Allen Laben - Class 3: Confession

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   Reading Matthew 16, verses 13 through 28. When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

2. 0:26

   And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my ecclesia, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

3. 0:52

   And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged He His disciples that they should tell no man that He was Jesus the Christ. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples how that He must go into Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised again the third day.

4. 1:27

   Then Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee. But He turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offense unto me. For thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

5. 1:49

   Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

6. 2:13

   Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

7. 2:36

   This is the 2019 Wichita Falls Ecclesial Spring Gathering. Our subject matter this weekend is the story of the Apostle Peter, with classes being led by Brother Alan Laban of the San Diego County Ecclesia. Our third class is entitled Confession. Brother Alan. Better? All right. I'm definitely someone who desperately needs the audio boost.

8. 3:03

   So we'll dive into our final class this morning, looking at, well, two of Peter's confessions, because we'll wrap up with the confession that he made at the end of the episode of Walking in the Water, and then continue with the confession he makes up close to Caesarea Philippi. There are lots of threes in Peter.

9. 3:22

   Many of his episodes come in threes. He has three denials. He had three callings. There's also three confessions of faith. So before we dive in to consider that second and great confession that is most well known, we're going to go back and wrap up the confession that we see toward the end of his episode of Walking on the Water with Christ.

10. 3:41

    Back as Jesus gets in the boat, the narratives converge again. In Matthew chapter 14, verses 32 and 33 and 34, if you just want to turn there briefly, we'll consider these closing words in Peter's first confession, and we'll kind of set the stage for what we'll consider in this last class. It's recorded in Matthew, Mark, and John.

11. 4:05

    Jesus steps back, and the wind and the waves stop, and the disciples wonder, what manner of man is this? But this time, Matthew, or when this had happened previously, back in Matthew chapter 8, verse 27, their first storm of the sea, the disciples wondered, what manner of man is this? But this time, Matthew records that their reaction is different.

12. 4:26

    There's growth from the first storm to the second storm. Whereas previously, they weren't totally sure what was happening, now they see Jesus as the Son of God. Prior to this point, there had only been one confession of faith previously. That had been by a madman. Here, the disciples confess that Jesus was the Son of God.

13. 4:49

    We can see a growth in the understanding of the disciples, which will culminate in the confession we will see in this class over in Matthew chapter 16, verse 16. However, despite their growth and their understanding of Jesus, the disciples still had a ways to go. John, over in 6, verse 21, notes that they were only then willing to receive Jesus into the boat.

14. 5:11

    There's an implication they may not have been as willing previously when they were still gripped by fear. In Mark chapter 6, verse 51 through 52, we're told that the wonderment of the disciples was also out of the hardness of heart at not understanding the meaning of the miracles of the loaves and fishes.

15. 5:30

    They had not fully grasped that Jesus was indeed that prophet like Moses, that the man from heaven would be the suffering servant who must take the cross before the crown. As we leave this episode of Peter walking on the water, we also leave another sort of parable. We can look through this whole episode and see it as a parable of a life in Christ, from Jesus being separated from his disciples through water.

16. 6:00

    It's almost a type of baptism, going down through the water. Night falls and Jesus ascended to the mountain, similar to how Jesus is now in heaven and we are in the Gentile night. The disciples went in a boat, headed to that city of comfort, Christ's own city, almost as the ecclesial community making their way to the kingdom.

17. 6:20

    The disciples on the Sea of Nations being tossed and caught in the storm, like the ecclesia in conflict. As a new day approaches, Jesus comes in the water, a foreshadow of Jesus' return. Peter walking to Jesus as Jesus gathers the saints to him on the last day. Jesus saving Peter and then rebuking him for the lack of faith is almost a type of judgment.

18. 6:42

    Jesus being recognized for who he is, a recognition of Jesus on his return. Jesus calming the sea is a symbol of subjugation of the nations. And as soon as the storm stops, the record records that they arrived at that city of comfort, a parallel to the entrance into the kingdom, a rest for God's people.

19. 7:00

    There Jesus healed the people and the people came to him from abroad. An example of nations coming to Jesus in the kingdom for healing and for teaching. So that brings us to the end of the account of Peter walking on the water to Christ. And we saw that we have a Lord who is above, in control, and revealed in the midst of the storm.

20. 7:21

    We're encouraged to listen to the Lord's word and to come when he calls, to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. And if we are sinking, cry out for help. When reflecting on this event later in 1 Peter chapter 1, when Peter talks about trials and temptations, he reflects that there can be joy found in them.

21. 7:40

    Not because the trial itself is joyous, but in the end there is unspeakable joy. And they felt a little bit of that as they reached the other side of the sea in that city of comfort. So that brings us now to our next class. And we'll pick up the narrative here in John chapter 6, verse 66 through 71.

22. 8:00

    So the disciples are now on the other shore. They've crossed over to Capernaum. John will pick up the narrative as Jesus meets the crowds that have traveled through the night. So right, as the disciples are taking their much longer than anticipated trek across the Sea of Galilee, all those crowds are going the long way, which actually probably would have been around the same amount of time, right?

