08-21-2005 Matthew 16-13-19
Matthew 16:13-19
· History
· Here we have a story withdrawal Jesus made with his disciples.
· The end was coming very near and Jesus needed all the time alone with his disciples that he could gain.
· He had so much to say
· so much to teach them
· Many things which then they could not bear or understand.
To that end he withdrew to the districts of Caesarea Philippi.
· Caesarea Philippi lies about twenty-five miles north-east of the Sea of Galilee
· The population was mainly non-Jewish, and there Jesus would have peace to teach the Twelve
· It is of the most dramatic interest to see where Jesus chose to ask this question.
· There can have been few districts with more religious associations than Caesarea Philippi.
o The area was scattered with temples of the ancient Syrian Baal worship.
§ no fewer than fourteen such temples in the near neighborhood
o It was said to be the birthplace of the great god Plan, the god of nature
o The legends of the gods of Greece gathered around Caesarea Philippi
o Said to be the place where the sources of the Jordan sprang to life the very idea that this was the place where the River Jordan took its rise would make it significant in Jewish history
o In Caesarea Philippi there was a great temple of white marble built to the godhead of Caesar.
o Here indeed is a dramatic picture
o Jesus stands in an area littered with the temples
§ of the Syrian gods
§ in a place where the ancient Greek gods looked down
§ in a place where the history of Israel crowded in upon the minds of men
§ where the white marble splendor of the home of Caesar-worship dominated the landscape
§ There—of all places—this amazing carpenter stands and asks men who they believe him to be, and expects the answer, The Son of God
§ It is as if Jesus deliberately set himself against the background of the world’s religions in all their history and their splendor, and demanded to be compared with them
§ To have the verdict given in his favor
§ Few scenes where Jesus’ consciousness of his own divinity shines out with a more dazzling light.
Let’s read with that background
Matthew 16:13-19
Matthew 16:13-19
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?”
14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
15 He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
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.
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.
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.”
Pray
I. The revelation of Christ
A. The probing by Christ (16:13-17)
1. The request (16:13)
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?”
a) He asks the disciples who do people say He is?
2. The rumors (16:14)
14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
a) Some believe he is John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets
b) These were the expected spiritual prophetic answers of the time, not the leading and guiding of the holy spirit Peter did hear…..
3. The recognition (16:15–17):
a) Jesus asks the disciples who do you say I am
b) What Peter says (16:15-16)
15 He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
(1) Jesus knew that there was at least someone who had recognized him for the Messiah, the Anointed One of God, the Son of the living God
(2) It should be noted that there had been other confessions of faith prior to this one.
(a) Nathaniel had confessed Christ as the Son of God John 1:49
(b) The disciples had declared Him God’s Son after He stilled the storm Matt. 14:33
(c) Peter had given a confession of faith when the crowds left Jesus after His sermon on the Bread of Life John 6:68–69
(d) When Andrew had brought his brother Simon to Jesus, it was on the basis of this belief John 1:41
(3) How, then, did this confession differ from those that preceded it?
(a) To begin with, Jesus explicitly asked for this confession
(b) It was not an emotional response from people who had seen a miracle
(c) It was the studied and sincere statement of a man who had been taught by God
(4) The word Messiah and the word Christ are the same; the one is the Hebrew and the other is the Greek for The Anointed One
(5) Peter acknowledges the deity of Jesus Christ!
(6) Who do you say “I AM” Deity
c) Why Peter says it (16:17)
(1) God the Father has revealed this to him!
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.
4. Peters answer did not come from his intellect,
a) Neither will our answer come from our intellect
b) It must come from our heart
5. Jesus is always asking this question of everyone who encounter Him
a) When Pilate asked Jesus in John 18:33-34 if he was the king of the Jews, his answer was:
“Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?”
(1) Our knowledge of Jesus must never be at second hand.
(2) Christianity never consists in knowing about Jesus; it always consists in knowing Jesus
(3) Jesus Christ demands a personal verdict.
B. The promise by Christ (16:18-19)
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.
1. Jesus will build his church
a) This is usually a center for controversy of interpretation
(1) Roman Catholic Church believes it to mean that to Peter were given the keys which admit or exclude a man from heaven
(2) And that to Peter was given the power to absolve or not to absolve a man from his sins
(3) Also that Peter is and was the bishop of Rome, Peterine succession
b) There is a play on words any language used at the time
(1) In Greek Peter is Petros and a rock is petra
(2) “You are petros, and on this petra I will build my Church.”
