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Today I want to look at what is really the turning point of Matthew's
Gospel. Before this moment Jesus has spoken only about the Kingdom of heaven,
never about who he is or what he's come to do. But here in today's passage
he takes the disciples aside and speaks to them about who he is. From this
time on, we're told in the next section, he begins to explain to them how
he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. So it's a very significant
moment in the gospel. But the fact that there's been fifteen chapters already
without a mention of the cross is also significant. Why do you think Jesus
waits so long before saying anything about his primary reason for coming
to earth? Some commentators have suggested it's because Jesus didn't know
himself until this point why he'd come. Well, I don't think I agree with
them. I think the reason is that he was giving his disciples time to make
up their minds about him. Time to take in all that he was doing and saying
and slowly come to their own conclusions. And only then did he ask them
to make a commitment. If that's the case then it tells us something about
the way we do evangelism doesn't it? Hit and run evangelism may not work.
Most people need time to take in the gospel. They need to be exposed to
Christ and the Christian community for some time before they're ready to
make a commitment to Christ; before they really understand who Christ is
or what he's done for them. If it took the disciples all this time when
they were actually with Jesus, we can expect our friends to take just as
long. So we need to invest time in our friends if we're going to be able
to share the gospel with them, if we ever hope that they'll come to know
Jesus the way we do. |
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Well, let's look
at the passage. The first thing we're told is where this incident takes
place. We're told that they've come to the region of Caesarea Philippi.
Now that's on the northernmost border of Israel. As far from Jerusalem as
you could get and still be in Israel. But more than that, it was a centre
of pagan worship. Caesarea Philippi had temples to the Syrian god, Baal,
to the Greek god, Pan, and to the Roman Emperor Cult. So can you see why
Jesus might choose this spot to speak to his disciples about who he was
and the reason he'd come into the world? Here he stands literally on the
border between Israel and the world. Is he perhaps highlighting the fact
that his coming will bridge that border? Or is he perhaps wanting to set
himself against the background of the world's religions so he can be compared
with them? As we go on, we'll see at least one area where there's a great
contrast between the worship of Christ and the worship of those other gods.
But you'll have to wait for that. |
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Jesus asks his
disciples "Who are people saying the Son of Man is?" He first
gets them to tell him the sorts of things the general populace are saying
about him. And predictably they're almost all spectacular or sensational
answers. "Some say you're John the Baptist!" Recently beheaded
but now presumably his spirit has been relocated into Jesus. "Others
say you're Elijah." The great Prophet who was taken up into heaven
and who, it was promised, would return to usher in the new Kingdom. "Others
say Jeremiah!": the great prophet of Jerusalem who suffered in a way
not unlike Jesus, as a result of opposition from the Jewish leaders - perhaps
he'd been reincarnated in Jesus. There's a certain modern ring about all
this isn't there? Shirley Maclaine eat your heart out! And, if none of these
are right then he's at least a modern day prophet of that calibre. But all
in all people can't really make much sense of who Jesus is. |
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So Jesus says,
"Well, then, who do you think I am?" The time has come
for them to think for themselves. Up until now they've been the bumbling
straight men to Jesus' public performance. But now he gives them the opportunity
to decide for themselves who it is they're following. To verbalise the conclusions
they're coming to. And so, as their spokesman, Peter speaks up. "You
are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." What an amazing statement!
Up until this point Jesus has always referred to himself as the Son of Man.
That in itself was an amazing claim, As a reference to Daniel 7 it was a
claim to be the one who would come in the future to judge and rule the world.
But now Peter says you are the Christ. That is, the one promised in ages
past to be the anointed King, who would restore the nation of Israel and
overcome all her enemies. And he adds, the Son of the Living God. Again
that's an amazing confession. Lets think for a moment about this title Son
of the Living God. The Living God is a very significant Old Testament title
for God. It carries with it the idea that God is present and active with
his people the way other gods can never be. Let me just give you two examples.
Remember when Goliath was threatening the armies of Israel and David came
along to take up his challenge. Do you remember what David said? (1 Sam
17:26 NRSV) "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy
the armies of the living God?" David was amazed that no-one could see
how pathetic Goliath's challenge was when compared with the might of the
living God. That is, the God who was present with his people to save them
and look after them. The second example comes from Jeremiah, where he's
talking about the pagan gods that some of the Israelites were worshipping.
Here's some of what he says: (Jer 10:2-10 NRSV) "Thus says the LORD:
Do not learn the way of the nations, or be dismayed at the signs of the
heavens; for the nations are dismayed at them. 3For the customs
of the peoples are false: a tree from the forest is cut down, and worked
with an axe by the hands of an artisan; 4people deck it with
silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot
move. 5Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and
they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not
be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do good.
... 9Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz.
They are the work of the artisan and of the hands of the goldsmith; their
clothing is blue and purple; they are all the product of skilled workers.
10But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the
everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot
endure his indignation." You see the living God stands in stark contrast
to other gods which are only ever the result of human imagining.