23. 8:22

    The disciples thought they were going the short way, about a two-hour trip around that eight miles across the sea. The crowds probably would have taken about the same time to actually walk around the north because the storm took so long or delayed them so much on the water. Those crowds traveled through the night, and they were clearly looking for another miracle like the feeding they had the previous day.

24. 8:42

    Jesus tells them that he will feed them. But it's not with the kind of bread they had previously. It's with the manna of his body. It's here, as we talked about in the last class, that Jesus first outlines what will happen to him one year later. And from that point, many stop following him.

25. 9:00

    So we're going to pick up in verse 66. From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then Jesus said to the twelve, Will you also go away? Peter will respond to Jesus' question. And when he does so, this time he does for the group. You can see the growth in Peter here.

26. 9:18

    Previously, he looked to follow Jesus alone. He said, bid me come to the water. We just saw that in our last class. Bid me come into the water. But now he's making a statement that not just he, but the whole group would follow. Look down in verse 68. Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go?

27. 9:39

    Thou hast the words of eternal life. Again, we see Peter's emphasis on the word of the Lord. And we see that he's changed his pronouns. Peter is now thinking more of following Jesus as a collective, as a body, as a group, not an individual thing. The bitter irony is after Peter makes this statement, Jesus alludes to the fact that one in that group of we, Judas, would betray him.

28. 10:02

    What a contrast in perspective. While the people sought bread, Peter sought after Jesus's words of eternal life. While the people sought for physical food to sustain their lives for today, Peter was looking for that spiritual food that would sustain him for eternity. He said, And we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

29. 10:27

    And there's a difference in translations here. Most translations have a different rendering than the King James for John 6, 69. Here's how the ESV and the RSV render it. In John 6, 69, it says, And we believe and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. So you can see there's a little difference there between there art the Christ, the Son of the living God, and here you are the Holy One of God.

30. 10:48

    That phrase, Holy One of God, may be pulled from a place that Peter would later quote in his speech on the day of Pentecost over in Acts 2. He may be alluding over to Psalm 16 and verse 10. It uses that phrase, Holy One of God, That will not leave my soul in hell, neither will thou suffer thy Holy One to seek corruption.

31. 11:12

    Could that be what Peter's alluding to here? Thinking back to Psalm chapter 16 and verse 10, telling Jesus that he understood, that they understood, that in spite of what Jesus said about being offered up, that he understood Jesus would not seek corruption, since he was the Holy One of God, that God would preserve him.

32. 11:29

    Or was Peter thinking over in Psalm chapter 78 verse 41, where Israel turned back and provoked the Holy One of Israel? This would be Peter's second confession of faith. We just saw the first one a moment before. But this conviction was about to be tested. That's because over the next six months, there would be increasing opposition to Jesus' message, and after that, he would begin his journey south to Jerusalem, where he would suffer and die before going into glory.

33. 12:02

    Peter believed this, but would it last over that final year? We're now entering that final year of Christ's ministry. And the next six months that we're going to cover are not recorded by John. There's a big jump here between the close of John chapter 6 and the start of John chapter 7. We know this because down in John chapter 7 verse 2, John makes reference to the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Feast of Tabernacles is about six months after the Passover that we know is alluded to back over in John chapter 6.

34. 12:35

    When John picks up the narrative in John chapter 7 verse 2, we're starting to enter the last year, or the last six months of Jesus' ministry. And in that intervening time that John doesn't give us much detail on, we'll look to the other gospel records. It's that intervening time of growing opposition. Following that, we have Jesus' journey to Jerusalem.

35. 12:59

    That final six months of his ministry is mostly recorded in Luke and these travel narratives as he makes his journey down from the area of Galilee and Capernaum down south to Jerusalem. So this class is going to look at a pivotal event that happened kind of in that yellow period, that period of growing opposition.

36. 13:18

    Between the Passover and John chapter 6 verse 4, where the feeding of the 5,000 happened, Jesus and Peter walked on water, and the Feast of Tabernacles over in John chapter 7 verse 2, when Jesus then begins his final trip down south to Jerusalem. And between the four gospels, there are about 30 events that occur in this time frame between the Passover and beginning of John chapter 6 and the Feast of Tabernacles.

37. 13:45

    There they are. I don't expect you to read that. That font is really small. But you also have this in your handout over on page 13. So this is the first six months of the final year of Jesus' ministry. So let's walk through, just to set the context, to the lead up of the text we're going to consider right now.

38. 14:05

    So in our last class, we covered the first six or seven events here. We looked at the feeding of the 5,000, the storm at sea, we looked at Peter walking on the water, and how he arrived at the other side of the sea. This is going to focus on a unique trip a little bit later on, all the way up in Caesarea Philippi.

39. 14:24

    But before we get there, after leaving the Sea of Galilee, Jesus spent some more time in Capernaum. The Pharisees and the scribes journeyed from Jerusalem, met Jesus up in Capernaum following the Passover, and challenged Jesus on not following their traditions. Jesus reversed the challenge on them and said they were transgressing the commandment of God for the sake of their tradition, something we're going to pick up tonight in this evening's lecture.

40. 14:50

    In the face of such unbelief, Jesus heads up to Tyre and Sidon. He journeys north to a Gentile area, the area of Lebanon today, where he met a faithful Syrophoenician woman. From there, he goes down to the southeast of Decapolis, down to the southeast of Galilee, where, again, there was a largely Gentile population.