(3) Whatever else this is, it is a word of tremendous praise
(4) The word rock (sur) is again and again applied to God himself
“He is the Rock; his work is perfect” Deuteronomy 32:4
“For their rock is not as our Rock” Deuteronomy 32:31
“There is no rock like our God” 1 Samuel 2:2
“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer” 2 Samuel 22:2
“Who is a rock, except our God?” Psalm 18:31)
(5) No Jew who knew his Old Testament could ever use the phrase without his thoughts turning to God, who alone was the true rock of his defense and salvation
c) What then did Jesus mean when in this passage he used the word rock?
(1) It is that Peter himself is the rock, but in a special sense.
(2) He is not the rock on which the Church is founded; that rock is God
(3) Peter was the disciple to discover that Jesus was GOD
(4) Peter was the first man to make the leap of faith and see Jesus as the Son of the living God
(5) Peter is the first stone of the whole Church that lined up with the corner stone Jesus Christ
(6) Peter was the first member of the Church, and, in that sense, the whole Church is built on him
(7) as if Jesus said to Peter: “Peter, you are the first man to grasp who I am; you are therefore the first stone, the foundation stone, the very beginning of the Church which I am building.”
(8) Everyone who makes the same discovery Peter did is another stone added into the edifice of the Church of Christ
d) Two things help to make this clear
(1) The Bible uses pictures, the picture of building
(a) Ephesians 2:20 the prophets and the apostles are said to be the foundation of the Church
(b) Jesus Christ is the chief corner-stone, he is the force who holds the Church together
(c) In 1 Peter 2:4-8 all Christians are living stones who are to be built into the fabric of the Church
(d) In 1 Corinthians 3:11 Jesus is the only foundation, and no man can lay any other
(e) It all is always the idea that Jesus Christ is the real foundation of the Church, and the only power who holds the Church together
(f) When Jesus said to Peter that on him he would found his Church, he did not mean that the Church depended on Peter, as it depended on himself and on God the Rock.
(g) He did mean that the Church began with Peter; in that sense Peter is the foundation of the Church; and that is an honor that no man can take from him
(2) The second point is that the very word Church (ekklēsia) in this passage conveys something of a wrong impression
(a) We are apt to think of the Church as an institution and an organization with buildings and offices, and services and meetings, and organizations and all kinds of activities
(b) The word that Jesus almost certainly used was quahal, which is the word the Old Testament uses for the congregation of Israel, the gathering of the people of the Lord
(c) What Jesus said to Peter was: “Peter, you are the beginning of the new Israel, the new people of the Lord, the new fellowship of those who believe in my name.” Peter was the first of the fellowship of believers in Christ
(d) What began with Peter was the fellowship of all believers in Jesus Christ
2. Jesus goes on to say that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against his Church. What does that mean?
a) In the ancient east the Gate was always the place, where the elders and the rulers met and dispensed counsel and justice
b) The law is laid down that, if a man has a rebellious and disobedient son, he must bring him “to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives” Deuteronomy 21:19 and there judgment will be given and justice done
c) So the gate may have come to mean the place of government
(1) For long, for instance, the government of Turkey was called the Sublime Porte (porte being the French for gate)
(2) So then the phrase would mean: The powers, the government of Hades will never prevail against the Church
3. Another possibility
a) Suppose we go back to the idea that the rock on which the Church is founded is the conviction that Jesus is none other than the Son of the living God
b) Now Hades was not the place of punishment, but the place where, in primitive Jewish belief, all the dead went
(1) Obviously, the function of gates is to keep things in, to confine them, shut them up, control them
(2) There was one person whom the gates of Hades could not shut in; and that was Jesus Christ. He burst the bonds of death
(3) As the writer of Acts has it,
“It was not possible for him to be held by death. … Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let thy Holy One see corruption” Acts 2:24, 27
(4) “You have discovered that I am the Son of the living God.
(a) The time will soon come when I will be crucified, and the gates of Hades will close behind me
(b) But they are powerless to shut me in.
(c) The gates of Hades have no power against me the Son of the living God.”
(5) However we take it, this phrase triumphantly expresses the indestructibility of Christ and his Church
4. The authority (16:19)
a) He will entrust them with the keys to the Kingdom
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.”
b) This is an obviously difficult phrase, what can we be sure of….
c) A Jewish phrase of the time went something like this
“The keys of birth, of the rain, and of the resurrection of the dead belong to God.”
(1) That is to say, only God has the power to create life, to send the rain, and to raise the dead to life again
(2) The opening of the kingdom of God was Peter
(3) In the New Testament this phrase is regularly attached to Jesus
(4) The keys are in Jesus hands, and no one else’s
Revelation 1:18 the risen Christ says: “I am the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”
Revelation 3:7 the Risen Christ is described as, “The holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens.”
