Bedrock to Stumbling Block

Introduction

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Someone at work showed me a video clip of a prosperity preacher that went viral recently. This preacher was telling his congregation that if they gave him money, that God would answer their prayers. This is the typical prosperity nonsense. This one woman went forward with her young son and, in front of the whole congregation, was announcing the checks she had written out and giving to the preacher. She handed him the first check and announced “I give $1,000.” Then she pulled out another check and handed it to the preacher and said, “And I also give $300 to get these blessings.” And the preacher stopped her and said to the congregation, “See, y’all just don’t get it do you? I didn’t say 300 on top of 1,000, no, I said 1,000 on top of 1,000 if you don’t give 1,000 on top of 1,000 your won’t receive your blessings.”

The clip clearly went viral because of how obviously this poor lady was being manipulated. Manipulation is one of the clear signs of bad leadership. Of course, this leader was simply trying to lead people to line his pockets. A real leader does not manipulate or coerce the wills of his followers. But instead a real leader looks at truth, revels in it himself, then points others to that same truth that moves him.

What kind of leader do we need?

The Old Testament had various types of leaders. There were prophets who told who God is and to turn to him, priests to tell how to approach God, sages to tell how to live a life pleasing to God, kings to ensure God’s will was being carried out. But all of these leaders in the Old Testament only get us so far-earthly, not heavenly. The prophets can tell us to turn to God but cannot change our hearts. The priest can tell us how to approach God but cannot really do anything about our sins. The sages can tell us wise principles but cannot make us desire them. The kings can decree only what is under their domain, and there are far greater things we face that are far beyond those kings domain.

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Our greatest problem we face is sin and its consequences—especially death. As much as a good king can deliver his people from enemies, he cannot reverse death. We need a leader who can help us conquer sin and death. But this means that this leader would have to both change our nature and have power over the grave. This is no mere prophet, priest, sage, or king. . .or manipulative preacher. This is something much greater.

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Matt. 16:13-23 is the very center of the entire book of Matthew. Verse 20 concluded the first half of the book and verse 21 begins the second half. And though the narratives feature Peter and a bedrock and stumbling block (as I’ve titled this sermon), those things are merely features pointing to the reality of who Jesus is and what exactly he was on earth to accomplish.

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Matt. 16:13-23

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Bedrock (13-20), Stumbling Block (21-23)

Bedrock

Matthew 16:13–20 “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.”

Revelation

Matthew has had the disciples go all around the sea of Galilee and recounting various stories. This is the last stop around the sea that will be made as Jesus makes his fateful and final journey to Jerusalem in this Gospel. Here, Jesus and his disciples find themselves in a Gentile city called Caesarea Philippi with an ancient temple to a pagan god (who once was named Baal) carved out of rock. Nearby was a temple dedicated to the Caesar (hence the name of the town). It’s here where Jesus asks the disciples who people think that the “Son of Man” is (v. 13, end). Jesus uses this title to refer to himself as is seen in the second question in v. 15, “But who do you say that I am?” Jesus’s self-identity (how he viewed himself) and true identity (who he really is) is not determined by the crowds or his disciples. Furthermore, Jesus knows who he really is. He’s not asking questions to discover himself, but to uncover his disciples’ hearts.

The crowds postulate various things. John the Baptist reincarnate was Herod’s paranoid theory because he put him to death. Elijah was a great prophet who was expected at the end as a forerunner to the Messiah. Jeremiah was known as a prophet of doom. Or another prophet. Clearly, the crowds perceived his words were from God.

But the question about the crowds’ thoughts was just a set up for the next question. Jesus asks his disciples: “But who do you say that I am?”

Relevance 1

Allow us time to consider this question today. Who do people say that Jesus is today? Some say he is the way to get more money. Some say he is the cosmic therapist who will help us have inner peace. Some say he was a good moral example to show us how to live. Some say he’s a key to unlock hidden knowledge. It seems almost every religion out there has something to say about who Jesus is.

But let’s make this even more personal. Who do you say that Jesus is?

Matthew Exegesis

Those who would follow Jesus must decide if they will take the wide road traveled by many (7:13–14) and embrace whatever view about Jesus was most popular at the moment or instead embrace Jesus’s own claims about himself.

Who do you say that Jesus is? Just a good moral teacher? Great, but a good moral teacher does not have power over sin and death. If Jesus is just a teacher, a sage, a prophet, or earthly king then we are still enslaved to sin without any hope of escape.

