Episode Notes:
Episode Transcript:
the Lord be with you? You're listening to a podcast from the teaching Ministry of epic leases. Um, ancient future faith, community form or multimedia content. Or to get more information, go to www dot epic leases dot or GTA.
Now, here's Pastor Chris. I trust that you have your Bibles if you don't grab one, would you? Or maybe you have a device there or could look it up online? But today we're headed toward Matthew 16, and we'll start at the 13th verse.
But before we get there, though, I want to put this into context now. You already heard a little bit of the story when we were reading earlier in the liturgy, the place where Jesus purposefully takes his disciples to accessory a Phillippi.
Why did he purposefully take his disciples to accessory a Phillippi when I was a kid and was reading in the New Testament or heard stories about Jesus and his disciples? I kind of just assumed that the events in the Gospels concerning those travels and wondering is to be more or less random that they're wondering about, and they would sort of just take things as they came along and would comment here and there.
Jesus would on various things that they saw, and mostly they were itinerant, with no particular place to go. Maybe that's partially true. But in today's gospel story, Jesus is very precisely and strategically on purpose, taking his disciples to a place of great significance.
Why was it a place of great significance? Because it was important to that culture and it was important to the enemy. So wait a minute. What? Yeah, Jesus is purposefully taking his disciples right into the heart of the enemy's territory.
Accessory. A Phillipe is the name of the place, and it was pagan, even super pagan. It was actively, unapologetically, enthusiastically, unrepentantly, gleefully, militantly pagan. They worshiped Penn, who was the Greco Roman god of shepherds and flocks.
Let that sink in just a minute and of her knees, pans, mythical Father and Pan was also the god of theater and of sex and fertility. And, boy, did they worship him. Let me tell you a little bit about sensory a Philippines.
Some of you have been there. We went a couple of years ago in our travels to the Holy Land. One thing toe. Learn about sensory, a Philip is that you have to be going there to get there. Does that make sense? It's not exactly on the way to anywhere.
It's north of the Sea of Galilee. It's at the base of Mount Hermon up in what we know today is the Golan Heights. So if you think of a map of Israel, it's up in the upper right hand corner in the mountains.
It's about, 0, 30 miles or so from cop Ernie. Um, that's the little seaside, that is to say, the Sea of Galilee, seaside base of operations for Jesus. So that means that it's about 10 hours of hiking something like that up the Jordan River up into the mountains.
So it's not like Jesus and his disciples just sort of decided to pop over there one day. This is purposeful. Jesus is doing this for a reason. The city was Greco Roman. It wasn't too far from the ancient city of Dan.
And if you know your Bible history, you may remember that Dan was a city that had also given itself over to the worship of foreign gods. Bail, particularly Mount Hermon, is nearby, and Mount Hermon means something to the effect of sacred or set apart or consecrated, and it was part of Israel's territory when it came into the promised land, it was given to the half tribe of Manasseh, and it's mentioned in the Psalms.
Some scholars think that Mount Hermon is the place where Jesus was transfigured because that transfiguration comes just a little bit after the events we're talking about today. But the most important thing to remember and already mentioned it about sensory a Phillippi is that what it was was a pagan center of worship.
Ah, hotbed of worship of worship and adoration, and it was long held in the enemy's hands for the cult of Pan. I mentioned a minute ago that the whole region, in fact, was known for false worship. That city of Dan I was talking about was the place where King Jeroboam had set up an altar to bail.
And then those gods, particularly bail in the fertility gods, gave way to the worship of Greco Roman gods. So that's how we get from bail toe pan. If you go to Caesarea, Philippi and those of you who have been there will remember this there is a cliff face above the city, and to this day there remain carved into the cliff face, these little niches or Siris of altars, their their shrines to who to yahweh, God, no to pan and there, carved into the rock.
And so you can actually go to the place where Jesus undoubtedly was purposefully going to give his disciples an object lesson in being in the Kingdom of God in the enemy's territory. There was also a large cave there at the base of the cliff, right next to the place where you would find those shrines to pan, and it was said that the gods would winter as it were in the underground, in the netherworld.
And then in the spring, they would come up out of this cave into the surrounding world. And so a lot of the pagan rituals happened in the spring toe call forth these gods from the underworld. So, hey, AIDS, which we'll see in the Bible in just a minute, is a place of the shades.
It's a place of the underworld. This was literally the gates of heads. The people of Caesarea Philippi. I thought of themselves as living at the very gates to the underworld, and they were proud of it to entice pan to come up out of the underworld in tow surface.
After a winter there, the worshippers would engage in all kinds of sick, especially sexual acts. Even with animals, it was wicked to the inthe degree. And Jesus, the ultimate shepherd who was of the same substance as God, who was God, who is God brings his disciples to that place, his Jewish disciples to that place.
