This Is My Beloved Son
The Question Behind Every Confession of Faith
I remember when I made my confession of faith. It was September 24, 1989, in Montgomery, Alabama. My father baptized my sister and me that day, but before he did, he asked me a question — the same question we ask everyone who wants to be baptized.
My dad looked at me and asked, “Corey, do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God?” And I answered, “Yes, I believe.”
For most people, baptism is the greatest opportunity they’ll ever have to make this great confession and bear witness to what they believe and who they believe in. It’s a moment to share your faith with more people, in one moment, than perhaps any other time in your life.
Not Everyone Agrees on Who Jesus Is
For many of us, that confession — that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God — is one we hold as true. But it hasn’t always been, and isn’t always, a confession everyone agrees with.
To confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, is to say that Jesus is God. That He was begotten of the Father. That He came from heaven to earth, was born of a virgin, and is the Incarnate Word — the Word become flesh. That He lived, died on the cross, was buried in a borrowed tomb, and three days later rose from the grave. That He appeared to more than 500 people over forty days before ascending to heaven as His closest friends and followers watched.
He did all of this to save us from our sin — to redeem us, cleanse us, restore us, forgive us, and make us new — so that we could receive His Holy Spirit here and now and know that God is for us, God is with us, and God is in us. And so that we could have the unparalleled hope of eternal life.
How the Early Church Wrestled With Jesus’ Identity
In the first few centuries after Christ’s ascension, that was a lot for people to get their minds around. Various movements offered their own explanations:
- Arianism taught that Jesus was not fully God and did not exist from the beginning with God.
- Marcionism and Docetism claimed Jesus wasn’t born at all, but simply appeared as a spiritual being who only seemed human.
- Gnosticism held that Jesus brought secret knowledge, but not salvation through the cross.
- Ebionism insisted Jesus was only a human prophet.
The list goes on and on — all the ways people have tried to explain who Jesus was and what He did or didn’t do. Even today, popular voices will say that Jesus was just a failed prophet whose followers reinterpreted His message after His death, or that He was a Jewish mystic who helped people experience God’s presence, or a great rabbi and teacher who simply wasn’t God.
We can study what people throughout history have said about Jesus, and we can listen to what people say about Him today. But eventually, every person has to answer one question for themselves:
Who is Jesus?
God the Father Answers the Question Himself
You don’t have to take Peter’s word for it. You don’t have to take mine either. But it’s worth hearing what God the Father Himself has to say about the identity of Jesus — because how you answer this question matters now, and it will matter even more in the days ahead.
The story is found in Matthew 17, often called “The Transfiguration.” There’s debate among scholars about exactly where this happened. The traditional Catholic site is Mount Tabor in Galilee. But the previous chapter places Jesus and the disciples in Caesarea Philippi, and as far as we know, they hadn’t left that city yet. If that’s true, the location becomes even more interesting — the tallest mountain near Caesarea Philippi is Mount Hermon, and from its summit you could see nearly all of the Promised Land.
Matthew writes:
“Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone.” (Matthew 17:1)
This happens six days after Peter’s confession in the previous chapter: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).
Jesus Is Transformed Before Their Eyes
“As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light.” (Matthew 17:2)
This is why we call it the transfiguration. As Peter, James, and John watch, Jesus is transformed. The glory of God is being revealed in Him. They don’t have words to fully describe it — the best they can say is that His face shone like the sun and His clothes became as white as light.
If that’s all they had seen that day, it would have been enough. But then something else happened.
Moses and Elijah Appear
“Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus.” (Matthew 17:3)
We aren’t told exactly how Peter, James, and John recognized them, but somehow they knew. And it was significant: Moses represented the Law, and Elijah represented the Prophets.
Matthew doesn’t tell us what the three of them were discussing, but Luke does. In Luke 9:31, we read that they were speaking about Jesus’ “exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem.”
That word — exodus — is the Greek word for departure. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, it’s the same word used for Israel’s exodus from Egypt. Just as Israel’s departure from Egypt meant liberation and a move from death to life, Jesus’ coming departure by way of the cross would mean liberation and freedom, as He moved from death to life.
