Sunday Morning Service

Matthew 16 (Click title for audio access)

“The Funnel Effect” • 10.24.10 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- During these last few chapters, the disciples have been privy to an awesome display of Christ's miraculous power. They have been tested and drawn in deeper and deeper in.

- Chapter 16 represents a distinct climax in their life. They are about to come to a place of no return. All that they have seen and heard is funneling them toward this inevitable chapter

- Truthfully, it has been or will be the case with each of us: God is moving each person on Earth to the same exact place.

- As we examine this chapter, I pray that we'll have the grace to answer the challenges it presents to us.

Text

• Matthew 16:1-4 : "Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, 'When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.' And He left them and departed." : We haven’t seen Pharisees with the Sadducees since the third chapter where John the Baptist referred to them as a “brood of vipers!”

- It's of little consequence to us, but a major detail to those who first read this report. The Pharisees and Sadducees were hardly friendly toward each other.

- There are ancient writings where the Pharisees assert that a group of heretics founded the Sadducees. Sadducees were illustrations of how good people can become evil!

- This was the usual tenor of their relationship. What made them so hostile toward each other?

- The Pharisees, as we have seen, were open minded, holding traditions on the same level as the actual law, the Torah. The Sadducees confined themselves to the Torah alone.

- The Pharisees believed in the supernatural realm. Sadducees believed in what they could experience, in what they collective mind could understand.

- Aside from their differences theologically, there was also a difference socially. The Pharisees were the blue collar religious leaders. The Sadducees were represented the rich aristocrats.

- They seemed to oppose one another on every point. Except for Jesus! Jesus unified these two groups, as both had a common hatred for Him.

- They came to Jesus to test Him. They want a celestial event. "Move the sun over." They act like children, saying, "I bet you can't" hoping that Jesus will say, "uh huh!"

- These Pharisees and Sadducee were watching scripture happen before their eyes. The natural conclusion was that this Man was God in the flesh!

- Their hypocrisy was simple to deduce: They were willing to account for signs in every arena of life, except when looking at Jesus! They would not apply their logic toward Him

- In the same way that the sky tells all you what you need to know about the weather, so also, Jesus had shown all that any rational person all that they would need to know about Him!

- They refused to believe. This is the case with most unbelievers. They ignore everything that has been said about Christ, saying that they'd believe if He granted them a special sign.

- Jesus tells them, "You've got one more sign coming: My Resurrection!" With that He abandoned them.

• Matthew 16:5-7 : "Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said to them, 'Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.' And they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'It is because we have taken no bread.'" : In apparent haste, the disciples got on the boat to travel back to the other side of the Galilee without provisions.

- They were realizing this when Jesus spoke out to them. The tension was growing and when they saw these groups together, it jarred them. Maybe they wondered, "Why not give a sign?"

- Jesus speaks out to them. "Be careful about the influence of the religious leaders."

- Remember that the idea of leaven is permeation. It happens silently, under the surface, but it's influence is seen on the outside. Their influence was dangerous.

- The disciples didn't understand. They thought it was about the bread!

• Matthew 16:8-10 : "But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, 'O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?" : The disciples have seen Him on the sea, healing the sick, feeding at will.

- These were signs! It wasn't just about bread. It wasn't about feeding. It was about answering "Who could do these things!?"

- They had visual reminders, 12 personal baskets for the one occasion and 7 laundry baskets on the other occasion. Jesus wasn't giving them a free lunch! He was showing them who He was!

• Matthew 16:11,12 : "How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.' Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees." : It was the beliefs of the religious leaders that Jesus was warning about.

- They believed that they could be right with God through external actions.

- They believed that their Messiah would free them politically. They believed that Jesus could not have been their Messiah! Their doctrine, belief about the person of Christ was all wrong!

- They were all wrong when it came to who Jesus was and that, we will see, is the only doctrine that you and I NEED to get absolutely right!

• Matthew 16:13,14 : "When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, 'Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?' So they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'" : The disciples are now up in northern Israel. Jesus asks His disciples to give Him some of the word on the street about Him.

- "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" Opinions about Jesus were widespread and varied. The Jewish people expected several people to return prior to Christ's first coming.

- Biblically, one in the spirit and power of Elijah was predicted to come to prepare the way.

- His teachings about righteousness reminded people of John the Baptist.

- His miracles reminded them of Elijah. His compassion reminded them of the weeping prophet, Jeremiah. This represented the popular thinking about Jesus.

- Today, there are myriads of beliefs regarding Jesus. The Hindu believes that Jesus was an incarnation of God, on the same level as Krishna.

- Bahai believes that Jesus was a manifestation of God, but is now superceded by Bahaulah!

- Islam calls Jesus a prophet, whose revelation from God ended with Muhammed.

- Jehovah's Witnesses call Jesus God's first creation, Michael the Archangel.

- Mormons teach that He was one of the original spirit beings. Each religion gives Jesus high marks, but none are willing to honor His claim.

• Matthew 16:15 : "He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?'" : All of this time, Jesus has been leading them and us to this very question.

- It is not just a question for a time. It is THE question of all time! It doesn't matter that we know what others believe about Christ. It's not enough to know what our church knows about Christ!

- Jesus says, to them and us: "YOU, who do YOU say that He is!"

• Matthew 16:16 : "Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'" : The word "Christ" means "annointed one" which is the same term as the term "Messiah." Peter affirms His mission and His deity, being the Son of the living God.

• Matthew 16:17,18 : "Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." : Congratulations Simon! This confession comes straight from God Himself! The word "revealed" comes from the Greek word "apocalypto." It means to unveil or to show!

- This statement has been uncovered by God Himself. This is an interesting statement. Flesh and blood did not reveal this, but God did.

