Luke 9:20 - "The Christ of God"

Luke 9:20

 "He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God."

The question placed before the disciples was not intended to gather opinions or information but rather to evoke the confession from them concerning the Christ Who had already revealed Himself in their hearts. Many spoke confidently about Jesus, assigning Him familiar identities drawn from history and expectation. Yet none of these answers touched the Truth of Who He is. When the question became personal, the confession given was neither elaborate nor speculative. It was exact. He is the Christ of God. In that confession, all Scripture finds its answer.

To confess Christ in this way is to acknowledge Him as God’s Anointed, appointed and sent according to His Sovereign purpose. This knowledge does not rise from observation or reasoning, nor is it achieved through effort or devoted research. It is revealed. As it is written, “Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). The Identity of Christ is not discovered by the natural mind but revealed by the Spirit of God Himself. Where this revelation is granted, faith rests completely—not in understanding, but in God’s testimony.

This confession reaches back beyond the moment in which it was spoken. Long before Christ appeared, the expectation of God’s people was fixed upon Him. Simeon waited for the fulfillment of that promise. When the Child was brought into the temple, he declared, “Mine eyes have seen thy salvation” (Luke 2:28-30). Salvation was not presented as a future possibility or abstract hope, but as the Person in Whose Presence he stood, even when the he took the Child in his arms. The Consolation of Israel was not found in ceremony or tradition, but in the Presence of God’s Christ in the Flesh.

To name Him the Christ of God is to confess the fullness of His office. He is God’s Prophet, for “God… hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:2). In Him, God has spoken finally and fully. He is God’s Priest, having “by himself purged our sins” (Hebrews 1:3). No other priest is needed, for the work required has been obtained by Him alone. He is God’s King, now seated “on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). His reign is not postponed nor partial. He rules now, according to the Father’s will.

These offices are not separated in Christ, nor fulfilled in stages. What was divided among prophets, priests, and kings anointed by God to those offices in the Old Testament is united in Him. This unity explains why the Scriptures speak with one voice. “They are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). From the promise given to Adam and Eve of the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15), the promise given to Abraham (Genesis 17:5; Galatians 3:16), to the lamb slain in Egypt (Exodus 12), to the serpent set on a pole in the wilderness (Numbers 21:8), every testimony pointed forward to this One. What was anticipated in shadow has now been manifested in Truth (Luke 24:27,44).

The comfort of this confession lies in the full accomplishment of these offices in the Person of the LORD Jesus when He came into the world for the salvation of those that the Father gave Him from before time. Salvation rests upon God’s Anointed, not upon human response or effort. Christ is not presented as a helper who completes what is lacking, but as the Savior Who has obtained what was required by God's Holiness and Justice. He is God’s Christ, and therefore God’s Salvation. This confession steadies the soul because it rests upon God’s purpose rather than human will or effort.

The LORD Jesus stands before us as God’s anointed Redeemer, able and willing to save all whom the Father has given Him. Our response, then, is not self-confidence but humble faith: to rest in Christ alone, to glory in His cross, and to confess with gratitude that He is Who God says He is—for us and for our salvation. To know Him as the Christ of God is to rest in what God has declared and accomplished through Christ's finished work. There is no other Christ, no other anointed one, and no other salvation given. Where this confession is revealed, faith is settled, hope is certain, and God is glorified.