To Follow the Leader

Introduction

Luke 9:18–27

18 Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” 20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” 21 And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” 23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 16:13–28

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. 21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” 24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. 28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Mark 8:27–9:1

27 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. 31 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. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” 34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 9 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

Setting: District of Caesarea Philippi

25 Miles north of the Sea of Galilee

It sat at the base of Mount Hermon, the tallest mountain in the region.

Roman ruled, Ran by Phillip the tetrarch. There was not a large Jewish presence in the area at the time.

District of, Not the City… It’s important to note that scripture says they went into the district of Caesarea Philippi or even the villages of it and not the city itself. It helps shape our understanding of Jesus’s purpose in coming to the area. The city of that time would have been big but scripture does not record Him entering that area. Jesus had a very particular lesson in mind by coming to the area. I think He wanted the right backdrop while He taught His disciples the truths we are learning about today.

The area of false worship… At the base of the mountain is a large mostly flat rock face. Towards the bottom of the rock faces slope is a very large cave opening in the side of the mountain. A spring water flowed heavily from the large cave opening into a stream that feeds into the Jordan river.

Temples… The rock face surrounding the spring became a place devoted to idol worship. Cut into the side of the mountain were stone archways to house the statues of the false gods they worshiped. Along the base of the of the mountain were several buildings of intricate stonework dedicated to idol worship. Even the area around it was a place for false worship well before Jesus’s birth.

King Jeroboam… The evil king of Israel Jeroboam built a temple with a Golden calf on the other side of the cave spring in a place called Dan.

1 Kings 12:25–29

25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel. 26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. 27 If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” 28 So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” 29 And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

Short Distance, Archeology… According to google maps Dan is only 7 minutes from Caesarea Philippi by vehicle. Interestingly modern archeologists have uncovered the base of the temple in Dan where the golden calf was erected. The place, people and stories of the bible are true. Not just made up stories about what man thinks happened. There is a tremendous amount of archeological evidence to support the bible.

Settled by Pagan Sheperds… Due to the abundant springs waters it was a good place to raise livestock. The area was settled by shepherds. Unfortunately they were pagan shepherds who worshiped a false God known as Pan. Pan was supposed to be half man half goat who was responsible for shepherding the flocks of the field and keeping them fertile. A shrine and temple was built to Pan at the site of the spring. Shrines were also built for the false Gods Zesus, Echo, Nemesis. There was even a shrine built to Caesar Augustus the Roman emperor. On his shrine was an inscription identifying Augusts as “the son of god”. What a lie.

Pagan Rituals… Every year the locals from the city would sit at the entry ways to the shrine of Pan and play loud music. They would bring their goats to dance to the music. There were two a buildings built specifically for Pan worship. One was a large open air platform for humans and animals to dance where everyone could see and practice lewd acts with one another. When the were done the goats were slaughtered and thrown into the mouth of the spring for Pan. Not every sacrifice that was thrown into the spring was animal. Human child sacrifices were also practiced at the spring.

Evil worship… It was a very dark place full of demonic worship. It’s the kind of place no self respecting Jew would have gone. Just going there would make you ceremonially unclean.

Question and Confession

This is the place Jesus has intentionally lead His closest followers to for His important question. In full view of the shrines of false worship. Where mankind is worshipping anything and everything other than God. This is where Jesus asks them who the crowds say He is before asking the disciples the same question.

The miracles of Jesus forced them to question… Jesus’s ministry full of the miraculous confronted those that witnessed Him. Jesus had cast out Demons out. Raised the dead. Restored sight to the blind. Given those born crippled legs that could run. He had fed 5000 with only 5 loaves of bread and two fish. All while proclaiming that God is near and that mankind should turn from wickedness and to God. If these things were possible they must mean something big. The crows understandably began asking themselves who He was? What could the life of Jesus Christ mean?

Jesus’s life forces us to ask the same question… The testimony of Jesus Christ’s life forces us to ask the same questions. Who is Jesus Christ. What does His life mean? Either Jesus Christ is the Son of God sent to redeem all mankind or He is crazy and everyone who has ever believed Him delusional.

There is so much evidence to believe… Jesus Witnesses, those that recorded His life in our bible. The disciples who willing went to their death on His behalf. The guards who found His tomb empty on the third day. The medical doctor Luke who wrote the very book we have been reading from and testified to His resurrection.

If Jesus Miracles are truth… If His miraculous healings are true, then what about His testimony that He is the Son of God? If rising from the dead on the third day is truth. If feeding the 5OOO with so little is truth. If the Heavens themselves opening up during His baptism and the voice of the Father declaring “This is my son in whom I am well pleased is truth. If the Heavens shinning bright with angles singing Glory to God and announcing Jesus’s birth is truth, then Jesus Christ’s life demands we ask ourselves the question and find the answer to: Who is He?

The crowds, the disciples… The crowds had gotten it wrong so far. For the most part the disciples had gotten it wrong as well.

Peter Gets it right… But Peter with the revelation of the Holy Spirit knocks it out of the park. I like the way Matthew puts it in His account “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”.

