Who do you say I am?

Thanks, Bo. We're going to read from Matthew chapter 16, starting at verse 13, and we're going to read all the way through to chapter 17, verse 8.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

Now, when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say that the Son of Man is?

And they said, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

He said to them, but who do you say that I am?

Simon Peter replied, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

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.

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

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.

Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, far be it from you, Lord, this shall never happen to you.

But he turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan.

You are a hindrance to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.

Then Jesus told his disciples, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?

Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

And after six days, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him.

And Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good that we are here.

If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.

He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said,

This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

Listen to him.

When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.

But Jesus came and touched them, saying, Rise, have no fear.

And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

It's the word of God.

Well, good morning, everyone.

If you're visiting today, my name is David.

I'm the pastor here.

We're getting back into Matthew's gospel today.

I was tempted to try and summarize all the way up to chapter 1 to 18, but I thought that would be so confusing if I tried to do that.

In the bulletin, on the front page, there's some links to YouTube, something called the Bible Project,

where it goes for about eight minutes each, and you've got these illustrations.

It's really handy.

If you haven't heard of it before, check it out.

Like, I'd really encourage us to, I don't know if you've ever done this before,

but have you read through a whole gospel in one or two or a few sittings?

Because we often, in church, we break it up into these little bits,

and we can just lose the progression and the themes and the picture of Jesus that builds up.

So I'd really, as we get into Matthew again, can I encourage us to, I don't know,

audio book, however you want to do it, let's sit in Matthew's gospel.

But however, we pray, and then we'll get into God's word.

Father, as we just sang about, I ask that through your word,

you would help us see your glory and your wonder,

so that you might move our hearts to praise you even more.

So I pray this for all of us in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, I want to start by saying something that I struggle to believe on a daily basis.

Whatever situation you're in, I'm in,

the thing you and I need more than anything else to live well

isn't steps to follow or techniques.

It isn't power.

It isn't some outcome.

It's to know, and by know I mean really, personally, internally,

till it gets to our emotions and our imaginations,

know who Jesus is in any situation.

I'm about to go on holidays, and I want to do lots of things,

spending time with family.

I want to sleep.

I want to paint our front door and finish that up.

There's lots of things I'm like, I really want this.

But actually, the thing I need to rest is to know this Jesus afresh.

Any situation.

You're fearful for your children.

Who is Jesus to you when you're fearful for your children?

Who is Jesus to you when you're anxious about tomorrow,

about next month or next year?

Who is Jesus to you when you have experienced,

or someone you love has experienced,

a massive injustice?

Who is he to you when you can't break free of that addiction?

Who is he to you when you start to get disillusioned with this church,

or maybe the leadership?

Who is he to you?

Who is he to you when you're just utterly overwhelmed,

either mentally or just...

Because the life Jesus calls us to,

he just inserts himself so deeply into our life.

He lays claims on our life that is radical.

It covers every situation.

In our text today, here's his description of a Christian.

If you're following along in your Bibles,

chapter 16, verse 24.

If anyone would come after me,

let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

To deny yourself is not simply don't be selfish.

It's not there's a last piece of pizza

and the Christian thing to do is deny yourself.

That's not what he's saying here.

If you remember a number of years ago,

there was this political crisis

where members of parliament were found to have dual citizenship.

And the high court said,

you can't be a politician in Australia

and represent this government

if you've got an allegiance to another country.

They had to renounce their other citizenship

if they're going to be in parliament.

Deny here is renounce.

If you're going to follow Jesus,

you need to renounce that allegiance to self,

that self-rule.

The Bible says all of us naturally think

we have the right to sit on the throne of our lives.

And the Bible says,

no, no, God created us.

That is a delusion.

We need to renounce self if we're going to follow Jesus.

And he says, take up your cross.

That is more than just saying

you need to endure hardship if you're going to be a Christian.

Unbelievers get cancer as well.

It's not just saying endure hardship.

To any Jew or Roman of the time,

crucifixion was not just painful,

it was the world publicly rejecting you.

The world saying you are not worthy of life,

you are not worthy of any dignity,

even clothing.

To carry your cross is to not belong.

You don't belong to this world.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer,

a movie came out about him last year.