41. 15:13

    Here, Jesus heals a man who is both deaf and mute, and feeds another 4,000 by the sea. And what seems at first is kind of a random series of little stories pieced together, like why did Jesus go up to the area of Lebanon? Why did he go down to the area of Decapolis?

42. 15:30

    Why is he making this rather indirect journey? Well, something we don't have time to look into, but you have in your handout on page 10, might serve as a bit of a guide. What might first seem to be a rather random record of travels is quite structured. While we don't have time to dig into it now, I'd suggest that in your own study, compare the flow between these events from Matthew 15 and Isaiah 29.

43. 15:53

    You'll see why Jesus takes a trip north to go meet the Syrophoenician woman when he did, why he does the specific healings he does afterwards as well. It was the fulfillment of the sequence laid out in Isaiah chapter 29. Now, down to Matthew chapter 16, he goes over to Magdala. It's a port city.

44. 16:12

    It's where Mary Magdalene was from, right? See the connection between the name Magdala and Magdalene? It's where the salt from the Dead Sea would be brought up so the fishermen on the Sea of Galilee could bring their fish in and have them salted before being shipped out to various places in the empire.

45. 16:26

    Here, Jesus returned to the house of Israel after visiting those two Gentile areas where he promised none but the sign of the prophet Jonah to the Pharisees and Sadducees seeking a sign. And almost immediately after he crossed the Sea of Galilee, he crossed it again, going back the way he came, warning his disciples of the teachings of the Pharisees.

46. 16:47

    And then after healing a blind man in the area of Bethsaida, he starts north. And that's where we'll pick up the account again. Please turn with me over to Matthew chapter 16 and we'll look at verse 13. Those events we just looked at spread over about six months bring us to a unique moment in the ministry of our Lord.

47. 17:09

    Over the following week after this, Jesus heads north again, but this time he's not heading north to meet a Syrophoenician woman. He's not going to meet a group of Gentiles. Here he's bringing just his disciples with him. And the record seems it was only his disciples he talked to while he's making this trip up to Caesarea Philippi.

48. 17:28

    He was focusing on strengthening his disciples before that trip, those travel narratives, down to Jerusalem, those final six months of his life leading up to that final week and his crucifixion. We read over in Matthew chapter 16, verse 13 that he's headed to Caesarea Philippi. And this was in the far northern reaches of Israel.

49. 17:47

    It was famously where the headwaters of the River Jordan began and they would flow about 25 miles down from Caesarea Philippi at the base of Mount Hermon down into the Sea of Galilee and then further down into the Dead Sea. Just north of Caesarea Philippi sat Mount Hermon. It would be incredible prominence, most prominent mountain in the area, some 2,800 meters.

50. 18:11

    For those of you who are familiar with Mount Baldy behind L.A., kind of the same amount of prominence, like you're standing down there, that's the mountain that stands out, all beautiful and snow-capped off there in the distance. Today it's the Golden Heights. It's a strategic area that is much disputed, a strategic location because of that sheer elevation.

51. 18:29

    It's the chief of all mountains in the area and with its snow melting down every spring, it would feed the streams that would flow down to Galilee and down through the Jordan. Caesarea Philippi sat at the base of that mountain and it was right next to this massive wall of rock that was some 1 to 200 feet high and about 500 feet wide.

52. 18:50

    And those springs would come out of this face of rock. That's where the springs of the Jordan flowed from. And because of the large spring and the caves that the water had formed over the years, Caesarea Philippi became a center for religious nature worship. It's a beautiful area, not that I've been, but I have photos.

53. 19:10

    It's a beautiful area described for us where you can see these waters flowing out of this rock. And during the New Testament period, it was a center for pagan worship, specifically for the Greek god Pan. And if you want to follow along in your handout, you can see some of this over on page 11.

54. 19:28

    If you visit the site today, you will see the ruins of many Greek temples. The temples, the Greek and Roman temples were built around the caves and grottos that naturally kind of formed in the cliff face and others were carved out. And this is where the Greek and Roman god Pan, or the Greek god Pan would have been worshiped.

55. 19:50

    And in fact, the original name for that city, Caesarea Philippi, before it was renamed by Philip, after himself and Caesar, was Panaeus, named after the god Pan. It was a center of Pan worship, not only for the pagans in the area, but of the whole Roman world. This was the place that you're going to go to if you wanted to seek favor from the god of trickery and fear.

56. 20:12

    And the largest of these caves, pictured up there on the left, was literally called the Gates of Hell, something that will be significant as we read down through the text. It was used for sacrifice. What you would do is you'd go up to this cave, and the water level is presumably higher now than it was back in Josephus' day, who writes a bit about this.

57. 20:30

    But you would throw your goat sacrifice in there, and as it kind of plummeted down to the abyss, you knew if Pan accepted your sacrifice, if the goat didn't come floating back down the stream, but if the goat just disappears in the abyss and doesn't float back down, the belief was that Pan had accepted your sacrifice, and you would get a blessing.

