Introduction:
A. One day a crowded airline flight was canceled.
1. There was a single gate agent at the desk who was responsible for rebooking the long line of inconvenienced and irritated travelers.
2. Suddenly, an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk and slapped his ticket down on the counter and said, “I have to be on the next flight and it has to be a first class seat!”
3. The agent gently replied, “I’m sorry sir, I’ll be happy to try to help you when it is your turn, but first I’ve got to help these folks who are in line ahead of you.”
4. Not being put off, the angry passenger asked loudly so all could hear, “Do you have any idea who I am?”
5. Without hesitating, the gate agent grabbed her public address microphone and her voice bellowed through the terminal, saying, “May I have your attention please, I have a passenger here at gate 17 who does not know who he is. If anyone can help him discover his identity, please come to gate 17.”
6. The folks in line laughed hysterically while the man gritted his teeth and returned to his place in line.
7. Although everyone was still frustrated that their flight had been canceled, they handled the inconvenience a bit more light-heartedly.
B. In the biblical story that we will discuss today, we will witness Jesus asking His disciples a question similar to the question asked by the angry passenger.
1. Jesus asked the question: “Do you have any idea who I am?”
2. He didn’t ask the question to throw his weight around, or because He wasn’t sure of His identity, rather as we will discover, He asked the question to help His disciples come to the right conclusion.
C. If you have been with us in the last month, then you know that we are in a sermon series on the life of the apostle Peter that we are calling “The Touch of the Master’s Hand.”
1. So far in the series, we have witnessed Peter having both his name and his occupation changed by Jesus.
a. His name was changed from Simon to Peter, which means “rock” and he went from being a fisher of fish to becoming a fisher of people.
2. We watched as Peter learned some important first lessons about spiritual warfare, compassion, and the need for spiritual recharging.
3. And last week we learned that to walk on the water, you have to get out of the boat, and to keep walking on the water you have to stay connected to Jesus.
I. The Story
A. Today, we want to explore an important passage in Matthew 16 that contains a number of controversial interpretations.
1. Our reason for going to this passage has nothing to do with those controversies, but has everything to do with Peter’s growth as a follower of Jesus.
B. Today’s story begins in Matthew 16:13, where the Bible says: 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?”
1. To secure the necessary privacy for this all-important discussion, Jesus took his disciples to the extreme edge of the northern frontier of Palestine to Caesarea Philippi, about 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee.
2. Throughout the Gospels, the title “Son of Man” is one that Jesus often used in reference to Himself.
a. It is an expression that is found in Psalm 8, and it is also the name that identifies Him with Daniel’s vision in Daniel 7:13-14.
b. And so the title “Son of Man” had a prophetic and Messianic element to it.
c. It wasn’t meant to confer the notion that the person was human rather than divine.
d. But it was a term that was ambiguous enough to disguise the fact that the “Son of Man” was really the one and only “Son of God.”
3. Jesus knew all things and, therefore, He wasn’t asking this question for His own benefit.
a. Jesus knew what the religious leaders and the masses thought about the “Son of Man.”
b. Jesus also knew what the religious leaders and crowds thought about Him.
c. Nevertheless, to get them thinking, Jesus asked His disciples the question and they gave Him an answer.
C. The Bible says: 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” (Mt. 16:14)
1. So, when Jesus asked His disciples about what the crowds were saying about Him, they shared the three opinions of the crowds.
2. Some people said that Jesus was John the Baptist.
a. Why would they say that?
b. They probably got the idea from Herod who had beheaded John the Baptist because of the request of his belly dancing step-daughter.
c. After John the Baptist was dead, Jesus’ notoriety began to grow as did the stories about His miracles.
d. The conscious-stricken and superstitious Herod was afraid that Jesus was some kind of resurrected John.
3. Other people thought that Jesus was Elijah.
a. Why would they say that?
b. Well, the Old Testament ends with Malachi predicting that God would send Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome Day of the Lord comes and that he would turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.
c. So they concluded that Jesus must be this Elijah figure returned as God promised.
d. In truth, Jesus wasn’t that Elijah figure, but John the Baptist was the fulfillment of that prophesy.
4. Finally, others thought Jesus was Jeremiah.
a. Why Jeremiah?
b. Well, Jeremiah was the weeping prophet and Jesus seemed to weep over Jerusalem and the state of the Jewish faith and was upset over their rejection of Him.
c. And so they thought, “Perhaps Jesus might be Jeremiah.”
