The ultimate question

We're reading from Matthew 16, verse 13 to 23.

Matthew 16:13–23

Now, when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi,

he asked the 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 said,

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And Jesus answered him,

Blessed are you, Simon Barjona,

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 to 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.

And 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.

Well, good morning.

My name is Dave.

I'm one of the pastors, if I haven't met you before.

Why don't we pray as we come to God's word?

Yeah, Father, as we just sung, let me echo that,

the prayer of that song, that we need you to speak to us.

Lord, if whatever storms are raging in our life,

we need to be preoccupied and set our eyes on the Lord Jesus,

because it is in him that we have hope and life and blessing.

So please reveal your son to each one of us through your word.

In his name I pray.

Amen.

Well, I've had a few important questions

that have shaped my life to this point.

I've had to sign a contract with the bank

about where I'm going to live,

and there was a lot of conditions there

that I had to agree to.

I've had to sign a contract with this place of work

about the things I'm going to do,

and I made public promises about the things I'm going to do.

I had to answer a bunch of questions.

And perhaps more fundamental again

is when Martin Shadwick married Emma and I,

he asked, do you take...

Oh, wait, what did he ask?

What's the question?

I forgot the wording of it.

Oh, how awful.

Yeah, anyway, I gave consent.

I promise I did.

Pete did a video.

I can play it.

I can prove it.

Now, these things have really shaped my life.

And there's probably other questions too

that are important in your life.

But we're coming to a passage that is confronting us

and telling us there is one ultimate question

that defines who you are and your future.

It defines whether you have hope,

whether you have blessing,

whether you have life.

There is one ultimate question.

And that question has nothing to do with you or me.

It's got nothing to do with what you do

and what you're agreeing to.

Jesus is asking each one of us

through the words of Matthew here,

who do you say that I am?

I think this question,

we wrestle with it because,

or I wrestle with it precisely because

it's got nothing to do with me

and what I can do.

The Word of God says that

based on the answer to this question,

our eternity weighs in the balance,

whether we are right with God,

whether we have blessing forever in his kingdom or not.

Romans 10, 9 and 10 says,

if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord

and believe in your heart

that God raised him from the dead,

you will be saved.

That's it.

You will be saved.

Based on the answer to this question.

So this passage,

it marks a climax and a turning point

in Matthew's account of the life of Jesus so far.

His purpose hasn't been to give us

a whole bunch of isolated stories

like a children's book,

which we can pick and choose our favourite

and just get spiritual lessons from them,

like they're fables or something.

His purpose from the very first sentence

is to paint a picture of the Jesus that people met.

He's assembling the evidence.

He could have put way more in here,

but he's chosen this

and he's brought us to this point

and he's basically telling us, the reader,

you've seen enough.

It's time to decide.

You need to start deciding.

At the passage just prior,

the Pharisees had already come to their conclusion.

They demand an irrefutable sign

that he is sent from heaven,

which sounds very godly,

as if they're going to respond based on the evidence,

but what are they actually doing?

What they're doing is dismissing everything

they've heard and seen.

It is not godly at all.

So what about us?

After all we have heard and seen,

are we going to demand more

and bring our own questions,

demands for Jesus to answer?

He doesn't dance to their tune.

He won't answer according to their criteria.

He won't answer according to ours.

He's asking us to look at him

and what he has said and done.

In verse 13,

we are told that Jesus and the Twelve

are far north of Galilee.

They're far away from Jerusalem,

in the heart of Gentile territory.

It's almost a visual representation, I think,

that he's taken his disciples

away from the religious leaders,

away from this religious thinking,

for them to come up with their conclusion

about who he is.

And just before this,

we have a warning.

Beware of the teaching

of these religious leaders.

Beware of this kind of teaching.

Just a little bit of it

can spread through the whole.

If you think like this,

it will blind you to who I am

and God's salvation.

Human criteria,

religious criteria,

will keep us blind to God's salvation.

What I mean by religious criteria

is anything that presumes

that God blesses or curses

based on what you do or don't do.

So,

we have three groups of people

and three responses to Jesus.

The first group is the religious leaders.

We know their conclusion already.

They're determined to destroy Jesus.

They want nothing to do with him.

They want him out of their lives.

They've concluded

he can't be from God.

He's not religious enough.

How about that?

Jesus isn't religious enough.

His lineage is of no account.

He defiles himself

by being a friend of sinners

and tax collectors and Gentiles.

He doesn't keep the traditions

of the elders of the law.

He claims authority above the law,

breaking the Sabbath.

He makes himself equal with God,

claiming to be able to forgive sins.

