Matthew 16:13-20 - Perception Isn’t Everything! The Son of God Grants You All!
/Matthew 16:13-20
13When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14They said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15He said to them, “But you, who do you say that I am?”
16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overpower it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20Then he commanded the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
“Perception is everything!” Or sometimes it is expressed, “Perception is reality!” Have you heard these statements? They are massive in advertising and PR. Whether business, politics, or entertainment, consider the dollars that are spent carefully crafting how a product, a person, or a persona will be perceived, all in an attempt to capture an audience. Think about all the commercials that desperately want you to think that a car, a phone, a drink will change your life for the better. The reality … we fall for it. We chase after the latest and greatest and think smart cars and phones will destress our lives, and sipping a certain beverage will make life’s troubles wash away with the waves. Of course, we’re bright enough to know that the promises fall flat and the products fail to live up to expectations.
Today, Jesus confronts perception, perception of the world about Him as He asks, “Who am I?” Jesus asked the disciples to really think about that question. In fact, He asked them to think about it in two different ways. He asked them, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” And, “Who do you say I am?”
Unfortunately, the people had missed the point. They thought Jesus was a reincarnation or a forerunner to the coming of the Messiah. We are told the people thought he was possibly John the Baptist, Elijah, or maybe even Jeremiah. They failed to realize who Jesus really was. The disciples, on the other hand, knew their Savior. Peter says it for the group, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Peter calls Jesus the “Christ”. That was the name that emphasized Jesus’ work. The name told everyone that this was the chosen one, the Savior of the world that had come in the flesh. The promise of Old Testament Scriptures. Our Lutheran Confessions say that all of Scripture is Christocentric, centered on Jesus. They point to Him and ultimately find their fullness in Him.
Peter also calls Jesus the “Son of the living God.” This is the real God of all creation. This God is not a dead statute. He is living, active, and powerful. As God, He is everything we need for salvation: only divinity can pay for the sins of all mankind, only divinity is truly perfect for all our imperfections, only One who is both God and Man could go to Calvary’s cross and conquer sin, satan, death, and hell for each of us, all of us, with His holy precious blood.
Peter’s confession is the foundation for the Church. Jesus says. “On this rock, I will build my church.” Peter’s confession becomes the key in building any church. Itis foundational! As we construct buildings that consist of people, not just bricks and mortar, the foundation must be this truth, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Some have misunderstood these words. They fail to see who Jesus really is and instead find in these words the thought that Peter is the foundation of the church. “Peter” means “rock” or “stone” and so some have thought this to be the proclamation of Peter as the first Pope. “Peter” does, in fact, mean rock. However, we’ve already seen that the rock that Jesus calls the foundation of the church is a different kind of rock. “Peter” is a singular stone while the rock of which Jesus speaks is a formation of rocks, a grouping of Peter’s. Peter’s confession is the confession of the church eternal. It is the voice of all of us of all time. Thus it is the foundation for the church. It is the rock of which Jesus speaks.
But so what, what does all this mean for us? Turn on you T.V. and turn to the religious channel. You will find a dozen different groups claiming to have their finger on who Jesus is and what He wants. Yet in the same breath you hear that they don’t prize confession or the specifics of God’s Word when it comes to faith. That doesn’t sound like the Jesus who told his disciples a confession was the foundation of the church.
Go to the religious section of the local bookstore. There you will find more religions than you care to think about: Muslims, Buddhists, Taoists, Ancestor worshippers, Catholics, Baptists, Pentecostals, Reformed, and even Lutherans in more varieties than would seem possible. Whatever we can perceive it would seem has been turned into a religion. However, there is only One Christ, who is the Son of the living God. Anyone that teaches or preaches anything otherwise follows an idol, the creation of the human mind, and a dead god.
Finally, look into your life. An honest look will find that the confession which is our foundation is often discarded for false foundations. As Americans, money and possessions can often become our foundation instead of Christ. As Humans, our pride and personnel desires can easily become phase one of our building plans and not Christ. We live in a world that doesn’t know how to answer Jesus’ question.
Brothers and sisters, perception isn’t everything. Just because someone can conceive of it doesn’t make it true. What is true? God’s Word is truth and that Word points us to Jesus Christ, true God and True Man for the salvation of sinful human beings. Yes, the Son of God grants us everything.
Jesus said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Think of heaven as a being surrounded by a huge fence and there at the entrance is a huge gate. Jesus tells his disciples that the key to that gate is in their possession.
The first key we have is often referred to as the binding key. This is an alien work of the Gospel. God would much rather all people believe in Christ and come to him. The sad reality is that some people would rather chase the dead gods of the world rather than the only true and living God. Jesus tells us the Gospel is, for them, a key that binds them from entering heaven. Such people do not belong to his church.
The second key, however, we have often called the loosening key. This is the immediate work of the Gospel. For all who confess their sins, who acknowledge that they have built on alien soil and shunned the firm foundation of Christ, God announces that sins are forgiven. For them the gates of heaven spring open because of the work of their firm foundation.
And Jesus then makes a wonderful promise. He says, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Nothing that the godless trinity of Satan, the world or our sinful flesh can bring against it will ever win. What a comfort the keys become for us. We fail every day. Sin creeps up our walls and we begin to buckle under the pressure and weight of satan. Guilt weakens our knees and despair begins to overtake us.
God quickly intervenes. In Christ, the Son of God, you have been saved and made part of the church. So Jesus says god be that church. In your homes, may the truth of forgiveness be heard in devotions and your interactions with one another. Here in worship every Sunday, may the confession and absolution ring with the authority of Jesus Christ the Son of the living God, “as servant of Christ and by His authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”. As we console, comfort, and support one another, friends or family, may we extend that Law to shatter false perception and the Gospel to replace it with reality that more and more may believe and be saved. Oh, and remember, the results are not your own any more than the work is. Jesus said, “This was not revealed to you by man but by my Father in heaven.”
Oh, fellow followers of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, perception isn’t everything, but we do live in a world that thinks it is. So perhaps it's time for the church to stand on her rock-solid foundation. Yes, just as in every age of humanity, it’s time to point to truth, time to point to Jesus because in Him we have everything we need, everything they need. The Son of God grants us all. Amen!