I haven't seen it.

I cannot recommend it either.

I have no idea.

But just trying to help you understand

who I'm talking about.

Christian in World War II,

executed days before the end of the war.

He famously put this verse,

when Christ calls a man or woman,

he bids him come and die.

Come and die to self-rule.

Come and die to this world.

And find your life in me.

It's radical stuff.

Now, what I love about Jesus is

he motivates us through choice.

The verbs in here, in verse 24,

you and I are the ones doing the verbs.

He doesn't crush yourself,

crush your sense of self.

You're the one who is to renounce.

Self.

He doesn't place the cross on you.

He says, you take it up willingly.

A Christian is motivated by choice.

And then he gives reasons.

He could have just said that,

but he's trying to motivate our hearts

in the following verses.

He's trying to give us positive reasons,

not fearful reasons,

to choose this.

that you really will find your life

if you do this.

It will feel like dying,

but you will find your life.

Verse 25,

for, here's the reason.

Here's why you should choose to die.

Whoever would save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for my sake

will find it.

The most selfish thing you and I can do

in any situation

is to

renounce self

and not cling to this world

and try and find your life in him.

It's the most,

he's appealing to our desire for life.

You want to find your life?

Find it in me.

Verse 26,

we love pros and cons lists,

don't we?

Here's a pros and cons list.

If you could have it all,

I don't know what you're dreaming about,

if you could have it,

you think your heart will be settled

and your life would have meaning

and joy

and you're flourishing

if you could have it

in this world.

Well,

what will you gain

if you're denying Jesus

in pursuing that?

It comes at the cost of your life.

A man,

I heard just,

it was an article,

ABC,

I don't know if you saw it

this past week,

a man

was sending that final transaction,

he was buying a house,

it was settlement day,

he thought he was about to get

the keys to his house.

The email looked so legit

and all they did

is change the bank details

and he sent it to the wrong,

it was a scam.

His life savings,

no how,

like the bank can't,

couldn't fix it.

Jesus is saying,

what you think,

what you and I think

we're going to find life

in this world

is transferring

to the wrong account.

It is a scam.

Giving all our soul,

all our life

to the wrong account.

You'd be devastated

if you transferred

that bank account.

I don't think

we think it's a scam

because we're all,

we're all doing it.

We keep thinking

the next thing

is going to satisfy

my heart.

The prophet Jeremiah

in chapter 9,

23

puts it really

poetically,

powerfully.

Let not the wise man

boast in his wisdom.

Let not the mighty man

boast in his might.

Let not the rich man

boast in his riches,

but let him who boasts

boasts in this,

that he understands

and knows me.

He's saying

we will find our life

in knowing him

more and more.

Now I don't think,

I'm sure,

you and I

can't do this.

He's not calling

for us

to self-discipline.

He's not saying

try harder

to do this.

Our hearts,

for us to willingly

renounce self

and die to the world

and look for life

in Jesus,

that is more

than trying harder.

We need to be convinced

of two things.

Who is he?

Who is this guy

who says

your soul

will be satisfied

in him?

And what did he come

to do

to give us life?

They are the two questions

that Matthew's gospel

is framed on.

Up to chapter 16

is about who he is,

especially.

And then from then on

it's about what he came

to do

to give us this life.

And chapter 16

here is

a turning point.

We get both

of these truths.

In the previous section,

verses 13 to 17,

we have a summary

of some people's

conclusions of Jesus

up to this point.

People who met Jesus,

they saw his miracles.

miracles.

The Pharisees,

the religious leaders,

they've come to their

conclusion already

months ago.

Yes, he does miracles,

but he's a liar.

It's by the power

of Satan.

They've already decided

he's got to go.

He's got to get him

out of their lives.

The crowds

are closer.

They're closer to the truth.

They're much more respectful.

He's somebody.

He's a prophet.

He points to God.

He speaks on behalf of God.

But whether you're drowning

100 kilometres

out from shore

in the ocean

or you're 100 metres,

if you're drowning,

you are still

in grave danger.

Peter represents

the only conclusion

that can save,

and he's representing

the 12 apostles here.

You are the Christ,

the Son of the living God.

This conclusion is,

we're coming to a climax

in this section of Matthew.