58. 20:48

    Over time, this area was built up. In Jesus' day, the caves were not just left open. They had large temples built around them, and those temples combined elements of both this pagan worship of Pan with emperor worship of the Roman Caesar. Under Herod the Great, Caesarea Philippi became a place for political ritual as well as pagan worship.

59. 21:11

    After Augustus Caesar's first visit to Palestine, Herod the Great wanted to build a monument to honor Caesar, and this main monument over on the left-hand side was built directly in front of that cave people would use to go and worship the god Pan. After Herod the Great died in AD 4, his territory was divided between his sons.

60. 21:33

    His son Philip took over this area. He took over the area toward the north and renamed the city Caesarea after Caesar because of all of the temples to Caesar and to Pan, and Philippi after himself as Roman rulers would want to do. So knowing the context of this is significant as we get into what Jesus talks to his followers about.

61. 21:54

    There was no other place like this in Israel. Josephus comments on it specifically that this was a center for Roman worship of the emperor as much as it was a center for the worship of pagan gods. Knowing the context for where Jesus and his disciples were going will help fill in the picture with some of the things that are discussed.

62. 22:16

    Jesus and his disciples had traveled about 25 miles north from the Bethsaida and Capernaum area up to Caesarea Philippi along the Jordan River until they come to this temple dedicated to Caesar Augustus, a man that the Romans regarded as a son of God, right? The Roman Caesar was seen as a sort of divine being.

63. 22:36

    And this temple sat alongside a massive exposed cliff face with a deep cave known as the Gates of Hades or the Gates of Hell where Pan, another divine, believed to be a divine being, another son of God was worshiped. And interestingly, both of these sons of God, Caesar and Pan, were dead. Caesar Augustus at this point was dead.

64. 22:56

    He was a mortal who now laid in his grave and another took his place on the throne. And Pan was no more than a stone dead statue. In this setting, among men who falsely claimed divine sonship and dead idols perched alongside a great rock that overshadowed the mythical gates of hell, Jesus asked his disciples a question.

65. 23:17

    And we see that question over in Matthew chapter 16, verse 13. They come to this city, the rock faces in front of them, and Jesus turns and asks his disciples, whom do men say that I, the son of man, am? Luke makes an emphasis that this question was meant only for his disciples over in the parallel of Luke 9, verse 18.

66. 23:35

    But based on the disciples' response, this was clearly a question that many people were asking at the time. Who is Jesus? Based on the events that we left off in John 6, you could see people leaving asking, who is this man? He isn't who we thought we were. The crowds of Jews at the feeding of the 5,000 had hoped he was going to be the one to bring across that great and terrible day of the Lord and overthrow the Romans.

67. 24:00

    The group that followed him around the Sea of Galilee to the other side was disappointed when Jesus spoke not of restoring the kingdom to Israel at that moment, but of his coming sacrifice. There was confusion around this question. Was he really the Messiah? Some thought he was John the Baptist back from the dead.

68. 24:17

    That was a Herod's, guess back in Matthew chapter 14 and verse 2. Remember that confusion? Jesus seemed to be preaching a similar message and had spent time in the same area that John was at. Some thought Jesus was John the Baptist risen again. Others thought he was the Elijah of the latter day.

69. 24:34

    Perhaps they figured that since Jesus wasn't acting like the king that they expected, since Jesus wasn't taking the throne, that maybe Jesus was supposed to be the prelude, maybe he was the Elijah to another Messiah that was going to come. He did things like Elijah did. He was in conflict with the rulers of his day.

70. 24:51

    He provided food for the needy. Elijah did that too. He raised the dead. Elijah did that as well. He took an unexpected trip to Tyre and Sidon. Elijah also did that as well. Or perhaps he was maybe another prophet come back to life, either literally or a continuing of their legacy. Maybe Jesus was like Ezekiel.

71. 25:12

    Ezekiel was called the son of man 89 times. Jesus referred to himself in the same way. Could it be Jeremiah? Was Jesus not also a man of sorrows, similar to the weeping prophet? Jesus had just made an allusion a few chapters previously about the sign of the prophet Jonah. Could Jesus be another prophet like Jonah?

72. 25:33

    And notice the ambiguity implied here in the language in Matthew. Some say this. Others say that. There's no element of certainty or firm belief here. Just general feelings among the crowd of who they thought Jesus was. And there is a lesson for us here. Follow the religious notions of the crowd around us and you're almost always going to be wrong.

73. 25:55

    The differing, confused, and apathetic views people had toward Jesus are also present today. There's a lot of confusion about who Jesus is. Today, it's actually in fashion to be non-committal about religious beliefs and to not have firm opinions about who Jesus is. Many people today say Jesus was a good teacher. Others see him as a religious prophet that should be admired for his moral compass, but nothing more.

74. 26:20

    Still others see him as a good example of social work, but not someone who has authority to tell us how to live today. The same ambiguity and confusion that Jesus confronted 2,000 years ago is around us now. And like Peter, we have an opportunity and an obligation to take a different stand. Taking a stand on who we believe Jesus is, and that will be as radical as it was 2,000 years ago today.

