The Solid Rock
Matthew 16:13 – 20
Last week we found that Jesus had left the borders of Israel and had traveled to Phoenicia, in the region of Tyre and Sidon on the banks of the Mediterranean Sea. There He comes across a woman that pleads with him to heal her daughter that had been possessed by a demon for years. As you may recall, Jesus rejected the woman at first because she was not Jewish. But Despite being a Canaanite woman, she proves to him that she has a great faith, the Faith of a Dog in this Jewish miracle worker and because of that Jesus cures her daughter instantly.
Since then, following along in the Book of Matthew, Jesus and the disciples turn towards the east, away from the Sea and towards the mountains. Matthew tells us that Jesus performs another miraculous feeding, this time with only seven loaves and a “few small fish”. Matthew tells us that He fed around four thousand Gentiles plus woman and children that day, again with more left over than what they had started with. In this miracle Jesus was showing the Disciples that He was more than fully willing and able to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the Gentiles as well, just as He had demonstrated that He could meet Israel’s needs when He fed the five thousand.
From there Jesus takes his disciples to the district of Caesarea Philippi, a region ruled by the stepbrother of the King Herod, a man named Philip. There are two cities named Caesarea in honor of Emperor Caesar, one on the Mediterranean Sea and this one in the mountains. Philip decided to add his name to the name of the town and called it Caesarea Philippi.
To the east of the city there is this enormous mountain side of rock, a Solid Rock wall stretching straight up to the heavens. At its base there is a cave, which used to be a source for water for the Jordan River. An earthquake has slowed it since, yet the water now seeps up from underground and flows into streams to become the headwaters of the Jordan River. At the entrance to this cave Philip the King over the region had built a temple to Caesar.
Off in the distance Jesus and the Disciples see Mount Hermon where Jesus would soon be transfigured alongside Moses and Elijah with Peter, James and John brought by Jesus to witness the foreshadowing of the divine Jesus. What an amazing setting for Jesus to have a conversation with the Disciples about who they believed him to be.
Jesus asks the Disciples “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Many of them chimed and said that some thought He was John come back from the dead. Some thought He was the forerunner of the Messiah and so that he was the return of Elijah. Only Matthew’s version of this story includes the thought that he was the return of the prophet Jeremiah, the first of the latter prophets. All of those were people that they already knew but Jesus is a different person, with a different mission.
Ok that is the thoughts of people that didn’t know Him well, hadn’t traveled with him for the last couple of years hearing the lessons and seeing the all the miracles. Jesus wants to know who the Disciples think that He is. So he asks “But Who do you say I am?”.
The word “you” here is emphatic and it is the plural form of the word. If Jesus were from Brooklyn it would have been “who do yous guys think I am?”. If he had been from West Virginia he would have asked “who do ya’ll think I am?”
The point is that Jesus is asking all the Disciples the question. He is measuring their faith. But Peter the leader of this group speaks on behalf of the disciples when he answers. Peter’s confession was clear and direct: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
Jesus’ reaction is “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this truth was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, by man but rather by my Father in heaven.” Then Jesus looks up at that massive stone wall reaching up to heaven and says “I tell you that you are Peter, The Solid Rock on which I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it”.
The Solid Rock that Jesus is talking about is the faith and the belief which empowers the confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This confession of Peter and the other Disciples is The Solid Rock upon which the Church of Christ will built and it’s the message that must be shared so that all may come to know Jesus and be able to make the same confession, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
This confession shows a deeper level of understanding than what had been made before. Now, this was not the first time that Peter and the disciples were made aware of the Messiahship of Jesus. In fact, the disciples followed Jesus, believing that He was the Messiah. What made Peter’s confession so important was the fact that it came against the backdrop of all the confusion and false teachings about Jesus.
