Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up.

Matthew 16:13–20 NIV

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Introduction:

To Tell the Truth - "Will the real _____ please stand."

It is very important to ask this question.

Who is Jesus?

Interesting, that Jesus asks his disciples not, "Who do people say I am?", but "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" His follow-up question is "Who do you say that I am?" - Suggesting, he firsts ask a theologoical question about who people say the Son of Man figure in Daniel will actually turn out to be. Jesus believes he is the Son of Man, so his follow up question is to find out who the Disciple's thinks he is. So it is also then interesting that Peter labels Jesus as the Annointed one, the Son of God, and Jesus affirms this answer.

- The disciples answer Jesus’s question in various ways: a prophet, “the prophet,” a reincarnation of John the Baptist, and then finally, the Messiah.

N. T. Wright says, “The disciples report the general reaction—which tells us a good deal about the way Jesus was perceived by the people at large. Not ‘gentle Jesus, meek and mild’; not the cosy, comforting friend of little children; rather, like one of the wild prophets of recent or of ancient times, who had stood up and spoken God’s word fearlessly against wicked and rebellious kings. Jesus was acting as a prophet: not simply ‘one who foretells the future,’ but one who was God’s mouthpiece against injustice and wickedness in high places” (N. T. Wright, Matthew for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 16–28 [London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004], 6, Logos).

Picture a magician on stage, performing incredible tricks. The audience eagerly tries to guess how he does it. In the same way, the disciples often wondered about Jesus’ true identity—was He just a remarkable teacher or much more? When Peter declared, 'You are the Messiah!' it was a moment of revelation, much like figuring out a magician's secret. We, too, can uncover the mysteries of Christ in our relationship with Him.

In our world, we can be very unclear on who Jesus is.

• Some think he is a great teacher

• Some, but rare think he never existed.

• Some say he is a prophet - This is the key point in Jesus’ day, he was seen as a prophet, and they were just as confused as many in our day.

3 Terms.

• Messiah/Christ - Psalm 2 it is term that brings together all of the hope of a figure who would come and restore Israel as a nation and usually through political, military overthrow of the current occupiers - then the Romans. - Davidic Kingly figure.

• Son of God - Psalm 2

• Son of Man - Jesus refers to himself - Daniel 7

• Jesus prefers Son of Man title, whereas Disciple’s prefer Messiah/Son of God - Both are true, but the disciple’s, like everyone else mis-interpret what that means.

Application Point: It is easy for us today, to misunderstand who Jesus is. That is why we must continue pursuing him, grow closer to him, continually let him teach us who he is.

So, Who is Jesus?

Jesus identifies as the Son of God.

1. The region of Caesarea Philippi was a significant area of conflict for Jewish people of the first century. When Jesus asked, “Who do people say I am?” he did so in right in front of a temple for pagan worship. Dave Stotts offers a brief overview of Caesarea Philippi that gives us better perspective: https://youtu.be/TPqdTJgZSYY.

So when Jesus tells Peter that it is “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matt 16:18), He and the disciples are literally standing at the place known in ancient times as the gates of Hades/the Underworld. Jesus is saying, in other words, that He will conquer the forces of darkness associated with the Underworld—and that the power of the Church will overcome them. In Paul’s words, Christ “disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a display of them in public, triumphing over them by it” (Col 2:15) and “Ascending on high he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men” (Eph 4:8). This line from Ephesians 4:8 is made even more powerful with the knowledge that Paul is quoting Psalm 68:18; in Psalm 68 the mountain God ascends and conquers is none other than Mount Bashan (Psa 68:15).

Heiser, M. S. (2012, 2016).