Like,

this guy,

we've got to get rid of him.

He's not religious enough

and he's arrogant.

Their conclusion,

he's a fraud.

Then we've got the crowds.

What about the crowds?

Well,

the crowds have a much higher view of Jesus,

don't they?

Which

probably isn't surprising

since

they've

seen so many miracles

and wonders,

all the healing

of their family members

and their community.

They've got a higher view of Jesus.

And their responses

are really thoughtful.

They're respectful.

They're believing

he does have divine authority.

John the Baptist,

like the prophets of old,

he spoke with the authority of God,

urging repentance from sin,

willing to oppose kings

for their ungodliness.

Maybe they saw a bit of that

in Jesus.

Maybe they saw something like Elijah

who demonstrated

a faithfulness to God

when the whole nation

wasn't faithful.

Or the working wonders

and miracles that Elijah did,

raising the dead

and cleansing lepers.

But now it's just on a,

it's just been amplified

the amount of miracles

Jesus does.

Or maybe they saw

something of the suffering

of the prophet Jeremiah

and Jesus.

The confrontation

with the religious leaders.

Maybe they saw something

of his suffering.

These are all

the very thoughtful

answers,

respectful answers.

But Matthew

has showed us

a picture

of Jesus

that yes,

he occupies

the category of prophet,

a messenger from God,

but there's just

something about him

that breaks

that box.

There's words and deeds

that he is creating

a whole new category

for himself.

So the Pharisees,

they are so far away

from the truth

and the crowds

are so much closer

to the truth.

But the problem is

whether you are drowning

100 kilometres

out to sea

or drowning

100 metres

from the shore,

you are still

in grave danger.

The context

suggests

a reason

for these

dangerous conclusions

which is

Jesus'

warning of

beware

of the religious

teaching.

Anything

that presumes

that God

blesses

or doesn't bless

based on

what you do.

I think

that explains

the crowd's

conclusion

of the prophet.

See,

a prophet

tells you

who God is

and what he

wants from you.

We need

more than

a prophet.

We need

more than

someone saying

this is true

and this is

what you should

do.

He's not

just

a good

teacher

and example

to follow.

If that's

the case,

that's just

religious thinking.

Beware

of that.

I'm going

to give

a modern

example of

it because

to hopefully

help us

grasp this

for us

today.

I'm not

sure if

you've

heard of

this guy

or if

you listen

to him

or not.

I know

a few

people have

read some

of his

books.

Jordan

Peterson,

he does

a lot of

podcasts

and speaks

a lot.

I've heard

him say

incredible

statements.

He reads

the

Gospels

and he

finds it

hard to

believe

that it

was just

humans who

wrote this

because Jesus

is too

clever is

basically his

point.

That's a

profound

statement.

He often

refers to

Christ as

the ultimate

example of

virtue, of

goodness, of

beauty, who

we should be

imitating.

him.

They're

incredible

statements.

But that's

the problem.

He stops

there.

Yes, Jesus

might be

someone to

imitate but

he never

says that

he is

king to

whom we

must give

our lives.

He never

says he

is saviour

because I'm

a sinner in

great need.

That's the

danger of

it.

It can

sound so

respectful,

so close

to the

truth and

yet so

far away.

Because of

our sin,

because of

the curse

of living

in a broken

world that

we're wrestling

with every

day, because

death is

the wages

of sin and

hangs over

all of us

like a dark

cloud, we

need a

saviour.

We don't

just need a

prophet, we

need a

saviour.

We need a

king.

So to

see Christ

for who

he is, we

need to be

emptied of

this religious

thinking.

And we

need to come

to the

gospel portrait

of Jesus

that Matthew

has showed

us and let

him define

himself.

So that

brings us to

the third

group, the

disciples.

disciples.

So verse

15, the

question here,

but who do

you say that

I am?

It's important

we know that

the you there

is plural.

We don't

really have a

way of saying

that in

English.

Who do you

say that I

am?

Who do y'all

say that I

am?

It's plural.

So we can

take Peter's

response here

as representing

the 12.

You are

the Christ,

the king,

the son of

the living

God.

Now all

the gospels

agree with

slight variations

on this

conclusion.

So Mark

says you

are the

Christ.

Luke, the

Christ of

God.

John's

gospel, the

Christ, the

son of

God.

This

confession,

this

expression of

belief is

what qualifies

you to be a

Christian, to

belong to

Jesus and

be saved.

Full stop.

We want to

add to that

because I

think we're so

prone to that

religious thinking.

Full stop.

If this is

your confession,

you are

saved.

there's no

more to

it.