- The idea here is that nobody on earth would be able to come to this conclusion: I need to be saved and it can only come through this man Jesus, who is the Christ!

- We require special revelation for that! It must be revealed by God to man. How does He do that? Through the scriptures, which testify to Man's need and God's gift of Christ.

- Peter's confession was rock solid, so Jesus tells Him that. His name, which has long been known as Simon, which means 'sand,' will now be called Peter, which means 'rock.'

- He went from being Sandy to Rocky! This leads us to one of the most misunderstood passages in scripture. Peter is now called "the Rock."

- Jesus says, "On this rock I will build my church!" The Catholic church interprets this verse around the person of Peter, who they say, was God's choice as first pope.

- The classic protestant interpretation is that the rock that Jesus refers to is not Peter, but His confession. Jesus would build His Church upon the confession that Peter spoke.

- I believe that Peter answers this for us when he calls Jesus the "stone, the chief cornerstone, that the builders rejected!" Jesus is the Rock that our confession points too!

- Notice that it is His church. The church belongs to Christ. It's not mine or yours, it's His!

- This is the first time that we see this word church in the Bible, so it's worth taking some time to consider it. The word Jesus employs is "ekklesia."

- The word refers to a called out assembly of believers, people who confess the truth about Christ. We join in that line today! We are called out from the world and are joined by this confession.

- His church is an assembly that the gates of hades shall not prevail against. Hades is translated hell, but is better understood as the 'grave.' In fact, the RSV translates it this way:

• Matthew 16:18 (RSV) : "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it."

- The idea is that even death will not defeat the church! The church will grow, even beyond the death of it's adherents. Jesus' resurrection will have defeated death once and for all!

• Matthew 16:19,20 : "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.' Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ." : Keys speak of access and authority.

- The disciples would be the ones who would initiate the process of setting up local churches.

- In those places of assembly, the apostles would be asked to govern and establish ceremony and leadership. Whatever was bound here would be considered bound there.

- I believe that this refers to the writing of scripture that many of these Apostles would be responsible for.

- After this, He told them to keep this conversation to themselves for the time being.

• Matthew 16:21 : "From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day." : God has revealed who Jesus is, now Jesus reveals what He will do!

- He must go to Jerusalem. He must suffer many things. He must die. All three of these things had to be shocking to hear. The Messiah can't die?

- You have to also remember that the first century church is listening to these words. Their contemporaries likely pointed to Christ's death as a point against the Lord.

- Matthew is telling them that Jesus was talking about this long before it actually happened and that it was part of the plan. The final part was completely unbelieveable: Jesus would rise from death!

- Jonah experienced in type, what Christ would experience in life!

• Matthew 16:22,23 : "Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, 'Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!' But He turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.'" : If Peter was the first pope, his campaign got off to a very bad start! Jesus calls him Satan!

- What was Peter thinking!? He was giving Jesus a piece of his mind! He was rebuking Jesus! He was contradicting what Jesus was saying!

- If one finds themselves in this kind of position, you need to recognize right away that you are in the wrong!

- Peter's words earlier, had been inspired by the Lord. This time, his words were inspired by Satan himself, who used the opportunity to again tempt the Lord to avoid the cross!

- The cross would be Satan's final defeat. No wonder he wanted Jesus to avoid it!

- Peter, speaking for the disciples, wanted to avoid it because they knew what that would spell for them. It would mean "guilt by association."

- They were thinking of their reputation and their very lives. Jesus says, "You are not thinking about what God wants. You are thinking of what Man wants."

- We want to be comfortable. We want prestige. We want honor. The cross was exactly the opposite of those tenets!

• Matthew 16:24 : "Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." : His word is all encompassing: If ANYONE! He gives us three demanding phrases that define our lives.

- Listen to these words: Deny yourself! This is a highly unpopular message. Many hold to the exact opposite message: Indulge yourself! This is not His message!

- What does it mean to deny yourself? Listen to this definition: to forget one's self, lose sight of one's self and one's own interests.

- The demands of following Christ are to be our highest priority, even above that which would originate within ourselves. This does not mean that we neglect mortgages or employment.

- Rather, it means that we view our house payments, employments, finances, time, talent and treasure through the lens of submission to Christ!

- It gets worse: take up his cross. We point to our jewelry, our bum of a spouse or our personal trials as our cross. THESE ARE NOT THE CROSSES THAT HE’S TALKING ABOUT!

- They symbol of a cross was an instrument of pure torture, which also carried such stigma, that if a relative was crucified, he was not talked of again!

- Those who carried a cross were thought to be the literal walking dead! Their life was over!

- When you come to Christ, your life as you have known it, ceases to exist. You are living a life that exists to bring expression to what it means to be a Kingdom citizen!

- Finally, Jesus says “follow me!” He does not want you to follow His followers. He is calling them and consequently, you and I, to put ourselves in a position to respond directly to Him!

• Matthew 16:25-27 : “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.” : These verses provide us with a fascinating paradox. If you want to save your life, you need to lose it!

- You need to lose it in Him, meaning that you become so engaged in what Christ wants for and from your life, that you do not know where He ends and you begin!

- Those who surrender themselves seem to be losing it all, but only they discover the truth: They have found a life, a treasure that will reap greater rewards than than what was invested.

- Jesus gives us these words, and I will not seek to improve or even comment upon them. Except to say this: To gain the whole world is to do so at the expense of your very own soul.

- Sadly, the world is never the offer. People sell their souls for a lot less!

- Jesus promises that for anything ventured and "lost," a reward will be his! He will never miss an opportunity to reward His people for anything they have done for Him.

Conclusion

- All of it hinges on one question: "Who do you say that He is?" If He is your entire confidence for salvation, then He is also Your life! If He is worth trusting, He is worth living for!