75. 26:48

    It's also worth noting that people no longer thought he was just the carpenter's son either. But likewise, by the time we reach this period, getting on to the last six months of Jesus' ministry, they aren't thinking of him as the prophet like unto Moses, as we saw in our last class. Interestingly, the way Jesus asked this question has the answer hidden right inside of it.

76. 27:08

    Look at how he asked the question. He says, whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? Could this be an allusion back to Daniel chapter 7 and verse 13 where we read, I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of Days and brought him near before him.

77. 27:31

    Jesus then makes the answer quite personal. He looks at his disciples and says to them specifically, who do you say that I am? Having heard what Jesus said, Simon, hearing Peter, speaks first with a clear assertion similar to what he did back in John chapter 6 and verse 68. And Mark and Luke recount shorter versions of what he said.

78. 27:55

    In Mark, it captures the core point of that confession. Thou art the Christ. In Luke, we see, thou art the Christ of God. And Matthew contains this full statement, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. This is different than the previous statements we've seen. Peter doesn't put in qualifiers or disclaimers about his statements.

79. 28:15

    He doesn't say, I think you might be, or I've considered that you might be. He is absolute in his language. He is stating that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And what might seem on the surface to be a very simple statement is actually very specifically chosen language that harkens back to two places in the Old Testament that shows how closely Peter had been living up to his birth name of Simon, hearing.

80. 28:39

    He had been listening to Jesus and he brings some elements together here. The concepts of Christ and Son of God are uniquely combined in Psalm chapter 2. You want to turn over there in Psalm chapter 2, verses 2 and verse 7, bring these elements together of the Christ and Son of God. In Psalm chapter 2 and verse 2, we read that the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, his anointed, the Messiah or the Christ.

81. 29:08

    And then down in verse 7 of Psalm chapter 2, the Lord saith unto me, thou art my son. The context fits considering the conflicts Jesus just had with the rulers of the Jews right before he comes up here to Caesarea Philippi. And unlike the crowds, which had been discouraged by Jesus' rejections by the leaders, Peter saw it as another confirming sign of Jesus' Messiahship.

82. 29:33

    While the faith of others waned, Peter, the son of Jonah, Jonah means dove in Hebrew, makes reference back to that same Psalm that was cited by the voice from heaven on the day of Jesus' baptism. As that dove descended down upon Jesus and they heard the declaration quoted from Psalm 2, thou art my beloved son.

83. 29:55

    What a wonderful reassurance for Jesus. Here, the son of a dove lived up to his name Simon or hearing. Peter's statement also would have been in sharp contrast to their surroundings. The message proclaimed by the temple Augustus. Unlike Augustus Caesar, who was a man who declared himself to be the son of God, here we have Jesus, a man who God declared was his son at his baptism.

84. 30:20

    But Peter does more than just reference Psalm 2. He uses a specific title for God. He says, the living God. It seems Peter picks up on Jesus' reference, who do men say that I, the son of man, am? He goes back to Daniel 7.13 as well, since that is where, in that context, we get the image of God as the living God, surrounded by the living creature spoken of in Daniel 7.

85. 30:43

    The physical context is again significant here. They're standing near not only a center of political worship of Augustus, but also a pagan center of worship where the lifeless idol Pan, a God of mischief, stood in stark contrast to an unseen living God of righteousness. Peter's statement here is also significant because of when and where he says it.

86. 31:07

    There had been confessions previously. We have found the Messiah. That's what Andrew said to Peter back in John 1.41. We have found him of whom Moses and the law and the prophets did right, Jesus of Nazareth, said Philip to Nathanael back in John 1. Of a truth, thou art the son of God, said the disciples in the boat, back in Matthew 14.

87. 31:29

    But what stands out here in this confession is Peter's conviction on his own. The confessions of faith is expanded here. It goes from he is the Messiah to he is the Messiah spoken of in the law and the prophets to he is the son of God to we believe he is the Christ to he is the Christ, the son of the living God.

88. 31:50

    So the expressions get more complex, they get more expansive, but the timing is also meaningful as well. All those earlier confessions of faith happened either in the days of Jesus' rising popularity or with a group of folks that were saying the same thing. They were confessions of faith made in the context of others that would support that confession of faith.

89. 32:08

    Even Peter's earlier confession in John was said in the context of the disciples expressing their hope together. But on this day in Caesarea Philippi, Peter stands out alone. Peter shows us that faith isn't just about what we say, it's about when and where we say it as well. The people had rejected Jesus.

90. 32:27

    Everyone else wasn't confessing their faith at the same time. It's one thing to confess faith in Jesus when you're with a group, it's another thing to do it alone. All around him were the pagan reminders of Rome, a reminder of just how small the community of believers really was. And Peter still holds firm.

91. 32:46

    An example for us to follow. Because we live in a world that worships political and social gods all around us. The things that Pan, the Greek and Roman god Pan, stood for, instant pleasure, deceitfulness, sexual promiscuity, they are present today as much as they were back in Caesarea Philippi. The world around us throws itself into the grave in the pursuit of these things as the Romans would throw their goats and sacrifices into the gates of hell as they worshipped Pan to seek their own pleasure.

92. 33:17

    In light of all that, will we make a stand to do something different? To say those things are dead to us in the world around us? That we know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Simon Bar-Jonah, the son of a dove. Let's consider the response here in verse 17.

