Professing Allegiance: Jesus Amid Empire and Idols

Jesus begins with the question, “Who do others say that I am?” before making it personal: “Who do you say that I am?” The crowds name John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets because they have noticed something in Jesus that resembles these great figures. Peter answers, “You are Messiah, the Son of the living God,” even though Jesus has done very little that looks like the military king many expected.

Peter’s confession does not rise from his own cleverness or observation. God the Father reveals Jesus’ identity, just as faith in the Canaanite woman may also have come as a gift from God. Faith becomes good news precisely because it is not another burden to muster up through strength, insight, or control. Peter does have a part to play, however, because he has left his old life, followed Jesus, and placed himself in the company where divine revelation can be received.

Jesus calls Peter the rock and promises to build the church on Peter and his confession. Peter’s later denial of Jesus three times does not cancel God’s purpose for him. Christ’s church rests on a flawed disciple who gets it wrong in significant ways, and God’s persistence becomes hope for all who know their own failures.

Jesus asks this question in Caesarea Philippi, where trade, pagan worship, Roman power, and loyalty to Caesar all meet. Peter’s confession therefore becomes more than getting the right title on a Messianic quiz. Allegiance stands at the center: who is served and trusted above all others?

The Hebrew midwives Shiprah and Puah show that allegiance to God can mean resisting the demands of empire. Money, success, comfort, power, and self-concern become small-g gods that compete for primary allegiance. Confessing Jesus as Messiah and Lord affects time, energy, money, community involvement, treatment of others, and daily choices.

Paul’s call in Romans 12 names the shape of that allegiance: bodies become living sacrifices, minds are renewed, and lives refuse conformity to the world. God performs this transformation from the inside out, yet the work calls for intention, humility, and life among others who are trying to be faithful. Jesus remains friend, comforter, healer, and moral teacher, but none of those titles alone require costly discipleship. Jesus as Lord calls people beyond comfort, into risk, obedience, and love.

The church’s membership questions finally bring Peter’s confession close: “Who is your Lord and Savior?” Jesus Christ as “my Lord and Savior” must be personally professed, not merely repeated with a group. Jesus’ question still waits for an answer that can be heard in the way a life is lived.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Faith is received, not manufactured Faith does not depend on personal insight, emotional intensity, or the ability to control outcomes. God reveals Christ and gives faith as a gift, which frees disciples from trying to save themselves through spiritual effort. Disciples still make themselves available by following Jesus and staying near faithful community. [45:02]
• 2. Allegiance means more than right words Peter’s confession names Jesus as Messiah in a place crowded with rival gods, imperial power, and economic influence. Allegiance asks who actually receives trust when comfort, success, money, or power make their demands. Confession becomes real when ordinary choices show who is Lord. [48:52]
• 3. God uses flawed disciples faithfully Peter becomes the rock even though he later denies Jesus when fear takes hold. Christ does not minimize Peter’s failure, but neither does Christ abandon Peter to it. God’s purpose can endure through repentance, weakness, and a life still being transformed. [46:25]
• 4. Renewal resists unconscious conformity Paul’s call to renewed minds warns against becoming so adjusted to culture that its values are absorbed without thought. God changes disciples from the inside out, while humility keeps them connected to the gifts and faith of others. Living sacrifice means that worship reaches beyond words into embodied obedience. [53:48]
• 5. Jesus’ question requires a lived answer Jesus is more than a helpful advisor, a comforter, or a great moral teacher, though he is never less than these things. Jesus as Lord gives reason to move beyond comfort and take risks for obedience and love. A personal profession of faith carries weight when a life begins to answer it daily.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [36:42] - Exodus and the Question of Identity
• [40:26] - Who Do Others Say Jesus Is?
• [41:56] - Peter Confesses the Messiah
• [42:16] - A Messiah Unlike Expectations
• [43:00] - The Son of God in the Storm
• [44:23] - Faith as God’s Gift
• [45:45] - Peter the Rock and Peter’s Failure
• [47:19] - Caesarea Philippi and Allegiance
• [49:11] - Shiprah and Puah Resist Empire
• [50:52] - Modern Idols and Daily Allegiance
• [52:34] - Living Sacrifices and Renewed Minds
• [55:22] - Growing Beyond Old Faith
• [57:09] - Confessing Christ as Lord
• [59:03] - How Will Life Answer Jesus?

Bible Reading

Matthew 16:13-20

Verse 13: Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” [40:30]

Verse 14: And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” [40:42]

Verse 15: He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” [41:28]

Verse 16: Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” [41:56]

Verse 17: And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” [43:46]

Verse 18: And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. [45:45]

Verse 19: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Verse 20: Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Romans 12:1-3

Verse 1: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. [52:38]

Verse 2: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. [52:52]

Verse 3: For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. [53:13]

Exodus 1:15-21

Verse 15: Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, [49:11]

Verse 16: “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.”

Verse 17: But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. [49:17]

Verse 18: So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?”

Verse 19: The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”

Verse 20: So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong.

Verse 21: And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.

Observation questions

1. What names do the crowds give Jesus, and what might those names show about what they had noticed in his ministry? [40:42]
2. What is different about Jesus’ first question, “Who do people say that I am?” and his second question, “Who do you say that I am?” [41:28]
3. What reason does Jesus give for Peter’s confession that he is the Messiah and Son of the living God? [43:46]
4. In Romans 12:1-3, what words describe both the way believers are tempted to live and the way God calls them to live instead? [52:52]

Interpretation questions

1. Peter calls Jesus the Messiah even though Jesus had not acted like the military ruler many people expected. What does this reveal about the kind of Messiah Jesus is? [42:19]
2. If faith is revealed and given by God rather than manufactured by human effort, how can a believer make space to receive and grow in that gift? [45:18]
3. Jesus builds his church on Peter and his confession, yet Peter later denies even knowing Jesus. What hope does Peter’s story offer to believers who are ashamed of serious failures? [46:25]
4. Caesarea Philippi was a place shaped by trade, pagan worship, and Roman power. Why does that setting make Peter’s confession a statement of allegiance and not merely a correct religious answer? [48:33]

Application questions

1. If Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am?” what words would you use to answer? In what part of your life would you most want that answer to become more visible? [59:20]
2. Faith is a gift from God, not something earned through spiritual strength or perfect understanding. Where are you tempted to treat faith as something you must control or accomplish on your own? [45:02]
3. Peter put himself in the company of Jesus and the other disciples. What practices or relationships help you remain open to God’s work in your life, and what regularly pulls you away from them? [45:24]
4. Money, success, comfort, power, and self-concern can all compete for primary allegiance. Which of these most often shapes your decisions about time, energy, money, or relationships? [50:52]
5. Shiprah and Puah feared God more than Pharaoh and chose costly obedience. Is there a situation in your workplace, family, neighborhood, or community where following Jesus may require courage rather than simply going along? [49:21]
6. “Do not be conformed to this world” includes the danger of absorbing cultural values without even noticing. What message from the culture do you find yourself believing too easily, and how might renewed attention to God challenge it? [53:41]
7. Jesus is friend, healer, comforter, and teacher, but Jesus as Lord also calls for obedience and risk. What is one specific next step of love or obedience that may move you beyond comfort this week? [56:20]