THE LIFE OF CHRIST - THE MINISTRY OF WITHDRAWALS

Fourth Withdrawal

-Jesus Questions the Apostles Regarding His Identity

-Matthew 16:13-20; Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9:18-21

-While in the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked the apostles what the people thought regarding

  His identity.

            -Notice that, prior to questioning the apostles, Jesus was spending time in prayer to the Father.

            -In view of His many wondrous works, the people realized that Jesus was a great person sent out

              by God.  However, they viewed Him as John the Baptizer, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the other

              prophets.

            -Notice that “the Messiah” wasn’t included in the list.  In spite of all the evidence presented by

              Jesus, many failed to see Him as the promised Messiah.  This was probably due to their inaccurate

              expectations regarding the manner in which He would come and what actions He would take.

                        -“It should be noted that popular opinion did not honor him as Messiah, but since it accepted

                          him as a prophet, the people were therefore inexcusable in not receiving the statements which

                          he made in regard to himself, and admitting the Messianic claims which he set forth”

                          (McGarvey/Pendleton, pg 410).

            -We saw in Matthew 14 that Herod, with a guilty conscience for executing John the Baptizer, thought

              Jesus was actually John who had returned from the dead.

            -Some thought Elijah, who had not suffered a physical death but was taken by God, had returned.

            -Jeremiah “had wept over Israel and had pleaded for Jehovah.  Some saw in Jesus a similar work to

              that of Jeremiah, hence they ascribed to him the works of Jeremiah rather than acknowledge him as

              the son of God” (Boles, pg 343).

-Jesus then asked the apostles regarding their thoughts about His identity.

            -Peter responded with the words, “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”           

            -He openly confessed Jesus as the Christ (the anointed One - the prophesied Messiah), the Son of the

              living God (the One begotten/sent of the true God of heaven).

-Here is the first part of Jesus’ statement to Peter with some explanatory paraphrases added in

 brackets:  “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona [son of Jonah], for flesh and blood [men] hath not

 revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven [not in a direct fashion upon Peter himself but

 through the evidences presented through Jesus which produced faith in Peter].  And I say unto thee,

 That thou art Peter [Greek word Petros with a masculine gender meaning a rock or piece of rock -

 see John 1:42], and upon this rock [Greek word Petra with a feminine gender meaning a mass of

 rock] I will build my church [the prophesied kingdom to be established by Jesus over which He

 would rule in authority]; and the gates of hell [hades - the place of departed souls] shall not prevail

 against it [death would not win supreme over the church but to the opposite, those in the church

 would be given the victory over death through Jesus - see 1 Cor 15:55-58]. 

            -In regards to this aspect of Jesus’ statement to Peter, there has been much discussion and debate.

             Much of the discussion and debate has centered on what is meant by “this rock”.

            -Some, such as those associated with Catholicism, have incorrectly assigned these words to Peter

              himself.  In so doing, they have exalted Peter within their own doctrine to the point of falsely

              alleging that he held an office of pope - an office not authorized in the scriptures.

            -This idea is obviously false and easily refuted.  The word used for “Peter” (Petros) is in the

              masculine gender while the word used for “rock” (petra) is in the feminine gender.  Clearly, these

              words do not refer to the same person or thing.

            -“To aid us in reaching a correct conclusion we must note that Jesus speaks in metaphorical language.

              He represents:  1.  His kingdom as a city about to be built upon a rock.  2.  Himself as a builder of

              this city.  3.  Simon Peter as the one who holds the keys to the gates by which egress and regress is

              had to the city.  4.  The gates or powers of the opposing city of Hades are not able to prevail against

              this kingdom city.  Now, since Jesus himself occupies the position of builder in the metaphor, and

              Simon Peter the position of key-bearer, neither of them can properly be regarded as the foundation.

              The foundation must therefore be the confession which Peter has just spoken, since it is all that

              remains that is liable to such application.  The case would present no difficulty at all were it not

              for the unmistakable allusion to Peter (petros, a loose stone) as in some way associated with petra,

              the bedrock or foundation.  But in light of other Scriptures this allusion presents no difficulty; for

              all the apostles were such stones, and were closely allied to the foundation (Eph. ii.19-22, Gal. ii. 9).

              Compare also I. Pet. ii. 3-8” (McGarvey/Pendleton, pg 412).

                        -The confession in Jesus’ proper identity was and is the rock spoken of by Jesus.

-The next part of Jesus’ statement has also provided much discussion:  “And I will give unto thee the keys

  of the kingdom of heaven [“This is another way of saying, ‘I will give unto thee the terms or conditions

  of admitting people into the church” (Boles, pgs 346-347).  We have Peter’s words for us recorded in 

  Acts 2 when he announced those terms and conditions to the Jews.  Later, in Acts 10, Peter was the first

  to announce those same terms and conditions to the Gentiles.]  and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth

  shall be bound in heaven:  and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven [The

  apostles, in defining and communicating what would be allowed and forbidden in the church, would be

  operating with authority from heaven through the guidance of the Holy Spirit].

            -Just a couple of additional notes: 

            -The plurality of the word “keys” does not mean that there were or are different standards of

              admission into the church.  “Plurality of keys is merely part of the parabolic drapery, since cities

              were accustomed to have several gates, thus requiring a plurality of  keys” (McGarvey/Pendleton,

              pg 413). 

            -In this passage Jesus spoke of the church and the kingdom interchangeably.  In other words, the

             church is the kingdom.  This passage serves a crushing blow to the doctrine of premillenialism.

             The keys of the kingdom were given to Peter.  Therefore, the kingdom was established during

             the lifetime of Peter and therefore is not yet something to be established in our future.

-Jesus then instructed His apostles not to make His true identity known.

            -We must remember that the apostles were still in a developmental stage at this point regarding

              their own faith.  They still had much to learn.  They still had misunderstandings about the

              prophesied kingdom and the manner in which Jesus would rule.  They were still expecting an

              earthly king and not a crucified Savior. 

            -Also, if they began teaching this truth regarding the identity of Jesus, excitement and opposition

              would have mounted and would have hindered the work that laid ahead.