It's teaching us

how to read

the stories of Jesus.

I think we can often

read these stories

as my life feels

like I'm in a boat

and there's a storm.

If only I look to Jesus

and he can calm

that storm.

These aren't

self-help stories

of what we should do.

We're meant to have

the questions

of the apostles

on our mind.

When they're in that boat

and Jesus calms

the storm,

they're like,

what sort of man

is this?

And then when he walks

on water,

they come to the conclusion,

truly you are the Son of God

and they worship him.

That's how we're meant

to be reading

Matthew's Gospel.

Matthew has a particular

focus on fulfillment

of the Old Testament

compared to Mark or Luke.

We think a sermon

on the mount

is in Matthew's Gospel.

He's up a mountain

and he's a new Moses.

Who is this guy

who says of the law

of God,

you heard that it was said

don't commit murder

and all those things,

but I say to you.

Who dares speak

about the law of God

like that?

I say to you.

He's a new Moses.

He's a greater Moses.

He's a greater David.

He's not just conquering

human armies,

he's conquering

Satan's armies.

He's a greater Solomon.

No one can match

his wisdom.

They try and trip him up.

No one can match

his wisdom.

He's a greater Israel.

Israel failed

that testing

in the wilderness

whereas this son obeys.

He's a greater temple

when he forgives

the paralyzed man

and he forgives his sin

if you remember that story.

It's not the temple

you find forgiveness,

it's in this man

that you find forgiveness.

All of it is building

this picture

of who

this

Jesus is.

Now Simon Peter

he's told

that when he

when he makes

this confession

you are the son

of the living God

he said

bless you

Simon

for flesh

and blood

has not revealed

this to you

but my father

who is in heaven.

if you can see

who Jesus is

I think this verse

is telling us

don't credit

your own knowledge

don't credit

your own wisdom

don't credit

your own humility

if you and I

can see

who Jesus is

it's because

the father

has given us

eyes to see

the sun

can shine

in the sky

but if you

don't have eyes

to see

you won't see it.

God has to both

reveal the sun

his sun

through his word

but he also

needs to give us

eyes to see him

if you can see him

praise his grace

if you are

struggling to see him

ask him

ask him

the father

loves to answer

that prayer

now Jesus

goes on to say

that

on Peter

he's going to

build his church

for today

I just

I'm not going to

go into the detail

of why

I do not think

that is

going down

the Catholic

claim of a Pope

I feel like

I need to say

more

talk to me

later

if you want

to know

more about

that

but

it's

it's on

the basis

of

these apostles

who saw

Jesus

and heard

Jesus

it's their

confession

that he

is the

son of

God

that you

and I

can

make that

same

confession

you won't

come to the

conclusion

that Jesus

is the

son of

God

without

the

apostles

it's on

that

foundation

that you

and I

can make

the same

confession

you are

the Christ

and be

saved

it's

their

faith

that

builds

our

faith

and

Satan

attacks

this

faith

he attacks

this

church

that Jesus

is building

the gates

of hell

will not

prevail

against

his

church

that

picture

of gates

it's

a metaphor

for

all the

armies

all the

fortifications

all the

evil forces

are against

coming to

this

conclusion

that Jesus

is the

Messiah

but Jesus

says

no one's

gonna

all the

armies

are not

going

to

destroy

the

faith

of my

people

it's a

beautiful

promise

so that's

how we can

know

who this

Jesus

is

a

friend

once

asked me

what

my

favorite

song

about

heaven

was

and

the

song

that came

to my

mind

was

by

King's

Kaleidoscope

If you

don't know

them

look them

up

if it's

not your

taste

that's

okay

but

one of

their

songs

is

called

I

Know

I

have

been

given

a

taste

for

something

that

nothing

in

this

world

can

satisfy

but

I

know

that

a

time

is

coming

when

I

will

be

in

glorious

delight

I

know

I

will

run

through

heaven

streets

of

gold

shouting

hallelujah

Christ

alone

I

know

I

will

dance

and

sing

and

bow

before

the

throne

yeah

this

I

know

!

Oh!

But how

do I

know?

How

do you

know?

How

can

you

know?

