Matthew 16:13-20
The Church God Wants:
A Church that Really Knows Jesus!
13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And 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. 19I 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.” 20Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
In the entire history of this world there has never been nor will there ever be anyone as important as Jesus of Nazareth. No politician, no businessman, no scientist, no inventor, no entrepreneur— no one can ever come close to the importance of Jesus!
In the entire history of this world there has never been nor will there ever be anyone as polarizing as Jesus of Nazareth. No political leader, no religious leader, no activist, no philosopher— no one can even come close to being as polarizing as Jesus!
Why is that, my friends? Why is Jesus of Nazareth the most important and the most polarizing person who has ever or will ever live on the face of this earth? The answer to that question is based on the fact that everyone’s eternity is determined by their relationship to and their understanding of— Jesus of Nazareth!
That fact that Jesus is both the most important and the most polarizing Person who has ever or will ever live on the face of this earth enables us to understand that when it comes to His Church: God Wants a Church that Really Knows Jesus!
Since there are many churches which claim that they “really know Jesus” our goal today is to see how Jesus Himself reveals three things, three truths, that determine whether or not a church “really knows” Him! The first of these truths centers on the question that Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” You know how the disciples responded: “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
The disciples’ answer reveals to us that there were not only a lot of people who were talking about Jesus, but they were saying some very positive complimentary things about the Rabbi from Nazareth! John the Baptist was held in high honor by many people— especially the people who heard John preach and were baptized by him. Elijah was the prophet that the Lord God promised to send into this world to prepare God’s people for the arrival of the Promised Messiah. (See Malachi 4:5) Others thought that Jesus was a powerful prophet— like the prophets the Lord God used to send to His people, like Jeremiah or the other prophets whose writings were read in the synagogue week after week, year after year. While all of these answers were indeed very complimentary— they all fall far short of Who Jesus really is!
“Who do people say the Son of Man is?” If we were to ask that question of people today, if we were to ask that question of churches today, we would probably hear a variety of answers that sound very similar to what Jesus’ disciples gave here in our text. There are churches today who point to Jesus as a “great teacher,” a “profound philosopher,” a powerful “agent of change” who was far ahead of His time. Jesus is portrayed as a “revolutionary” who was not afraid to openly challenge both the political and the religious leaders of His day. Only on rare occasions will we hear anyone say something negative or derogatory about Jesus. And yet, just as in Jesus’ day— the popular opinions about Jesus in our day fall far short of who He really is!
The fact that there were— and are— a number of opinions about who Jesus is, the Lord refocuses His question specifically for His disciples, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” Again, we all know and love Peter’s response— because it is exactly how we would respond! “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
To “really know Jesus,” whether it is as an individual or as a church, requires that we know Jesus as “the Christ,” as the “Messiah,” as the One who was “anointed” with the Holy Spirit to serve as our Prophet, our Priest, and as our King! As the “Christ” Jesus proclaims to us the Truth of God’s holy Word. As the “Messiah” Jesus serves as the One who completely paid for all of our sins by offering Himself as “the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1). As the “Anointed One” Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth to rule over all things for the good of His Church. (See Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 2:15-23)
Peter also confessed that Jesus is not only “the Christ,” but He is also, “the Son of the living God.” Try to wrap your minds around that truth, my friends. As the “Son of the living God” Jesus of Nazareth was personally involved in the Creation of the heavens and the earth! (See John 1:1-4) As the “Son of the living God” Jesus of Nazareth is the great “I AM” who spoke to Moses through a burning bush (See Exodus 3:1-6) and who revealed Himself to Moses as the God of absolute perfect love as well as the God of absolute perfect justice. (See Exodus 31:5-7) As the “Son of the living God” Jesus of Nazareth is the visible, tangible, perfect fulfillment of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
This is what it means to “really know Jesus”! This is what God wants in His Church! He wants His Church to confess that His Son Jesus is not just a prophet, not just a teacher, not just an example, and certainly not just an ordinary human being. God wants His Church to openly proclaim that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Any confession about who Jesus “really is” — whether it is by an individual or by a church— any confession that says anything less than what Peter boldly confessed— is unacceptable.
That brings us to the second Truth that we want to highlight in this text. Matthew continues with Jesus’ words, “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.”
Notice how clearly Jesus brings out that the faith which enabled Peter to make that glorious confession was not something that Peter came up with all on his own. Jesus says that both Peter’s faith and Peter’s confession was “revealed by my Father in heaven.” To “really know Jesus” means recognizing that our faith in Jesus as our Savior is a gift from God Himself. Any effort to make even the slightest part of our faith the result of something we do— is unacceptable.
