Please read Matthew 16.13-20 for your own insight.
A great tool in teaching is the art of effective questions. Some gender better responses than others. For instance, you may ask the question why and you will receive subjective, personal, introspective responses. If you ask the question how, you may receive ideas, notations, and even comments gendered by thought of others outside the circle answering at the time. Jesus made asking questions an art. He created language and communication so I suppose He would be the best. He also had the ability to see past the facade of humanity’s flesh and directly into the heart of man. No answer was hiding from Him then or now. We enter our text with a question proposed by the Lord to His disciples. The 12 Apostles just came from a great miracle. Four thousand men plus women and children were fed and there were leftovers. Interesting to note though this is the second time this has happened in recent months. Five thousand men plus families were fed just a short time before this occurrence. The reaction of the disciples are just the same… doubt. In fact Jesus referred to this in Matthew 16.8 as little faith. Tough words, but often spoken by the Lord in reference to His closest followers. As an onlooker into history, I feel at times I can be a little judgmental of the Apostles. This case in particular sticks out to me. “You just finished seeing miracle upon miracle including casting out demons, feedings, healing, even a resurrection of a friend and now you can’t trust the Lord for a repeat miracle you have already seen, What’s up with that?! This is usually when the Lord tends to bring the reality home to me that I too have little faith and in deep need of a question. Notice the next passage in Matthew 16 opens up with one of His famous questions. It is intended, as all of His questions, to bore into the heart of the listeners. One more time the depth of reality of Who they are talking to snaps their heads back and opens up their spiritual ears and eyes. For this reason I hate and love questions. I hate the pain it sticks me with, the utter uncomfortableness I feel when questioned. I love the revelation it leads me to, once I allow the question to seep into my heart. Here we see again how much we are like the Apostles. I am frail in my faith more than I care to admit. I can see a miracle then forget all about it’s significance once the new trial comes my way. Maybe this is why Jesus asks so many questions. I need to remember and be reminded. Let’s look now into His question.
In Matthew 16.13 Jesus asked the question, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? In unison they answer, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. I find it easy to deliver facts when questioned. It is a whole other ball game when you ask me what I think! After His initial question, Christ then turns His question in verse 15 to His disciples: But whom say ye that I am? This is first person plural therefore to the group, yet only one replies… Peter. Simon Peter said: Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God (16). The Christ, the “anointed one,” the one who would come to rescue Israel and reign as King of kings. Amazing answer for someone who just doubted the miracle of the loaves…again! Except we see the reason why he answered this way when Jesus replies to Peter in front of the rest of the class in verse 17: Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. You are blessed – because God has revealed this to you.
As Romans 12.3 says, Peter was given a measure of faith. Peter couldn’t have spiritually discerned this truth unless it was revealed to him by God. This is obvious, if you read again the entire chapter and how these men have bungled nearly every opportunity to show Jesus they “get it.” Thank the Lord that He is in the revealing business though. Through the ages God has revealed Himself in various ways such as angels, burning bushes, prophets, priests, and kings. In this instance it was revealed from the Father through the Spirit to Peter in his spirit. The Holy Spirit revealed who Jesus really is. He implanted Faith in Peter so that He could respond in Belief. This blessing is for us as well. God has revealed Jesus to us and will continue to reveal His Truths to us from the Word of God and interpreted by His Spirit — Just like those Apostles.
Interesting isn’t it? God chose to reveal the imperative truth of the New Testament through a man who just finished doubting and debating His Lord. I love grace! It is only because of God’s grace that anything has ever been revealed to us. His questions are a mechanism He often choses to naturally provoke us to ponder Him and not my present circumstance. The questions allow for opportunity to learn and be more than we know and are presently. If that wasn’t enough, in verse 18 the blessings continue to flow: And I say also unto thee… The Holy Spirit revealed this great truth to Peter, He now adds to it by saying, upon this rock I will build my church.