Six

days

after

making

this

confession

we're

given

this

gracious

wonderful

confirmation

to

see

who it

is

who

promises

you'll

find

life

find

glory

in

him

so

Peter

James

and

John

are

up

a

mountain

this

is

better

than

if

you

got a

dream

tonight

of

a

revelation

of

Jesus

this

is

better

you

couldn't

be

sure

about

that

dream

whereas

here

we've

got

three

people

three

witnesses

!

who

testify

to the

same

phenomenon

for a

brief

moment

we

get a

glimpse

into

who

this

guy

is

before

he

came

into

the

world

we

get

a

glimpse

into

who

he

is

right

now

who

is

in

this

room

with

us

by

his

spirit

we

get

a

glimpse

!

of

who

it

is

who's

coming

back

at

the

end

of

history

he

was

transfigured

before

them

and

his

face

shone

like

the

sun

and

his

clothes

became

white

as

light

how does

that go

in your

noggin

how does

that fit

in the

categories

of your

beings

that are

in

reality

some

people

brush

this

aside

and

go

who

does

his

laundry

don't

make

a joke

a joke

is

trying

to

deflect

how

confronting

this

is

there

is

a

threat

here

who

is

this

guy

there's

so much

Old Testament

imagery

in this

account

we've got

this

bright

glory

cloud

up a

mountain

and

when the

Israelites

were freed

from Egypt

the

Shekinah

I can't

even say

the word

Shekinah

thank you

Shekinah

glory

a

pillar of

cloud

by day

and fire

by night

destroyed

Pharaoh's

armies

and protected

the people

and up

Mount Sinai

turned that

mountain

into a

volcano

basically

Moses

experienced

this glory

up a

mountain

and

Elijah

experienced

this same

glory

a voice

up a

mountain

and here

we are

up a

mountain

again

but there's

something

different

here

there's

something

very

different

the

divine

manifestation

splendor

is coming

out of

a person

he is

not

like

Moses

and Elijah

who

point

to glory

he

he is

the glory

at the

heart

of the

universe

is

a

person

N.T.

Wright

says

an author

UK

Christian

author

N.T.

Wright

says

how can

you live

with the

terrifying

thought

that the

hurricane

has become

human

that fire

has become

flesh

that

capital

L

life

itself

became

life

and

warped

in our

midst

Christianity

either means

that

or it

means

nothing

it is

either

the most

devastating

disclosure

of the

deepest

reality

of the

world

or it

is a

sham

and

nonsense

a bit

of deceitful

play

acting

most of

us

unable

to cope

with

saying

either

of those

things

condemn

ourselves

to live

in the

shadow

world

in

between

Peter's

error

let's

make

three

tenths

I want

to stay

here

with

you

guys

he

puts

Jesus

on the

same

level

as

Moses

and

Elijah

they're

just

the

support

acts

they're

the

backup

dancers

I'm

not

sure

if

that's

a

disrespectful

way

to

talk

about

Moses

and

Elijah

the

main

act

all

the

Old

Testament

was

pointing

!