93. 33:39

    Jesus says, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Jesus calls him Simon, son of Jonah. And that name use is significant. It's the first time Jesus referred to him this way since their first encounter. And this time, he had lived up to his given name in a wonderful way.

94. 34:00

    He'd clearly been hearing Jesus' Father make that statement upon the day of Jesus' baptism as the dove descended upon him. Jesus continues down in verse 18. And I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

95. 34:24

    Jesus switches the names here again and calls him Peter. And this is the first time since renaming him Peter two years before back in John chapter 1, verse 42. Peter was living up to his natural name. He was listening as the son of the dove, Simon. He had heard Jesus in making that confession and he was showing the character that Jesus wanted him to aspire to.

96. 34:47

    You'll recall from our first class that the Greek word behind Peter is petros, a small stone that has been chipped out of another. Jesus then says, upon this rock will I build my church. And here he changes his language. He changes his terms and doesn't use the word for a small carved out rock.

97. 35:08

    A carved out rock, you also have this on page 11 of your handout, but instead uses the Greek word petra, which vines describes as a large mass of rock. Petra is the word used to describe the large rock that the wise man built his house upon. It's used to describe that large rock in the wilderness out of which water flowed.

98. 35:28

    Paul uses that same term over in 1 Corinthians 3.11 referring to, for the other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. The word petra is used by Peter himself over in his epistle. In 1 Peter 2.8, he notes that Jesus was a rock of offense, but he had become the head of the corner.

99. 35:49

    The foundation upon which the ecclesia is built is this, the confession that Peter made. In his confession, Peter showed himself to be a smaller rock that was being aligned with that chief cornerstone. And Jesus was not appointing Peter as a rock foundation, but noting that his strength as a small rock only came from when he recognized that he was connected, carved out of that larger rock, that cornerstone, that foundation stone of Jesus Christ.

100. 36:20

     And it was a lesson he never forgot. He spoke of it before the Sanhedrin in Acts 4. And three times he alludes to it in his epistle. In the Old Testament, the rock is often, or a stone, is often a symbol of God. So it makes sense that by extension, the Son of God here would also be a rock, an example of God manifestation.

101. 36:41

     And before we move on to consider the rest of this confession, consider the possible parable presented by the physical setting again from where this statement was made. Before then, there would have been this massive cliff, 100 to 200 feet high, a sheer rock face in that Gentile area of Caesarea Philippi. This is the first time Jesus uses the term ecclesia in the Gospels.

102. 37:03

     And wouldn't it be true that spiritual Israel would arise from Gentile rocks brought together to make a holy temple aligned with that chief cornerstone, Christ? The next phrase that Jesus uses is also pulling on the physical location. Jesus speaks of the gates of hell or Hades, literally, not making a reference to Gehenna, the trash dumped out in Jerusalem, but instead, barring a word for the Greek underworld.

103. 37:30

     Ahead of them was a cave that was literally called the Gates of Hades where sacrifices to Pan would be cast in. And though the ecclesia would be built out of a, would be built on a house of, would be built, would be a house built out of Gentile stones, the paganism that dominated the cliff face ahead of them would certainly challenge it.

104. 37:52

     But it would be a struggle. In a bitter irony, that large, so paganism would be one of these largest challenges to the early church. And an ironic twist, that Greek god Pan, which Jesus is so clearly rejecting, would later be adopted by the church in the fifth century as kind of the spitting image of their concept of the supernatural devil.

105. 38:17

     Paganism was going to introduce all sorts of ideas into the Christian church that were found nowhere in scripture. the idea of dualism and the immortal soul, laying the foundation for the belief in the Trinity, introducing the belief into heaven going, hellfire, and demons. Paganism would certainly rise and bring up challenges against the ecclesia.

106. 38:36

     But as Jesus said, it would not overcome it. And location aside, even if the location isn't as significant as I'm making it here, that connotation to the gates of hell is still significant. The connotation of the gates of hell is death. The gates of the grave is a phrase used over in Isaiah 38 to describe death as the cessation of all activity.

107. 39:00

     Death is called the enemy over in 1 Corinthians 15 and is part of the promises to Abraham was to possess the gates of the enemy. If death is the enemy, part of the promises is to overcome that. In Revelation, when Jesus speaks about his resurrection, he says he has the keys of hell and of death, having overcome it.

108. 39:20

     This certainly fits into the context as well. The ecclesia would not be overcome by death because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which he talks about next. Jesus then makes his final statement to Peter. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

109. 39:43

     A more literal translation makes it a little bit easier to understand. A Holman's translation says, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven. It's not that heaven would follow Peter's decisions, but rather, after making such a confession of faith, Peter would surely act in a way that was in accordance with heaven's will.

110. 40:07

     The ironic thing here is the first thing Peter does after this, the first thing he tries to bind after this statement is Jesus from going south to Jerusalem, certainly not the will of heaven. And brethren, have pointed out there are a number of ways in which Peter did have some keys. He unlocked the message of the kingdom to the Jews in Acts chapter 2, and when he preached to the Gentiles in Acts chapter 15, unlike the scribes and the lawyers which Jesus said took away the keys of knowledge, Peter helped people unlock the gospel and understand it.

