Category: Matthew 16

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Luke Luke 9 Mark Mark 8 Mark 9 Matthew Matthew 16

What’s really important

The gospels

What are you living for? What are you seeking in life?

Comfort? Money? Things?

Here Jesus challenges us to really consider our priorities. He told his disciples and would-be disciples something really difficult.

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23)

The interesting thing to me is that Jesus asks us no less than what he did himself.

He denied himself.

He could have stayed in heaven. He could have let us all suffer in hell for all eternity. But he denied himself.

He gave up all he had in heaven, his glory, the worship of the angels, and he took on human flesh. While here on earth, he gave of himself, surrendering his own needs to meet the needs of others.

He took up his cross.

He suffered greatly, first having to carry his own cross to the place of his death, though he had already been beaten and was weak from the loss of blood. And then agonizing in pain while hanging on the cross. Why?

In order to follow his Father, and the plan he had set in motion for our salvation.

In the same way that Jesus denied himself, we too are to deny ourselves.

This doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy life. Jesus certainly enjoyed his life here on earth. But there will be times when we need to sacrifice our needs and desires to fulfill the purpose God has for us.

Sometimes, it will require suffering. Our family rejects us because of our faith. We lose our jobs because we refuse to work on Sundays. Or we go through other kinds of persecution because we put Christ first in our lives.

But through it all, we need to keep following after Christ.

Why? Because in him, we find what’s most important. What’s most important? A relationship with him. And to fulfill the purpose for which he has created us.

Some people, however, sacrifice these things for what they want. And if following Christ will require them to let go of what they want, they let go of Christ instead. But Jesus tells them,

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. (Matthew 16:25-27)

The bitter irony of letting go of Christ to hold on to the things we seek is that in the end, we’ll lose it all.

But if we let go of everything in order to follow Christ, that’s when we’ll find true satisfaction and peace. For when the day of judgment arrives, Christ will reward us.

And even before that, we’ll catch glimpses of the glory that is to come here on earth. Jesus indeed promised that to his disciples, saying,

I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power. (Mark 9:1)

Though the disciples did go through suffering for the sake of Christ, nevertheless, they saw the kingdom of God come with power, as they saw miracles coming by their own hands, but more than that, the miracle of transformed lives as the gospel spread.

And though many died martyrs’ deaths, they did find reward as they stepped into God’s kingdom.

How about you? Are you willing to let go of what you have, in order to grasp what’s really important?

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Luke Luke 9 Mark Mark 8 Matthew Matthew 16

A stumbling block to Christ

The gospels

A lot of times we hear how we shouldn’t be stumbling blocks to other Christians. And of course, we often hear about how Christ is a stumbling block to those who reject him.

But how often are we stumbling blocks to Christ, and what he’s trying to accomplish? It’s the thought that came to me as I read this passage this morning.

Jesus told the disciples plainly that in order to accomplish God’s plan for him as Messiah, he must die.

All his disciples must have been shocked to hear this. They had never heard Jesus speak like this before, and they could not reconcile what they had just heard with their images of what a Messiah should be.

They thought he would be bringing down the Roman government and setting Israel free from their rule.

They thought that they would be his prime ministers in this new kingdom that Jesus would soon set up.

But how could all this happen if Jesus were dead?

All this must have been running through the disciples’ minds, but as usual, it was Peter who spoke up first, saying,

Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you! (Matthew 16:22)

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but if there are two words that should never go together, they are “No” and “Lord.”

If Jesus really is your Lord, how can you possibly say, “No” or “Never” to him?

Jesus’ rebuke was immediate, and quite harsh.

Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. (Matthew 16:23)

How would you like to be called Satan? That’s exactly what Jesus called Peter, for it was Satan’s words coming out of Peter’s mouth.

Jesus was set on the cross to die for our salvation. And Peter was dead set against it.

He kept that attitude all the way to the garden of Gethsemane when he tried to attack (quite clumsily) the people who were arresting Jesus.

But in taking that attitude, he was a stumbling block to Jesus and what Jesus was trying to accomplish. He wasn’t shaping his way of thinking to match Jesus’. Rather, he tried to shape Jesus’ thoughts to his.

How about you? As you live your life, do you have in mind the things of God, or the things of men?

Are you shaping your plans to match God’s? Or are you trying to shape God to match your plans?

Are you doing God’s will? Or are you doing your own will in God’s name?

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Matthew Matthew 16

The one on whom all stands

Matthew

This is truly a powerful passage and as such, it deserves another look.

After Peter declares Jesus to be the Messiah, Jesus praises him, saying,

Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, 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. (17-19)

That’s a mouthful. But what does it all mean? What can we get from all of this?

First, salvation comes as God reveals himself to people. Because God is invisible, we can only come to know him if he reveals himself and his truth to us. As such, salvation truly is by grace from first to last.

Lots is made by the Catholics of Peter’s name and how he is the rock on which Jesus would build his church. But that’s not what Jesus is saying here.

The word “Peter” basically means “little stone,” while the “rock” on which Jesus would build his church is a word for “bedrock.”

Peter himself refers to this in one of his letters as he said,

As you come to him, the living Stone — rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him — you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” (1 Peter 2:4-6)

According to Peter, who was the stone on which all stands? It was and is Jesus.

What are we? We are living stones built into the church that God is creating. And through Christ, we have been made his priests. We don’t need other people to be our priests. We are priests who have direct access to God.

And because this church is built on Christ, all of Hades cannot stand against it. Though Satan has sought to wipe out the church from the very beginning, it still stands and will stand until the end of time when Jesus returns.

Was Jesus giving Peter any special authority in this passage?

To some degree, I believe so, although I doubt the disciples, and even Peter truly understood it at the time.

