September 17, 2017 Chris Dolson Series: God and the Messiah Message: The New King Main Idea: We live in the middle of a cosmic battle. We constantly have to choose between the forces of heaven and hell. Purpose: To motivate people to choose to obey Christ rather than to do the things that seem to make us happy. Text: Matthew 16:13-28 I. Introduction: Sin City After hundreds of interviews and a year of research with all kinds of different people who vacationed in Las Vegas, R&R Partners came up with the following conclusion: - The emotional bond between Las Vegas and its customers was freedom R&R Partners - They came up with: What Happens Here, Stays Here which became: What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas. Tourism has never been better in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is known as Sin City. It is the place to go and experience a freedom you only dream about. - Abandon yourself it is time to party. Whatever makes you happy, you will find that in Las Vegas. Right now a lot of us would like to go to Las Vegas, but we are in church. We feel we re not supposed to go to places like that. The only problem with that is: Jesus went to the Las Vegas of his day. The Sin City of Jesus day was called Paneas, named after Pan, the Greek god of raucous behavior. - Paneas was clearly outside the area of Galilee and Judea that was dominated by the Jews. This was a place where the pagans partied. It was a place of sex and drunken parties. It was full of evil so much so that there was a deep dark pit, a cave-like place that was called the Gates of Hades. - It was to that Sin City that Jesus wanted to go and have his disciples grapple with this question: Who do you believe I am? Jesus wanted his followers to come to grips with who he really was. II. The Setting of the Question Caesarea Philippi Paneas We are coming to a place in our readings where a big shift starts to take place. - Jesus has been going around and preaching about the Kingdom of God for about three years. - He is now going to set his sights for Jerusalem. But before he starts to head for Jerusalem and his death; he takes his disciples on a road trip. They head to a place that in their world was Sin City. Matthew 16:13 Caesarea Philippi A gentile city at the northern boundary of Ancient Israel, some 25 miles north of the sea of Galilee. It was the former Paneas, in honor of the pagan god Pan. In Greek religion and mythology, Pan is the god of the wild, a half-goat, half-human creature. - He has the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat. He is also recognized as the god of fields, groves, and wooded glens; because of this, Pan is connected to fertility and the season of spring. - His sudden appearance was supposed to cause terror similar to that of a frightening and stampeding herd. The word panic is derived from his name. - Pan was worshiped in Paneas. Caesarea Philippi (Paneas) sits at the foot of Mount Hermon and butts up against a large cliff, referred to as the Rock of the Gods in reference to the many shrines built against it. - Shrines to Caesar, Pan, and another god (possibly Nemesis) were all built up against this cliff. - In the center of the Rock of the Gods is a huge cave, from which a stream flowed. This cave was called the Gates of Hades because it was believed that Baal would enter and leave the underworld through places where water came out of it. 1
In first century Israel, Caesarea Philippi would be an equivalent of Las Vegas Sin City but much worse than the modern city in the American West. - In the open-air Pan Shrine, next to the cave mouth, there was a large niche, in which a statue of Pan stood with a large erect phallus, worshipped for its fertility properties. - Surrounding Pan in the wall were many smaller niches, in which were statues of his attending nymphs. On the shrine in front of these niches, worshippers of Pan would congregate and partake in bizarre sexual rites, including copulation with goats worshipped for their relationship to Pan. The point: Jesus is going to an area that is different. It is the pagan corner of the area. It is where there is a pagan temple to Pan built into the rocks. III. Q&A with the Messiah Matthew 16:13 19 is one of the most famous Q and A in the history of the world. - The amount of literature on this section of scripture is unbelievable. - Two really large groups of Christians see something different happening here. A brief summary: - The disciples understanding of who Jesus is evolved over time. The Messiah in that day was like a political term for Hope. This is the first time that anyone in Jesus audience clearly proclaimed him as the Messiah. They were always hoping that he was. John 1:41, 45 The disciples originally began to