Sin has wreaked havoc all over our society. Brokenness is all around us, evident everywhere. Do you really want to be free from it? There are many ways on the wide path to be rid of sin. The moralist will tell you what to do. The spiritualist will tell you what experience you need to have. The hedonist will tell you just to forget about it and live life as you please. The nihilist will tell you sin is just an illusion and you should just take control of what you can. But none of it is an answer, none of it is enough, none of it truly has power over sin, it just dresses it up or ignores it. None of it can deal with the effects of sin, brokenness, suffering and death. If you’ve experienced genuine suffering you know it’s not enough to will it away, ignore it, or numb it. There must be a way to deal with it, there must be someone who is Lord over it.

Revelation (at. v. 16)

Look at Peter’s response to this question in v. 16. Matthew 16:16 “16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”” The title “the Christ” has a royal connotation. Peter is in effect saying, “You are the one true king.” Matthew makes this clear by calling the Christ the Son of David in Matt. 1:1 and by identifying the Christ with the Annointed One in Psalm 2:7 who “

Matthew Exegesis

will take possession of all the nations of the earth, break those who rebel against him with a rod of iron, and will have greater authority than all the kings of the earth

Peter calling Jesus “the Christ” is not just identifying him as a king, but as the king of all kings.

But he does not merely identify him as lord over earthly realms. Peter calls him the “Son of the living God.” The term “living God” is a way to formally recognize Yahweh, the true God, as opposed to the pagan gods. Matthew makes this identity come to life by having Jesus be born of the Holy Spirit, having miracilous power, terrifying the demons.

Matthew Exegesis

The attentive reader of the Gospel will know that “Son of God” identifies Jesus as Deity incarnate, the Immanuel, who was born as a human child and yet bears the title “mighty God.

Jesus is not just king of the earthly, but the heavenly as well. He has dominion over all things, including sin and death.

Because Peter rightly names Jesus according to who he truly is, Jesus in turn names Peter in light of who he truly is. It is important to note that when Jesus says, “blessed are you” to Peter in v. 17, Jesus is not bestowing a blessing in response to what Peter said, instead he is recognizing what is already true about Peter.

In v. 18, Jesus tells Peter who he really is.

Matthew Exegesis

the new name and important role are marks of a gracious divine blessing, just like the Father’s revelation of Jesus to Peter

First Jesus gives Simon a new name: Peter. It was an unusual name for his day. But every time someone called him his new name he was reminded of his proper identity. Peter will serve as the foundation of the church.

The Gospel of Matthew P. The Messiah Recognized by His Disciples (16:13–20)

In the early chapters of Acts it is Peter who leads the disciple group in Jerusalem, and it is he who takes the initiative in the key developments which will constitute the church as a new, international body of the people of God through faith in Jesus: note especially his role in the bringing in of Samaritans (

And notice what Jesus says about this church that will be established: the gates of hell will not prevail against it. This place, the realm of the dead, the gates are not to keep people out, but to keep the dead in. These are more like prison gates than city walls. Those who were in their sin on their way to hell are to be delivered into eternal life, and hell’s gates won’t keep them in.

And not only that, but Peter also will have the responsibility of binding and loosing. Binding and loosing are legal terms.

Matthew Exegesis

As the bearer of the keys of the Messiah’s kingdom, Peter served as the Messiah’s steward. The verbs “bind” and “loose” were used by the rabbis to describe enacting legislation, deciding what was permitted (loosing) or forbidden (binding)

Peter is not a sovereign over these things like they claim the pope is. Rather the text says whatever Peter binds “will have already been bound in heaven.” That is, Jesus is the sovereign here, Peter recognizes what heaven decides. This comes to matters like the Gentile inclusion without having to be circumcised (in Acts 15). Furthermore, this responsibility is given to the whole church in Matt. 18.

Jesus understands that he truly is the Christ and tells them not to tell anyone. Because of the political climate of his day, true proclamation of his identity would only expedite his death at the hands of those in charge. Jesus needed the time to further train his disciples before sacrificing his life for them.

Relevance

“With true faith comes a hell responsibility.”

There are certain things in life that bestow upon you a responsibility. If you own a car, you are now responsible for its upkeep. If you own a animal, you are responsible for its welfare. If you have a child, you are responsible to parent.

Peter expresses not a complete, mature, great, amazing faith; but he does express a true one. And with that faith comes responsibility. Notice that Jesus mentions here the church as well. This is not just Peter and his responsibility as the rock. This is the church’s responsibility as well.

With true faith comes a hell responsibility.

The church is God’s instrument in this current world to push back the world, the flesh, and the devil. To undo all manners of brokenness and sin. To proclaim his gospel to all the dark corners of the earth. To liberate the captives that hell thought it could keep forever.

With true faith comes a hell responsibility.

What keeps you back from fulfilling this responsibility?

Do you carry with you a sense of inadequacy? A constant self-condemnation? Maybe you have an inner thought track that says, “You’ll never be good enough. You can’t share your faith, you can’t undo this hurt, you can’t fight temptation in this area, you will never win.” Maybe you wrestle with doubts and the devil comes along and says, “Really? you’re going to share your faith? You hardly believe yourself.”

