Raise Your Hand if You’ve Ever Been Given a Nickname

If You’re Like Me, Your Family is Full of Nicknames

I have Some Family Members that I ONLY Know By Their Nicknames

Did You Know that Jesus Gave People Nicknames?

He Gave One of His Best Friends a Nickname

We Know Him as “Peter”

But Peter is Not His Real Name?

His Real Name was Simon

From John’s Account, it Seems that Jesus…

Called Him Peter From the Moment They Met

John 1:41–42 (NASB95)

41 He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

And From that Point, We See Him Being Primarily Referred to as Peter, Instead of Simon

But Why Did Jesus Call Him “Peter”?

So Far in Matthew’s Account, We haven’t Been Given a Reason

As Far as We Know, Jesus Didn’t have a Reason

But That’s Not Really How Nicknames Work, is it?

There’s Usually Some Purpose Behind Them

Typically Nicknames are Based Off of Something We’ve Said or Done

Or Maybe Something Funny or Embarrassing that Happened to Us

Or Maybe They’re Based Off of a Certain Character Trait

Whatever the Purpose May Be, Nicknames Almost Always have a Purpose

And that’s Also True for Peter

But His Nickname isn’t Based Off of Something He had Done

He Received His Nickname Because of Something He will Do

And We’re Going to Find Out What that is this Morning

Matthew 16:13-20

Matthew’s Goal with His Entire Account…

Is to Prove to Us that Jesus is the Christ/Messiah

And Now We’ve Reached One the Most Famous Texts…

That Bear Our that Goal

Our Text is One of the Major Climaxes of Matthew’s Account

Matthew 16:13 (NASB95)

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

Caesarea Philippi is About 25 Miles North of the Sea of Galilee

In OT Times, this Region was a Center for Baal Worship

Later it Would Be Named Paneas…

After the Greek God “Pan” that was Worshiped There

But Around 20 B.C., Augustus Caesar Gave the Region to Herod the Great

Herod Would Go on to Build a Temple of White Marble…

Dedicated to Caesar

Then When Herod the Great Died, it was Passed Down to His Son Philip

Philip Would Rebuild the City and Rename it in Honor of Caesar and Himself

While Jesus and His Disciples Were in this Very Pagan Place…

He Asked Them, “Who Do People Say that the Son of Man is?”

The Disciples Realize that Jesus is Referring to Himself

Matthew 16:14 (NASB95)

14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

There Were Many Speculations Going Around About Jesus’ True Identity

Maybe One of These Amazing Prophets has Returned?

It Shows that the People Believed Jesus to Be Someone Special

But They Just Didn’t Yet Know How Special

But Jesus isn’t Really Concerned with What the Crowds Were Saying

Matthew 16:15 (NASB95)

15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

This Question is What this Account is All About

Jesus Wants to Know What His Disciples Believe About Him

After Their Time with Him…

Seeing His Miracles…

Hearing His Teachings…

Who Do They Believe Him to Be?

Matthew 16:16 (NASB95)

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Peter, as He Often Does, Steps into the Spotlight as the Spokesman of the Apostles

And He Unambiguously Acknowledges Jesus’ True Identity

What is it that Peter Said?

“You are the Christ”

“You are the Messiah”

“You are the Long-Awaited, Anointed King of Israel”

“The Son of the Living God”

This was Also a Messianic Title

In the OT, God Called His Anointed King His Son

Peter is Saying with Absolute Certainty…

Jesus is King

Of All the Places for Jesus to Seek a Confession of Faith in His True Identity…

Why in Caesarea Philippi?

As Far as the Text Indicates, Jesus Made a Special Trip to this Region…

Just to Ask His Disciples this Question

I Don’t Think that’s a Coincidence

Caesarea Philippi was Known for the Worship of…

The King of the World (Caesar) and the Gods of the World

And Jesus Chose this Place for Peter to Confess…

That Jesus is the Only True King of the World

And the Son of the Only Living God

I Don’t Think that’s a Coincidence

Matthew 16:17 (NASB95)

17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

Jesus Pronounces Peter Blessed

Peter has Reason to Be Happy

Why?