Jesus'

declaration to

Peter belongs

to you as

well.

Blessed are

you.

You are

blessed.

You may not

feel blessed

with things

going on in

your life.

You are

blessed if

you can make

this confession

salvation.

Because all

God's promises

of heaven, of

relationship with

him are

yours because

you have the

son.

But it's the

father who

reveals the

son to us.

We can't work

this out in our

own intelligence,

our own

wisdom.

wisdom.

The father

reveals the

son.

The one who

created the

son to shine

brightly also

needs to give

eyes so that we

can see that

light.

Same too

spiritually.

The father has

revealed the

son for all the

world to see.

We have the

Bible.

We have

teachers across

the world in

all different

churches teaching

this gospel.

people.

It's been

revealed.

But the

father must also

give you eyes

spiritually speaking

to see.

We are all in

darkness in our

natural state, in

our religious

assumptions.

actions.

So if you can

see Jesus'

light, don't

credit your own

knowledge.

Don't credit

your own wisdom

for working it

out.

Don't even

credit your own

humility for

accepting that you

need a saviour.

There's only one

reason you can

see and that's

because the

father has

shared his

view of his

son to you,

he's opened

your eyes.

It's purely

grace.

Not even this

confession is

your doing.

He created

it.

If you are

struggling to

see Jesus,

then the

answer is

ask God

to open

your eyes.

He's only

too ready to

answer that

kind of

prayer.

So

understanding

what it

means for

Jesus to

be the

Christ,

we must

also

understand

what content

to put in

that and

what he

came to

do, his

mission.

And we're

told that in

the next

verse, his

mission is

to build the

church.

The church,

not just the

institution,

talking the

people, his

people.

He came to

build his

people.

And notice

Christ himself

is the

builder.

I will

build my

church.

We might

think it's

the

Christian's

job.

Yes, we've

got a role

to play in

that.

But no,

it's Christ

who builds

the church.

Now,

surprisingly,

he says,

now for you

who like

puns, and

I'm thinking

of you,

Joel Kelsey,

Peter,

Greek

Petros,

can both

mean a

rock and

is a

male name.

So,

there's the

pun.

You,

Peter,

on this

rock I

will build

my church

and the

gates of

hell shall

not prevail

against it.

Now,

these verses

are hotly

debated and

so I'm

going to

use the

excuse of

time to

just do

a pretty

cursory

summary of

the options

and I'll

share what

I think

that I

encourage you

to talk

more over

morning tea.

So,

assuming that

Jesus isn't

just cracking

a joke,

a pun,

he wants

to make a

point here.

What is

the rock?

What is

the bedrock

of the

foundation

of the

church?

Well,

the Catholic

view,

this verse

is critical

to the

Catholic

view of

having a

Pope,

having a

representative

of Christ

on earth,

a successor

to Peter,

linking that

with verse

19.

I'm going

to give

you the

keys of

the

kingdom

of heaven.

But,

there's

nothing

mentioned

here about

a successor

to Peter.

While

Acts and

the epistles

show that

Peter is

something,

along with

James and

John,

something of

a first

among equals

of the

early church,

he's never

painted as

having exclusive

authority.

There's no

circumstance

where his

final judgment

is the

authority on

the matter.

An example

there is

Acts 15,

where they

had the

council in

Jerusalem.

Peter doesn't

give the

final verdict.

I think you

would expect

that if

Peter was the

head of the

church in

a pope

sense.

Nor is

Peter infallible,

like we see

that in the

very next

paragraph.

And Paul

had to

rebuke

Peter publicly

because he

was acting

in a way

that undermined

the gospel.

So he's not

infallible

either.

So there's

a whole bunch

of reasons

why that

Catholic view

of a

successor,

head of

the church,

a pope

view,

doesn't stand

the weight

of

scripture.

So what

are the

other

options?

Broadly

taken,

maybe Peter

here is

representing

all believers.

So he's

just the

first stone

laid as

Jesus

builds his

church,

person by

person.

Or some

other

significance

of the

fact that

Peter is

addressed

personally,

so maybe

just the

leader of

the early

church.

Or is

he

representing

the

twelve

apostles?

Or another

option is

that it's

not Peter

who's the

rock,

but it's

the confession

Peter makes.

You are

the Christ.

That is

the rock

of the

church.

Okay,

there's the

options.

I'm not

going to go

into it

too much

more.

You guys

can debate

it over

morning tea.

I'm just

going to

show you

where I'm

up to.

If Peter

is the

representative

of the

twelve

when he

makes that

confession,

you are

the

Christ.