5. In reality, many people in our world today have no better understanding of who Jesus is than people in Jesus’ time.
a. If we were to go to the streets of Syracuse on a busy weekday morning and asked people what they thought about Jesus, almost everyone who would talk with us, would want to say something complimentary, maybe one in a thousand would say something derogatory.
b. Most would say something like: He was a good man, a great teacher, or a prophet.
c. And yet as complimentary as those things are, they fall so far short of who Jesus really is that they are actually an insult.
D. The entire purpose of Jesus’ first question was to lead to His second question.
1. The Bible says: 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” (Mt. 16:15)
2. Can you hear how Jesus must have emphasized the word “YOU” in that question?
3. In so many words, Jesus was saying to them, “It is all well and good what others might think about Me, but what about you guys? Who do you say I am?”
a. The first question was informational, the second question was personal.
4. Does anyone else wonder how long the question lingered in the air?
5. We know that Peter spoke up and gave an answer, but the Bible doesn’t delineate how slowly or quickly he did so.
E. The Bible says: 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
1. When Peter said, “You are the Christ,” he was saying, “You are the Messiah.”
a. Peter was saying that Jesus was the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophesies.
b. The one that the world had waited for, for hundreds of years, was now here.
2. But Peter didn’t stop there, he added: “the Son of the living God.”
a. And with those words, Peter declared that Jesus was God in the flesh – Jesus was the only person to completely unite divinity and humanity into one person.
3. If you have ever sat around at home and watched a TV game show, like Jeopardy, and everyone sat scratching their heads for the right answer to the question, then suddenly a light bulb goes off in your head and you shout out the right answer, then maybe you felt a little bit like Peter must have felt at that moment.
4. Peter was probably as surprised as the rest of them by how clearly and emphatically he answered the question.
F. Jesus was not surprised by the answer and gave this reply, the Bible says: 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. (Mt. 16:17)
1. Even after all Peter had seen about Jesus and heard from Jesus, this revelation about who Jesus was came by divine inspiration, not by human comprehension or deduction.
2. It must have filled Jesus’ heart with joy that the Father had chosen to reveal the mystery of His identity to a simple, uneducated fisherman.
3. Jesus declared what a blessing it was that God the Father would chose to reveal such an important truth to Peter – it was not Peter’s own doing, but it was the work of God.
G. Then Jesus used Peter’s declaration as a launching pad to declare a number of important truths.
1. The Bible says: 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.” (Mt. 16:18-19)
2. In these words of Jesus we have some of the most powerful and hopeful words, but we also have some of the most misunderstood and misapplied words.
H. On the hopeful and powerful side of things, this is the first time Jesus spoke of His church.
1. Jesus declared, “I will build my church.”
a. The church was and is, His church, and it belongs to no one else.
b. And in declaring in future tense, “I will build my church,” we know that the church did not exist at the time Jesus spoke.
c. But even though it didn’t exist when He spoke those words, Jesus made good on His promise, and 50 days after His resurrection, on the Day of Pentecost the building began.
2. The other part of the statement that is so powerful and hopeful is the part that says, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
a. Jesus clearly anticipated the long and weary conflict that would be carried out against His church.
b. In Revelation 12, the Bible pictures the conflict of the Dragon (Satan) against the woman and her offspring (the church), verse 17 says: Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
c. Revelation 17 describes the battle and who will be the victors, verse 14 says: They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.
d. No matter how long or severe the conflict may be, the outcome is never in doubt – the gates of hell shall not prevail – Satan will not win, the church will be victorious.
e. This truth must have been a great encouragement to those earliest followers of Christ who would face persecution and martyrdom as they built the church, because they were assured that it would all be worth it and the church would survive no matter what.
f. Today, we live in a time when the church has fallen on hard times and is in decline.
1. Some predict that the church will die a slow death.
2. Others say that unless the church changes with the times it will cease to exist.
g. Jesus wants us to know that He will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it or overcome it.
1. Jesus will not allow His church to be lost in the world or lost to the world.
2. The church will remain and we remain faithful to the Lord and to His Word.
I. The most misunderstood and misapplied words in Jesus’ statement have to do with the role of Peter and the keys given to Peter.
1. Some people see in those words that Peter was the first pope and that the church was built on him.
2. In the Greek, we see a play on the two words for rock.
a. Jesus had given Simon the name “petros” which means stone or rock.
b. Then Jesus said, “on this rock” (petra) which is a slab or bedrock I will build my church.
