The Gospel Series Part 7c

LESSON OF MESSIAHSHIP LEARNED AND CONFIRMED

Peter's identification of Jesus as the Christ, and first prophecy of the church (Mt 16:13-20, Mk 8:27-30, Lk 9:18-21)

Mt 16:13 This is the question for the ages. Who do people think Jesus is? To instantly divide a crowd, just start talking about Jesus. Some people are so closed minded they snarl to even hear the name of Jesus. Unfortunately, they have forgotten a mind is like a parachute, it only functions when open. To refuse to consider the evidence is silly and closed minded. You don't have to agree with my conclusions, but at least consider the evidence. Sadly, many today won't even do that. So much for "free-thinkers".

Mt 16:14 Now for those open-minded people who do consider who Jesus is, we get several answers. Jesus was a moral compass, teaching to repent from the evils of the world to a good moral lifestyle, like John the Baptist. No, He was like Elijah, a mighty prophet, like Buddha or Mohammed. Or He could be compared to Jeremiah, always weeping and showing compassion for the people. After 2,000 years, the answers to the question of who Jesus is haven't changed.

Mt 16:15 Jesus punctures the silly debate with the only question that matters - "Who do you say I am?". That's still the question for today. It doesn't matter what your neighbor thinks, or your spouse, or the people at work. It only matters what you think of Him. Jesus wasn't interested in what others thought of Him, He wanted to know what Peter thought.

Mt 16:16 Peter makes his decision.

Mt 16:17 Jesus responds to Peter's declaration by asserting Peter didn't come to this conclusion by his intellect; it was divine revelation by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3)

Mt 16:18 This verse has caused much trouble for people dealing with the Catholic church. To understand what's going on here, we must look at the Greek text. English is not able to effectively translate Greek, for where the Greeks may have several words to describe one thing, in English only one word exists that must suffice to express the various flavors in Greek. We have that problem in this verse. In Greek we have a play on words of sorts. Peter is petros or small stone, while Jesus is petra or rock. If we could see the scene acted out, I believe we would see Jesus point at Peter and say "you are Peter", then point at Himself to say "and on this rock I will build my church." The church is NOT built on Peter, nor on Peter's confession. The Bible teaches no such doctrine, and Peter himself clarifies this verse in 1 Peter 2:47. The church is built on Jesus alone.

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone," (1 Peter 2:4-7)

Peter knew who the rock was, Jesus. We are just living stones built upon the rock of Jesus. If Peter was the first pope, he didn't know it. But while we're at it, let's take a biblical look at another Catholic doctrine that takes a beating upon reading the Bible - that of papal infallibility. Again, if Peter was the first pope, he had a lot of problems - in a few verses, Jesus will rebuke satan from Peter! And later in Galatians (Gal 2:11-16), Paul says he withstood Peter to his face for his hypocrisy with the Jews. Peter sure made a lot of mistakes.

"gates of Hades" - Two thoughts here. First, Hades was the abode of the dead, thus the gate of Hades was death. And Jesus has conquered death so it has no power over the Christian.

"O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

And this power is uniquely Jesus' alone.

"I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. (Revelation 1:18)

So in one sense, the gates of Hades (death) have been defeated for the Christian. But we can also consider the gates of Hades to be a term referring to workers of satan; satan cannot prevail over the church. But if that is true, what do the gates of Hades mean? Have you ever been attacked by a gate? No. Gates are something you go through offensively. Satan and his cronies cannot withstand a concentrated, prayerfully orchestrated attack by the church. Satan must yield his ground. This does not imply we should take on satan directly, but only through the power and strength of Jesus. In Acts 19 we find out what happens when you try to assault the powers of darkness in your own strength. Seven sons of Sceva attempt to exorcise a demon just as Paul did. But the demon responds "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" at which point the demon overpowers all seven and they flee. Dealing with demonic powers is serious business, and you don't want to attempt such things unless you have been called by God.

