Matthew 16:13-20
The One Question About Jesus You Have to Answer
Everyone has an opinion about Jesus, but only one answer matters: who do you say he is? In Matthew 16:13-20, Peter calls Jesus the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and Jesus says the Father revealed it to him. Revelation turns information about Jesus into a confession you build your life on, and Jesus builds his church with surrendered people, not polished ones.
Message notes
Pastor Pat opens with a simple observation: ask ten people about anything, from chocolate versus vanilla to Taylor Swift, and you get ten different answers. He heard that every ad slot on the Disney Plus Super Bowl stream sold within minutes, because everyone has a truth claim to sell. Many people treat Jesus the same way. They like him, they call him a great teacher, and they file him next to other good people. Pat’s warning is plain: “You’ll get inspired by a teaching, but it won’t save you.”
Jesus asks his question in Caesarea Philippi, a pagan city with a shrine to the god Pan and a temple honoring Caesar Augustus, a man who called himself the son of the divine. Surrounded by idols and powerful men who thought they were gods, Jesus asks, “Who do you say I am?” The crowd’s answers were good ones: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah. Pat points out that it is possible to say good things about Jesus and still miss him. He reads C.S. Lewis from Mere Christianity: Jesus left no room to call him merely a great human teacher.
Peter answers, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” and Jesus says flesh and blood did not reveal it. Pat tells how he had plenty of information about his future wife, including the day she took him skydiving for his 21st birthday, but it took about a year before that information became a confession: “I love her.” Years later in Hawaii he said “I do.” Revelation turns information into a confession you build a life on, and you will never think your way into your own salvation.
Then Jesus moves from confession to mission: “I will build my church.” The church is the ekklesia, a gathering of people, and it belongs to him. Pat admits he would love to be the pastor whose teaching changes everyone, but no argument of his can bring a soul to surrender. Jesus builds with surrendered people, not polished people.
He closes with two steps. Answer the question for yourself: is Jesus a business coach, a healer, or Lord? Then help someone else get there. Pat tells of weeding at Kaiser High with the Share Aloha team when a student asked if he always wanted to be a pastor, and he got to tell his story. Write yours down, and connect your story to his.
From the message
You’ll get inspired by a teaching, but it won’t save you.
Everything that Jesus builds in your life starts with who you say he is.
Revelation turns information into an actual confession.
Jesus builds with surrendered people, not polished people.
Life Group discussion guide
The One Question About Jesus You Have to Answer, Matthew 16:13-20. October 11, 2026.
Start here
Ask ten people about a famous person and you get ten different opinions. Whose reputation surprised you once you actually got to know them?
Read Matthew 16:13-20
Open your Bibles and read it out loud together before you start.
What does it say?
In Matthew 16:13-14, who did people say Jesus was, and how does Jesus turn the question in verse 15?
According to verse 17, where did Peter’s answer come from, and where did it not come from?
What does Jesus promise in verse 18 about his church, and what does he tell the disciples in verse 20?
What does it mean?
Caesarea Philippi had a shrine to the god Pan and a temple honoring Caesar Augustus. Why might Jesus ask this question in that place?
John the Baptist, Elijah and Jeremiah were all good answers. Why do good opinions about Jesus still fall short of who he is?
Peter later calls Jesus the living stone and the cornerstone (1 Peter 2:4-7). How does that shape the way we read “on this rock I will build my church”?
What do we do with it?
If someone asked you this week who Jesus is to you, what would you honestly say? Is he a good teacher, a healer, or Lord?
Pastor Pat challenged us to write our testimony down. What did Jesus save you from, and how could you tell that story in a few minutes at work or over lunch?
Where do you treat the church as something you have to hold together, and what would change if you believed Jesus is the one building it?
Pray
Pray that the Father would reveal Jesus to each person in the group as more than a teacher, and that he would give you courage to share your story with one person this week who only knows Jesus from a distance.
New Hope Hawaii Kai. Watch the message and read the notes at newhopehk.org/sermons/who-do-you-think-i-am/