He's

speaking

on behalf

of the

twelve.

Then maybe

he's also

representing

the twelve

when Jesus

speaks to

him here.

So it's

the apostles

who are

the rock,

the foundation

of the

church.

Now I

like that

in my

current

thinking

because

that

aligns

with other

pictures

of God.

Like

Ephesians 2,

the apostles

are the

foundation of

the temple

or Revelation

22.

They are the

foundation of

the city

of God

that we're

hoping for.

To me

I think

this fits

because

your confession,

if you're a

believer,

your confession

of Jesus,

what is it

based on?

It's not

based on

other

Christians

primarily

telling you

the gospel.

It's based

on

what the

apostles

have told

us,

their

eyewitness

testimony

in their

confession.

So that's

why I'm

saying I

think the

rock represents

the twelve.

Our

confession

is based

on this

first confession

of the twelve.

So I'll

leave that

with you.

Then we

have a

wonderful

promise.

The gates

of hell

shall not

prevail against

the church.

Now gates

here can

mean

fortifications,

so the

full forces,

the full

army of

hell or

Hades,

the place

of the dead.

So I think

RSV translation

can help us.

the powers

of death

shall not

prevail against

it.

And I

think this

is incredible

because let's

face it,

death prevails

against

everything.

Doesn't

it?

Isn't

that why

life is so

painful?

Death

prevails

against

everyone

and

everything.

But

death is

not just

the natural

life cycle,

it's the

wages of

sin.

This is

crucial to

know how

Jesus builds

his church.

He must

take the

curse on

sin that

we deserve.

Death

won't prevail

against his

church because

death didn't

prevail against

him.

He took

that curse,

paid it in

fall and

raised from

the dead.

There's

nothing,

there's no

wages to

pay anymore.

It didn't

prevail against

him, so

all who

are united

him, it

won't prevail.

Nothing is

able to

separate us

from the

love of

God in

Christ Jesus

our Lord.

God, what a

wonderful hope

we have.

And if you

don't yet know

this kind of

hope, then I

would urge you

to keep

wrestling with

this ultimate

question because

that's where

you'll find

hope.

Who do you

say that I

am?

Well, so

far we've

been focusing

on what

Christ does.

He will

build the

church, he

will make

sure death

doesn't

prevail.

Then we

get a

surprising

role given

to the

apostles and

to the

church.

I will

give you

the keys

of the

kingdom of

heaven.

Now, I

don't know

about you,

but my

reaction to

that is,

hang on,

don't do

that, not

a good

idea.

Jesus, are

you sure

you want

to put

that kind

of authority

in people's

hands?

Because the

keys is a

picture

representing

like you

can unlock

the door and

let people

in to the

kingdom of

heaven or

you can

shut it.

And there's

a guarantee

given,

whatever you

bind on

earth shall

be bound

in heaven,

whatever you

loose on

earth shall

be loosed

in heaven.

I think

what helps

us to

understand

these

keys is

to look

at a

negative

example

of the

keys in

Luke 11

52 and

then Matthew

23, 13.

So let me

read.

say, Jesus

saying to the

teachers of

the law,

woe to

you lawyers,

for you

have taken

away the

key of

knowledge.

You did

not enter

yourselves and

you hindered

those who

were entering.

And then the

Matthew equivalent

of that verse,

woe to you

scribes and

Pharisees, you

hypocrites, for

you shut the

kingdom of

heaven in

people's faces,

for you neither

enter yourselves

nor allow those

who would enter

to go in.

Now how did

they have the

keys?

They had the

keys because

they were

teachers.

And what they

were teaching

wasn't true

knowledge.

It was

religious,

focused on

self, not

focused on

trust in what

God can do.

And so they

were shutting

the door of

heaven for

people.

That's the

negative example.

So I think

that helps us

understand what

Jesus is saying

here.

Based on this

confession,

apostles and

church, you

can open the

door to heaven

for people by

professing this

gospel that

Jesus is the

Christ, the

Son of God.

In as much as

we can get that

across, we are

opening a door

for people to

come in.

What an

incredible

privilege.

Again, it's

Christ who

builds his

church, but

he's going to

do it through

this confession

that every

Christian has.

I'm not

talking evangelism

here.

I'm saying if

you're a

Christian, you

confess Christ.

That's what it

is to be a

Christian.

And as much

as your life

and your words

can show that,

we have the

privilege of

having the

keys of the

kingdom.

We have the

gospel to

share.

So how

exciting this

moment must

have been for

the apostles.

Here they

have this

special relationship

with the king

of the world,

promising that

they are

blessed, they

are part of

his people,

that they

have the

father as

well.

