the question.
For example, when we ask what God will do in a certain situation; what does God do with people who have never heard the gospel? What we are really asking when we ask that question is, “Will God do the right thing in that situation?” And the answer to that is a resounding, “Yes!”
Our series on 4 pictures of Jesus continues today as we see the picture of Jesus identified as the Christ. Here we see Jesus using a QBQ of sorts. He is asking the disciples about who he is. This is a great and awesome story. It is one that we hear often and know well. Jesus is with his disciples. They have seen some amazing things over the past days and weeks. Two very large crowds were fed. Jesus walked on water. Now he is asking, “Who do people say that the Son of man is?”
Jesus knows the answer to this question. He is not asking because he doesn’t know. He is setting the disciples up for the question behind the question. This is the really important one. And in doing this he emphasizes the importance of the second question. Who do people say the son of Man is?
Well there are all kinds of answers out there. Can you name any of them? John the Baptist. Or Elijah. Still others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets. What about today in our world? Who do people say that Jesus is? There are all kinds of answers out there. Can you name any of them? A good moral teacher. A wise religious leader.
But then Jesus gets to the heart of the matter. He gets to the QBQ. He gets to the question behind the question. “But what about you? Who do you say that I am?”
Now notice what is going on here. Jesus is not correcting the other views out there. He is not saying, “Go and fix the false views that are out there.” Instead he is asking but what about you? Who do you say that I am? And Peter answers on behalf of the others. For all the times that Peter goofs up; for all the times that Peter says the most ridiculous things; for all the times that Peter winds up with his foot in his mouth; this is not one of those times.
Instead he confesses the confession which is the very foundation and rock upon which the church is built. You are the Christ; the son of the living God. To be sure, Peter does not yet fully grasp what this means. We will see more of that next week. But for now he answers the questions right. Jesus is the Christ; he is the Messiah; the son of the living God.
The question about who Jesus is is not one that stays within the limits of the story of the Scriptures. But it is one that travels down through time to us today. It is a question that the church has answered with her very life ever since Jesus first uttered those words.
Now if you have ever had any kind of a writing course you about the five Ws and H. Do you remember what those are? They are questions that tell what is really going on in a story: who, what, when, where, why and how. When I get to work with this particular text, I like to take these questions and insert them here to help understand what is going on.
Now before I do that, let me make a point very clear. This is not an exercise in guilt. The point of this is not to be aware of all the times that we mess up or fail to do the things that we should be doing. The point of this is to open our eyes to begin to see and recognize those opportunities to answer these questions, to live a life that answers these questions, and in living that life we find the life that God so freely and graciously gives us because of Jesus. Ready?
Who do you say that Jesus is? He is the Messiah. He is the son of the living God. That is, he is God in the flesh. He is our Immanuel. He is the only one who can save us from the powers of sin, death and the devil. This is not anything that we are able to accomplish on our own. Yet God freely, graciously, abundantly gives it because of Jesus. He gives it because he loves us so very much. He gives it because he loves this world so very much.
What do you say that Jesus is? He is the savior. He has purchased and redeemed us. Not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. Because Jesus endured the things that he endured; because he underwent great suffering, and was rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, and because he was killed and raised after three days, our sins have been forgiven. Because our sins have been forgiven, we live before and with God and are restored to God. This is not because of us or anything that we have done, but for Jesus’ sake.
When do you say that Jesus is? Just as there is no one place or part of our lives where God should be limited, there is also no time. What are those opportunities that God gives you to share his love, to show his love, to share the good news about Jesus? I am not just talking about the words that we say, but the things that we do. I am talking about the love that we show, and the service that we give.
Where do you say that Jesus is? It is too easy to get caught up in thinking about our lives as broken up into compartments. We have our work life. We have our school life. We have our home life. We have our church life. The goal is to keep them separated. But that is not the view of the Scriptures. Life is one complete whole. So the relationship that we have with God is one that impacts every compartment of our lives. The way we chose to live in those areas says a lot about what we believe. God gives us opportunities to make that confession to share that good news.
Why do you say that Jesus is? If the answer to this is out of obligation, guilt or because I have to, then it is the wrong answer. We make this confession about Jesus; we live this life that is impacted by him, because we believe that it is really and truly life. It is life that is better than anything else we could imagine. Living life with Jesus is life that is abundant. It allows us to live life as God meant for it to be lived. It is life that is worth living. It is life that is secure in our relationship and connection with God. It is life that allows us to be part of something that is eternal and bigger than ourselves.
How do you say that Jesus is? It could very well be with the words that we speak. And there are times that this will be the case. But it will also be in the way that we chose to use the gifts, time and resources that God has given to us. Each of us has different gifts. We are all different members of the same body. One is not more important than the other. Each is required for the body to be healthy and whole. The way we live our lives matters. The things we do are important. There is no one right answer to this question; except to say that we answer it.
Again, I am not asking these questions to instill guilt. I don’t want you to feel bad. Instead, I want you to begin to think about the opportunities that God gives us to live in and experience life lived in this confession and understanding of who Jesus is. The answer to this question; the answer to these questions are not just about having the right answer. They are about life and living life with God. Not life that we establish with him, but that he establishes with us. It is life that is abundant and wonderful.
What we are talking about here is a great gift and privilege. It is not about us. We are not number one. We are not the most important thing in life. God is. And God is about a great work, or restoring and reconciling a broken creation. So God has given to us the privilege of being a part of this work. From the perspective of some it may seem that we are losing our lives. But we are really not. Instead of living for ourselves, we are living for the sake of the good news of God’s love in Jesus. We are living for the sake of the gospel, and in living that, we find true life.
Who is Jesus? That is the question of the day. The more you think about it and ponder it, the more you will see opportunity to live that out. As you go about your week this week continue to ask the questions. Continue to find opportunities to live them out. And as you do this, know that Jesus is present with you. May you have the courage to lose your life for the sake of the gospel, and May you then find true life as it was meant to be lived. Amen.
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