111. 40:41

     We also do see Peter in the New Testament binding and loosing in a sense. We see this in Acts chapter 5 and Acts chapter 8 with Simon the sorcerer and Ananias and Sapphira. But this was by no means limited to Peter as Jesus makes the same statement to all the disciples over in Matthew chapter 18, verse 18.

112. 41:01

     Peter later himself makes the whole point that the whole ecclesia is made up of a holy priesthood over in 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 5. And Peter was certainly thinking back to this experience as he penned that epistle later on. Over in 1 Peter chapter 1, sorry, 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 4 through 9, you can see the imagery and all the language coming out of this trip up to Caesarea Philippi coming out.

113. 41:25

     Just reading these few verses, as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.

114. 41:54

     So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble because they disobeyed the word as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

115. 42:21

     We're going to take a few more minutes and then consider one final lesson from this episode of Confession. But I'm going to pause here just to sum up the two lessons we've seen so far. First, we need not to be swept away in society's view of Jesus. Whom do men say that I am is a relevant question today and the answer matters.

116. 42:41

     He's not part of the Trinity, nor is he simply a role model. He is the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, the anointed one who would sit on David's throne, the Christ, the Son of the living God. We need to be ready to explain that when asked, to reason from the scripture when asked what we believe about Jesus.

117. 43:01

     But our answer to that question of whom do men say that I am is not simply an intellectual exercise. It's not enough just to get the factual bullet points right. It certainly starts with intellect. It starts with knowing what the Bible says. But it goes beyond that. This statement of faith is a foundation that should also be seen in our life.

118. 43:21

     Because we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one, who will sit on David's throne, we should live in such a way that looks for the coming kingdom rather than citizenship in this world, something we'll talk about in our evening class tonight. Because we believe he's the Son of the living God who knows and sees all, we should live in such a way that is conscious of God's consciousness of all that we do.

119. 43:43

     Because we believe that he's the Christ, the Son of the living God, we need to share that with others. We have keys, as Jesus said, that can unlock the kingdom for others. It's a call to preach the gospel. Indeed, Peter later talks about preaching as the natural extension of belief. Sincere belief naturally leads to preaching.

120. 44:01

     Peter talked about this to the Sanhedrin over in Acts 4, verse 20. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Or as Paul later explains over in 2 Corinthians, we believe and therefore we speak. And finally, Peter shows us that faith isn't just about what we say, it's about when we say it as well.

121. 44:21

     It was one thing to follow Jesus in the early days of his rising popularity when everyone else was doing it. It's another thing to follow Jesus when you're all alone. When the world around us throws itself into the gates of hell in pursuit of the passing pleasures of sin, do we dare make a stand and say those things are dead to us and that we know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God?

122. 44:47

     We'll close out our considerations this morning with a contrast that's going to be emblematic of our studies tomorrow morning. As we move down to the final passage here in Matthew 16, verses 20, as is often the case with Peter, we see a failure come right on the heels of a beautiful success. And while Peter has grown so much in the past years with the Lord, he still struggles like we all do.

123. 45:12

     The episode recorded in Matthew 16, verses 20-22 and Mark chapter 30, or Mark chapter 8, verses 30-32 is dramatic. Jesus, based on Peter's confession, is talking more plainly than he ever did before. Matthew 16, verse 21 records the following, From that time forth Jesus, forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and of the chief priests and the scribes and to be killed and to be raised again on the third day.

124. 45:42

     No more speaking in types and symbols of eating his flesh as the manna sent down from heaven, Jesus is now plainly saying to them that he would have to suffer and die before rising again to life. The parallel account over in Mark chapter 8, verse 32 adds emphasis to this. He spake to them saying openly, that openly there was no misunderstanding.

125. 46:03

     The message wasn't new. From the time that John the Baptist had called Jesus the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, the illusions of the teaching had been there. But here it's being stated clearly. Jesus is building on the image of himself as the stone. In Luke's account over in 9, verse 22, he notes that he will be rejected, like that stone the builders rejected, hearkening back to that messianic Psalm 118.

126. 46:28

     And Peter reacts to this. He tries to employ some of his implied binding and loosing power. And the language in the Greek here is intense. Matthew says he took him away using a word that means to take aside, to take literally by the hand and to lead away. It sounds that as Jesus was teaching, Peter stands up, goes up to Jesus, takes his hand and takes him away to the side.

127. 46:53

     And the word here for rebuke is most frequently used when Jesus casts out evil spirits. It's the same type of rebuking that Peter is now giving to Jesus. It's the voice that Jesus used to rebuke the wind and the waves. It's also that term that Jesus used a few verses before when he charged his disciples not to spread the news that he was the anointed king.

128. 47:17

     Peter was now using that rebuking, authoritative voice to talk to his master. Peter tells Jesus, be it far from thee, Lord. This shall not be unto thee. The language is emphatic, a double negative in the Greek. Here, Petros, the rock that should have been aligned with Jesus, the cornerstone, was now becoming a stumbling block himself.

