Tom Groelsema | Confessing Jesus the Christ

Sunday Evening, March 22, 2026
Given by Tom Groelsema | Executive Pastor, Christ Covenant Church

Confessing Jesus the Christ

Heidelberg Catechism—Lord’s Day 11 & 12

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We invite you to turn with me in your Bibles. We are going to read just a couple of verses from Mark 8. And then also turn in your bulletin to the last page where we have the Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Days 11 and 12. So just to set the context for you, we are you moving into the section of the catechism that deals with Jesus the Son. So, the last couple of Sundays we've been looking at God the Father and thought about his work of creation, and two Sundays ago was about God's providence, and we are shifting now into thinking about Jesus the Son. And all of this is part of looking at the Apostles’ Creed. What are we confessing when we say the Apostles’ Creed? So tonight, it's just really about this. What are we confessing when we say “I believe in Jesus Christ”? I believe in Jesus Christ. So, taking a look at those two names tonight. So, let's first of all read from Mark 8, and then we'll read together from the catechism. Beginning at verse 27 – Mark 8:27 through verse 31. 

“And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesaria Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ And they told him, ‘John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, and others one of the prophets.’ And he asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ And Peter answered him, ‘You are the Christ.’ And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again.”

Let's turn to the Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Days 11 and 12. And I'll read the question, and let's respond together with the answer for these four questions. 

Question 29: Why is the Son of God called Jesus, meaning savior? 

A: Because he saves us from our sins, and because salvation is not to be sought or found in anyone else. 

Q: Do those who look for their salvation and security in saints and themselves or elsewhere really believe in the only savior, Jesus? 

A: No. Although they boast of being his, by their actions they deny the only savior, Jesus. Either Jesus is not a perfect savior or those who in true faith accept this savior have in him all they need for salvation. 

Q: Why is he called Christ, meaning anointed? 

A: Because he has been ordained by God the Father and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our chief prophet and teacher, who fully reveals to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our deliverance; our only high priest, who has delivered us by the one sacrifice of his body, and who continually intercedes for us before the Father; and our eternal king, who governs us by his Word and Spirit and who guards us and keeps us in the deliverance he has won for us. 

Q: But why are you called a Christian? 

A: Because by faith I am a member of Christ, and so I share in his anointing. I am anointed to confess his name, to present myself to him as a living sacrifice of thanks, to strive with a free conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for eternity. 

Let's pray and ask for God's blessing upon the preaching and hearing of his Word. 

Our Father in heaven, we come to, in one sense, very simple things tonight. Thinking about these two names of Jesus – Jesus and Christ – names that we are so familiar with, and yet, Father, these are names that have profound significance. Not because they're just names, but because they point to our savior. And so, we pray that you'd teach us about Jesus and that his names would become lovely, beautiful to us, precious, comforting to our souls, giving us peace. And we pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Well, dear people of God, I imagine that most of you, at some level, are familiar with Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet – that play, that tragedy, about two young lovers and their forbidden love, which eventually led them to take their own lives. Their love was a forbidden love, because they came from feuding families. Juliet was a Capulet. Romeo was a Montague. And Juliet, as she thought about their relationship, rationalized their relationship by saying to herself the famous lines that come from the play. She said, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." So, this was Juliet's way of saying this: Romeo's name is just a label. If Romeo had a different name, he would still be the same sweet person that she loved, that she had fallen in love with. So, exchange the name, change the name – it really doesn't matter, because it's Romeo that is important. It was Romeo that she loved. And so, you can see in a rationalization that she had made a split. She had made a distinction between the name and the person. They weren't attached. Call him anything you want, right? He would just be still as sweet. Name and person didn't come together for her. 

And friends, that's often the way it is with our names, right? Our names and our person aren't necessarily attached. Usually, they're not attached. My name means – Thomas means twin. I am not a twin. Lo and behold, my middle name: Kevin. I wonder if my parents knew something. Thomas Kevin. They're not family names. I think the reason I have the names I have is, you know, my parents probably tried this name and that name and just kind of, you know, does it kind of roll together? Does it sound nice together? I think that's how I ended up with the names that I have. Our names and our persons so often are not connected. But friends, that is not the case when it comes to Jesus’ names. His names and his person are wed together. His names and his mission are bound together. His names are important for describing who he is and what he came to do. In other words, we are not at liberty to just change Jesus' names and say something like, you know, it really wouldn't matter if Jesus was named Frank, or his parents gave him the name Ted. It, you know, would it make any difference at all? And the answer is yes, it would, because his names mean something. They describe his person. They describe his work. They communicate that he saves. And they tell us how he saves. And that is especially true with these two names that we're thinking about tonight. The name Jesus and the name Christ. And let me say even more. To say these names or to confess these names isn't just confessing names. But to confess these names, as we do when we recite the Apostles’ Creed, is to confess our trust in the person who bears these names. It's to confess our trust in the person and the work of Jesus. 

