Upon This Rock. August 27, 2017 Proper 16 Text: Matthew 16:

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1 August 27, 2017 Proper 16 Text: Matthew 16: Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? 14 And they said, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. 15 He said to them, But who do you say that I am? 16 Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock 1 I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. (ESV) Upon This Rock Perhaps, the greatest question ever asked comes from the lips of Jesus. The question is simple enough: Who do you say that I am? (Matt. 16:15). He first directed this question to his apostles. But it s a question that everyone must answer for himself. There is a right answer and a multitude of wrong answers. You dare not be wrong, for the consequences are eternal. One day, a man named Louis Lapides was asked this question. 1 He just shrugged it off, saying, I m Jewish. Another asked him if he was aware of the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah. He d never heard of such a thing. So he began to read the Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament scriptures. He never knew there were so many. There are over 40. But the twelve verses in Isaiah 53 stopped him short. In Isaiah 53:5-6, he read these words: But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-- every one-- to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Slowly, very slowly, the light was dawning. And then he did the unthinkable. He decided to read only the first page of the New Testament. Matthew s Gospel begins with the words, The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 He was stunned to find out that Jesus was the Jewish descendant of David and Abraham. He had to know more. So he consumed the Gospels. In time, he came to trust in Jesus of Nazareth, the man who was more than a carpenter. 3 But I must stop. Do you not see how powerful God s strong word is? It crushed the hardest thing in the world, the unrepentant human heart through the hammer of the Law. Indeed, God says, Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? (Jer. 23:29). And even more amazing, through the Gospel, God s strong word worked saving faith in the heart of Louis Lapides and with it, forgiveness and salvation. He became a new creation in Christ Jesus. 4 Page 1 of 5

2 His journey had taken him from Jesus as irrelevant to Jesus as Messiah, from Judaism to Christianity, and from skepticism to saving faith. What made it all happen? It was the almighty power of Holy Spirit working through the Scriptures. To his disciples, Jesus asked, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? 5 They replied, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. 6 But that was 2000 years ago. What about now? Jesus still asks, Who do you say that I am? What is your answer? Let s take a sampling of public opinion. You modernists, who do you say Jesus is? They reply, Who cares? He lived too many years ago to be of interest today. Besides, Jesus died for sinners. And we re spiritual, but not religious. Our spirituality supersedes anything Christ said or did. You atheists and agnostics, how do you answer? They say, Jesus was a virtuous man whose example is good to emulate. But to say that he is God-in-human flesh, is ludicrous. We believe in science not in fairy tales! You radical feminists, what is your opinion? Who do you say Jesus is? They answer, He may have fought against the oppressors of his day. But he s irrelevant today. And besides, he lived in a patriarchal society. So we neither need him nor want him! You white supremacists, who is Jesus to you? He is like God, they reply. As such, he should have violently overthrown the Jews and rid the world of non-whites. You Muslims, what do you say? They reply, He is a prophet. No more, no less. But, behold, he is inferior to Allah s great and final prophet, Muhammad. You Hindus, speak up. They say, Jesus was a great teacher. We hold him to be a god among many gods and a reincarnation of Vishnu. And you 21 st century postmodernists, who is Jesus to you? They reply, He was a good example for mankind. If there is a heaven and we don t believe in either a heaven or hell he is one among a number of equally-good ways to get there. All of these answers have one thing in common: they are all wrong! If this is your last answer, you are under the sentence of eternal damnation. But if this is not your last answer, then, listen and learn. In our text, Jesus had asked his disciples who people thought he was. But now he would get personal. He asked them the question of questions, Who do you say that I am? Without hesitation, Simon Peter answers for them all, saying, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God! 7 The Savior s heart must have leaped for joy, for Peter gives an honest confession of the truth. Yes, Jesus is the Christ, i.e., the promised Messiah. And he truly is the Son of God in human flesh. He is the God-man. That is, he is 100% God and 100% man. And he remains so today. Jesus, at once, confirmed the truth that came from Peter s lips, saying, Blessed are you Simon Page 2 of 5