Can you imagine? What do you think that they saw? You've been hiking for 10 hours and you left your seaside village and you go straight into the enemy's camp and you're walking along the streets of accessory of Philippi and you make your way up to this pagan place where who knows what's happening? Did they avert their eyes? How did they act where they really super nervous? Probably.
I wonder what they said. Why in the world have you brought us to this place? Do you think they were afraid? Maybe a little intrigued. Were they repulsed? Were they tempted? Today's passage comes from Matthew 16, Verse 13.
I'm gonna read there. And if you have your Bibles, I'd love you to turn their asses well, because it talks about this very incident. When Jesus came to the region of sensory a Phillippi, he asked his disciples.
Who do people say the son of man is? They replied. Some say John the Baptist. Others say Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the profits. So stop right there a second. Jesus is asking them who other people say that he Jesus is and you get a little insight into what the hubbub must have been.
What what was the gossip? What was going around? What were people saying about Jesus? And you can see from the replies that folks were at least willing to admit that Jesus was a significant figure. Um, maybe even a profit.
Some people are saying that you are John the Baptist, others, maybe Elijah like a great prophet, others Jeremiah or some other profit. I want you to get the scene again. I think that Jesus and his disciples are right there at that cliff face there, right there where people are worshiping and cavorting.
And whatever you do, we worship pan right there at that cave. That is supposed to be the very gates to the underworld, to the netherworld, to the shades of death to Haiti's itself. And Jesus asks a remarkable question.
Hey, what are people saying about me? What are they? What are they saying? Let's go on verse 15 There's this marvelous place where Jesus turns upside down, things right side up. He changes things. He puts the focus in a place you weren't expecting.
I bet the disciples weren't expecting this verse 15. But what about you? He asked, Who do you say that I am? Put your mind in the mind of the disciples. Look through their eyes. Are you looking around to see all this pans stuff going on? Are you Are you seeing the niches of the false God? Are you looking down at that cave where? I don't know.
They say, Maybe that's the way you get to the underworld and Jesus says, and you get the idea. He's completely unfazed by any of this. Who do you Who do you say that I am? There's that confession of Simon Peter Simon.
Peter answered Verse 16. You are the Christ the son of the living God. Wow. Peter says it, doesn't he? He's not afraid. I don't know how loudly he said it. Yeah, I don't know if you stood up on a rock and proclaimed it to everyone in hearing you don't really get that sense, do you? Peter is answering Jesus question, and he's answering the question in that particular place in that particular context.
And Jesus, um, gives Peter and Adeboye look at Verse 17 and following. Jesus replied, blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah For this, that is to say that confession. This was not revealed to you by man, but by my father in heaven.
And I tell you that you are Peter. And on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of Hey, AIDS will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. And whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in heaven And whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. Well, there you have it. That sort of gives you an idea of what the context was for this conversation there gathered there at the very gates of hell, they're watching the worship of Pan.
Jesus says Okay, What about you? Who do you say that I am? Simon says You are the Christ the son of the living God. By the way, it's just after this. I think I mentioned it that we have the account of the Transfiguration.
And remember Peter was with him at that place is well on a high mountain, and Peter sees Jesus transfigured before them. And he says, Hey, I know, Let's build three Tabernacles here. Let's set up some tense I noticed that He doesn't say that this time, which I think is delightful.
I don't know how much to read into that, but it's It's a interesting contrast. And Jesus replies, Look at that reply. Verse 17 and following. Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah, For this was not revealed to you by man, but my father in heaven.
Jesus is claiming equality with Lordship. He's claiming to be God. Jesus is saying something about himself. He's saying there is a creator God and I am his son in the middle of this pagan place. I'm gonna tell you something about God.
He's my father, and he revealed this truth to you? That I am the Christ. Ha, Monsieur, the anointed one. I am the son of the living God. Take note you powers and Principalities. Check it out, Devil. Look at this gates of hell! I am a go in me.
I am I am Christ the son of the living God And then follows that passage where Jesus says to Peter, You are Petros. The Aramaic is the same as rock. You are a rock. And on this rock I will build my church.
And by the way, there's another rock over here, this huge cliff face. We're standing on a bunch of rocks. By the way, You do when you when you go up to the cliff face accessory. A Phillipe there, these huge slabs of stone.
Jesus says, let me tell you about rocks. You are a rock. This confession is a rock. I'm gonna build my church on you. Some interpreters would say of Peter. Others would say, I'm building my church on this confession of faith.
But let me tell you what. There's a rock that is stronger and more mighty and more marvelous than this rock here that's been dedicated to this false God, It is I. I am the rock on This confession is the one that will launch the church even from the middle of pagan land.
