At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They answered: John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets. Then He asked, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus asks each of us the same question.
The name Jesus (in Hebrew, Yeshua) means “God saves.” The angel told Joseph to give Him that name, “for he will save his people from their sins.” His name is His mission. Christians bow their heads at His name, and the first Christians prayed and healed “in the name of Jesus.”
Christ is not Jesus' last name. It is the Greek form of the Hebrew Messiah, “Anointed One.” In Israel, kings, priests and prophets were anointed. Jesus is the Messiah they awaited, anointed by the Holy Spirit as Priest, Prophet and King. But He refused to be a political warrior-king; He came as the suffering Messiah.
Son of God means more for Jesus than for anyone else. We become God's children by adoption, but Jesus is the eternal, only-begotten Son, equal to the Father. He spoke of God as “my Father” in a way no one else did, and at His trial He was condemned for claiming it.
Lord (in Greek, Kyrios) was the word Greek-speaking Jews used in place of God's holy name. When the first Christians called Jesus “Lord,” they were saying He is God. Jesus Himself said, “Before Abraham was, I AM,” echoing God's name revealed to Moses. Thomas confessed, “My Lord and my God!”
Some say Jesus was just a good teacher. But a teacher who was merely good would not claim to forgive all sins, to be one with the Father, or to judge the world. Jesus' claims leave only a few possibilities: He was badly mistaken, He was lying, or He is who He said He is. Christians answer with Peter. How will you answer?