follow Jesus hoping that he was the Messiah. + Early in his ministry, the disciples were hoping that Jesus was the Messiah, but their understanding of Jesus and his Messiahship were hindered by their own expectations. + They were looking for a political revolution. + They did not come to a full understanding of who Jesus was until after Easter. - Jesus says that Peter s confession comes from His Father in Heaven. Only the Father knows who Jesus really is (Matthew 11:27), and he has revealed this to Peter. - Jesus s response to Peter is a pun, or a play on his name. This is not the first time that Simon is called Peter (John 1:42; Matthew 4:18, 10:2). The pun concerns Peter s unique role as the model disciple in Matthew. He is the leader and spokesperson for the others. He is a first among equals, and he is speaking for the others. Our friends who are Roman Catholic see Peter s role a bit differently. - They see that from this verse we get a hierarchy of the all the leaders of the church, that Jesus is forming a hierarchy of leadership that is passed down from Peter to the next leader and the next. - This verse becomes the foundation of the papacy. - What Jesus then says about binding and loosing becomes the foundation for the infallibility of the papacy, that when the pope is speaking ex-cathedra he is infallible this is highly controversial. Matthew would not have endorsed the idea of Peter s infallibility or sole authority in the church, since Peter speaks as a representative of the other apostles and often makes mistakes. + (Matthew 15:15; 16:16; 17:4, 25; 18:21; 19:27; 26:33 35; Acts 11:1 18; Gal. 2:11 14) In Matthew 18:18, binding and loosing is a function of the church, not Peter. Peter is later sent by the church and is accountable to the church (Acts 8:14; 11:1 18). James presides over Peter, and Paul rebukes Peter (Acts 15; Gal. 2:11 14). Peter himself speaks of Jesus as the chief shepherd, senior pastor, or pontifex maximus of the church (1 Peter 5:4). - In principle, all of the apostles form the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20), but Peter s confession indicates that he is the leader and spokesperson of the group, and Christ will build his church on this group. Sometimes it is hard for protestants to admit that Peter is the focus here: 2
If it were not for Protestant reactions against extremes of Roman Catholic interpretation, it is doubtful whether many would have taken rock to be anything or anyone other than Peter. D.A. Carson Jesus will build his church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. - The Greek term ekklēsia never denotes a physical structure in the New Testament, but always a community of people. - The new temple is not a building of literal stones, but consists of living stones (1 Peter 2:5). 1 When we talk about Building a Community in our mission statement, we get that language from this passage. We want to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Only Jesus can build this, and we trust that by his power the community is built. - My is a big deal in that phrase. The people of Yahweh become the people of the Messiah. This is huge. Jesus is the Messiah with a Messianic community. - Gates of Hades Various Views: The Power of Satan and his Cohorts; The Power of Death and Dying; The Power of Corrupt Places Since Paneas was known as Sin City, and the Gates of Hades was a phrase people used for that area, Jesus may be talking in such a way that the phrase could refer to all of those things. - The point is that his assembly of people will not be defeated by the powers of this dark world. Sin cities will come and go, but the church will endure throughout the centuries. Because the church is the assembly of people Jesus Messiah is building, it cannot die. This claim is ridiculous if Jesus is nothing but an overconfident popular preacher in an unimportant vassal of first-century Rome, but it is the basis of hope for those who see Jesus as the Messiah who builds his people. A cosmic battle is taking place. Binding things on Earth and Heaven - Jesus is telling Peter and the others that as his representatives they have his delegated authority to act on their initiative to bring people into the kingdom. As people come into the kingdom, as they hear the good news of the gospel, their entrance is ratified by Jesus. - They are acting in a cosmic battle between heaven and earth. What they do matters eternally. Matthew 16:20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. - Jesus doesn t want people to be converted out of nationalistic fervor. - After the resurrection there would be no hesitation. But now they must keep silent. - The Jews had an expectation about the Kingdom that Jesus did not share. They were looking for a political