Simply on the

basis of

seeing and

confessing who

he is, that

they have

hope that

death will

not prevail,

and they've

given such a

privileged role

in proclaiming

this confession

of faith to

others also.

Now it's

precisely because

of their

conviction that

Jesus is the

Christ that

when he started

to lay out

his plan for

ascending the

throne, that's

what brings

about this

reaction, or

part of it

at least.

Okay, we're

going to go to

Jerusalem.

Fantastic.

That's where we

should go.

I'm going to

suffer.

Okay, not so

good, but I

suppose we

shouldn't have

expected it to

be easy.

At the hands of

elders and chief

priests and

scribes.

I was expecting

Roman army there,

but I don't know

why you'd submit

to those guys

and be killed.

Hang on.

They probably

barely heard the

next part about

being raised.

Peter, on the

one hand, the

first part of the

passage, he is

thinking God's

thoughts about the

Christ because the

Father had revealed

it to him, and

here he now

arrogantly presumes

that he knows

God's plan, God's

will, better than

the Christ.

that's not the

plan.

As if he's just

saying to the

Christ he's

confessed, hang

on, I'm not sure

you understand what

Lord means.

It doesn't mean

that.

I don't know

about you, but

don't we have the

same reaction?

Most days, I'm

spilling over into

next week's

passage, but

Jesus told his

disciples, if

anyone would come

after me, he must

deny himself and

take up his cross

and follow me.

I can relate to

Peter's reaction

here when

discipleship means

following the

path of suffering.

That's not the

plan.

Don't you

understand, Lord,

what it means to

be Lord?

But anyway, we'll

come to that next

week.

We need to first be

gripped by what

Jesus does on our

behalf before we

look at what it

means to follow

him.

Peter thinks he

can contribute

something, that he

has a better way,

that maybe he could

fight for the king.

But this rock's

contribution just

becomes a stumbling

block.

book.

It's only after the

resurrection that

Peter really

understands the

full picture of

who Christ is.

It's genuine

belief here, but

it's partial.

He doesn't fully

get it.

And Jesus sees the

same temptation he

received after his

baptism and the

same temptation he's

going to face in the

garden of Gethsemane.

He sees that same

temptation through the

words of Peter.

You can be king

without going to the

cross.

Now here's the

beautiful thing.

Look at the king we

have.

He doesn't for a

moment entertain

that temptation.

He is determined to

be trusting his

father and trusting

his father's plan to

take the path of

suffering, to take

the death for our

sake, for our

salvation.

Peter contributes

nothing to this plan.

If anything, he's an

obstacle to it.

You and I contribute

nothing to our

salvation.

We don't even need a

complete understanding

of Jesus.

Yes, you need to

understand he died for

sins and was raised,

but can we really have a

complete understanding of

that?

You don't even need a

consistent trust in

Jesus.

Even if you're a

Christian, if you

declare faith, even

that has been given

to you by the

Father opening your

eyes, we contribute

nothing to our

salvation.

It's his faith to

his father.

It's his faithfulness to

his father's plan that

saves us.

this king is so full of

grace.

All he wants is for us

to stop thinking in

terms of what we do.

Stop looking at that.

Look to him, who he is,

what he has done.

That all the death, the

curse of sin for our

unfaithfulness that you and

I do deserve, he takes it.

All of heaven's blessings

because of his faithfulness

that you and I don't

deserve, he gives it.

We contribute nothing.

Which makes this question

the only ultimate question

in life.

Because it's not about what

you can contribute, it's

about who he is and what

he has done.

Can I urge you, don't

rest until you can answer

it.

Rejoice if you can and

give glory to the

father's grace in giving

you eyes to see.

Keep coming back to it

when your perspective

turns in on yourself

again and again.

Keep coming back to it.

And realise the privilege

and calling we have that

we have the keys to open

up heaven for people.

Inasmuch as we profess

that Jesus is the

Christ, the son of the

living God in whom is

hope and blessing in

life.

Let me pray.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you for

sending your son and

Lord Jesus, thank you for

coming and choosing to

going to go to the

cross.

Not because you had to

but because you delighted

to trust your father and

obey your father.

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for

opening our eyes so that we

can confess Jesus as Lord

and be saved.

And Lord, I pray that you

would be continuing to

build your church.

Lord, if there's anyone here

today who doesn't know you,

use my weak words to do

powerful things in their

heart.

And Lord, for all of us,

please help us to keep

coming back again and

again to who you are and

what you have done and not

ourselves.

In Jesus' name, amen.