3 Bar-Jonah. 8 Yes, Jesus conferred his approval on Peter s confession by pronouncing him blessed. 9 But Peter could take no credit for what he said, for it was the work of God. Indeed, Jesus said to him, Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. (Matt. 16:17). Do you believe, like Peter, that Jesus is the Christ, i.e., the Messiah? Can you say with Peter that he is the Son of the living God? Do you believe that he is true man in all the fullness of humanity and true God in all the fullness of deity? If so, how wonderful! And Jesus says to you what he first said to Peter, Blessed are you! Yes, he pronounces his favor upon you! After Peter made his great confession of faith, Jesus had something important to say to him. The Lord said, You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. (Matt. 16:18). These are important words. I want to call your attention to the words Peter and rock. On what will Jesus build his church? The Church of Rome has taken this passage to mean that the Church is to be built on the person of Peter. It teaches that Peter is the rock upon which Christ will build his Church. They hold him to be the first pope. But this cannot be true because our text makes an important distinction between the two words. So, what s the difference between the word Peter and the word rock? Just this: -- Peter s name is Petros in the Greek. It is also a masculine noun. -- Rock, on the other hand, is the Greek word petra. Petra is a feminine noun. So, clearly, petros and petra are two different words with different meanings. The Greek lexicons define the name petros as rock in the sense of a stone or pebble. So, Peter is likened to a little stone. On the other hand, petra is defined as bedrock or massive rock formations, rock as distinguished from stones. 10 The rock upon which Jesus builds his church is not the person of Peter, but rather the truth which he confessed. That is, Christ s church will be built upon those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God and who know him to be God s Messiah with all that that means. Thus, he is the only Savior from sin, the only way to eternal life, and the only hope for salvation. Only he is the God-man who earned our salvation on the cross. Regarding his Church, Jesus says, And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 11 Here, Jesus means to say that his Church will not only survive until the end, it will also be triumphant at the end. But what does Jesus mean when he talks about the gates of hell? Think, if you will, of hell as a mighty fortress. The forces of evil live therein. This would include the devil and his demons. When the gates of hell are opened, these malevolent beings will attack the Church. But they will not win the day. Why? Because they are powerless against all who trust in the merits of Jesus Christ. One little word, Jesus, will fell them. Page 3 of 5

4 Beloved, is the Church on earth more like a cruise ship or a battleship? It is the latter, is it not? It sets its course to heaven. And our ship will defeat all its enemies because the captain and its crew fire the Word of God against them. The forces of darkness have no chance of victory. Why? Because Jesus, by his death and resurrection, has already crushed Satan s head. And even more, Jesus has promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail, i.e. they shall not prevail against his Church. He cries out to us, Battle stations! And to the Word and Sacraments we go. And our faith is strengthened to fend off Satan s bullets, i.e. his lies. Moreover, Jesus is not just the Captain of the battleship He is the Lord of the universe. We are ever safe in him! So, it is true that the church s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord. And so we sing, Through toil and tribulation, and tumult of her war; She waits the consummation of peace forevermore; Till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blest; And the great church victorious shall be the church at rest. Lutheran Service Book, #644, St. 4. In the name of Jesus: Amen. Soli Deo Gloria! Endnotes 1 The material on Louis Lapides comes from Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist s Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998), pp. 172 ff. 2 Matthew 1:1. 3 See Louis Lapides biography at 4 See 2 Corinthians 5:17. 5 See Matthew 16:13. 6 See Matthew 16:14. 7 Matthew 16:16. 8 Matthew 16:17a. Bar-Jonah is Aramaic for son of Jonah. 9 The Greek word for blessed, here, is makarios, the same word he uses in the beatitudes. It means that one is the privileged recipient of divine favor. See Greek lexicon cited in note 11 below. 10 Petros means stone. Petra means bedrock or massive rock formations, rock as distinguished from stones. Source: Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third Edition. Page 4 of 5

5 Copyright 2000 The University of Chicago Press. Revised and edited by Frederick William Danker based on the Walter Bauer s Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments und für frühchristlichen Literatur, sixth edition, ed. Kurt Aland and Barbara Aland, with Viktor Reichmann and on previous English Editions by W.F. Arndt, F.W. Gingrich, and F.W. Danker. This edition is an electronic version of the print edition published by the University of Chicago Press. Cit. 11 See Matthew 16:18. Page 5 of 5