It was Peter who first opened up the gospel to the Jews by preaching to them in Acts 2.

And it was Peter again who first opened up the gospel to the Gentiles by preaching to them in Acts 10-11. In so doing, he used the keys of the kingdom to open the way to salvation for all people, both Jews and Gentiles.

It was also Peter that helped set the Gentiles free from following the law of Moses, loosing the requirements of the ceremonial and dietary laws, while still binding Christians to the moral laws as well as a few other things for the sake of peace between the Jewish and Gentile believers at the time. (Acts 15).

That said, I think it goes too far to say that he was the first pope and that this authority was to be passed on to his successors. Jesus never, ever said that.

To some degree, though, these things Jesus said to Peter apply to all Christians. As his priests, we have been given the keys to the kingdom, and by preaching the gospel to those around us, we open the way of salvation to all those who will listen and believe.

And we have been given authority to declare the forgiveness of sins through Jesus by grace, setting people free from trying to earn their salvation through their works.

So let us use the keys and authority we have been given by Jesus so that those around us may find the salvation we have been given.

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Luke Luke 9 Mark Mark 8 Matthew Matthew 16

The most important question

The gospels

By now, Jesus was about halfway through his ministry, and was starting to look toward the cross.

But as he did, he wanted his disciples to really think about who he was. Was he just a prophet? Was he just a good teacher? Who did they think he was?

And so after asking what the disciples had heard people say about him, he asked them,

But what about you? Who do you say I am? (Matthew 16:15)

This is the question of the ages. It is the question that he asks everyone, even today.

What about you? Who do you say I am?

Do you think he was a prophet? Well, certainly Jesus was a prophet. And through him, we heard the words of God.

Was he a good man? That goes without saying. He lived a perfectly sinless life.

But is he more?

Peter certainly thought so. He said,

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Matthew 16:16)

The disciples and the Jews, at this point, still didn’t completely understand the concept of Messiah. It was something they still had to learn, and that’s part of the reason that Jesus told them not to tell anyone.

It’s hard to teach someone something that you don’t understand yourself.

They had no idea at this point that Messiah had to die for the forgiveness of sins. What they did know was that the Messiah would someday reign, and that’s where all their focus was.

How about you? Do you believe that Jesus is the Messiah? Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross so that your sins might be forgiven? More than that, is he your king? Have you surrendered your life to him?

You see, Jesus is not simply a good man or a prophet. He is God himself.

The Jews themselves recognized this. You could call yourself a child of God in the sense that God created you. But to call yourself uniquely the Son of God was to claim deity for yourself. That was their basis for crucifying him. (Matthew 26:63-66).

As God and king, Jesus is worthy of your worship and your service. But do you believe it? Have you come to the place where you can say as Peter did, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God?”

If you are, and you have never committed your life to him before, it starts with a simple prayer.

Lord Jesus, I believe that you are more than just a good man. More than a prophet. I believe that you are God. That you died on the cross for my sins, and that you rose again. Thank you.

Be my king. Be my Lord. I want to follow you from now on. Teach me what it means to follow you each day. In your name I pray, amen.

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Mark Mark 8 Matthew Matthew 15 Matthew 16

Legalism and worldliness

The gospels

I’ve mentioned more than once in this blog the need to test everything that we hear, whether it’s from the pulpit, from the radio or a podcast, from a book, or from wherever you hear people teaching the Word of God.

For that matter, you should be testing everything I say as well.

In these passages we see why.

We see in the first part of these accounts a near repeat of Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 5000. The details are different, however, in terms of the number of people fed, the amount of fish and bread used, as well as the amount of leftovers.

After this event, the Pharisees and Sadducees came to see Jesus.

(It’s not clear whether the Herodians were also there as a separate group, or the Herodians mentioned in Mark were the Sadducees, who were well known as collaborators with the Romans. I take it as the latter).

After arguing with them and rebuffing yet another request for a sign, he told his disciples, “Be careful…Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matthew 16:6).

(Again, it’s possible that when he referred to the leaven of Herod in Mark 8, he was talking about the Sadducees).

The disciples, as usual, were confused and were perhaps wondering if Jesus was forbidding them from getting actual bread from these two groups.

But Jesus quickly corrected them, saying, “Why are you worrying about bread? Don’t you remember how I provided for the 5000 and the 4000? I’m not talking about that at all.”

At which point, Matthew says,

“Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matthew 16:12)

What was the teaching of these two groups? For the Pharisees, it was a very devout legalism. They thought that they could earn their way to heaven by their works.

Because of this, they devoted themselves to studying God’s law and keeping it. There were a few problems, however.

First, they added things to God’s law that God never taught. And in doing so, they put burdens on the people that God never intended. What’s more, they criticized and looked down on anyone who didn’t keep those rules.

Furthermore, as we saw earlier, some of their rules based on tradition flat out contradicted God’s word.

In addition, in focusing on the minutia of the law, they missed its spirit completely, causing them to condemn people unjustly. They forgot things like justice and mercy in their pursuit of legalistic perfection.

All these things, we have already seen or will see in later passages.

The Sadducees, on the other hand, tended to be focused more on wealth and power, thus their collaboration with the Romans. They also didn’t believe in a resurrection, which made it easier for them to focus on the things of this earth, rather than on eternal things.

Thus Jesus warns against both legalistic religiosity and worldliness. Both of them, like leaven, can spread throughout a church, and make it useless to the kingdom of God.

Unfortunately, many people in Jesus’ day didn’t test what they were taught, and as a result, they either lived their lives feeling weighed down and condemned, or they put all their efforts into temporal things, rather than eternal ones.

How about you? Have you fallen into either of these traps?