A PRAYER TO START
When we recognize in Jesus his true identity, there is an intensity that quickens our faith. This precious gift of the Father to allow us confess rightly his Son, and our sure hope, should be taken advantage of! So, today read the words of Eugene Peterson below and pray with the zeal of one who beholds Christ in all his glory…
In a sea of religious mediocrity, ardent faith stands out as a lone volcanic island. The sea washes its banks and tries to erode its shores. But however vast the sea, it is no match for the inner fires that explode toward heaven.
O Father, I want to develop the passionate spirit that you revealed in Jesus, rich in bold faith and adventurous trust. I want my life to become intense through faith, not flaccid through laziness. Amen.
TAKING A LOOK AHEAD
On any journey, whether a hike in the mountains or a trek to the grocery store, it is important to be aware of your surroundings, to be present. It’s also important to know where you are going! To look up, and take a peek at what is ahead.
This coming week our journey turns toward the precipice of the crucifixion, “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (16:21) Destined for death, and life again, it is important to Jesus that the disciples begin to themselves connect the dots of Jesus' ministry, identity, and glorification.
Read Matthew 16:1-28. As you are reading take notice and note of the following:
Who are the characters in the story? Explicitly named and those assumed.
Where does the story take place? Physically, & how is it connected to what proceeds it?
What repeats? Words, characters, actions/events, sayings, descriptions, etc.
What surprised you?
What might have surprised the people Matthew was writing to?
What questions does the story raise so far?
CONNECTING THE DOTS
Chapter 16 begins with familiar interactions. Jesus is “tested” by the popular and ruling religious leadership (v. 1-4), and frustrated with the disciples’ little discerning faith (v. 5-12). Where else in Matthew’s gospel have we seen comparable interactions?
What is similar and what is different about these interactions? Consider the characters responses.
Jesus asks the disciples two questions, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” and “But who do you say that I am?” (v.13-15). The people perceive Jesus to be nothing more than a “recycled prophet”, another voice (perhaps even significant) in the throng of voices proclaiming God. What do people say about Jesus today? Is their description much different?
The disciples confess through Peter that Jesus is something more than a spokesman of God, rather he is the Christ (the Messiah), the very Son of the living God—divine in his being and purposes. What is different about recognizing Jesus as divine verses a divine herald?
Jesus praises Peter’s confession, proclaiming the revelation that Jesus is indeed the Christ (v.20), divinely the Son of the living God, is the bedrock for the church today. As one commentator notes (Caragounis, 108-113), Jesus is saying “As sure as you are called Petros [Peter], on this rock (petra) of what you have just said I will build my church”. Why is this confession the foundation, the solid ground (7:24-27), on which the family of faith is built?
When Jesus says to Peter, and subsequently all those who have been given to “understand” this confession (11:25-27, 13:51-52, 18:18), that Jesus will give them “the keys of the kingdom of heaven…” he is once again conferring authority. Jesus is giving Peter and those who have the understanding to confess Jesus as the Christ, the authority to steward God’s affairs upon the earth. As David Garland (175) notes, “This image does not represent Peter as the porter at the gates of heaven, as he is portrayed in popular humor, but is related to his authority to interpret and teach so that he opens up the kingdom of heaven to others.” What is the significance of Jesus’ dispatch, and how does it relate to verse 21 and the remainder of chapter 16?
A THOUGHT TO PONDER
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
(C.S. Lewis)