This week was the beginning of lent.
Lent was based on a 40 day fast that some people did in the early church attempting to emulate the 40 day fast of Jesus that took place immediately after His baptism. Over the years it has become connected with the 40 days preceding the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
Lent is not a command of God such as the Feast of Tabernacles or the Passover were for the Jews. It is, in essence, an invention of man and not of God.
That does not make it either good or bad, it just is. However, if we make it a necessary step of salvation or if we feel “holier than thou” when we observe lent and someone else does not, then it does become sinful.
If the Lord is calling you to give something up for this period of time then do it. If the Lord is calling you to do something extra during this period of time, such as more time in the Scriptures or more prayer, then do it.
We should always be seeking a closer walk with the Lord, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. If you start spending more time thinking about what you’re giving up and less about the Lord then by all means take time to refocus.
But, today we will be answering the question, "Who is Jesus?!?!?!"
This is the most important question in the universe!
Some say Jesus was a great teacher.
Muslims say Jesus was a prophet but not God.
The Mormons say that Jesus is the Son of God but a totally separate being from God the Father and the Holy Spirit and that He is the brother of Lucifer.
Some say that Jesus never lived and that He is the wishful thinking of demented minds.
So, Jesus asks the question of His disciples.
My simplistic Rules of Biblical interpretation.
1) God knows we’re dense so He never says something that is really important only once!
2) We must always take into account the context.
3) With major ideas about God you will always find grand overarching themes throughout the Bible. (We are dense)
So Jesus asks the question, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?
Matthew 16:13-20 (NASB)
“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’
“And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’
“Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon 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 shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
“Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.”
So, what is this Scripture about? Jesus asking, “Who Am I?” or more importantly, “Do you know Who I Am?”
Surprisingly, some have taken this Scripture, pulled out one single verse and made it to say not “Who is the Son of Man?” but who is Peter.
You see Matthew 16:18 says,
“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
Some have claimed that this Scripture makes Peter the foundation of the church with him as the head of the church on earth and with him and his successors speaking for Christ Himself. This has been passed on to the supposedly successive popes with such titles as “Christ’s vicar (one who stands in the place of Christ), of visible head of the body (the church), of infallible shepherd and teacher.
This is amazing since there is no hint of such a thought throughout the rest of the Bible.
There were no prophecies predicting such a person.
Peter was a leader in the church after Christ but never in a supreme role and is now in heaven like the rest of the apostles.
So, what does this seemingly confusing sentence really say? Remember, we are looking for “who is Jesus?” today.
Once again Matthew 16:18 says,
“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
If you look on the bulletin insert where we normally have spaces for sermon notes we have printed this Scripture passage today.
You will notice that after the name Peter and the word rock there are spaces.
Peter actually means rock or stone and the word used for his name in the Greek is Petros, a stone. The word Jesus used for rock was petra meaning a large rock or bedrock.
Take a look at this picture and you will see the difference between petros and petra.
I do not know if it was the intention of Jesus to use a pun in this instance and based on the seriousness of the conversation the pun would not have been used for humor but to reinforce a very important point.
Anyway, reading verse 18 again it says
“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
What is interesting here is that it does NOT say
“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon you, Peter, I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
He could have easily said that if that was what He meant and then it would have been indisputably clear to everyone forever.
So, looking at the bigger context let’s make another comparison between several verses in this passage.
Matthew 16:16-18a (condensed)
“Peter said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘… flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church …”
Peter makes the great declaration, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
The source of this declaration was God Himself and not Peter.
This declaration is the central statement of this passage.
Now, if we were to underline that declaration it will remind us of what this passage is all about. Who Jesus is.
Now, on the bulletin insert or in your Bible if you write in your bible find the two words “this” that are in the passage we’re looking at.
Matthew 16:16-18a (condensed)
“Peter said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘… flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church …”
And what is the “this” found in verse 17 referring to? It is referring to the declaration in verse 16 that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the Living God”.
So, when we see the “this” in verse 18 it is referring to the “this” in verse 17 which is referencing the declaration in verse 16 that Jesus is “the Christ the Son of the Living God” and this declaration came from God through Peter validating and confirming once again that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Matthew 16:20
“Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.”
If Jesus was declaring that Peter was the foundation upon which the church would be built wouldn’t he have warned them not to tell the world about Peter?
So, that’s what this section of Scripture says, are there any overarching Scriptures to support this?
Romans 9:33 says, (quoting from Isaiah 28:16)
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
Matthew 21:42
“Jesus said to them, ‘Did you never read in the Scriptures, “The stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone; this came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes?”’”
1 Corinthian 3:11
“For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
This whole conversation is not to bash Peter, the whole conversation is to point to Jesus, The Son of the Living God!
The Bible points forward to Jesus starting in Genesis and ends with Jesus at the end of time and the start of eternity judging the people of the earth. Rewarding those who have placed their faith and trust in Him for salvation and condemning those who have rejected the gracious gift of salvation!
Everything in this world will one day be destroyed either by the ravages of time of the fire of the end times but there is hope …
Jesus is the only hope for your life
Jesus is the only hope for the church
Jesus is the only hope for your town
Jesus is the only hope for NY state
Jesus is the only hope for the USA
Jesus is the only hope for the world
Jesus is the only hope for eternity
You see this Gospel of John that we hand out to people? When we give this to someone or tell them about Jesus we are giving them the best and really the only hope, we are giving them Jesus!
You see this daily devotional? When we get together with God to read His Holy Word and talk to Him we are reading His Holy Word of hope and talking to the Holy Hope of the world.
When we read in Holiness Today or the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Magazine about what Jesus is doing around the world for His Kingdom we see the fruit of His hope!
Well, in Jesus is all the power of creation and we don’t have to wonder about who He is or about our eternal salvation
Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes unto the Father except by Me.”
That’s who Jesus is and it’s not Just Matthew 16:13-20 that testifies to the truth! - (our memory verses for today)
He became sin, who knew no sin, that we might become His righteousness. He humbled Himself and carried the cross. Love so amazing, love so amazing!
If the praise team would come forward we will sing that song as an exclamation point to the end of this service! The altar is open!
