The Rock

When Peter confessed Jesus to be Christ, the Son of the living God, our Lord made a confession to and about Peter (Mt. 16:16-18). Jesus declared Peter blessed in that he had received the truth from God himself. He also gave Peter his name, which in Greek means rock (John tells us in his Gospel that Jesus gave him his name upon meeting him, but this is a confirmation and an explanation of what made him a rock). Jesus also said that, “upon this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). Now whatever else this may mean, it has nothing to do with which bishop is head of the true church. The New Testament knows of no individual but Christ as the foundation of the church (1 Cor. 3:11). The Bible does name the prophets and the apostles as the church’s foundation with Christ as the chief cornerstone in several places (see Ephesians 2:19-22; Revelation 21:14). And it is true that the church must be apostolic, which means she must be founded on the teachings of the apostles. But she can only be built on the apostles as she is built on their witness, which is the holy Bible. Like Peter, the church must receive and submit to the Father’s revelation (see verse 17). Like Peter, the church must trust Jesus as the Christ, God’s anointed servant to bring salvation from sin and death; the church must trust Jesus as God’s Son, the very bosom of the Father. To be built on the rock of Christ, the church’s faith must be the same as Peter’s faith.

Amen Brother

Here is a post that needs to be read and thought over: Growing Hatred for True Christianity at Two-Edged Sword.

Behind the Question

In Matthew 16:13-20, we have one of the foundational texts regarding the church under the new covenant. In this post I want to point out how this passage begins. Jesus continues instructing his disciples after he has warned them of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees (16:5-12), by questioning about his reputation among the people: “Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?” Why? Obviously the answers the disciples gave do not reflect their own ideas. They certainly knew he was not John the baptist and it is unlikely that they ever identified him with the other prophets that they name. Peter spoke for all of them when he answered Jesus, “Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.”

So what value did Jesus’ question have? Questions are a very old way to teach. We usually associate the method with Socrates, the great Greek philosopher. But even the Greeks knew that the socratic method was older than Socrates. In fact, God himself may have been the first to use it when he inquired of Adam, “Where art thou?” Jesus asked his question of the disciples, as he did of Adam, with more in mind than finding an answer. He was teaching them who he is.

The disciples could see immediately that the popular theories regarding Jesus’ identity were woefully insufficient. Jesus is more than a mere prophet of God; all their experiences with him told them that. God the Father made himself evident in the mighty works and authoritative teachings of Jesus. Compared to the fancies of the world, the Father’s testimony was brought home and made firm. Before Jesus asked, the disciples thought that Jesus was the Christ, afterwards they knew. Flesh and blood did not reveal it unto them, but their Father in heaven.

Jonah, Jonah, Jonah

Jonah is a strange choice to serve as the go-to sign for Jesus Christ. Certainly the time Jonah spends in the belly of the whale is a fitting sign for Jesus’ time spent in the grave. That, of course, is Jesus’ point in referring to Jonah. But Jonah teaches a lot about ourselves in relation to God’s gospel. In Jonah 1:1-3, we have the Lord’s call to Jonah and Jonah’s reaction to his call. It does not reflect well on Jonah, but not for the reasons we may, at first, think.

The Lord calls Jonah to preach to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was the great city of the Assyrians and the enemy of Jonah’s people. But the message was one of judgment and destruction (see the content of Jonah’s preaching in chapter three). You would think that the prophet would crave the opportunity to be the message of ruin for the enemy of Israel. So why does he flee?

Of course we might chalk up Jonah’s flight to a fear for his own safety. After all, prophets were sometimes martyrs. The Assyrians were cruel enemies. Peter, in fear for his own safety, would deny his Savior three times. Certainly we could relate to his fear, but it was not fear that drove him away from the presence of the Lord.

Jonah tells us himself what he was thinking in 4:2. He flees because he knew that the Lord is merciful and long-suffering. Jonah flees not because he was afraid, but because he wanted no role in the salvation of his enemies.

Jonah understands the Lord’s ways, he just doesn’t want to travel in those ways. Jonah understands that the Lord is merciful when he warns and when he chastises. The Lord could have simply exterminated the people of Nineveh. Did he give warning to Sodom? As Paul tells us in the opening chapters of his Epistle to the Romans, even the Gentiles give evidence that they know the law. But when the Lord makes his anger at sin evident, it is to humble sinners and call them to repentance. The knowledge of the Lord’s wrath is a revelation of his mercy. Jonah wants no part of it.

How are we different when we shut our hearts to the plight of sin-sick and lost? Are we all that better than Jonah?

Signs from Heaven

At least twice during his ministry Jesus’ opponents requested a sign from him (Matt. 12:38 ff., 16:1-4). Specifically they requested a sign from heaven. In both instances Jesus had worked a miracle that demonstrated God’s mercy and power. In the first he cast out a devil from a man and healed him. The Pharisees accused him of witchcraft (casting out devils by the power of the devil). In Matt. 16:1, Jesus is being “tempted” by his distractors. The Pharisees and Sadducees had no intention of being convinced of Jesus’ Messiahship. They wanted to entrap him.

Jesus refuses both requests. In fact, he gives the same answer: he would only give them the sign of Jonah. The sign of Jonah refers to his resurrection (Jonah was resurrected from the fish’s belly, as it were). In John 2:18-22, Jesus gives the same sign in substance though with no reference to Jonah. So the sign that Jesus leaves the world is his death and resurrection.

This is important for us to note. We often look for signs from heaven. We wonder why our Lord allows his name to be slandered. We wish that we could be relieved of the doubts the world raises in regards to the faith. But Jesus will not give us a sign from heaven. Our faith is trusting him.

The fact is that the gospel is sufficiently suited to rescue sinners and prepare them for heavenly glory. The fact that the enfleshed Son of God suffered on behalf of sinners, and that he calls us out of our sin (not waiting for us to make ourselves worthy), and that the all glorious God has committed himself to us should be all that the failing heart should want. Victory over sin and victory over the grave are signs enough for those who know their sin, and more than enough. There is no need to look for the spectacular, let the Pharisees and Sadducees do that.