A Prevailing Church: Binding Series

Have you ever needed to find out what somebody else really

thought of you? Do you know what it is like to ask someone

what their opinion is of you – and then you wait for what

seems like an eternity for the answer, and when it comes,

you are still not sure if it is good or bad? Do you know what

that’s like?

I have to write letters of reference occasionally. Employers

and colleges seem to think that if you can get a

commendation from your pastor, you must be all right. Now

when I have to write a letter of reference, I struggle with it.

Do I tell this potential employer the truth, the whole truth, and

nothing but the truth about you? Or do I write some vague

and flowery epistle that says nothing but says it beautifully?

And then, after I have carefully constructed that letter, I

realize that you might end up reading it too. Maybe you did

not agree to keep your file confidential, and you will someday

read what I wrote about you. So I go back and edit the letter

again, just to make sure that if that happens you will not be

upset at me. What have we got here? Me writing what I

think of you, and worrying about what you think of me!

Wow! I believe I will just do what a friend of mine did. He

developed the all-purpose recommendation letter. He would

write, “I cannot speak too highly of this person.” You figure it

out.

One day Jesus took His heart in His hands and put it out

there for the disciples to stomp on. He asked what they

thought of Him. Knowing that they were not likely to be

straightforward about it, He asked them first what other

people were saying. It’s a lot easier to speak about

imaginary other people than it is to reveal our own hearts.

And so He asked, “Who do people say the Son of Man

is?” How am I playing out there, fellows? You have your

ears to the ground. What are they saying about me?

The answers were quick and to the point. They said,

“Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still

others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

Then Jesus pressed the point and asked the personal

question, “All right, But who do you say that I am?” Peter

got it right, as you know. “You are the Christ, the Son of

the Living God.” Peter recognized that Jesus was more

than John the Baptist, more than Elijah, more than Jeremiah.

Far more. But consider this: that even in the mistaken

opinions of the people, there was some truth. The people

saw Jesus as like John the Baptist, like Elijah, like Jeremiah.

Why? What was it about Jesus that reminded them of John?

What did Jesus do that made them think of Elijah? And how

did Jesus resemble Jeremiah? There is much to be learned

from exploring that.

But first, consider this: on the basis of Peter’s confession of

who Jesus really is, Jesus speaks about founding His church

and about giving it authority – the keys of the kingdom. He

says that His church will have two kinds of authority –

binding and loosing. “Whatever you bind on earth will be

bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will

be loosed in heaven.” Fascinating stuff! What does it

mean, this binding and loosing authority?

Today and next week I am going to imagine with you what

there was in people’s guesses about Jesus that led to His

statement about binding and loosing. Something in Jesus

suggested to the people these three men out of Israel’s

history. I believe that each of the three men they guessed at

were binders and loosers. Each of them did something that

bound Satan, that stopped evil; and each of them let loose

God’s liberating Spirit.

Today I am just going to work on binding. What is it that

John and Elijah and Jeremiah each did to bind evil and to

stop it in its tracks? And how do we as followers of Jesus

use His authority to bind evil?

Next week I will work on the other side of the ledger, the

loosing side. Next week I will explore with you how John and

Elijah and Jeremiah let loose God’s liberating Spirit. But

today the theme is “A Prevailing Church: Binding”.

I

First, look at John the Baptist. The people thought maybe

Jesus was John come back to life. After all, it had only been

a short while since John had been killed. And John and

Jesus were cousins, breathing the same spiritual air and

bringing a similar message. Some found it easy to say that