You Are The Christ!

INTRO

In Matthew 15, Jesus had confronted the religious leaders for giving only lip service to God. In Matthew 16, Jesus addressed His disciples. First, He warned them to “beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (v. 6). Though the disciples had heard Jesus confront those religious leaders, they didn’t make the connection. Instead, they focused on the fact that none of them had brought bread for their next meal.

TEACHING

Matthew 16:8-12: Jesus then focused His attention on the disciples by asking them, “You of little faith . . . don’t you understand yet?” The disciples should have realized that Jesus wasn’t talking about bread. After all, they had watched Jesus turn five loaves into food for 5,000 people and seven loaves into food for 4,000—with bread left over each time. Only when Jesus explained it clearly to them did they understand that He was warning them against the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Matthew 16:13-14: Jesus led the disciples into the region of Caesarea Philippi, where He asked them, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The disciples had been walking and teaching among the people, so they knew what the people thought about Jesus. They offered several opinions: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, one of the other prophets.

How does American culture describe Jesus today? Muslims might say He was a great prophet. Some religions would say Jesus was an incredible teacher. The media might call Him an incredibly moral man and a great teacher. Others would say He’s a great historical figure. But few would say He is the Messiah, because they think that sounds judgmental. But our job is to clearly communicate to the culture who Jesus is. To do this, we each need to decide who we think Jesus is.

Matthew 16:15-16: Then, Jesus asked the disciples a direct question: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter quickly answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” The term “Living God” implied the Old Testament name for God—Jehovah. Deuteronomy 5:26 asked, “For who out of all mankind has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the fire, as we have, and lived?” This living God cares for you. Take a moment to come up with one word to answer the question, “Who is Jesus to you?”

Matthew 16:17: Jesus said that Peter was blessed because God had revealed this truth to him. God can show up anytime in anyone’s life and reveal who He is.

Matthew 16:18: Jesus then changed Simon’s name to Peter, and said, “On this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it.” Two similar words are used here: “petros” (Peter’s name) means small stone, and “petra” (“this rock”) means foundation. The foundation for the Church is Jesus Christ. First Peter 2:6 referred to Jesus as the “stone in Zion, a chosen and honored cornerstone.” In Acts 4:11, Peter pointed out the Jews had rejected Jesus, who was indeed the cornerstone. In Ephesians 2:20, Paul explained that the Church was “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.” The Church, the “ekklesia” or “called out ones,” are mentioned 114 times in the New Testament. The Church probably didn’t involve a massive building where everyone gathered. It was about the “called out ones” who came together, took care of each other, then went back out to find the lost sheep.

Matthew 16:19: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…” Once you have the keys you can lock or unlock something. The keys were a symbol of authority. Jesus gave the apostles authority on earth. What are we binding on earth? We are binding things on earth that aren’t of the Lord, things that aren’t meant to be free, things that are already bound in heaven. Whatever is loosed in heaven we can loose here on earth. Some examples are described in Matthew 10:8, where Jesus gave the disciples authority to heal people from sickness, raise the dead, free people from skin diseases and drive out demons. Jesus gave them authority to show God’s power. Do we limit what we do on earth because we have such a narrow mindset of what heaven is like? (For example, do we say that we can’t pray for healing?) May we gain confidence in our authority to do on earth what has been done in heaven.

Matthew 16:20: The disciples were told not to “tell anyone I am the Messiah” because it wasn’t time to reveal to the world who Jesus was. He still had to suffer, die, and come back to life before His identity could be revealed.

Matthew 16:21-23: began to tell His disciples He would go to Jerusalem and suffer. Jesus became more focused on fulfilling that calling in His life. Peter rebuked Jesus, whom he’d just identified as the Messiah, for saying such things. Nelson’s Commentary¹described Peter as the apostle whose quick actions often got him in over his head, such as trying to walk on the water from the boat to Jesus (Matthew 14:22-32) or promising never to deny Jesus (Matthew 26:35) or refusing to allow Jesus to wash his feet at the Last Supper (John 13:5-11). This time, Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan!” Because Peter was not thinking about God’s concerns, but man’s. Jesus responded to him as He had to Satan during His temptation (Matthew 4:10).

Matthew 16: 24-26: For those disciples who want to focus on God's concerns, not man’s, he “must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me” (v. 24). To focus completely on Christ, you should be willing to lose your life.

Matthew 16:27-28: Jesus said, “The Son of Man is going to come . . . and then He will reward each according to what He has done.” Some will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. The question for us is how do we do what Jesus just said? What tangible steps can we take?

Wiersbe said Jesus presented two approaches to life to His disciples:²

To follow the King is hard; it requires perseverance and dealing with persecution. Or we can choose man’s way which is easier and more comfortable, but also represents the wide way that leads to destruction. Choosing the narrow way is difficult and costly, but it leads to life.

CLOSING

The gospel is intended for tax collectors and sinners. The gospel is intended for Jews and Gentiles. We don’t embrace the new wineskins just for ourselves, but so all have the chance to hear about the Lord and to be set free from the bondage of religion. When you study the Word of God on a regular basis, we believe that your entire community can be changed.