Matthew 16:24-25 (NKJV) 24Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
I want to begin to look at something else that is key to both submitting to God and resisting the devil. I think there is a tendency in the church today to focus on the soul instead of the spirit. The soul involves the intellect, emotions and will. Simply from my observations, it seems that we want to make sure people are stable in those areas. We want to be sure that people are feeling okay. We want them to know that there is no condemnation if they are not and that God loves them and is with them even in their sadness, depression, discouragement or fear. I certainly agree with that.
We seem to have accepted the idea that educating the intellect is most important. We believe that theological understanding and doctrinal training is the answer for people. There also seems to be a conviction that secular education is important to a person’s wellbeing. Again, I do not necessarily disagree, however I would caution that secular education is often at odds with what the Word of God teaches. As believers, we must grow in our knowledge of the Word before anything else. When our faith in the Bible is challenged, we must be grounded enough to stay with the Word of God over the knowledge of men. We do this by evaluating what we learn in light of the Bible and our relationship with him, not the other way around.
What I was taught and subsequently made the main thrust of my ministry is that the soul is much easier to keep healthy if we develop our spirit, that part which is in relationship with God. It is our spirit that is born again in salvation. Paul tells us that we must renew our mind, the seat of the soul, to be transformed. I believe that the human mind is renewed by filling it with God’s word. Hebrews 4 tells us that the written word is a living thing that has the power to change our thoughts and the intents of our hearts. The problem is that the teachings in the Bible are not always things that are comfortable to hear. They often challenge us to change and that is not always pleasant. Today’s scripture is one of those teachings, and it comes from Jesus himself.
The context of this verse is found in Matthew 16:17-19. To save time I will not quote it here, but it is important we understand what is happening and what brings Jesus to make the statement he does. In Matthew 16, Jesus askes his disciples two questions. First, he Asks, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” This is a question that asks for an opinion not a decision. The disciples give various answers that reflect what people thought of Jesus’ ministry and who he might be according to Hebrew tradition.
The second question is very different. “Who do you say that I am?” Here Jesus is not asking for an opinion. I find it interesting that he does not use the term “Son of Man” when asking this question. The Son of Man was Jesus in his earthly walk. When he asks his disciples this second question, he is not asking for an opinion. He wants to know what they believe. This requires a decision not an opinion. 11 of them had no answer. Peter did.
It seems from the account in Matthew that Peter did not answer the first question. I imagine him sitting back with a very thoughtful look on his face. After Jesus asked the second question and no one seems willing to answer, I see Peter standing up and walking toward Jesus and saying, “You are the Christ, the son of the Living God.” Jesus responds by saying that flesh and blood did not reveal this to him, but the Father in heaven did.
I believe what Jesus said to Peter is a major revelation for all believers. Peter could have surmised by observing Jesus that he was the Messiah. In Israel at that time, there was an expectation that the hour for his appearing was near. For many, John the Baptist was the “Elijah” that was to come before the Messiah. Jesus himself confirmed that to be true. There were a number of things that Jesus did which were considered Messianic miracles. So, to say that Jesus was indeed the Messiah was something he could have discerned in his “flesh and blood” experience. However, the fact that Jesus was the son of the living God was not.
In Hebrew tradition at that time the Messiah was seen as a human leader who would restore self-rule to Israel. Since Israel was fiercely monotheistic, the thought that God could have a son who was divine would have been blasphemy. Peter would never have come to that conclusion on his own. Even so, he was so sure that Jesus was not only the Messiah, but also the divine son of God, that he made an open declaration to that affect. He was willing to risk being rebuked for blasphemy. This truth was revealed or shown to him by God himself.
This is a deeper kind of knowledge than anything we can learn through our physical senses. All the disciples saw and heard things that could have brought them to the conclusion that Jesus was in fact the Messiah. However, God took what Peter had learned, enhanced it and clarified it to the point where he not only expected Jesus was the Messiah, but he knew that Jesus was that and more. The Messiah was not just a king like David. He was God manifested in the flesh. The son of God.
This revelation knowledge is available to all of us who have been born again. In Peter’s case, Jesus said it changed something in his nature. Before this process of revelation happened to him, he was Simon, which means a reed blowing in the wind. I am sure he had convictions, but they were not firm. We see Simon resurfacing at the crucifixion when Peter denied Jesus 3 times. Even though we may receive revelation knowledge that changes us, we still sometimes revert to what is familiar to us. However, at that moment, Jesus declares that Simon has become Peter. Not THE Rock but a stone (Petros in Greek) made of the rock.
THE rock (Petra in the Greek) upon which the church will be built is the process of revelation that changed him. Jesus says this processed gave him access to a kind of faith that was unshakable in the end. He said the keys of the kingdom of heaven would be given to him. What are these keys? I believe they are the principles from the Word of God that come to life as God reveals them to us in the Spirit. We must study to show ourselves approved of God, rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15.) However, once we do that part which comes by our senses and our intellect, God can and will take what we learn and reveal it to us as he did the truth of who Jesus was to Peter. This provides keys that do not come from natural understanding, but from what the Father reveals to us.
At that moment Jesus excitedly declares that this process has changed Peter. What do keys do? They unlock things. Peter has been given something that Jesus says will unlock the power and wisdom of the kingdom of heaven. Keys also denote ownership. I have the keys to my car and my house. I do not give them to just anyone and if I give them to someone it is only temporary because I own my property and I have the right to enter at any time I like. Jesus is declaring that Peter has the right to what the kingdom of heaven has to offer.
He says that whatever Peter binds or loosens on earth will be bound or loosened in heaven. He says that the sins he forgives will be forgiven and those he does not forgive will not be forgiven. There have been certain denominational doctrines that have grown out of these statements that I do not agree with, but I am not going to address that here. What I want us to see is that Jesus is telling Peter he has been given everything he needs to fulfill the will of God for his life. Why then, does Jesus so harshly rebuke him only a short time later. That is what we will look at next time.
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