Matthew 16:13-20
Paonia United Methodist Church
August 25, 2002
Rev. John Nadasi
A fourth-grade teacher was giving her pupils a lesson in logic.
"Here is the situation," she said.
"A man is standing up in a boat in the middle of a river, fishing.
He loses his balance, falls in, and begins splashing and yelling for help.
His wife hears the commotion, knows he can’t swim,
and runs down to the bank.
Why do you think she ran to the bank?"
A girl raised her hand and asked, "To draw out all his savings?"
Now today in our journey through Matthew –
the disciples are faced with a similar situation –
like being in class when the teacher asks a very important question.
They want to seem intelligent so they blurt out an answer –
not always the right one –
but an answer none the less.
Well this morning Peter blurts out an answer that is both correct and amazing –
only to follow it up by sticking his foot his mouth
with a huge blunder you will hear more about next week.
This mornings text comes from the latter half of Chapter 16 of Matthew
And it is a crucial section of Scripture.
In it we see the gospel in miniature.
If you boil it all down to the basic fundamentals,
the gospel has two aspects about Jesus Christ:
"who am I?"
and "will you trust me?"
This week,
We focus on the first question…
Matthew 16
Peter’s Confession of Christ
13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
14They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ,[1] the Son of the living God."
17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter,[2] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[3] will not overcome it.[4] 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[5] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[6] loosed in heaven." 20Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
This is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the last several weeks,
We have heard the stories of Jesus’ miracles.
We have heard about Jesus feeding the multitude,
Him walking on the water,
And last week, the healing of a Caananite
woman’s daughter.
Great things have been happening everywhere that Jesus and the disciples have gone.
This morning, Jesus checks to see if the disciples have been paying attention.
This morning’s test begins with a simple question.
To begin with Jesus asks his disciples “who do people say that I am?”
And, the responses were quite interesting…
All of them regarded him as a prophet or of one sent by God,
But the answers were never anything more than intentionally vague.
The disciples in verse 14 tell Him many people think He is John the Baptist
or one of the great prophets.
And, this is where the test starts…
Its when the story gets personal.
Jesus asks Peter “who do you say that I am?”
Understand something here…
Jesus asked this of His closest followers.
Only one of them had any kind of an answer.
The rest just stood there and looked at him.
They flat out didn’t know what to say.
You know,
The fact that these were his closest followers and friends
That didn’t know how to answer such a direct question makes me
wonder, what if I he were to ask us that same question today?
What would you say?
How many folks who have sat in the church pews for years
Would struggle to answer such a direct question?
You know, I think that there are quite a few folks in the church
who would not know what to say.
When I have asked this before ,
I have heard things like,
a great teacher or prophet,
a good and moral person.
But, in our modern world,
Very few would answer that he was the Son of God,
It would be more likely that he would be seen as a criminal.
Why?
Well, he would have everyone mad at him.
the FDA for turning water into wine without a license,
the EPA for killing fig trees,
the AMA for practicing medicine without a license,
the Dept. of Health for asking people to open graves,
for raising the dead and for feeding 5,000 people in the wilderness,
the NEA for teaching without a certificate,
OSHA for walking on water without a lifejacket
and for flying without an airplane,
the SPCA for driving hogs into the sea,
the NATIONAL BOARD of PSYCHIATRISTS for giving advice
on how to live a guilt free life,
the NOW for not choosing a female apostle,
the ABORTION RIGHTS LEAGUE for saying that whoever harms
children, it is better that they had never been born,
the INTERFAITH MOVEMENT for condemning all other religions,
and by the ZONING DEPT for building heavenly mansions without a building permit.
The idea that he was actually the Messiah comes as difficult to us, if not more so,
As it would to the disciples 2000 years ago.
And, throughout the Gospels, even Jesus’ closest companions
continued to doubt and question.
Peter was the only one who seemed to have any kind of a clue.
Thankfully Peter had not been to seminary.
Had he been a seminarian the dialogue might have gone something like this…
Who do you say that I am?
Why, Jesus,
you are the eschatological manifestation of the imago dei.
To which Jesus could only reply,
“I’m what?”
“What did you just call me?”
But no, thankfully Peter didn’t go digging through some
Text book for his answer about who Jesus was…
And, this is the part that I want you to get here.
Peter answered from his heart.
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ,[1] the Son of the living God."
You see, it wasn’t so much about knowing who or what Jesus is…
It was about knowing Jesus.
There is a difference.
And Peter had been around him long enough to figure it out.
And, that is what made him different from the others.
His answer did not come from his head, but from his heart.
What do I mean?
Well, he could have answered,
Why, you are the son of a Galilean,
And a carpenter.
You are a talented speaker and Rabbi.
There are many ways that Peter could have answered.
But, he didn’t.