That aspect of what it means to “really know Jesus” is what gives us the proper understanding of Jesus’ words, “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.” As you know there are those who use this portion of Scripture to claim that Jesus designated Peter the “rock” upon which Jesus’ Church is built. That claim is false! Why is this claim false! Let’s think it through.
While it’s all but impossible to reflect this in the English, here in our text Jesus uses two different Greek words for “rock.” When Jesus is referring to Peter He uses the word “petros”— which means, “rock.” Then Jesus uses the word “petra” which is a feminine word that means “boulder or ledge.” While Peter the “rock” and while Peter’s confession the “ledge” cannot be separated, Peter cannot be the “rock” upon which Christ builds His Church! His Church (Pointing to the cross), the Church which can withstand the assaults of hell itself, is built upon the “rock-solid” revelation that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God”! This is not Peter’s Church. This is the Lord’s Church. Christ is both the Builder and the “cornerstone” of the entire Christian Church. Paul brings this truth out very clearly when he writes to the Ephesians, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,(a reference to both the Old Testament and the New Testament Scriptures) with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Ephesian 2:19, 20).
The Church that God wants is the Church that is not built on any mortal sinful human being. The Church that God wants is the Church that is not built on any human opinions or any human traditions. The Church that God wants is the Church that is built solely on that bold, God-given confession concerning Jesus: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Finally, the Church that “really knows Jesus”— Who He is and what He came into this world to accomplish (Pointing to the cross)— the Church that is built on the “rock-solid” confession proclaimed by Peter, is the Church that is focused on properly using “the keys” that Christ Himself gives to His Church. Look at verses nine and ten of our text. Jesus says, “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.”
Since the use of “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” will be coming up a little later in this sermon series I don’t want to delve into the details here today. Generally speaking, Christ gave to His Church the power, the right and the authority to “unlock” the entrance into the heavenly Father’s Kingdom for everyone who believes and trusts that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” At the same time, Christ gives to His Church the power, the right and the authority to “lock” the entrance into the heavenly Father’s Kingdom for anyone who rejects Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
The use of “the keys” also helps us to understand that the Church God wants is the Church that “really knows Jesus.” Both as individual Christians and as a Chrisitan congregation we need to boldly and firmly stand up and defend our Savior when He proclaims, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus’ claim to be this world’s only Savior from sin does not sit well with many people today— including many who claim to be Christian! If we as individual Christians or if we as a Christian congregation give the impression that there are “other” ways to heaven, “other” ways to be saved apart from trusting in Jesus as our Savior— then either consciously or unconsciously we are revealing that we are ashamed of Jesus, ashamed of Who Jesus says He is, ashamed of what Jesus was willing to do to save us from our own sin! (Pointing to the cross)
That thought may lead us to wonder why Matthew writes in the closing verse of our text, “Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.” Why would Jesus give His disciples this warning— especially after Peter’s wonderful confession of faith? The answer to that question becomes clear when we take a step back and look at the larger context.
The disciples’ answer to the question, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” reveals that there were a variety of opinions and a good amount of confusion concern the Rabbi from Nazareth. Over the course of many years Satan had twisted God’s promise of a Messiah from a spiritual Savior to a political Savior. Even Jesus’ own disciples were expecting Jesus to establish His Kingdom right here on this earth! (See Mark 10:35ff; Acts 1:6) Since so many people misunderstood the mission that the Son of God came into this world to accomplish, if Jesus’ disciples had fanned out and told people that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” that would have made Jesus’ ministry even more complicated. After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, after Jesus’ disciples had a full and complete understanding of the Father’s Plan of Salvation for this world then all of Jesus’ disciples— including all of us!— are given both the ability and the responsibility to proclaim to as many people as we can that Jesus of Nazareth is “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” this world’s only Savior from sin!
When we stop to remember that Jesus is both the most important and the most polarizing Person who has ever or will ever walk on the face of this earth, when we stop to remember that everyone’s eternity is determined by their relationship to and their understand of Jesus, then it is very easy for us to understand why God wants a Church that “really knows Jesus.” What does this mean— for you and for me? What does this mean for our congregation? It means that while different people and different churches may have different ideas about who Jesus is, we clearly proclaim what the Bible reveals to us about Jesus! It means that while different people and different churches have different ideas about who or what the church is to be founded on, we clearly proclaim that any church that is not built on the “rock-solid” foundation of Christ Himself is a church that is built on shifting sand. It means that while different people and different churches have different ideas concerning the purpose of the church here on this earth, we clearly proclaim that the central over-arching purpose of His Church (Pointing to the cross) is to faithfully use “the keys” that Christ Himself has given to us so that by His power and by His grace we can “unlock” the gate of Heaven for everyone who believes and trusts in who Jesus “really is”!
To God be the glory!
Amen