revolution; he was looking for a spiritual revival. Jesus Messianic title and purpose are clearly misunderstood by his own disciples, and they would certainly be misunderstood by the crowds. More instruction on what Jesus meant is needed. IV. Plan and Resistance Matthew 16:21 23 - Three things should be pointed out: The term must is key. This is the first prediction of his suffering. + What Jesus will face is absolutely necessary for his mission. + This is the first time the Messiah concept is linked with suffering. Jesus joins the Messiah image to the suffering images in the Old Testament and says this will happen to Him. + Resurrection as an individual was a completely unknown concept in 1 st century Judaism. + There is no expectation that a Messiah will die and resurrect. 1 France, R. T. (2007). The Gospel of Matthew (p. 623). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publication Co. 3
+ Jesus saw himself as fulfilling the role of the suffering servant in Isaiah, but the Jews only saw the Messiah as a victorious figure. The rejection will be by the Jewish elite. This must happen in the center of the Jewish religion. Peter then immediately moves outside his role as a follower of Christ. + Peter misunderstands the role of the Messiah. Peter and the disciples didn t understand God s plan. Never, Lord, is, more literally, Mercy on you, Lord. This shall never happen could be rendered No way shall this happen! Peter s two outbursts prove extraordinarily emphatic. Jesus response is emphatic. - Trying to thwart God s plan for Jesus life is in fact the role of the devil, not of a disciple. - Jesus is not accusing Peter of literal demon possession, but he is dramatically indicating that the perspective Peter represents, however unwittingly, is the same as Satan s. - Peter therefore is no longer acting like the foundation block of the church but like a stumbling block (Matthew s characteristic skandalon here as an enticement to sin). - Peter reflects the viewpoint of unredeemed humanity ( the things of men ) rather than God s will. - Get behind means get away (GNB), almost out of my sight! and uses the identical command (hypage) as in Jesus rebuke of Satan in 4:10. 1 Corinthians 1:18 19 The death of the Messiah seems like foolishness. This is the upside-down nature of the gospel. V. How should we respond to all of this? It seems significant that Jesus takes his followers to Sin City to have this discussion. - There is a cosmic battle going on, and his followers like Peter can go back and forth between these two poles very quickly. - Peter is a follower of Christ. God can influence Him. Satan can influence him. Matthew 16:23 Even the most committed followers of Christ can be pulled away from what God wants when we have in mind what we think is best. - What Jesus was saying sounded wrong to Peter. His words are clear, but when we say, No, Lord! we are being influenced by something other than God. - God s ways are different: What he is saying to us is counter to what we believe is in our best interest. When we follow our own ideas or intuitions, we are quickly moving away from God. Matthew 16:24 27 Jesus puts this in terms of losing our lives. What do you want? What fulfills you? It is like that advertising firm said: - The emotional bond between Las Vegas and its customers was freedom. Freedom on two levels. Freedom to do things, see things, eat things, wear things, feel things. In short, the freedom to be someone we couldn t be at home. And freedom from whatever we wanted to leave behind in our daily lives. Just thinking about Las Vegas made bad stuff go away. At that point, the strategy became clear. Speak to that need. Make an indelible connection between Las Vegas and the freedom we all crave. R&R Partners (italics added for emphasis) This is the way of the world. This is the strategy of the Evil One. - We come into a situation in our life, and we see that God clearly wants us to behave in a certain way he wants us to morally reflect his ways in terms with our sexual behavior, the way we don t get drunk, the way we treat other people. In this world the goal is happiness. If you are not happy, something is wrong. You need to do whatever it takes so that you can be happy and enjoy life. Do what you want to do. This is the way of the world. Once we start to think: what is best for me and my interests, we are moving away from following Christ. IV. Conclusion 4
The Bible clearly says that there is pleasure in sin for a season. If sin was not pleasurable, people would not be tempted. The problem with going to Las Vegas it doesn t last. You have to come home. It is not reality. God s stuff lasts. We have to make a choice between what seems best to us at the time and what Jesus wants us to do. 5