Peter answered that Jesus was the Presence
of God, and God’s salvation to his people Israel,
and to the whole world.
And, to his answer,
Jesus responds…
"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter,[2] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[3] will not overcome it.[4] 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[5] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[6] loosed in heaven."
Wow!
Great answer Peter!
So, why was his answer so important?
Well, do you remember when I said that this text is the Gospel in miniature?
This is what I am talking about.
Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ,
The Messiah, the Son of God,
And from this confession, he is given the keys to the kingdom,
And the rest of the church will be built upon his faith.
Our church today is testimony to Peter’s faith,
It exists because Peter and others like him,
trusted and believed in God
despite the circumstances about them
despite the hostility of the religious leaders of their time,
despite the persecutions unleashed upon them by the Romans
despite the lions that were unleashed upon them in the Coliseum,
and the roadside crucifixions that were practiced throughout the Empire.
Talk about a powerful expression of grace and power!
All that from a confession?
Yeah.
Just like that.
This is a life-changing event for Peter.
This confession creates a foundation for the church to grow.
We are literally gathered here this morning as a result of this man’s
Expression of faith from 2000 years ago.
Think about that for a second.
Peter is the rock that the church has been built on…
And, it was bestowed upon him during a
confession of faith.
Now, let’s zoom out a bit, shall we.
Here we are, on the other side of the world,
2000 years later.
But, many of us who are active in the church
And want to see it grow sit around and wonder,
What is it going to take?
What is it that we need to be doing?
What kind of new service should we offer?
What kind of programs do we need to start?
Folks, I would submit to you that
What God needs from us in order to build his church has not changed
From the days of the first apostles.
The foundation is the same.
What God asks of us is that we come to know Jesus…
That we proclaim him as the Messiah in our own lives
and that we share the Good News with others.
You know, like I said earlier…
It is possible to know everything about him,
But that is not the same thing as knowing him.
You can spend your entire life in the church
And know everything there is to know about Jesus
And still never, ever know him.
And, knowing him is the entire point.
Peter was only able to answer that Jesus was the Son of God,
The Messiah, The Savior because he knew Jesus.
The Scripture records that this was revealed through the Holy Spirit.
Even though we do not have the same opportunity to walk alongside of him
As Peter did, The Good News is that we still
Have the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus Lordship to us
And allow us to have a relationship with him.
You know, I have to be honest here for a minute…
One of the saddest tragedies in Christian churches
Is the way that many folks go about trying to introduce Jesus to others.
It generally goes something like this…
Turn or burn…
Come to Jesus or spend eternity in hell.
I once watched a drunken Baptist trying to convert his mother
On her death bed after she had a brain aneurism with these
Sort of tactics.
People of God,
Please do not confuse this with evangelism…
This is assault.
And, it is tragedy because this is not how he shared himself or the Good News
with others when He walked among us.
Yes, he calls us to choose between the light and the darkness,
But it is not from threat of violence,
But his call on our lives is demonstrated through
Extraordinary love that even death itself is no
Match for.
This is Good News.
He just wants us to know him,
To love him,
To allow him the opportunity to love us back
That we might share a relationship with him
And the Good News with others.
Even John Wesley was once quoted as saying,
You might be able to scare people to the church,
But you will never keep them there.
Yet fear is the pattern that so many well meaning Christians choose to
Share their faith.
That is what I meant when I used the word tragic.
People of God,
I would say this to you this morning…
If you want to see your church grow… God’s church grow…
You are going to have to be more intentional about sharing
Jesus and his love with other people.
No scare tactics,
No threats,
No pushing,
But an honest sharing of the relationship that you share with him,
And a willingness to be open and honest and non judgmental about
Where people currently are in their relationship.
Give people room to grow.
You know, had Jesus been this big threatening guy ready to condemn
And send everyone to hell who did not have the right answer
At a moments notice,
Our story this morning would not be about Peter’s confession
Of faith,
But instead it would have been a story about 11
Other apostles going to hell.
Its just not who Jesus was or is.
Jesus is the Son of the Living God,
And he is a merciful and just savior who is looking for followers
To share his message of love and grace.
Now that is who he is.
That is the message that the church’s foundation is built upon.
If you want to see Paonia United Methodist Church grow,
That is the foundation we have to be built upon in our witness,
Our words, and our deeds.
And, even now, he calls us into closer relationship with him and
With one another.
And, I want to say something else…
We as United Methodists are so different from the other sort of
In your face, turn or burn Protestant churches,
That we are guilty, if anything, of being so afraid of offending
Someone, that we generally keep our faith to ourselves.
People of God,
That is no good either.
We have to be willing to share
If we are to grow God’s church.
If this relationship has never been offered to you before,
I want to offer it to you now.
No scare tactics,
No threats,
No pushing.
Just a simple invitation that begins with this question from the Master himself…
Who do you say that I am?