We see an example in our passage that I read here from Mark chapter 8 – an example of a disciple making a confession and using a name, and we actually have examples that even come before Peter's here in Mark chapter 8. I think, for example, about the very first chapter of John. You'll remember, perhaps, John's purpose statement for his gospel, when he says, “I've written this gospel that you may believe” what? “That Jesus is the Christ.” There we have those names, “that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing, you may have life in his name.” It's not just names. It's a person. You may have life in him. Life in his name. The disciple Andrew was one of the very first disciples that Jesus called. And he called Andrew to himself, and Andrew soon after went to his brother Simon. And what did he say to his brother? He said, "Simon, we have found the Messiah." And John tells us “which means Christ.” We found the Christ. We have found the Messiah. And he brought him to Jesus. Soon after that Jesus called Philip, and Philip went and found Nathaniel, and he comes to Nathaniel and says, “We have found him of whom Moses and the Law and also the prophets wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” These early disciples, they got it. Who is this man? Here is Jesus the Christ. And Peter landed upon that too, didn't he? Here in Mark chapter 8, Jesus traveling around the villages of Caesaria Philippi and asks the question to the disciples, who do people say that I am? What's the word on the street? What are people saying about me? Well, some say that you're John the Baptist. Some say you're Elijah, and others one of the prophets. Now you realize those answers – those are pretty big answers, right? John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets. These are big identifications, recognizing in Jesus some significance to his ministry and his message, at least that he has a prophetic ministry. And then Jesus turns the tables and says to them directly – and this is the question that's important for us tonight. He says, "But what about you men? Who do you say that I am?” It isn't important what the crowds think about me. It isn't important what social media says. Take an opinion poll. That doesn't matter. What about you? Who do you say that I am? Peter gives that great confession. You are the Christ. Confession that becomes the bedrock of the church and the church's confession. This man who ate with sinners, Joseph and Mary's son, who slept in the bottom of a boat, who taught in parables, who healed the sick, who cast out demons. This man is the Christ. This one is the Messiah, Jesus. 

Well, people of God, what are we confessing when we say, "I believe in Jesus." What we're saying is that we believe that Jesus is the savior and the only savior. Not one among many, but the only one. You see that in that name, Jesus. It was a common name, the New Testament equivalent to the Old Testament name Joshua. Translated into Greek, Joshua to Jesus – Joshua means “Yahweh saves.” Kevin, in his book on the Heidelberg Catechism, mentions that in the first century, according to name usage in inscriptions and documents, the name Jesus was the fourth most common name among Jewish men. So, you first have Simeon or Simon, and then you have Joseph, and then you have Judah, and then you have Jesus. So, it would not have been uncommon at all to go around, and you go into a shop, and you see a merchant, and here he is. There's Mr. Jesus. Or you're playing with kids on the playground, and one of your buddies’ names is Jesus. A very common name. My father-in-law, who taught in South Florida once upon a time, had a young boy in his classroom. Now, he was Jesus. But you think about, you know, put that into English – Jesus. And we might be uncomfortable with that. Not in Jesus’ time. A very common name, but for a very uncommon man. Because you remember how his name was given. An angel of the Lord came and visited Joseph. Joseph and Mary, maybe, I don't know – maybe they're flipping through baby name books. How does this one sound? What about that one? Do you like this name? Oh, that's one of my favorite names. But nonetheless, whatever happened, an angel of the Lord came and says I have the name. I have a name that you are to give to your son. Matthew 1:21, “She will bear a son,” he says to Joseph, this angel, “and you shall call his name Jesus.” And it doesn't stop there, does it? Why? “For he will save his people from their sins.” Do you see how his name and his mission were wed together? Jesus means savior. Jesus didn't come just to be an example. Jesus didn't come just to be a teacher, that we might be educated. Jesus didn't come to be a social reformer, just to turn the tables for the marginalized upside down. The heart of what Jesus came to do, as his name says it, is to save. He came to save us. And he came to save us from our sins. 

