Do you remember any of the final exams you took when you were in college?  I do.  One in particular.  It was the second semester of the Organic Chemistry.  There was a single sheet of paper with 6 chemical structures.  The exam was to synthesize all possible permutation of this chemical when heat, water, enzyme, or any other kind of catalyst is added.  Basically, you needed to incorporate all that you had learned and distill them into a synthetic equation. 
 The disciples of Jesus were given a final exam by Jesus at Caesarea Philippi.  Jesus had up to this point spent 2 and a half years with his disciples.  The time had now come to see if they had understood/learned of who Jesus really was. 
 The place of this exam was in a town called Caesarea Philippi, in a gentile territory.  It was a very religious city.  Many pagan gods were worshiped.  Even Caesar was worshiped as a god.  This town was named after Caesar Augustus, named by one of the sons of Herod the Great, Philip, hence the name Caesarea Philippi.
 Jesus began the examination by asking, who do other people say the son of man is?  Jesus already knew what the people said about him.  Jesus wanted the disciples to think about the popular perceptions of Jesus and weigh them against their personal experiences with Jesus.
 Some said Jesus to be John the Baptist come back to life from the grave to continue his ministry.  Maybe it was because people heard similar message of repentance and the kingdom of heaven from both men.  Or maybe it was because they looked alike, after all they were cousins.
 Some said Jesus to be Elijah.  Elijah was considered the most famous of the prophets.  Elijah did not die, but was carried away into heaven on a chariot of fire.  Old Testament declared that God will send Elijah back before the Messiah comes (Malachi 4:5).  And indeed, Elijah did return.  Luke described John the Baptist as the one who came with the power and spirit of Elijah (Luke 1:17).
 Other said Jesus was Jeremiah.  Jeremiah was a weeping prophet who wept for Jerusalem and for the calamity that was about to visit them.  People probably saw the grief of Jeremiah in Jesus as he saw the sin's grip on people's bodies (various diseases and deformities), their mind (depravity), and on their spirit (did not recognized their messiah).
 With all the miraculous powers demonstrated and with authority which he taught, they thought of Jesus as the forerunner of Messiah, but not the Messiah.  All these titles (John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah) were meant as compliments and a tribute to Jesus.  But they fell short of who he really was.  The world has always spoken highly of Jesus, but did not recognize him to be God.  Jesus wanted his disciples to think about these perceptions, with all the things they had seen and heard first hand, weigh their credibility and come to their own conclusion.
 So Jesus turned to his disciples and asked them, Who do you say that I am?  Peter answered first.  He reminds of that eager beaver who raises his hands first in class, who always wants to be the first in line, who always wants to be heard first.  Peter decisively said that Jesus was the Christ.  Christ is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah, which means an anointed deliverer or savior.  It took 2 and a half years for Peter to come to know this.  This question is now being asked of us today:  Who do you say that I am?
 But before you answer, consider couple of things.  First, human descriptions of Jesus Christ are inadequate.  People called Jesus John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah.  These were great tributes, but they could not fully describe Jesus.  Because Jesus is not from this world.  Nicodemus, in his night encounter with Jesus said, "Rabbi, I could see you have come from God."  Jesus came into this world from his heavenly kingdom and so worldly titles are inadequate.
 Second, the discovery of who Jesus is must be a personal, first hand experience, revealed to us by God himself.  Our answer can never come from a second hand account (what we heard from others).  Early in the 2004 presidential campaign, someone asked the candidates to name one person who influenced them the most.  While others named some big names, George Bush said it was Jesus Christ.  To put things into perspective, his father was a former president and his brother is the governor of Florida.  But his answer was Jesus Christ.  I believed he had personally experienced Jesus in his life and had such an impact on his life, more so that his father or his brother. 
 The conviction of our answer to this question will reveal how much influence Jesus Christ will have on our lives.  Who do you say that Jesus is?