Peter doesn’t yet understand that Jesus has to die and rise again. But he knows enough to recognize that if Jesus is shining like the sun and Moses and Elijah have appeared, something enormous is happening. Jesus had just told the disciples, “Some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom” (Matthew 16:28). With those words still fresh in his mind, it’s no surprise Peter responds the way he does.
Peter’s Offer — and God’s Interruption
“Peter exclaimed, ‘Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials — one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.'” (Matthew 17:4)
Peter has the right instinct but the wrong timing. He’s ready for Jesus to establish His Kingdom right then and there. But while he’s still speaking, everything changes.
“But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.’ The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground.” (Matthew 17:5-6)
“This Is My Son — Listen to Him”
Only twice in Scripture does God the Father speak audibly during the life and ministry of Jesus — once at His baptism, and again here at the transfiguration.
Peter had confessed, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Now God the Father confirms it: “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”
The only difference between what God says at Jesus’ baptism and what He says here is the addition of three words: Listen to him.
That word, “listen,” is the same word used in Deuteronomy 6: “Hear, O Israel… the Lord your God, the Lord is one.” It means more than simply hearing. It means to hear and obey.
When God the Father says, “This is my Son, listen to Him,” He means: hear Him, and obey Him. Why? Because He is the Beloved Son. Everything in the Law and the Prophets points to Jesus. Moses and Elijah were pointing to Jesus. Jesus is supreme, sovereign over all.
The language echoes Psalm 2:7 and the idea of the Royal Son, the Messiah King. It also recalls Isaiah 42:1-9 and the prophecy of the Suffering Servant who was to come as a light to the nations.
Jesus — the Son of the Living God, in whom the Father is well pleased — has His true identity revealed before Peter, James, and John. Understandably, they are terrified and fall face down on the ground.
“Then Jesus came over and touched them. ‘Get up,’ he said. ‘Don’t be afraid.’ And when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus.” (Matthew 17:7-8)
What Will You Do With Jesus?
There’s an old hymn written by Philip Bliss, who lived in the mid-to-late 1800s and died tragically at the age of 38. Bliss cared deeply about people hearing — and responding to — the gospel: the good news of the great love of God revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
How He came from heaven to earth. Was born of a virgin. Lived a perfect, sinless life. Healed the lame, the sick, and the blind. Came to forgive sin and set the captive free. Died a criminal’s death on a criminal’s cross, paying the ultimate price for the sin of the world — because He loved us that much. He bled and died on that cross for you and for me. They buried His body in a borrowed tomb. Many thought the story was over. But three days later, on Sunday morning, after the darkest Friday the world had ever known, God raised Jesus up out of that grave. The King of kings and Lord of lords defeated death.
Bliss traveled the country with the preacher D.L. Moody, leading worship at revivals. He wrote a song built around a single question he wanted people to wrestle with: Who is Jesus? Every chorus asked it directly:
What will you do with Jesus, my friend?
Neutral you cannot be;
Someday your heart will be asking,
“What will He do with me?”
That’s the question worth sitting with today.
Some have wrestled with it before and made the same confession Peter made — that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. But somewhere along the way, the believing stopped, or at least the living-it-out did. It’s possible to functionally treat Jesus as a wise teacher with good things to say about living a good life, and church as a good idea that’s good for your family — without ever reckoning with who He actually claimed to be.
But the honest question remains: Who is Jesus? What will you do with Him?
If He is who He says He is, it changes everything. If He really is the Christ, the Messiah King, the Son of the Living God — if He really did give His life at Calvary so that we could be set free from sin and death — that changes everything.
Jesus is the Beloved Son of the Father. And the invitation is simple: listen to Him. Follow Him. Obey Him. Do what He says.
Neutral, we cannot be.
Because one day, He will return, and then we will be the ones asking what He will do with us.
May the answer be obvious, because we lived our lives fully devoted to Jesus Christ our King, trusting Him, telling others about Him, and unashamed of His name.
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