to

this

person

this

radiating

the

glory

of

God

son

it's

as soon

as the

disciples

confess

that

Jesus

is

this

son

they

get

this

beautiful

confirmation

but it's

at this

point

that

Jesus

starts

to say

why

he

came

his

mission

chapter

16

verse

21

from

that

time

Jesus

began

to

show

his

disciples

that

he

must

go

to

Jerusalem

and

suffer

many

things

from

the

elders

and

chief

priests

and

scribes

and

be

killed

I

know

if

you've

gone

to

church

for

a while

we've

heard

this

so

many

times

but I

lingered

on that

word

this

week

that

radiating

face

killed

and on

the third

day

be

raised

in the

screenplay

Jesus

Christ

Superstar

Pilate

says in

the play

when

Jesus

comes

in

who

is

this

broken

man

cluttering

up my

hallways

so

this

is

Jesus

Christ

I'm

really

quite

surprised

you

look

so

small

not a

king

at

all

most

people

today

back

then

still

today

can't

see

his

glory

that

he

would

go

to

the

cross

for a

brief

moment

up

this

mountain

we're

given

this

glimpse

to

the

divine

light

that

he

would

become

so

small

not

a

king

at

all

that

he

would

go

to

that

cross

who

do

you

see

professor

brian

cox

you

might

have

seen

youtube

and

things

he

says

there's

200

billion

stars

in

the

milky

way

galaxy

each

with

their

own

planets

two

trillion

galaxies

and

he

says

I

challenge

anyone

to be

able to

picture

that

you

can't

picture

it

can

you

anyone

raise

your

hand

if you

can

picture

that

you

can't

you

can't

picture

it

and

all

that

was

made

through

this

sun

you

do

not

treat

someone

like

that

as

your

NRMA

roadside

assistance

you

just

ignore

until

you're

in

trouble

and

give

them

a

call

you

do

not

treat

someone

like

that

who

do

you

see

who

do

you

see

who

went

to

the

cross

for you

he

this

radiating

light

face

went

to that

cross

to die

for your

allegiance

to self

my

allegiance

to

self

he

chose

to die

for your

love

for this

world

for my

love

for this

world

we get

we get

a little

taste

of

of his

grace

Peter

James

and John

they're in

the

presence

of the

glory

of God

and they

are on

their

face

terrified

and at

his

touch

he says

rise

have

no

fear

that's

why

he went

to the

cross

so that

when

we know

his

glory

is

coming

got no

fear

we're

just

looking

forward

to it

because

of the

forgiveness

he has

given

us

what you

and I

need

the

most

in

any

situation

is

to

know

him

I'm

still

struggling

to

believe

that

but

that's

what

we

need

the

most

in

any

situation

whatever

you're

going

through

right

now

we

need

to

know

him

more

afresh

again

if you

really want

to find

life

picture

world

war

two

concentration

camps

if

cory

ten

boom

you've

probably

heard

her name

before

picture

flea

infested

beds

an

overcrowded

dorm

of

women

and

many

of

them

gathered

around

this

little

bible

that

they've

snuck

in

most

of

them

sick

some

of

them

starving

to

death

but

through

the

light

of

the

moon

they're

gathered

around

this

little

bible

reading

Romans

8

who

shall

separate

us

from

the

love

of

Christ

shall

tribulation

or

distress

or

persecution

or

famine

or

nakedness

or

danger

or

sword

no

in

all

these

things

in

all

these

things

we

are

more

than

conquerors

through

him

who

loved

us

there

are

so

many

things

Corey

could

have

been

looking

to

for

more

life

that's

I'm

I don't

think

I'm

ever

going

to

go

through

something

as

hard

as

that

at

least

get

rid

of

the

fleas

out

of

the

bed

set

us

free

from

these

captors

and

the

injustice

of

it

but

here's

what

Corey

writes

I

would

look

about

as

her

sister

Betsy

read

Romans

8

and

watching

the

light

leap

from

face

to

face

of

the

women

more

than

conquerors

it

was

not

a

wish

it

was

a

fact

we

knew

it

we

experienced

it

minute

by

minute

poor

hated

hungry

we

are

more

than

conquerors

not

we

shall

be

we

are

life

in

Ravensbrook

took

place

on

two

separate

levels

mutually

impossible

one

the

observable

external

life

grew

every

day

more

horrible

the

other

the

life

we

lived

with

God

grew

daily

better

truth

upon

truth

glory

upon

glory

better

whatever

situation

you're

in

the

most

important

question

to ask

your

heart

is

who

is

Jesus

to

you

what

sense

of

worth

or

belonging

have

you

really

lost

if

people

cut

you

out

of

their

life

if

the

one

who

owns

the

angels

knows

you

by

name

who

is

Jesus

to

you

what

injustice

have

you

really

suffered

in

the

end

if

you

forgo

vengeance

and

this

king

puts

everything

right

in

the

end

who

is

this

Jesus

to

you

what

pleasure

what

experience

have

you

really

missed

out

on

if

he

purchased

glory

forever

for

you

at

his

right

hand

are

pleasures

forever

more

you

haven't

missed

out

on a

thing

overseas

trip

no

come on

I'm

sure

we

can

travel

in

the

newer

the

most

important

question

in

any

situation

we're

going

through

is

who

is

this

Jesus

to

you

finish

with

Jesus

words

whoever

loses

their

life

for

my