Because “Flesh and Blood” (Humanity) Didn’t Reveal this Truth to Him

The Heavenly Father Did

God Revealed this Truth to Peter…

Through the Teachings and Miracles of Jesus’ Ministry

And Peter Opened His Heart to the Evidence

Jesus Calls Him “Simon Barjona”

“Barjona” = Son of Jonah or John

Peter Addresses Jesus as the “Son of God”…

And Jesus Addresses Peter as the “Son of Jonah”

We’ll Continue to See this Kind of Balanced Structure in this Passage

Matthew 16:18 (NASB95)

18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

“Since You can Tell Me Who I Am…”

“I’ll Tell You Who You Are”

“You are Peter”

Peter = “Rock”

“And Upon this Rock I will Build My Church”

We’re Finally Learning Why Jesus Called Simon “Peter”

Jesus’ Words Here have Been Debated for Centuries

That Being Said, I Believe it Would Be Arrogant of Me…

To State with Any Certainty Exactly What Jesus Meant

There are Several Interpretations that I Believe are Likely

But I’m Going to Share 2 Interpretations…

That I Believe are Most Likely

You can Study and Decide for Yourself Which You Believe is Correct

Interpretation #1

The “Rock” Jesus Built His Church Upon is Peter

I’ve Been Told My Entire Life that I’m Not Supposed to Believe that

Because That’s What the Catholics Believe

But We Should Base Our Beliefs on the Scriptures…

Not on What Other People Believe or Don’t Believe

When You Let Go of the Biases and Religious Baggage…

And Simply Focus on the Structure and Word-Play of the Passage…

This Becomes a Very Reasonable Interpretation

Peter Declared a Truth About Jesus

Now Jesus is Declaring a Truth About Peter

“Peter” and “Rock” are the Same Word

One Masculine, the Other Feminine

This Interpretation would Necessarily Mean that…

Jesus is Giving Peter Some Level of Prominence Over the Other Disciples

But Anyone Who’s Read the First 5 Books of the NT can Tell You that

Every Time the Apostles are Listed, Peter’s Name is First

In the First 10 Chapters of Acts…

Peter Plays an Obvious Role of Prominence in the Church

We can Accept the Fact of Peter’s Prominence Without having to Go to Extremes

This Text, Nor Any Other, Says Anything About Peter Becoming the First Pope, etc.

This All Leads to a Very Important Point About Bible Study and Interpretation

Don’t Refuse to Believe Something…

Simply Because Another Religious Tradition Believes it

We’ve Got a History of Doing that

And it's an Absolutely Horrible Strategy for Arriving at Truth

And Don’t Believe Something…

Simply Because Influential People in Our Own Tradition Believe it

We’ve Got a History of Doing that as Well

It Also is a Horrible Strategy for Arriving at Truth

Study the Scriptures in Their Contexts…

And Interpret Them Accordingly

Interpretation #2

The “Rock” Jesus Built His Church Upon is Peter’s Confession of Jesus’ Identity

This is the Interpretation that Many of Us are Probably Familiar with

This Would Mean, Jesus Gave Simon the Nickname “Peter”…

Because He Knew that One Day Peter Would Make this Bedrock Confession

Jesus’ Church, His Community of Believers…

Will Be Built/Established Upon the Belief that He is the Messiah

They will Be a Community of People Who Submit to His Royal Reign

There’s Truth to Both of These Interpretations

But Regardless of the Interpretation We Believe is Correct…

The Whole Reason Peter is Shown Prominence in this Passage…

Is Because of the Statement He Made

The Point that Should Receive Our Full Attention is This:

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God

And this is the Foundational Truth that His Community of Followers are to Live By

The End of the Verse Says:

Matthew 16:18 (NASB95)

