Sermon: Matthew Chapter 16 v 13-20. Peter’s Declaration about Jesus

Reading: Matthew Chapter 16 v 13 – 20

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Sermon

Life is full of questions, questions abound everywhere. What am I going to do with my life? What will I become? What will tomorrow bring? Will my children turn out to be OK?

Not only do these practical questions beg for an answer, but there are also questions concerning our spiritual life. Questions such as; Am I saved? When I die will I go to heaven? Why does God allow such tragedy to exist ….on the earth?

Then there are the philosophical questions: Which comes first the chicken or the egg? How many angels can fit on the head of a pin? If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it fall, does it still make a sound? If a man is by himself in the forest and he speaks, is he still wrong?

We could go on and on.

All of these questions have one common element which is illustrated by the following story: “A college student tried to prove how smart he was one day by asking his professor the following question; “Is the bird I’m holding dead or alive?”

If the professor said the bird was dead, the boy was obviously going to free the bird and let it fly away. If the professor said it was alive, the boy was going to crush the bird. The professor looked at the young man and said, “My boy, the answer is in your hands.”

Our Gospel lesson today takes us to the District of Caesarea Philippi, an area about 25 miles northeast of the Sea of Galilee and about 120 miles from Jerusalem.

The region was strongly identified with various religions: It had been a centre for the worship of Baal; the Greek god Pan had shrines there and Herod the Great built a temple there to honour Augustus Caesar.

It was in the midst of this pagan superstition that Peter confessed Jesus as the Son of the living God, and it was probably within sight of Caesar’s temple that Jesus announced: He would not yet establish His kingdom, He would build His church.

He looked at His disciples and in a moment of reflection said: “Who do the people say that I am?”

The disciples begin sharing with Jesus what they had heard from the people: Some say that you are Elijah; others say John the Baptist, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

You can speak of Jesus as a Prophet, Holy man, Teacher, or Spiritual leader, and few will object. But speak of Him as the Son of God, divine, of the same nature of the Father, and people will line up to express their disapproval.

Muslims will say: “Prophet, Yes. God, No!” Jews scattered around the world will say: “Teacher, Yes, Messiah, No!” Liberal Protestants and modern religionists will say: “Exemplary man, Yes. Divine, No!”

But the question I ask you this morning is ‘Who do you say Jesus is?

In our varied society we have been watering down the Gospel and the name of Jesus for quite some time

In an attempt to not offend other people or their beliefs; we choose to speak of Jesus very little or not at all. We accept the idea of God and we admit to trusting Him but then we go our separate way.

Jesus then asks the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” This is where the rubber meets the road!

For a right confession of Jesus is tantamount to our very salvation (Romans 10:9-10) If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

But back to today’s gospel passage, Peter answered Jesus; “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.”

Jesus knew it was now time for a deeper training of the disciples. The Lord knew that Peter and the disciples could now be led into new steps of deeper truth and service.

Jesus’ ministry was also turning in a new direction; for He would be headed to the cross. (Long Pause)

Once the Holy Spirit reveals Christ in our lives and we make the confession of faith, it is not the end of our journey, it is the beginning of journey of being transformed. We are then called to read and study scriptures, to have a daily open line of communication with God; have an association with other Christians and worshiping together. We are to spread the Good News to those that God puts into our lives.

We are to be the instruments of the Holy Spirit, to reach others for Christ.

In today’s passage we have the first mention of the church in the scriptures.

The church, still in the future when Jesus spoke these words, was formed on the Day of Pentecost and is composed of all true believers in Christ, both Jew and Gentile.

We are called to be a distinct society known as the body and bride of Christ, with a unique heavenly calling and destiny. The church is not just Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists and Lutherans. The Church is not just Protestants, Catholics, or Messianic Jews.

It is not just the people that we like or get along with; it is composed of all true believers in Christ! Peter saw past the man and saw the divinity hidden in Jesus.so he could cry out, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

An organist was practicing one day in a great church in Europe. A man came up to the organ and asked if he could play. The organist looked at him and thought to himself, I really should not let this man play, just look at him, he is unshaven, his clothes are filthy, he looks like a down and out.

So he told the man no. But the unkempt stranger asked again and again. Finally, the organist let him play thinking the stranger would not play very long. The man’s fingers danced over the keyboard in a way the organist had not heard in his lifetime. The stranger played on and on and the organist was spellbound.

When the stranger got up to leave, the organist could not contain himself, “Who are you, what is your name?” The stranger turned over his shoulder and said, “My name is….. Felix Mendelsohn.” The organist gasped in amazement and he said to himself, “I almost did not let the master play.”

Through the resurrection, Jesus Christ would conquer death, death would not hold him and neither death would not be able to hold any of His people. Christ would “storm the gates” and deliver the captives! “Gates” in the Scriptures represent authority and power. “The gates of Hades” then would symbolize the organized power of Satan and death.

A Priest once found himself seated on an airplane beside a well-known theologian professor. He desperately wanted to start a conversation and they did get an opportunity to talk.

The professor told the priest how he had recently lost his little boy through death.

The Priest listened as the man told his story: He said his son had come home from school with a fever and we thought it was just one of those childhood things, but it was a virile form of meningitis. The doctor said we cannot save your little boy.

And so the professor, loving his son as he did, sat by the bedside to share the death vigil with his son.

It was the middle of the day and the little boy whose strength was leaving him and whose vision and brain were getting clouded said, “Daddy, it’s getting dark isn’t it?”

The professor said, “Yes son it is getting dark, very dark.” “Daddy, I guess it’s time for me to go to sleep isn’t it?” He said, “Yes, son, it’s time for you to go to sleep.”

The professor said his little boy had a way of puffing up his pillow and putting his head on his hands when he slept. So the young boy puffed up his pillow and laid his head on his hands and said, “Good night Daddy I will see you in the morning.” He then closed his eyes in death and stepped over into heaven.

The professor didn’t say anymore after that. He just looked out the window of that airplane for a long time. Then he turned back and he looked at the priest with the tears coming down his cheeks and he said, “I can hardly wait until the morning comes.”

So you see the morning is coming and we will see our loved ones, who are with Christ.

That is what Jesus is saying, “The gates of hell, the gates of DEATH, shall not prevail against HIS church!”

And so to finish I ask this remember our Lord’s words: Who do you say that I am? For the important thing is not what others say, but on what you say?

Are you ready? Are You truly Ready? Jesus asked “Who do you say that I am?” My dear friends The answer ….. lies in your hands? Amen.

Prayers

Lord, we give you thanks today for so many things, a thousand miracles we take for granted every day. Thank you for the vitality and diversity of the natural world. Thank you for the regularity and stability of the created world. Thank you for the way the body goes on functioning with such remarkable ingenuity. Train our hearts to be thankful so that we live daily out of a deep sense of gratitude and humility.