3. So although Peter was a rock, he was not the rock on which the church was built.
a. The rock on which the church was built was the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
b. 1 Cor. 3:11 says: For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
c. In 1 Peter 2:6, Peter applied Isaiah 28:16 to Jesus saying: For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
4. Jesus and the truth about Jesus is the true rock, the cornerstone that the church is built upon.
5. But Peter and the other apostles had an important responsibility – the keys to the kingdom were given to them.
a. What are these keys?
b. Well, what are the purpose of keys? Keys are used to open and close locks.
c. Peter and the other apostles were given the keys to opening and extending the kingdom.
d. The book of Acts gives the history of them using the keys to open the kingdom of God to lost souls – first for the Jews and then later for the Gentiles.
e. The words Jesus used about binding and loosing for Peter here in Matthew 16:19, he also applied to all of the other apostles in Matthew 18:8.
f. Binding has to do with what is forbidden, and loosing has to do with what is permitted.
g. A better translation of Jesus’ words suggests that whatever the apostles bind or loose on earth is what God has already bound or loosed in heaven, rather than the other way around.
h. This is what the New American Standard says: 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.
i. Similarly the Holman Christian Standard says: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven.
j. The NET Bible also translates it similarly: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.
6. And so the responsibility for teaching God’s truths for the church would come through the apostles by inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
a. Through their teaching and writing the church would know what the church should do or not do and how Christians should live or how they should not live.
J. In some respects, our story for today closes in a surprising way.
1. Jesus has asked an important question and Peter, with God’s help has answered the question with a most important spiritual truth – Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
2. We might expect that Jesus would tell the disciples to go far and wide spreading this truth, but that’s not what happened.
3. The Bible says: 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
4. Why would Jesus want them to keep this important truth a secret?
a. The answer is, because it was not the right time for the world to know the truth.
5. There were many different expectations about the coming of the Messiah in the 1st century.
a. The idea that the Christ would come and reclaim or restore Israel had more to do with military might or political influence than spiritual renewal and revival.
b. Jesus had not come as the Messiah to make Israel into a great earthly nation.
c. Rather Jesus had come as the Messiah to create a new spiritual kingdom through His death, burial and resurrection.
d. If the word got out that Jesus was the Messiah, before He was allowed to be the Messiah He came to be, then it would have only caused more confusion and difficulty.
e. As we will see in next week’s story, even though Peter made this great declaration about Jesus, he didn’t truly understand Jesus’ real purpose as the Messiah.
6. So, Jesus needed the disciples to keep this truth on the down low a little while longer to help Him fulfill His true mission as the Messiah – the mission of redeeming the whole world.
II. The Application
A. We have done a little bit of application as we have moved along in this sermon, but I want to finish up with one primary application.
1. The most important conclusion that each one of us will ever make is the conclusion we come to about the identity of Jesus – who do we say that He is?
B. Benjamin Franklin was an important founding father of our nation – he was truly a genius in many ways and for many reasons, but even geniuses can also be foolish.
1. The story is told of the friendship between Franklin and the great revivalist George Whitfield.
2. The two spent many hours together, and Franklin enjoyed listening to Whitfield’s preaching.
3. One day, near his death, Benjamin Franklin said, “Whitfield often prayed that I would be converted, but Whitfield has not lived to see his prayers answered.”
4. Just before Franklin died, Ezra Stiles, the president of Yale, visited Franklin and asked him what his opinion was of the divinity of Jesus.
5. Franklin replied, “I do not believe that He is really divine, though I shall not take time now to investigate it because soon I shall know for certain,” referring to his impending death.
6. How brilliant, and yet how foolish! How can a person not take the time to investigate the very issue on which a person’s eternal destiny depends?
C. C. S. Lewis and others have elaborated on the fact that Jesus is one of the following: a legend, a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord.
1. The statements Jesus made about Himself don’t allow us the luxury of saying that He was just a good man or just a good teacher.
2. Just a good man or just a good teacher doesn’t claim to be God’s one and only Son, and doesn’t claim to be the way, and truth, and life; the only way to the Father.
D. It is one thing to investigate the claims of Jesus and proofs of His divinity and decide not to become a follower.
1. It is quite another thing to investigate the claims of Jesus and proofs of His divinity and to decide to become a follower, but then to proceed to live a life contrary to and unworthy of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
2. When we come to the right conclusion that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, We must be sure to live and serve in a way that is worthy of that claim.
3. And we must be sure that we are keeping Jesus in focus so that we are reflecting and representing Jesus as He really is not as we want Him to be – which was the mistake that Peter made that we will look at next week.
4. So, who do you say Jesus is?
5. If you rightly say, “He is the Lord,” then are you pursuing Him and obeying Him in a manor worthy of His Lordship? I hope so!
Resources:
The Life of Peter, F.B. Meyer, Edited by Lance Wubbels, Emerald Books, 1996
The Apostle Peter, Jerry Haughton
“The Keys to the Kingdom,” Sermon by Erwin Lutzer
“Who Do You Say That I Am?” Sermon by Richard Horton, SermonCentral.com