18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

The Gates of Hades/Death was a Phrase Used in the OT and Other Jewish Literature

It Referred to the Power/Strength of Death

Death Cannot Defeat Jesus’ Church

In the Rest of the Chapter

Jesus is Going to Announce His Own Death

And He’s Going to Tell His Disciples that They have to Be Willing to Give Their Lives as Well

Even Though Jesus is Going to Die…

Death Can’t Stop the Establishment of His Church

And Even Though Jesus’ Followers May Die, Death Can’t Destroy the Church

Death Can’t Stop its Coming and Death Can’t Stop its Existing

Because of Jesus, Death is No Match for Us

Jesus Overpowered it

And When He Returns, So will We

Matthew 16:19 (NASB95)

19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

Jesus is Still Talking to Peter

He is Going to Give Peter the Keys of His Kingdom

What Does Jesus Mean By This?

He Explains in the Rest of the Verse

“Whatever You Bind on Earth Shall have Been Bound in Heaven…”

“And Whatever You Loose on Earth Shall have Been Loosed in Heaven”

But What Does this Mean?

In Jewish Thought, “Binding and Loosing” Referred to…

What is Required and What is Not Required

This Right to Bind and Loose is Not Just Given to Peter

It will Be Given to the Rest of the Disciples in Matt. 18:18

Do Peter and the Disciples Get to Decide What is Required and Not Required in Jesus’ Kingdom?

No, the Verb Tenses Tell Us the Opposite

What They Bind and Loose “Shall have Been Bound and Loosed in Heaven”

Peter and the Disciples will Proclaim the Decisions that…

Have Already Been Made in Heaven

Jesus is King

His Citizens (His Church) are Those Who Share His Royal Decrees with the World

Neither Peter Nor Any of Us have the Authority to…

Bind or Loose, Require or Not Require…

Anything in Jesus’ Kingdom

But We Do have the Authority to Share What He has Required and Not Required

It’s Important that We Understand that Distinction

He Makes the Rules

We Proclaim the Rules

Matthew 16:20 (NASB95)

20 Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.

Why?

For the Same Reason He’s Always Told People to Keep Quiet

The More People Who Know He’s the Messiah…

The More Obstacles and Trouble it Brings to His Mission

His Allies Want to Make Him King and Follow Him into Battle with Rome

His Enemies Want to Kill Him Before Any Trouble Begins

But His True Mission is to Suffer and Die for the World

Until that Mission is Accomplished…

Widespread Knowledge of His Identity will Only Invite Trouble

Application

I Want to End this Climactic Text with this Question:

Who Do You Say that Jesus is?

Some Say that Jesus Never Existed

Some Say that Jesus was Just a Good Man

Some Say that Jesus was Just a Moral Teacher

But What Do We Say?

Do We, Like Peter, Boldly and Confidently Say…

“Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God”?

And if We Do, Do We Mean it?

Do Our Lives Reflect that Confession?

Confessing that Jesus is Our Master and King…

Is Confessing Our Allegiance to His Kingdom and Will for Our Lives

But I’m Afraid Confessing Jesus has Become Like…

Saying the Pledge of Allegiance

We May Say it, But Do We Realize the Implications of What We are Saying?

Confessing Jesus as the Messiah…

Ought to have a Powerful and Lasting Affect on Our Lives

It Means Loving God and Loving Our Neighbors

It Means Praying for the Good Will of Our Enemies

It Means Sacrificing Our Needs and Desires for the Benefit of Others

It Means Embodying the Fruit of the Spirit

It Means Rejecting Sin in All its Forms

It Means Being Willing to Die for Our Allegiance to Him

It Means Believing that All of this is Worth it…

Because the King is Coming to Rescue and Reward His People

Christianity has Been Done Such Harm in the World

Not Because People Refuse to Confess Their Allegiance to Him

But Because Many People Do Confess Allegiance to Him…

But Don’t Live Like it

May that Never or No Longer Be Said of Us

Commit or Recommit Yourself to the King Today