There's a lot in this name, isn't there? His name says something about the human predicament and problem that we are sinners who need saving, that our sin makes us deserving of death and hell. But it also says something about the wonder of Jesus, that he came to rescue us. He came to restore us to our maker. And he is the savior who doesn't just make salvation possible, but he is the savior who actually accomplishes it. That's how the Heidelberg Catechism puts it. Why is he called Jesus, meaning savior? Because he saves us from our sins. He does it. He accomplishes it. It is finished by his work, and he is the only savior. The catechism question 29 says salvation cannot be found in anyone else, and it is futile to look for salvation elsewhere. You're wasting your time, going down a dead end, if you're looking for someone other or beyond Jesus. Friends, this is the real offense of Jesus name, isn't it today? Not the fact that he's a savior, but that he's the only one. He's the only savior. There are no other saviors. The exclusivity of Jesus is what people have a hard time with, and yet it is the truth. It's the testimony of the Bible over and over and over again. Isaiah 43:11, “I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.” John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” No other way. In Acts 4:12, Peter and John, standing before the council, saying to them, "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” 

There's so many wonderful names for our Lord. He is Emmanuel, the prince of peace, the lamb of God, the son of David, the son of Abraham. He is the seed of the woman. He's the lion of the tribe of Judah. And we could go on and on and on tonight. But of all these names, none is sweeter than Jesus. Why is that? Because that one name contains the whole gospel. All that we need, the Father has given to us in Jesus. God loves us enough to send his Son to save us from our sins. 

How about this other name? What are we confessing when we confess that we believe in Jesus Christ? Well, what we are saying, as the catechism reminds us, is that Jesus is our prophet, priest and king. This is a name, but really more a title. This is not like Jesus’ last name, right? Jesus Christ – first, last name. It's not that. This is his official name. This is his name of office. It's like we call our pastor, Pastor DeYoung. He has his given name, and he has an official name or the name of his office. He is our pastor. And this name, Christ, it's a title that describes what he came to do as our mediator. And it's a name that helps us to understand how he is our savior. Jesus tells us that he is our savior. This is a name that helps us to understand how he is our savior, what he has accomplished for us. It's a name that means “anointed one” or “messiah.” The catechism, again, says what this name means is that Jesus was ordained and set apart by the Father and anointed by the Spirit at his baptism to serve as our prophet, priest, and king. And just like the name Jesus, there is a whole raft of Old Testament redemptive history behind this name. And so, first of all, he is our chief prophet and teacher. We dial our minds back to the Old Testament. Can go all the way back to creation, and Adam as an image bearer of God was created to be a prophet. How so? Well, he was made to know God. He had a prophetic role – to know God, to be in in an intimate relationship with God, to know him deeply. And we know, of course, about the fall into sin and his knowledge of God and our knowledge of God hindered and ruined as a result of the fall. And so, what God has done in the Scriptures and throughout time, biblical time, was to send prophets to speak his word to his people, that they might know God again. And so along comes Samuel and Isaiah, Jeremiah and Jonah and Hosea and others. All of them pointing forward to the chief prophet that would come, our Lord Jesus. 

What does he do? He perfectly reveals the secret counsel and will of God concerning our deliverance. Jesus, in the days while he was on earth, preached and proclaimed the way of salvation. This is the way of the Lord. Repent and believe and trust. Jesus is the Word made flesh. God's revelation of grace and truth in Christ, in his person and through his prophetic ministry. The book of Hebrews reminds us of this in Hebrews 1: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets, but in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son.” What the writer of Hebrews is really telling us is this: there is a finality to God's revelation in Christ. He is the last great prophet to come. Summarize this prophetic ministry of Jesus. What he does as our prophet is that he is the one who points the way to God. 

He is our only high priest. Adam, called to be a priest as an image bearer, he was created to offer himself in service to God. And he failed, and we became separated from God. And so, throughout the Old Testament, God establishes a priesthood and ceremonies and sacrifices – all of these forecasting the coming of Christ. Every one of those priests in the Old Testament a sinner themselves, and therefore we need another priest. And here comes Jesus. Better than Melchizedek. Better than Aaron. Better than every Old Testament sacrifice. As the catechism says, he sets us free by the one sacrifice of his body and continually pleads our cause with the Father. As a spotless lamb, he laid down his own life to atone for our sins. And he is the savior, the priest, who continually intercedes for us. Ongoing ministry of Jesus in heaven as he intercedes and prays for us. And Hebrews, the book of Hebrews again, says no other sacrifice needs to be given. No other priest is needed or should be looked to. To summarize this priestly work of Christ, as priest Jesus paves the way to God. 

And then he is our eternal king. Adam was created to live with God in eternal happiness to the praise and glory of God. Adam failed and wanted to be like God instead of glorifying God. And so, God throughout the Old Testament sends kings. Kings who were meant to rule and reign, but all the time helping God's people be directed to their ultimate eternal king, God himself. In fact, you remember that God says when Israel is demanding a king, he's going to get in the way. He’s going to get in the way of pointing towards me. And so, every one of those kings – David, Solomon, Josiah, and on and on – every one of them failed. And Jesus comes, our forever king. The catechism, “He governs us by the Word – by his Word and Spirit. He guards us and keeps us in the freedom that he has won for us.” He holds us fast. He protects us from our enemies. He will not let our soul be lost. He is establishing his kingdom, and one day, he will come again and finally and decisively defeat every one of our enemies and reign forever. 