The region, particularly its capital cities Ashtaroth and Edrei, had a sinister reputation in Canaanite mythology as a gateway to the Underworld[1]....The Israelites viewed Bashan as a domain of foreign gods, and associated it with giant warrior-kings related to the Nephilim mentioned in Genesis 6:4......Og, the king of Bashan, is specifically mentioned as one of the last of the Rephaites, with his enormous bed size implying his gigantic stature

First Enoch 6 describes the deed, connecting it explicitly to Genesis 6:1–4:

1And when the sons of men had multiplied, in those days, beautiful and comely daughters were born to them. 2And the watchers, the sons of heaven, saw them and desired them. And they said to one another, “Come, let us choose for ourselves wives from the daughters of men, and let us beget for ourselves children.” 3And Shemihazah, their chief, said to them, “I fear that you will not want to do this deed, and I alone shall be guilty of a great sin.” 4And they all answered him and said, “Let us all swear an oath, and let us all bind one another with a curse, that none of us turn back from this counsel until we fulfill it and do this deed.” 5Then they all swore together and bound one another with a curse. 6And they were, all of them, two hundred, who descended in the days of Jared onto the peak of Mount Hermon. And they called the mountain “Hermon” because they swore and bound one another with a curse on it.

Michael S. Heiser, Reversing Hermon: Enoch, The Watchers & The Forgotten Mission of Jesus Christ (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017), 87–89.

For Jewish People:

- Pharisees, Essenes, Zealots, Sadducees, Herodians - All different religious/political parties that were raised up to answer the question, “How do we deal with the Roman Empire Problem.” And there answer was, when the Messiah comes.

- Jesus is revealing as Messiah, that salvation of Israel was not a salvation from their political conquerers, but Death itself.

Witherington makes the point: “One of the more interesting things about this story is that Jesus is going to admit that human beings and mere human logic was not likely to come up with the right answer about the identity of Jesus—it required a revelation from above. This being the case, ordinary people, whether Jewish or well informed about Judaism, could not be faulted for lacking full understanding of Jesus. It was then not transparent or immediately evident who Jesus was from his words and deeds, however remarkable, and it would appear that Jesus wanted it that way. In this way, only by his revealing himself in his own way and on his own terms, or by God’s revelation, would even the disciples come to understand the mystery that was Jesus” (Ben Witherington III, Matthew, Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary [Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, Incorporated, 2006], 309–10, Logos).

- In this 1 passage Jesus shares the gospel succinctly - Jesus came to die, to be raised to life, and then he will be ascended to rule over God’s kingdom.

Application Point: - Trust Jesus’ view of himself.

Why Does that Matter?

Taking up the imagery of Isa 22: 20– 22, Jesus declares Peter to be the steward (the chief administrative officer) in the kingdom of heaven, 36 who will hold the keys, so that, like Eliakim, the new steward (cf. Isa 22: 15) in the kingdom of David, “he will open, and no one shall shut; he will shut and no one shall open.” The steward is not the owner. He has both authority (over the rest of the household) and responsibility (to his master to administer the affairs of the house properly).

- The grammer of the greek here is that Peter will be following Heavens Lead, he will open on earth what will have been opened in heaven.

- This likely refers to who is being let into the kingdom - Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, Ends of the Earth - Seeing sheet of unclean animals.

- When the same commission is given to the whole disciple group in 18: 18 it will be specifically in the context of dealing with sin within their community

France, R. T.. The Gospel of Matthew (The New International Commentary on the New Testament) (p. 627). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

- Jesus is the cornerstone, The Apostles are the foundation, Peter is leader of the foundation - The point is it all points back to the Jesus’ lead.

Why ask that question often?

• I think it might be the most important question we ask. Really, most important? From a Christian point of view that question makes the difference between eternal life, or eternal death. It shapes your life now, and it shapes your life for eternity.

• We need to ask it often, because we can easily drift and mis-understand who Jesus is.

• Jesus is someone to relate to, and just like someone you care about you are constantly learning about them, wrestling with this question will help us learn more about Jesus if you love him.

Dying will also mean -

• dying Operating out of our human way -

• It means following Heavens way - Peter loosening and binding.

• It means dying to self - our traditions, what we want in order to reach someone else.

• Our own view of Jesus and to his view of Jesus

Conclusion:

In what ways are we making Jesus in our image? Trying to fit him into our boxes? How are we allowing the real Jesus to show up in our life?