Matt 16:13-17:27, Private teaching about the coming Kingdom

Matthew 16:13–21 (ESV) —
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
21 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.


• Where is Caesarea Philippi?
• 25 miles north Of Galilee
• Herod Philip II had enlarged it and named it after Caesar, but it was referred to differently to differentiate from Caesarea on the Med coast
• Why so far north to basically a Gentile area?
• Time to get away from the crowds (a retreat of sorts)
• Focus on teaching the disciples without interruption
• One of the lies and arguments against Jesus is that he called himself the "son of man," not the son of God. He was fully man, but we can see that his designation is misinterpreted today, but it was not misinterpreted during Jesus' day.
• Who do the disciples believe is the son of man?
• The Christ (or the promised Messiah)
• The Son of the living God
• They correctly identify Jesus, so apparently Jesus' title does not mean what the scoffers think it means
• The next question is equally as important. Does Jesus correct their "misunderstanding?" Or does he affirm their recognition?
• He does more than affirm, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah"
• God (the Father) has revealed this truth to you
• We also see that their recognition opens the door to a number of new things -- what is Jesus saying about the rock?
• Mention of the church (or ekklesia, meaning called-out ones)
• Actually, the pun on rock or Peter (Petros is the masculine Greek word for rock) is the same word, one is the masculine and one is the feminine version. The masculine is probably Peter, but the feminine is more likely a concept, such as faith
• Jesus has already described himself as the cornerstone
• Faith lays the foundation of the church
• By the way, the church is not necessarily the kingdom, why?
• The church is a reference to this time, the church age
• The kingdom of heaven is probably a reference to the millennial kingdom. A role that both Peter, the other disciples, and us will have is judicial authority
• This is not the first time Jesus has talked about his death, but this is the first time he has talked so clearly and openly about his death. I'm sure this was upsetting, if you were there what would be going through your mind (in context)?
• We literally have God physically standing before us
• Every answer, every problem has a tangible and immediate reason and result
• "Why should he go away?"
• There is a problem with Jesus' remaining (ignoring our sin problem for a second), what is it?
• His physicality reduces his effectiveness
• The interesting thing about Peter's response is that Jesus had just called his faith the rock upon which he builds his church. Now what does Jesus call Peter's response?
• The phrase 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me' essentially is calling Peter a stumbling block to cause people to fall
• What is the difference between Peter's earlier statement and his recent statement?
• The former focused on what God had revealed spiritually
• The latter focused on himself, and on earthly wants and desires


APPLICATION: This leads as a perfect segue to Jesus' next teaching


Matthew 16:24–28 (ESV) —
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. 28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”


• So immediately after Peter's failure of response, Jesus gives a teaching. What is the point?
• The world and its tangible goods are not worth our life
• Also, a person's payment or reward in the future will not be dependent upon his earthly riches, but "according to what he has done"
• APPLICATION: If our focus is on earthly things, we will miss out on eternal things
• What is the cross in this context?
• Constable: discipleship requires self-denial in the fundamental areas of individuality
• Denying one's authority over his or her life
• The Romans compelled a person condemned to death to carry his own cross
• “For the world, there is immediate gain but ultimate loss: for the disciple, there is immediate loss but ultimate gain.” (Walvoord)
• Is the passage suggesting salvation is by works?
• No, salvation is always a free gift by faith
• Rewards are a direct result of works
• "It is perfectly proper to serve Jesus Christ to gain a reward. We will one day lay our crowns at the feet of our Savior. The crown is an expression of a life of faithful service that we performed out of gratitude for God’s grace to us (cf. Rev. 4:4, 10)." (Constable)
• Verse 16:28 is a very controversial verse. Most interpretations don't make sense in light of history. There is one view that fits with the verse and the context, and that is a preview of the kingdom that a few of them would experience (and is the next event in all three of the synoptic gospels


Matthew 17:1–13 (ESV) —
1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
9 And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” 10 And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 11 He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.


• The first thing that is unusual is the mention of an exact time, six days after this discussion
• Also, this is a lot of potential teaching and re-teaching between Jesus and the disciples
• We don't know the exact location of the mountain, there are a few possibilities
• Show map, "Jesus' ministry in Palestine," location #1
• The story that follows suggest being near a Jewish town, although Luke says
Luke 9:37 (ESV) — 37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him.
• What do we observe?
• Jesus was transfigured (this is a picture of Jesus in the kingdom)
• Moses represents the Law
• Elijah represents the prophets
• Jesus represents Grace
• Then we observe what?
• God the father reiterates the earlier message at the baptism and speaks audibly
• "This is my son" confirms what Peter had just said earlier in the week
• "Listen to him" establishes his authority, and confirms what John would write in his gospel, Jesus is the word
• Next?
• Everything and person, BUT Jesus is gone -- "they saw ONLY Jesus" -- this is significant, Jesus will fulfill the law and annul it with his death
• This leads to a discussion about Elijah, why?
• Because it is about the establishing of the kingdom and Elijah must come first
• Jesus again uses his past tense, present tense, and future tense
• John was Elijah, but the Nation rejected the offer of the kingdom, and the offer was withdrawn
• Elijah will still come and restore all things, the very part of the prophecy that John the Baptist did not fulfill
• John could have ushered in the kingdom if the people had accepted him. When he comes again, 144000 Jews will turn to Jesus and being a world-wide revival
• APPLICATION: The "seeing" the kingdom is fulfilled by the transfiguration


Matthew 17:14–20 (ESV) —
14 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 15 said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” 17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”


• This is also a teaching moment for the disciples
• "Removing mountains is a proverbial figure of speech for overcoming great difficulties (cf. Isa. 40:4; 49:11; 54:10; Matt. 21:21–22; Mark 11:23; Luke 17:6; 1 Cor. 13:2). In this context the difficulties in view involved exercising the authority that Jesus had delegated to them to heal people. The disciples were treating the gift of healing that Jesus had given them as a magical ability that worked regardless of their faith in Him. Now they learned that their power depended on proper response to revelation, namely dependent confidence in Jesus to work through them to heal. Continual dependence on Jesus rather than simply belief in who He is constitutes strong faith (cf. Mark 6:5–6). -- Constable, T. (2003). Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Mt 17:19). Galaxie Software.
• "The lesson of this miracle for the disciples was that simple belief that Jesus is the King may be adequate when a person first realizes who Jesus is. It can even result in spectacular miracles. However with the privilege of added revelation about the person and work of Jesus comes increased responsibility to trust totally in Him. Failure to do this weakens faith and restricts Jesus’ work through the disciple (cf. John 15:5). -- Constable, T. (2003). Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Mt 17:19). Galaxie Software.
• APPLICATION: Faith grows as we develop a deeper walk with the Lord. A deeper walk is developed by consistent time in the word of God and prayer