To summarize all of that, as king, Jesus protects and preserves us in the way. Do you see this ministry of Christ, as our prophet pointing the way to God, as our priest paving the way to God, as our king preserving us in this relationship with God from beginning to end? Here is the ministry of Jesus for us and all of it wrapped up in that confession, “I believe in Jesus Christ.” I like how Scott Clark summarizes this in his book on the catechism. He says, "In Jesus’ prophetic office, we have uniqueness and finality of his Word.” Think sola scriptura. “In Jesus’ priestly office, we have the uniqueness of his grace and salvation accomplished and received.” Think solus Christus, sola gratia, sola fide. “And in his kingly office, we have the unique sovereign rule over all things.” Think soli deo gloria. These five solas that we love as a Presbyterian church, wrapped up in this work of Christ as our prophet, our priest and our king. 

Now let me end. Why does all this matter? Not so that we can just say names, but rather that we can lodge ourself by faith in the one who bears these names. That Jesus would be our treasure and that it would lead to our transformation. Our treasure – we have a perfect savior in Christ. Don't look anywhere else. There is no other place to look. Jesus is it. Jesus is the savior that we need. And we do not trust him truly if we do not trust him solely and fully. Remember how the Heidelberg Catechism begins? What is your – next word is important – what is your only comfort in life and death? Only one comfort, and that is belonging to my faithful savior Jesus Christ. No comfort if we trust anywhere else. And friends, what a comfort is ours in Jesus Christ. There is comfort in life, for there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. What a comfort in death. For neither life nor death, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. There is comfort for body, for if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies and comfort for our souls. For it is God who justifies, who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who is interceding for us. 

Friends, this is why the disciples were so eager – when they found Jesus the Christ – were so eager to run and tell someone else “We have found the Messiah. We have found Jesus of Nazareth” – because they understood what it meant to find him. I love the song we sang earlier. I hope it's one of the songs I'm singing when I die. “How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear. It makes the wounded spirit whole and calms the troubled breast. ‘Tis manna to the hungry soul, and to the weary, rest. Jesus, my shepherd, brother, friend, my prophet, priest and king, my lord, my life, my way, my end. Accept the praise I bring. ‘Til then I would your love proclaim with every fleeting breath, and may the music of thy name refresh my soul in death.” If you're standing by my bed when I die, would you say to me, "Jesus.” Jesus. Jesus Christ. He is our treasure. What a lovely name. 

And he is our transformation, because his salvation is not just from sin, but his salvation is also meant to bring us to serve. And what he is doing in us is renewing us in the image of his Son, so that we share in the anointing of Christ. And we are being renewed, and how we're being renewed is that we are to more and more live as prophets, priests, and kings ourselves. Friends, this is what it really means to be a Christian, the Heidelberg Catechism says. This is really what it means to be a Christian, that you're a prophet, that you're a priest, that you're a king, that all that was part of – that image bearing that came to Adam and Eve at creation that we have. We're being renewed in this so that we're to live more and more and more this way, not with just a name or a label, but our name and our person must match. 

The catechism, as we wrap up tonight, the catechism just says, here's four words to think about with that calling. Confess. Confess his name. Be a prophet. Tell others about the glories of Christ. Speak to him, point the way to Jesus. Got pastors that do that, but we too are prophets, declaring his name. Confess. 

Present. We're to present ourselves as living sacrifices. We are to daily take up our cross and follow Christ, dying to ourselves in order that we might live for God, that we might live coram deo, before the face of God, to his glory. 

Strive, third word, against sin and the devil. We are to wage war and fight until the day of his return. And so, watch and pray. Take up the sword of the Spirit. Put on the helmet of salvation. Take up the shield of faith. Go and strive and fight until one day we reign with Christ. Jesus is coming, and the battle will end. The victory will be ours. It's coming, people of God. It is coming, and forever we will reign as kings with Jesus. 

You see, it is not true for Jesus Christ that a rose by any other name would be just as sweet. These are his names. This is his mission. These names point to him as our savior. And so, the Wesleys said, "The name of Jesus, it charms our fears. It bids our sorrows cease.” I like this one: “It is music in the sinner's ears.” When you hear this name, does it sound like a song? It's music in my ears. It is life and health and peace. Let's pray together. 

Oh, Jesus the Christ, we love your names, because we love you. We love all that you've accomplished for us at Calvary. We love the fact that you have opened the way and pointed out the way to us to God. We would have been blind, deaf, not being able to see, not being able to hear you. You paved the way to God through the sacrifice of your own blood, and you protect us in the way. You alone, Lord Jesus, are our savior. And so, as we go about confessing these names, we pray that we would confess our love and our adoration for you. We pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.