And then he goes on to say, I will build my church on this rock and the very gates of Haiti's I can imagine. Jesus, pointing over there, said the very gates of hell. The very gates of the underworld will not prevail against this.
You have something remarkable here. Disciples. You have a confession. That's the key to the kingdom. Now think about this. Just for a minute are concluding moments. What does Jesus asked them? He asks them, Hey, um, who the folks say that I am.
Hey, says also, Who do you say that I am? What does Jesus not ask them? Think about that. Just for a minute. What occurs to you? What does Jesus not ask? And what did the disciples do? Peter gives a confession.
We don't really know what they do, but we know what they didn't do. They didn't. What Pass out flyers about Jesus being the way and the truth and the life. They didn't print up T shirts with Team Jesus.
They didn't have a rally to support the government. They didn't have a rally to condemn the government. What did they not do? Well, the scripture has very little to say about that. But it sounds like they simply Onley gathered around the feet of Jesus and proclaimed his Lordship.
And what did they say? What? What did they not say? Hey, everybody, gather around. This is Jesus, and you need to listen to him. That's not what they said. If Jesus showed up at your house this afternoon and he took you to your sensory of Philippi, our accessory of Philippi.
Uh, where is that? Where is accessory of Phillippi? In our world today, some of you are saying well, pretty much just anywhere. What was sensory? A Philippine. It was a very metropolitan place. It was a sophisticated city.
It was the center of pagan beliefs. They had given themselves over to all kinds of debauchery. They celebrated evil and in some ways they elevated fear. Fear of the underworld, appeasing dark forces that they don't really understand.
Where is today's accessory? A Phillippi? Is it burning man? Is it San Francisco? Is it the mall? Is it Citrus? Heights or Carmichael is the Serie A Phillippi all around us. And once Jesus shows up at your house this afternoon and he says, Hey, let's go somewhere.
Come hike with me. I want to take you somewhere once you're there. What would Jesus ask you? Would he ask you to set up shop and form a group? Maybe he would just ask you what he asked his disciples. Yes.
What are other people saying about me? But you know, the more important question is, what do you say about me? Who do you say that I am? What would you do? Would you look around wondering if some of these pagans air watching you hang out with this person? What would you say? Would you say like Peter? You are the Christ.
You are the Messiah. You are the anointed one. You are the son of the living god. Sometimes I think that these days it would be easy to be tempted that our actions must be huge, that our speech must be loud and bold and beloved.
Yes, there is a time for loud and bold action. But there is also a time to say simply when asked Jesus is Lord. He is the anointed one. He is the very son of the living God, and that beloved is not some trifle.
That's an act of spiritual warfare. I said at the beginning of today's worship service that we were going to engage in some spiritually warfare, and that is spiritually warfare right now, today in the world around us that is, in so many ways thoroughly pagan and militantly opposed to the kingdom of God.
To say Jesus is Lord is to engage in spiritual warfare. What is our calling? In a pagan post Christian world? Author Rod Dreyer writes. This American Christians are going toe have to come to terms with the brute fact that we live in a culture in which our beliefs make increasingly little sense.
We speak a language that the world, Mawr and Mawr either cannot hear or finds offensive to its ears. Lutheran pastor Richard Verma brand survived unspeakable torture in communist Romania. You know what communism is, don't you? It's the godless rejection of any narrative other than the elites.
It's the desire to control. It's the brutal overthrow of anyone who does not conform. And this Lutheran pastor was violently tortured for a long time in Romania, and once he was free, he wrote this. There are two kinds of Christians those who sincerely believe in God and those who just as sincerely believe that they believe you could tell them apart by their actions in decisive moments.
Beloved This pagan world, this sensory of Phillippi is coming to you, if not already around you. I encourage you to take bold, decisive action and push back against the powers and Principalities and say, along with Peter, you are the anointed one, the Messiah.
You are the very living son of God on then listen carefully for what God might have us say and do as well as what he does not want us to say and do. It's a marvelous responsibility what interesting times we live in.
Let's pray, Father, I give you thanks for this very, very difficult and earth shattering object lesson for the disciples when you took them into the very heart of the enemy and ask them a simple question.
Who do you say that I am? I pray that we, the people of epic Lisa's, will be found faithful to speak when you ask us to speak and act when you ask us toe act and we will do no more and no less as we become mawr and more bold in pushing back against the powers and Principalities, even if we're up against the worship of foreign gods and at the very gates of hell.
We ask this in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit. On the end, you've been listening to a podcast from epic leases on ancient future faith community. If you'd like to learn more about ancient future faith or worship at Epic Lisa's, visit us on the Web at www dot epic lisa's dot org's The Lord Be With you, Yeah.