And as powerful as imagination can be, it's still only imaginary. / So can
you see that when Peter calls Jesus the Son of the living God he's saying
that he's the most significant person alive. And that he's in stark contrast
to those gods that are worshipped in the nearby temples of Baal and Pan
and Caesar. We'll come back to this in a moment when we think about how
this might relate to our situation, but first let's look at Jesus response. |
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He says "You
are blessed Simon son of Jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this
to you, but by my Father in heaven." Notice that he refers to Simon
as Son of Jonah. Now why do you think he refers to him like that? His father's
name isn't mentioned anywhere else in the New Testament. So why does Jesus
mention it here? Is it perhaps to highlight what Peter has just said about
Jesus? Just as Peter is of the same stuff, the same substance as his father
Jonah, so Jesus is of the same stuff, or substance as his heavenly Father.
In fact notice how Jesus emphasises this by using that phrase "my Father
in heaven." |
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But what about
Jesus statement that Peter is blessed. What does he mean by that? Is he
blessed because he's done something good? Well, no. What he's done, Jesus
says, isn't his own work, but it's been given to him by God the Father.
Salvation is all God's work, from start to finish. Remember what John said
in the introduction to his gospel? (John 1:12-13 NRSV) "But to all
who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children
of God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh
or of the will of man, but of God." Jesus says something similar in
Matthew ch 11: (Mat 11:27 NRSV) "All things have been handed over to
me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one
knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal
him." Any knowledge we have of Jesus or of God the Father is what's
been revealed to us. That's why knowing the Scriptures is so important.
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Well then, why
is Peter blessed? Well, isn't it because he's been privileged to have this
knowledge of who Jesus is revealed to him? And if that's so, then doesn't
it mean that we're equally blessed? We too have been allowed to see who
Jesus is and to acknowledge him as the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And we too, like Peter are privileged to be able to confess him to others.
// What does Jesus mean when he says "On this rock I will build my
church? Does he mean on the rock who is Peter, or does he mean on the rock
of Peter's confession? Well, perhaps it's both. Paul says both. (Eph 2:19-20
NRSV) "You are citizens with the saints and also members of the household
of God, 20built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone." And (1 Cor 3:11 NRSV)
"For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been
laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ." |
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So the church
is built both upon the apostles and prophets who formed the first layer
of it's structure and upon Jesus Christ and Peter's confession of him as
the Christ the Son of God which underlies the lot. So what is it that builds
churches? This is a critical question for us at the moment isn't it? What
is it that will build St Theodore's? Disciples and communities that faithfully
and tirelessly point people to Jesus Christ will be those that Jesus uses
to build up his Church. And notice that it's Jesus own church. We should
keep asking ourselves whose church do we belong to? Is it your church or
is it Christ's church? Well, hopefully it's both. But primarily it's Christ's
church. Those who encounter its people should also encounter Christ. But
it has to be the true Christ doesn't it? The Christ revealed in Scripture,
not the Christ of human imagination. Not one of the gods that people love
to create in their minds. Not the Christ that the world wants to hear about.
Not gentle Jesus meek and mild who loves everyone in some sort of sentimental
soppy way and who overlooks our failures. And not the divine aspirin pill
who solves all our problems for us. No the real Christ who calls
us to utter obedience; to self-denial; to the way of the cross. Who knows
us as we are, who died to bring us forgiveness and who now calls us to newness
of life. |
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And if we're truly
Christ's church then he gives us this promise - that the gates of Hades
will not prevail against it. Now that was particularly relevant to the early
church as it faced persecution, but dare we believe that it's equally relevant
to a church that's small and under-resourced? I remember someone suggesting
to people who didn't believe that Christianity worked that they try living
for 6 weeks as though it were true and see what happens. Well, let's dare
to believe that if we faithfully proclaim Jesus as the Christ, the Son of
God that he'll uphold us; that he'll bring new people into our midst. |
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Along with this
promise, Jesus says he gives them the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever
we bind on earth will be bound in heave and whatever we loose on earth will
be loosed in heaven. This is a statement about the gospel. When we proclaim
the gospel heaven is involved. God plays a part. God stands behind and with
disciples who faithfully proclaim the gospel. And that proclamation of the
gospel brings its own results. People either accept it and are accepted
in heaven or they reject it and so are rejected. It's like when the disciples
were sent out in pairs to preach the kingdom. Jesus said if they receive
you then go in and stay with them, but if they reject you then shake the
dust off your sandals as you leave, because those who receive you receive
me. This wasn't a judgement they pronounced on people, it was an acknowledgment
of the judgement they'd brought on themselves by rejecting the gospel, by
rejecting Christ. In fact this has been the case from the beginning. Remember
what God said to Abram when he first called him? (Gen 12:3 NRSV) "I
will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse;
and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." In John's
gospel it's those who come to the light of Jesus who are able to walk in
the light. Those who reject Jesus are left to walk in darkness. So the keys
to the kingdom are really the natural results of the gospel being proclaimed.
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So what we find
here in this pivotal section of Matthew's gospel is a confession of Jesus
that is still pivotal even for us, 2000 years later. Peter's confession
of Christ is the continuing model for us as his heirs. If we're to continue
to build up the church on this foundation stone then this has to remain
our personal confession. That Jesus is the Christ: that is, Lord of all
we do. That he's the Son of the Living God; that is, the only one who is
able to act with power in the world. And we're to be a community, a church,
that demonstrates to the world through what we do and in what we say, that
Jesus is still active in our lives and in the world at large. And let's
remember that Jesus promised that it was He who would build up his church.
And so let's continue to pray that he would do it through his people here
in Wattle Park. |