129. 47:39

     Peter's statement recalls the third wilderness temptation. Again, the temptation to avoid the cross. And Matthew notes that he began to rebuke him. He was going to say more. And Jesus' reaction here is quick. Peter took him aside, but Matthew notes that Jesus turned in verse 23. Over in Mark, it says he turned around and looked on his disciples.

130. 48:07

     You get a mental picture of what's happening. Jesus is talking to his disciples about his death. Peter stands up, takes Jesus by the hand, and rebukes him with a loud, authoritative voice. Jesus turns away from Peter's grasp, back toward the disciples, with Peter now behind him. And then he says those well-known words, Get thee behind me, Satan.

131. 48:26

     Thou art an offense unto me, for thou savest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. And notice how Young Literal Translation more accurately renders that verse. And he having turned said to Peter, Get thee behind me, adversary. Thou art a stumbling block to me, for thou dost not mind the things of God, but the things of men.

132. 48:50

     The NIV has a similar rendition where Jesus uses the term stumbling block, an ironic reference just based on his prior conversation with Peter. And notice that, there we go, and notice that even though he tells Peter to get behind him, where is Jesus looking when he makes this statement? He's looking back at his disciples, not as Peter.

133. 49:12

     He had already put temptation behind him. What a great example of being proactive to remove ourselves from tempting situations. Let's walk through that again. Jesus charges his disciples, he's facing his disciples, Peter takes him aside, but when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter. Jesus wasn't waiting for Peter to decide to get behind him.

134. 49:34

     Jesus turned again to his disciples so that Peter was behind him. And what a great example for us to how to deal with temptation. Jesus again physically moved and took decisive action so that he would not stumble. We can take the phrase, get thee behind me, Satan, as a command that relied upon the compliance of Satan to remove himself as an adversary to get behind, but Jesus wasn't doing that.

135. 49:58

     He didn't wait for Peter to choose to get behind him. He moved so that the adversary was behind him. And there are countless ways we can apply that same lesson. If it's a matter of being tempted by lust, do we physically remove ourselves from the situation? Do we put Satan behind us? If we're being tempted to have our lives consumed by things of work or school or leisure to the exclusion of ecclesial or family responsibilities, do we look to physically remove ourselves from those situations that will likely result in going to excess?

136. 50:29

     It's what's from inside that defiles a man, just as Jesus taught before his journey north to Caesarea Philippi, but still those outward actions matter and help us practically deal with the temptations we encounter. And so Jesus, having put Satan behind him and telling him to stay there, Jesus gives us some insight into what Peter was thinking when he rebuked Jesus.

137. 50:55

     And we'll close with these verses. Jesus says unto his disciple, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. And whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it. And the final verses here give us some insight into what Peter was thinking.

138. 51:14

     Peter had overcome his reluctance to commit when he was called by the sea initially, as we saw in our first class. He had overcome the doubt when he sank into the waves, as we saw in our second class. But Peter still had to learn the lesson that the cross would come before the crown.

139. 51:31

     And the call to follow Christ to joy first went through trial. Following Jesus now from behind, Peter was listening intently. Never before had he been so ashamed. Never before had he so missed the mark. And never would Peter forget the lesson he learned that day. Six months later on, rather than saying, this shall not be, Peter said, Lord, with thee I am ready to go to prison and to death.

140. 51:58

     After the resurrection and Jesus' ascension into heaven, the fact that Christ had to suffer first was a core of Peter's message. And most significantly, in Peter's first epistle, he talks more about the importance of the sufferings of Christ and partnering with the sufferings of Christ and seeing Christ go through those sufferings. As an example for us to follow, he talks more about this than any other place in the New Testament.

141. 52:22

     Picking up on the same word that Jesus used in Matthew 16, 21, 14 of the other 40 occurrences appear in 1 Peter. Peter learned to look at the sufferings of Jesus not as something to be avoided at all cost, but as a way of life and his crucifixion as an example that should permeate all aspects of our lives.

142. 52:42

     Peter wrote, For hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in his steps. Peter then goes on in his next chapters to talk about how Christ's suffering, Christ's taking up of his cross, was an example for us to follow in daily life. Peter said, For as much that as Christ had suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourself likewise with the same mind.

143. 53:06

     A brother comments that the apostle who at Caesarea Philippi would feign save his master from suffering and death was steadily maturing in the appreciation and sharing of the cross of Christ. In a beautiful reversal, while trying to grasp hold, grasping hold of one's life will end up in losing it, laying down one's life will end up in finding it.

144. 53:32

     And that's because the suffering that would inevitably come as a result of our confessions of faith, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, is temporary. We have a gracious God that will not put us through more than we are able to bear, but will provide a way of escape.

145. 53:48

     Six days later, possibly right on the Day of Atonement, and ahead of the Feast of Booths, Jesus would take just three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John, away from Caesarea Philippi and north once more to the slopes of Mount Hermon to witness the kingdom come in power at the Transfiguration. Peter would later describe that as being eyewitnesses to his majesty as they witnessed Jesus converse with Moses and Elijah about the exodus he was going to accomplish.

146. 54:12

     And as Peter tried to make suggestions about building tabernacles for the three of them, a voice from heaven would come and say, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. At this point, with six months left with the Son of God, Simon, Peter, still had a lot of listening to do as he learned to rely on the rock of his salvation.