By O.S. Hawkins
Note what happened around the fire at Caesarea Philippi. Jesus asked, "Who do men say that I am?" The disciples answered, "Some say you are John the Baptist. Some say you are Elijah. Some say you are Jeremiah. Some say you are one of the prophets." Here is a classic case of public consensus. They were giving their own polling results. They were aware that popular opinion, public consensus, was divided among four different opinions. Things have not changed much. There is still a lot of divided opinion today, and the words "some say," are present in our own modern vernacular.
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"Some say you are John the Baptist." John the Baptist came preaching a message of repentance. These people sensed Jesus was a man of righteousness and perhaps they thought of John the Baptist because of his preaching of repentance.
"Some say you are Elijah." These people must have sensed His greatness. To the Jew, Elijah was one of the greatest of the prophets and teachers of all times. To this day at the Seder meal, Elijah's chair is left vacant. Elijah was a man of prayer. The people of Palestine had watched our Lord Jesus calm storms with a prayer, multiply the loaves and fishes with a prayer. No wonder, "Some say" He is Elijah.
"Some say you are Jeremiah." These were obviously those who were aware of His tears, His passion, His burden for His people. They had seen the heart of Jesus. They had watched Him as He wept over the City of Jerusalem and as He wept at the grave of Lazarus. No wonder, "Some say" He is Jeremiah.
"Some say you are one of the prophets." Here is the very essence of public consensus. He was one of the prophets. These were those who did not know what to believe but could not discount His miracles and godly life. Some still say today that He is one of the prophets. Ask our Islamic friends. They will tell you that He is a prophet, but not as great as Mohammed. They will tell you He did not rise from the dead. Ask our Jewish friends and they will tell you He was a godly man and a prophet. Ask the "scholars" of the Jesus Seminar and they will have their own opinion as they seek to strip away His deity. Ask those who are advocates of the fad theology of "openness" today and they will tell you He had His own shortcomings on the side of omniscience. The question of public consensus still reveals that most think He was a great teacher or a prophet but not God come in the flesh. The question of public consensus speaks of two things — It speaks of pluralistic compromise and political correctness.
The question of public consensus speaks of pluralistic compromise. We have a word for this — pluralism! Those who hold to this view believe that there are many paths to salvation and the Lord Jesus is only one of them. They tell us that non-Christian religions are equally legitimate vehicles for salvation. Just like at Caesarea Philippi "some say" that the Lord Jesus is "just one of the prophets." Thus the pluralist believes there is not just one way but a plurality of ways of salvation.