Upon this Rock

Matthew 16:13-20

Matthew 16:13–20 LEB

Now when Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he began asking his disciples, saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it! I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will be released in heaven.” Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was the Christ.

Pray

Upon this rock I stand

“Who do people say that I am”

This is a statement that has to do with the Social honor/shame aspects of the society in which Jesus lived. How do people see Him, and who is he associated with. Because not only was the individual person important but who they are associated with.

This is the honor and shame that effects all

Then again it isn’t that different than it is today, as much as we want to be. We try to be an individualistic society. We what we do not to effect others but it does. Our society likes to focus on just you. But what we are associated with in reality has a bigger role that we want to admit.

Example if we are associated with Laughlin Community Church. The actions of all the members affect how people view us. Did you know that this Church was founded as First Baptist Church of Laughlin, but Baptist excludes so many of you. Because we take inconsideration our affiliations much more than we realize we do.

Son of Man

Jesus favorite way of referring to Himself. Not calling himself human he is referring to a passage in Daniel. I don’t have time for that sermon right now but hope to in the future. You can read up on it on your own if you are curious. The Bible Project does a good job with this idea

Who Do You Say He Is?

Some say John the Baptist others Elijah or one of the prophets

This is like saying some say you are a great teacher others say you are a great preacher, or a prophet

This kind of talk sounds familiar

This is the same kind of thing we hear about Jesus today

He was a great preacher, teacher, prophet for God

But He wasn’t/isn’t God

Things haven’t changed much in all this time

People still have the wrong Idea about Jesus

They write him off as just a man. But Peter had the right of it. You are the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Did Peter really understand the full implications of what he just said? It’s debated. But Jesus knew that He was the son of The God and the word was with God and the Word was God and the Word became Flesh

That Is Jesus Christ

Peter had the Right of it

Jesus is the Son of God

And it is upon this statement that the church is Built

Peter was the head of the disciples

He probably did really start the church in Rome. Which spread Christianity throughout the world. Not always in the best way. It became corrupt because it was powerful and power will always attract evil

But it wasn’t all bad

But it wasn’t just that Peter started a church that mattered

That would have happened Peter or no Peter.

It was this statement that Peter would carry with him out of Israel and to the trading center of the world. The controllers of the Empire

Jesus is God

That is the statement of the Church

Out of all the things we do as Christians

This must be at the head of them all

Jesus is God and the Messiah the salvation

The church has forgotten this throughout time. We fight more with ourselves over important doctoral issues. But as important as these issues are we lose focus on the idea that Jesus is God. He is the center of the church

When we go forth We must remember that he is the Center of our lives

Thus everything we do is for his Glory or shame

Next Steps: How does your life reflect Jesus

Do your actions bring glory to Jesus or does it bring shame

And if we are to be honest we all have times when we do honor and sometimes not so much

Once we understand that how we act and what we do. Reflect honor or shame upon Jesus who is the center of Church of our lives. Then it makes it easier for us to

We have to constantly remind ourselves that Jesus is God

And that is what we are built upon

We must remind ourselves that how we act reflect Jesus. This daily reminder helps us to reflect honor

Because we have Jesus in our lives we don’t want to bring shame on ourselves or Him

We are not a nation of just I

We are all intertwined, And this kingdom we have entered into when we ABC

Is built upon the rock that JESUS is GOD

IS HE GOD in your life?