First direct prediction of the rejection, crucifixion, and resurrection (Mt 16:21-26, Mk 8:31-37, Lk 9:22-25)

Mt 16:21-23 Here goes Peter again. Just after his wonderful spiritual moment declaring who Jesus is, he goes back to the flesh. Peter must have felt good after his moment in the spiritual spotlight, don't you think? Might pride have crept in a little? Perhaps.

Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)

In any event, these few verses show us we will always battle with the flesh. We can go from spiritual to fleshly real fast. We must choose to live in the spirit day by day, minute by minute. It's not something automatic.

Mt 16:24 This verse has been covered in Lesson: Take up your cross (Mt 10:38-39) in the section Part 6i - FINAL GALILEAN CAMPAIGN. It's a good review.

Mt 16:25 A paradox of sorts. According to the world, you must live for number one. If you don't watch out for yourself, no one else will. The world wants to save their life, and in doing so will lose it. As a Christian, you must also live for number one, only it's a different person. We must forget ourselves and live for Jesus alone. Only by losing your life in Christ can you save it.

Mt 16:26 The old problem hidden in the cliché "you can't take it with you". But that's not entirely true. You can't take it with you, but you can send it up ahead. If you are traveling to a foreign country, one of the things you must do is to exchange some money for the currency of the country you are traveling in. The same thing applies for the Christian. You can't take your earthly goods with you, but you can exchange them for heavenly rewards. Remember Paul spoke of the Christian life as a race, and reminded us to run as to win the prize. An earthly prize? Certainly not. Paul never amounted to much in earthly terms. But he was always able to frame each decision in terms of how it would affect the Lord. He kept focused on the heavenly rewards for the race he was running, not the earthly riches that disappear.

Coming of the Son of Man and judgment (Mt 16:27-28, Mk 8:38-9:1, Lk 9:26-27)

Mt 16:27 Again, the subject of rewards. There will be heavenly rewards given for things performed while on this earth. As already mentioned, Paul spoke frequently about running the race. (2 Cor 5:10, Heb 12;12). And this is not the only occasion Jesus mentioned rewards (Rev 22:12). Rewards aren't talked about much today, but we should be constantly reminded what we do with our life does count. We will have to give an account as stewards of whatever talents and resources the Lord has given us.

Mk 9:1 Some people have a problem with this verse. Was this unfulfilled since the apostles all died before Christ's return? Not really. In all three gospels, this verse appears just before the transfiguration. This verse refers to that event.

Transfiguration of Jesus (Mt 17:1-8, Mk 9:2-8, Lk 9:28-36)

Mk 9:2-3 transfigured = metamorphoo from which we get our word metamorphous. Verse three explains the changes in Jesus they saw.

Mk 9:4 How did they know it was Moses and Elijah? Did they have nametags? In any event, those two represent the Law and the Prophets. What were they talking about? It's just speculation since it isn't recorded, but since Moses and Elijah are probably the two witnesses in Revelation, they probably were talking about the events of the end times and Jesus' second coming.

Mk 9:5-6 As usual, Peter speaks up, even though he didn't know what to say. Sometimes it's better to keep quiet. The Father will correct Peter's foot in mouth disease shortly.

Mk 9:7 Peter's mistake was placing the law and prophets on the same level as Jesus. The Father Himself corrects Peter in a thunderous response "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him". The law and prophets spoke of Jesus, but now that He has appeared, we should hear Him.

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; (Hebrews 1:1-2)

Mk 9:8 When they looked around, they only saw Jesus. No more of the law and prophets, for Jesus is the fulfillment of all of they spoke of.

Command to keep transfiguration a secret (Mt 17:9, Mk 9:9-10, Lk 9:36b)

His hour had not yet come. There will be a time coming when they should speak of Him, but it won't be until after the resurrection.

Elijah, John the Baptist, and the Son of Man's coming (Mt 17:10-13, Mk 9:11-13)

John wasn't literally Elijah, but had the Jews accepted Jesus as their Messiah, then John would have been the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies which proclaimed Elijah would come first. John came in the spirit and power of Elijah (Mal 3:1, 4:5).

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