Matthew 16 13 20 Peters Confession I What

Matthew 16: 13 -20 Peter’s Confession

I. What Christianity is NOT A. A Creed B. A Code of Conduct C. A Cult II. What Christianity IS A. A Person 1. Knowing this Person – John 17: 3 B. What it takes to “know” Him 1. Who He is… 2. What He came to do… C. Chapter 16 -- high point of Matthew’s narrative

III. Historical Context: A. Another Withdrawal 1. From the Conniving Pharisees and Sadducees 2. From Herod Antipas 3. Time to Teach Disciples as Time Runs Out B. An Odd Place to Go… 1. 25 miles North of Galilee a. A Lovely, Cool Spot 2. Place with “Breath of Ancient Paganism in Air” a. Ancient Site of Syrian Baal worship b. Banias/Panias c. Center for Emperor Worship (Caesarea Philippi) i. At Least 14 different temples to gods 3. Gate to Hades

III. Why Would Jesus Bring His Disciples to such a Place? A. To Ask Two Questions… 1. Who Do Men say the Son of Man is? a. John the Baptist – Matthew 14: 1 -12 b. Elijah – Malachi 4: 5 -6 c. Jeremiah – 2 Maccabees 2: 4 -8 d. Oddly no one suggested Jesus was Messiah! i. Expectations? 2. Who do YOU say that I am? a. Peter’s Classic Answer 1. Forceful Confession in Greek “You are THE Christ, THE Son of THE God, THE Living One”

IV. Peter’s Confession Does Two Things A. Identified Jesus as the Messiah (David’s Heir) 1. Jeremiah 23: 5 -6 B. Identified Jesus as Divine (Son of Living God) 1. Psalm 110: 1, Matthew 22: 41 -46 C. This is Bare Minimum that MUST be believed 1. Inadequate to call Jesus Great Teacher 2. Inadequate to call Jesus Great Moral Exemplar 3. Inadequate to call Jesus an Important Prophet D. All TRUE but all INADEQUATE! 1. Lord, Liar, Lunatic?

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. ” -- C. S. Lewis

V. The Lord’s Reply to Peter – VV 17 -19 A. A Divine Revelation not Human Intuition 1. The Holy Spirit Leads into ALL Truth – John 16: 12 -15 B. “On this Rock” 1. The Roman Catholic View a. Peter and his Heirs are the ROCK 2. The Protestant View a. Peter and Apostles are the Rock 1. Ephesians 2: 20 b. Peter’s Confession is the Rock 1. Chrysostom, Gregory of Nyssa, John of Damascus c. Christ is the Rock (Problematic Aramaic not GK) 1. Theological and Biblical Merit – Matt 21: 42

C. “The Gates of Hades will Not Prevail Against Church” 1. Location of this Event! a. Gate of Hades was a Real Place at Panias 2. What are Gates For/Who is doing the Attacking? D. “I will give you the Keys of the Kingdom…” 1. The Roman Catholic View 2. The Protestant View a. BCP – Page 269 (Ash Wednesday Liturgy) 3. Peter Used Keys of Gospel to Open the Door to… a. Acts 2 – Jews b. Acts 10 – Gentiles V. Don’t Tell Anyone! – V 20 A. That was then and this is NOW!