Some have falsely interpreted this to imply that Peter is the rock which Christ will build His church. In fact, the church had already begun. The 12 were believers, baptized together, covenanted, and assembled. Ephesians 2.20 says — And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; Indicating that the church was formed with the Apostles, not the Apostles and everyone else saved. At the church I pastor we have established in our Sunday night lessons this year that churches are local, visible congregations of baptized believers. We also discovered the birthday for the church wasn’t in Acts, rather it was with Christ and His Apostles as Ephesians 2.20 just stated. The universal church theorists and bad study habits have sold people a bill of goods. Jesus is not saying Peter is the Rock, but that the Truth revealed to him is the rock. A Rock Of Truth. This truth is- upon the foundation of Jesus, the true Christ, the Church will be founded and built.
People do not build the church, Jesus does. Our forefathers are not our stability, Jesus is. If the first church did not grow, then He was a fraud. But it did! He said He would build His church upon the Truth that He is The Christ, The Son of God! He did do it and He will continue to do it. He is responsible. He is in charge. He knows what He is doing and nothing has to be revealed to Him— He is truth and He is the One who reveals.
Who’s church is it? HIS. What does this truth reveal to us then? The church cannot be beat from the outside! As stated in Matthew 16:18b …and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Jesus made it quite clear that He was their fortification. He is the stable foundation and cornerstone to this spiritual building, which He is building. His name is on the title, therefore the devil automatically hates it! He hates anything that is God’s… He hates what God loves. Which poses a potential problem for us as mentioned in Ephesians 5.25— Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; Jesus loves His church, so much so, He sacrificed Himself for her.
The devil may not be able to defeat us from without, but man does he know how to wreak havoc from within! With this honest revelation of threat from the devil and his kingdom; Jesus also reveals a wonderful doctrine we call— The Perpetuity of the Church. It will last until the end of the church age and we are raptured out of here. Some individual churches may close, but God’s lighthouses will still be going until the very end. I pastor a church that depends on Jesus to keep us as one of those lighthouses. We are in a warfare against the devil and he has 2000 years of experience on how to conquer churches. He knows what this verse says… it wont be defeated from the outside. He tried in the dark ages and in the inquisitions, but to no avail. He knows that this promise is true and this blessing lasts even to us. One thing the devil lacks is power. He does not have sufficient power to snuff out the light completely in this age. Jesus adds again to this revelation of truth to these Apostles in verse 19- 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. This is all about: limited authority based solely upon Truth.
This phrase is used a couple of more places. Quickly lets look at those…
The first one is John 20.23— Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. The other is later in our text’s context… Matthew 18.18— Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. The church’s authority is not to determine forgiveness or to declare guilt or innocence. That sounds like a nightmare church today. Fact is, a true church has limited authority, only to declare the judgments of heaven BASED on the principles of the Word ONLY. When a church makes a judgement based on the Bible, they can be sure heaven is in accord— why? Because that is where the Bible came from. In other words, whatever they bind or loose on earth has already been bound and loosed in heaven. When the church says a unrepentant person is bound in sin, the church is saying what God says about that person, according to what His Bible says. When the church acknowledges that a repentant person has been loosed from that sin, God agrees; because the Bible says so.
This limited authority is power… power to help people in sin; power to protect the fragile inner workings of the flock; power to declare what is sin and what is not, based upon truth. Our limited authority is bequeathed to us from the limitless Head of our local body—Jesus. He declares what is truth and has prescribed such in His written Word. We have then at our church been given the power keys to the kingdom. We can get to our God and He can work through His church to deliver His truth to all who will listen.
We are truly blessed! Thank you Lord for asking your Apostles this question. Without it, I would not know the war-footing I have been placed upon. Without it, we wouldn’t know your revealed self, your revealed power, your revealed blessings upon us. Thank you, that we are just as blessed as that church was then!
When the Lord questions you, and He will, make sure you allow full access to your heart. He is trying to reveal a little more of Himself to your little faith heart.