This confession of faith was so strong that Jesus could now begin talking about His death on the cross. We will see that in our lesson next week. Jesus could now also begin to build the foundation of His Church upon The Solid Rock of confessing souls which reveals the truth about Jesus
To confess Jesus is to do more than a stating a fact. It is an historical fact that there was a man named Jesus born in Bethlehem during Herod’s reign. That is a fact, knowing that doesn’t take faith.
To confess that Jesus is the One who died for you, to give you the forgiveness, to redeem your muddled soul, to give you infinite worth and an eternal home where we are bathed in the soothing water of glory, that takes faith.
That faith is formed when you hear God’s Word and take it to heart. Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but rather it is revealed only through the grace of Father who is in heaven. It is only then that we can confess that Jesus as the one and only Son of the Living God. It is that Solid Rock upon which Emmanuel, God with Us will build his Church among His people.
Over the past few months, we have come to a new understanding of The Solid Rock foundation upon which the Church, the Body of Christ is built. Because the pandemic forced us to remain away from our church buildings and away from our brothers and sisters there was the notion that the church wasn’t in operation, that it was closed. Nothing could have been farther from the truth as we have seen. The Church isn’t the buildings, those come and go but rather it is the confession of the souls of the believers that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God
Christ’s Church will never fall because it’s not a physical building, nor is it limited to a particular place. The Church is the communion of all believers. All the faithful make up the Church of Christ, and they’re spread far and wide.
With all the acts violence and civil and spiritual disobedience in the world around us some have begun to believe that the Church is losing out, that it is being defeated and dismissed by the world. But our lesson today gives us confidence that The Solid Rock upon which the Church is built will never be overcome by the Gates of Hades
The Church built on the confession that Jesus is the Son of the Living God will never succumb, it didn’t in the past and it won’t in the future. Evil has tried and will try to take it down. Satan has thrown all the strength of Hell against Christ and the Church, but to no avail. He attacked Jesus repeatedly, trying to sway Him over to his side, doing all he could to stop the forgiveness that is found in Jesus as promised by the Father.
Satan’s attacks continued even as Jesus hung on the Cross, as Satan tried one last time to convince Jesus that God had forsaken Him but that too failed as Jesus commits His soul to God and makes his human confession, Father into your hands I commit my soul. Three days later Jesus rose from the dead and proved that nothing can stop Him or His Church. Even death cannot destroy the true Church. It may ruin denominations or local churches that lose sight of the vision; but the universal body of believers, the universal Church, will be victorious.
Hear the Good News my Friends………
The Solid Rock of the Church of Christ is the faithful believers that confess when they are asked throughout their days and their lives, who do you say that Jesus is and they can faithfully and earnestly reply He is the Christ, my Messiah and Savior and he is the Son of the Living God. Have you made that confession before? Can you make that confession here today? Can you say it with me “Lord you are the Christ, my Messiah and my Savior, you are the Son of the Living God”?
Dear Ones with that confession you have reaffirmed yourself part of The Solid Rock upon which the Church of Christ has been built and upon which it will remain. The confessing church has always been and will always be the foundation of the work of Jesus in the earthly Kingdom. These are just a few important characteristics of the confessing church filled with The Rock Solid confessing Christian compared to a compromising church filled with worldly followers.
- In the confessing church Christ is over society and believes Jesus is Lord over all creation. The compromising church accommodates society by displacing Christ.
- The confessing church puts the Kingdom of God above culture. The compromising church puts their culture before the Kingdom of God.
- The confessing church holds fast to the word of God despite opposition from the world. The compromising church alters the word of God because of opposition.
- The confessing church desires the praise of God. The compromising church desires the praise of men.
Even today Jesus continues to build His church and if we are willing to make the same acknowledgement as Peter, we too can be The Solid Rock on which he continues to build His Church! The Church is found wherever Jesus is clearly proclaimed as the Christ, the Son of the living God. Father may we always be a church filled with Rock Solid believers doing your work in the world and make Rock Solid believers wherever we go. Amen.