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He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God.
Luke 9:20 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”
  • BSB “But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”
  • NKJV He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”
  • NASB And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”
  • NLT Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah sent from God!”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Jesus asks the disciples directly who they say He is, and Peter confesses, "The Christ of God." This is the pivotal confession of Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah.

Overview

Jesus presses past public opinion to demand a personal answer from His followers. Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed of God, marks a turning point in Luke's Gospel. It is the bedrock truth of the faith, that Jesus is the promised Messiah, though the disciples have yet to grasp the kind of Messiah He will be.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 19

  • Matt 16:15–17He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
  • John 7:41Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?
  • John 4:42And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
  • John 6:68–69Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
  • John 4:29Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
  • John 1:49Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
  • John 20:31But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
  • Acts 9:22But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.
  • Mark 8:29And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.
  • John 1:41He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
  • Acts 17:3Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
  • John 11:27She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
  • Mark 14:61But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
  • 1 Jn 5:1Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
  • Matt 5:47And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
  • Acts 8:36And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
  • Matt 22:42Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David.
  • Luke 22:67Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe:
  • Matt 26:63But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Luke 9:20YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.

How Luke 9:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.