Jesus Isn't Decaf (By Naomi Meyers)

Football is not my “thing”. Not the variety where grown men violently assault one another over a little brown ball. Not the version where folks run wildly up and down a field chasing a rolling circle of black and white hexagons. I care not at all. My complete lack of knowledge in these sports is eclipsed only by my lack of interest. Unfortunately for me, the males in my family avidly watch football. College ball. Professional ball. Games and scores and rankings are tracked. They talk about the teams and players as if they frequent the practices, dropping names like they sat next to the quarterback at lunch. 

They didn’t. They’ve never met him. They have no idea if he really is all those things the media says he is or does all those things his public relations team says he does. But they believe them, repeat them, use those published opinions to build their assessment of the man’s character. A man they have never met. Will likely never meet.   

In a recent conversation with my son, he mentioned that a certain quarterback was “a jerk.”

“So you know him, then?” I asked. 

He paused. “Well, no, but he is,” came the staunch reply. 

I clearly understood. He had drawn a conclusion concerning another man’s character based solely on media reports and the varied opinions of a handful of people in his circle. He hadn’t met the man. Probably never will. Doesn’t even really want to. Yet that man is “a jerk.” He knows it because everyone else is saying it. 

Although largely at fault for this misconception, the media is not fully to blame. This method of “knowing” people predates radios and newspapers, telephones, televisions, and the internet. It goes back as far as the origin of the gossip grapevine. People were forming their opinions on the backs of other people’s speculations clear back in the New Testament. Whispers about Jesus were everywhere. Who was that guy anyway?

It seems Jesus wanted to hear the answer to that as well. He comes right out and asks the disciples, “Who is everyone saying I am?” The answer isn’t encouraging. Whispered words at the well, hushed conversations at the market, quiet discussions around the Temple all came up with different conclusions. Maybe He was a preacher. Maybe He was a prophet back from the dead. Maybe He was a different prophet. “The Messiah” never crossed their minds. They hadn’t even considered it. How could they? They didn’t actually know Him. They had no way of knowing anything about Him other than what they’d heard. Apparently, they hadn’t heard much. (Matthew 16:13-14) 

But how could that be? He’s been teaching and healing and feeding people for quite a while now. They are coming in droves to be healed or watch others be healed. He amazes them, holds them spellbound. Yet they don’t make the connection. It makes one wonder if the disciples had it figured out yet, either? Had they followed Him from place to place, witnessed miracle after miracle, learned precept upon precept, and the light still not dawned? Is that possible? 

Thankfully, no. At least not for Peter. He wasn’t confused about who He was following around, sacrificing everything for. Peter knew exactly who He believed Jesus was. His opinion wasn’t based on roadside gossip. It wasn’t something the priest had told him. It wasn’t an epiphany gained when catching up on the latest speculations from the village well. Peter knew exactly who Jesus was because Peter knew Jesus personally. 

Peter had been out fishing with his brother, Andrew, when he first met Jesus. It took no time at all for him to drop His net and follow. (Matthew 4:18-19) He’d walked with Jesus all over Galilee as He taught and preached and healed. Peter’s own mother-in-law was healed by the touch of Jesus’ hand. (Matthew 8:14-15) He’d been on boats tossing in storms, seen Jesus quiet the waves with simple words. (Matthew 8:23-27) Peter had witnessed Jesus’ compassion as He healed a Gentile girl and fed thousands of people. (Mark 7:24-30; 8:1-10) Peter knew exactly with whom He walked. He had firsthand knowledge. He was deeply, intimately acquainted with Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.   

It comes as no surprise then, when it is Peter who pipes up first in response to Jesus’ question, “Who am I to you?” Peter doesn’t hesitate. He doesn’t scrape his toe in the ground and wait for someone else to answer first. No. He confidently speaks the truth he has seen with his own eyes, heard with his own ears, and experienced in his own soul, “You are the Messiah.” To Peter, Jesus was everything God had promised through the prophets hundreds of years before. Not because someone else said so. Not because he’d heard the notion over a meal at the local inn. Not because it was the popular opinion in the village. Peter knew exactly who Jesus was because he was busy walking through life beside Him.  (Matthew 16:15-16; Mark 8:29)

Right beside Him, in fact. Peter is the guy who jumped out of a boat in the middle of a storm to walk across wind-driven waters toward Jesus. He could have just believed it when Jesus called out saying they didn’t need to be afraid. He could have stayed on the boat and waited for Jesus to get there. He didn’t need to leave the boat to prove Jesus was the Messiah. He already knew. Peter knew that if the person walking toward them on raging waters was Jesus, not a ghost as the others suspected, He could make that water hold Peter too. So he called out, “If it’s really You, call me to walk to you.” Jesus called. Peter walked. Even when the waves threatened to overtake Peter’s faith, he cried out to the One he knew could save him. Why? Because Peter knew with certainty Whose company He was keeping. Jesus. Messiah. Son of God. (Matthew 14:22-32)

Five chapters after Peter’s declaration in Matthew is the account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Crowds of people watched as He approached the town. They threw their robes on the ground before Him. They tossed branches down to pad His path. They sang Hosanna and blessed Him. But when He got into Jerusalem, the people there didn’t know who He was. Apparently, the people following Him didn’t really know either. When asked, their answer reflected the murmurings around town, “It’s the prophet Jesus from Nazareth.” (Matthew 21:1-11) Not Messiah. Not Savior. Not the Son of God. They were clearly unaware with Whom they walked. They knew all about Him, but they didn’t truly know Him.    

Which makes me wonder about us. How well do we know Jesus? In a society that has diluted the importance of Jesus and His story to be part of an insignificant historical backdrop, who, exactly, is Jesus to us? Do we know Him personally, intimately, like Peter, or are we still following the crowd and forming opinions based on the speculations of others? Do we actually know Jesus, or do we only know about Him?

See, you can know about a hundred celebrities. You can drop names, quote stats, and guess trades. You can quote their hometown, birthday, and the last three teams they played on. It will never matter. Knowing about them is quite different than knowing them. Jesus is the same way. You can know all about Him–His birth, His life, His death, His resurrection. You can quote Scripture, cite meanings from the Hebrew and Greek. You can pray with eloquent words, turn a lovely phrase in speech, but if you don’t spend every moment of every day with Jesus permeating your entire existence, you don’t really know who He is. 

Today, as He did centuries ago, Jesus is asking, “Who am I to you?” I hope you know Him well enough to recognize His voice. I hope your heart resounds with personal knowledge of the truths Peter spoke. Jesus. Messiah. Son of God. I hope you know from personal experience and are not simply living vicariously through Peter’s words, the preacher’s sermon, or parental teachings. I hope you know Jesus for yourself because you spend every day walking with Him, living in His presence, drinking in His life. I hope you remember who Jesus is to you. Savior. Friend. Comfort. Strength. Not because you’ve been told He is those things, but because you have experienced them firsthand. (Hebrews 7:25; John 15:13-15; Isaiah 51:12; Psalm 46:1; Isaiah 40:29) As you step to the starting line of this new year, I hope you know with absolute certainty born of deep relationship, who Jesus is to you. Messiah. Savior. Son of God. Prince of Peace. (Ephesians 2:14-22; Mark 1:11; John 1:29; John 3:17)

Jesus is still asking. Asking where He fits in your life. Do you really know Him or do you simply know about Him? Is He just another prophet or is He your King? Who, exactly, is Jesus to you?