The living God.… Jesus is the son of the living God. Not the God of man's imaginations. The the God of man's opinions. Not even the God of man’s reasonings. Stop and consider the shrines of false worship in Caesarea. If they were not the direct result of demonic deception then that means men created them and then made the decision to worship them. Something they created. To the point of building a temple and carving statue of these made up Gods. I don't know about you but I don't want to worship anything I created. They very thought of worshipping something I created is crazy. I know me. I’m not all that special to begin with. And now I would would worship something created by my own hands? Why would the creator worship what he created? Yet here all these men and woman were willing to bow down, worship and do all manner of detestable things in front of what had been created with the hands of man through the deception of the enemy.

The Shrine of Augustus.… It’s fitting that here Jesus the true Son of God would ask His question about who He is. Standing in front of the shrine of Augustus with the inscription “son of god”. A man, created by God, created by Jesus Himself.

John 1:3 “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Jesus plainly asked them the question we all need to answer… Who do you say I am? The importance for you to personally answer this question in your life cannot be over stated.

Acts 4:12 “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.””

Confession… The term confession means to say the same thing as. If you were to look at the heading in you bible for Matthew 16:13 it probably say Peter Confesses Jesus as Christ. I want you to think on this. When you say that Jesus Christ in the Son of God, its a confession. You are literally saying the same thing God the Father said about about Jesus when Jesus was baptized and later transfigured on the mountain. This is my son in whom I am well pleased. Church its a good day when your mouth speaks the words God has spoken and your heart reflects the things His does. Are you well pleased in the Son? I know I am.

“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven… Do not discredit the call of God in your life. If you hear His call, if you feel His pull, know that it’s the Father great love you’re experiencing. It’s not a mistake, its His desire to draw you to Himself.

1 Corinthians 2:9–10 “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church… Jesus giving Cephas the name Peter is significant because Peter means “rock”. But be careful how you interpret this passage. Our Catholic brethren are misguided on this scripture. Its not Peter Himself that the church will be built on, but Peter’s confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. No real church exists without this confession.

What makes me confident to say Jesus was not building the church on Peter?… It’s simple. Jesus is the “rock”, the one sinless man the church is built on. Do you notice who’s church Jesus says it is, His.

Eph 2:19–21. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. … The church begins and ends with Jesus Christ.

The gates of hell… The gates of Hell was a very intentional phrase used by Jesus in the context of His location in Philippi and is one of the reasons I believe He brought the disciples to Philippi. The cave mouth was large. The spring water was flowing out of was deep and dark. It was believed by many who worshiped there to be the gates to Hell below it.

The gates of Hell would not Prevail… Prevailing means to overcome. Its an offensive battle term. The church would be on the offense, not the defense. They were not going to retreat but advance. They would encounter the walls of the enemy wherever they went with the gospel but go they would. And the battle would be theirs!

Matthew 16:19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.””

The keys to the Kingdom… Here we go church, those keys were theirs then and there ours now. With the confession of Jesus Christ the Son of God, the savior of the world we can overcome the Hell all around us. The strongholds of the enemy cant keep us out. You and I carry the keys that unlock the gates of heaven. We follow a savior who has already overcome and sets captives free!

The Cost to Lead

Matthew 16:21 “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Victory cost… The victory of every man, woman and child. The victory of the church. Over coming sin, death and Hell would come at a heavy cost. It would cost Jesus His life, and not just His life. It would even cost Him every human dignity. Scripture records He was beat beyond the recognition of a man. He died slowly and in agony to buy us peace.

1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,”

The Cost to Follow

22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”

23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Satan… It seems kinda harsh for Jesus to call Peter Satan. After Jesus had just commended Peter as receiving revelation that could only have come from God the Father. Who here know’s that on at least some level Peter was concerned for His mentor and friend? Jesus’s commanding Satan to get behind Him is both hyperbole and spot on.

Since Jesus mentions Satan lets examine a time in scripture where we know Jesus spoke with Him. When Satan tried to tempt Him in the desert.

Matthew 4:3

3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

Matthew 4:5-6

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

Matthew 4:8-9

9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

How are they related.… At first glance it may not seem like there is very much in common with satans temptation and Peters rebuke. What was it that Satan was trying to get Jesus to do underneath each of His request’s? Choose His own path. Leave the place of the Fathers will and choose a direction.

What was Peter asking Jesus to do?… Choose His own path. Jesus’s primary mission was to pay our penalty by dying in our place and free us from sin, death and hell. Peter was trying to convince Jesus to abort the mission God the Father sent Him on. It would have effectively been just the same as Jesus giving in to Satan during His earlier temptation. In either case Jesus would have had to choose His own way, His own will, over the Fathers.

Unwittingly… Unwittingly Peter tried to convince Jesus to do there very thing Satan wanted Jesus to do. There is a good lesson here. If we put our own wants, desires and comforts above Gods will, we will slip into sin.

Jesus’s next lesson to the disciples would hammer that fact home.

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

Jesus would have forfeit everything the Father had in store for Him and everyone else if He had choose His own way.

If we try to choose our own way we will too.

We must

Deny ourselves daily....

Pick up our cross....

And follow Him....

Closing

How can we respond to Gods message today? By dying to self. By saying Jesus this life I live is now yours. It’s not my will and my way anymore, but yours.

Where you go, I will follow.