Maybe for you it’s nothing internal that prevents you from fulfilling this responsibility. Maybe you’ve fallen into the trap of professionalism. The car companies want everything to go to professionalism. Cars used to be designed to where anyone could figure out how to fix them. Not so much anymore. The car engineers want you to have to go to professionals to fix them, and not just any professionals, their professionals so they keep making the money. Maybe you think this “hell responsibility” that is again freeing yourself and others from the affects of the world the flesh and the devil is only up to the professionals. And you tell yourself “I’m not a deacon or a pastor, that’s not my job.”

But with true faith comes a hell responsibility.

What is it in you that works to stop you from fulfilling this God-given responsibility to push back the work and affects of the world, the flesh, and the devil? Consider this deeply. Then give that inadequacy to God and ask for help. Surely heaven will supply.

Bridge

But perhaps you fear a great failure. But I think you will see in our next text that even great failure does not prevent God’s working.

Stumbling Block

Matthew 16:21–23 “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.””

Revelation

This of course marks a major turn in the book of Matthew. The disciples now fully understand Jesus’s identity, now they must understand his mission. And like I said in the introduction, we don’t need a leader who can just conquer some human oppressors, we need a leader who can conquer sin and death. And this is exactly what Jesus intends to do.

Notice Jesus is not saying this things as if he is dejected and depressed. Jesus is not speaking as though he is someone with a death wish or a martyr complex. No, he knows the resurrection is going to happen. He says, “And on the third day be raised” at the end of verse 21. He understands (and hopes his disciples also understand) that he will be conquering death, not defeated by it.

But Peter has other plans for his Messiah, he is clouded by his own Messianic expectations. He’s finally come to the place where he fully understands that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, but he has not overcome his expectations as to what that Messiah was supposed to do. So he says, “This shall never happen to you!”

It’s not as though Jesus yearns in his humanity to suffer a painful death and the wrath of God. He prays that God would allow that cup to pass from him in the garden. And so Peter the rock acts as a source of temptation for him, temptation to not die, to not conquer death, to not obey the Father.

He says to Peter, “Get behind me.” This famous phrase is a way we might shun someone today. But Jesus is not shunning Peter as if he is saying, “I don’t want to hear from you.” Rather he is reminding Peter of his proper place. Jesus is the Rabbi and Peter is the disciple, not the other way around. Then he calls Peter Satan because he is working against Jesus’s central role.

Earlier Jesus said the phrase to Peter, “You are Peter and on this rock. . .” Here in the middle of v. 23 he says “You are a hindrance” That is literally, “You are a stumbling block.” Peter goes from rock to stumbling block. Why? Because he is not setting his mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. He is wanting Jesus to fulfill Peter’s expectations for the Messiah not the Father’s.

Relevance

Peter had a great failure here. A great mistake. And yet, he’s still Peter. He still goes on to be the foundation of the church.

Maybe you allow a fear of failure prevent you from fulfilling your God-given responsibility. In other words, you believe Jesus is true, he is the Messiah, He does deliver from sin and death, but you are afraid that you might make a mistake when work against the darkness. What if you misquote a Bible verse. What if you give someone the wrong counsel? What if someone ends up in hell because you made a mistake in sharing the gospel?

Well, first of all, no one goes to hell because we have made a mistake. People go to hell because they willfully reject God and want to remain in their sin. Furthermore, God is sovereign we are not. We may make mistakes. We might mess up. But the potential to make a mistake should never prevent us from doing our best to fulfill our responsibility as his church. God has put you here as his church for a reason. He hasn’t brought us together merely as a family reunion to have a good time, but as his church. We can never allow any flaming dart the devil tries to throw to prevent us from fulfilling our responsibility.

The biggest question of our text at hand is where out mind is set. You see this in verse 23, “For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” When we fail in our hell responsibility as the church the root of that is that we are not setting our minds on the things of God, but on the things of man. So what is it that you are setting your mind on? There can be several things, some that I’ve already mentioned. A sense of self-condemnation where you believe the accusations of the devil. A sense of professionalism where we let the “professionals” handle it. A fear of failure. Anything that is setting your mind on the things of man.

And at the root of all these things is a denial that Jesus really had to die and raise again. If I believe the accusations of the devil and condemn myself then I’m saying Jesus didn’t really die for me and make me new. If I believe only the professionals can handle things, then I live like Jesus only died for the professionals not for me. If I have a fear of failure then I’m living as though my potential failures are more powerful than Jesus’s death.

So two important questions I want to leave you with today: 1. Who is Jesus to you? and 2. Do you live as though his death and resurrection is important?