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August 17, 2008 – 14th Sunday after Pentecost – Pastor Free
 
 “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”
     1. The meaning of the phrase
     2. The revelation of the meaning of that phrase
     3. The responsibility associated with knowing that phrase
 
Matthew 16:13-20
     When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, 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 prophets."
     "But what about you?" he asked.  "Who do you say I am?"
     Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
     Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for 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 Hades will not overcome it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; 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.  
 
 
Talk about pressure.  We’ve been there; sitting in the classroom – day-dreaming.  We hear our name.  The teacher repeats the question.  Now we have to come up with an answer.  Now imagine the disciples.  Jesus looks at them and says, “Who do you say I am?”  Who’s going to answer?  They breathe a sigh of relief as Peter speaks, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Peter gave a flawless answer, a perfect 10.  But do we understand the answer?  Let’s look at that phrase, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” and realize what it means, how Peter knew the answer, and the resulting responsibility.
 
Jesus wanted to hear from the disciples who people thought He was: “Jesus asked His disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  The disciples had heard a variety of answers, “Some say John the Baptist; other say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  People thought that Jesus was just another prophet like Jeremiah or that He was the one sent to prepare people for the coming of Jesus.
 
Then Jesus turned His attention to the disciples.  ”But what about you?  Who do you say I am?”  That’s when Peter gave an absolutely marvelous answer, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  It’s an answer I pray we’d all give.  But what’s that answer me an and why is it so important to know the answer?
 
Peter called Jesus “The Son of the living God.”  He didn’t say you’re “a son of God” or “one of the sons of God”.  Peter used the singular - son.  He used the article “the”.  Peter was saying Jesus is the one and only Son of God.  John made that same point referring to Jesus as the, “One and Only”.  Jesus isn’t one of many sons of God, as we are by faith.  Peter correctly says Jesus is the One and Only eternal Son of God.
 
He also referred to Jesus as “Christ”.  The word Christ means, “anointed one”.  From eternity, God anointed, or designated, His one and only Son to be the Savior of the world.  He announced that to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  At His birth, the angels introduced Jesus as the “Savior”.  Peter’s answer couldn’t have been more correct – Jesus is the Only Son of God who’s the anointed Savior of the world.
 
People are still confused as to who Jesus is.  Some say Jesus was a teacher.  Other’s say He’s a created being, but by virtue of His excellent life became a son of God.  But today Jesus looks at us and says what about you 9 3 who do you say I am?  I pray that we answer as Peter – you are the one and only eternal Son of God, designated form eternity to be my Savior, to live a perfect life because I couldn’t, to suffer God’s anger for my sins because it would’ve destroyed me, to erase my sins with your blood because I was powerless to do so, to die on the cross to prepare a place for me in heaven.  You’re God’s Son, my Savior.
 
That’s the correct answer.  And the reason it’s so important to nail that answer?  Peter said, “There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”  It may seem trivial to know the correct answer.  But just like knowing a password allows us access to our electronic checking account, knowing and believing who Jesus is allows us access to God’s family and ultimately to heaven’s eternal glory.
 
But how did Peter know the correct answer when so many had no clue?  Others saw the miracles that Peter saw.  But their reactions were violently opposed to Jesus.  Some walked away from Jesus.  Others tried to kill Him.  The religious leaders of that day incited the Romans to kill Jesus.  But Peter nailed the answer.  He scored a perfect ten with His answer.  As Jesus says, “Blessed are you, Simon.”  Can’t you imagine Peter’s chest puffing out, his head swelling.  He won the gold medal with that answer.
 
But there was no gold for Peter’s perfect answer.  Jesus humbled Peter by telling him, “For this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”  Do you understand?  Jesus is saying, Peter you didn’t come to the conclusion that I’m God’s one and only Son, the anointed Savior from sin, on your own.  My Father revealed that saving truth to you.  He convinced you of that truth as you heard Him speak at my baptism, as you listened to my teachings, and heard God’s Word every week in the synagogue.
 
That’s the only reason Peter knew that saving truth.  God revealed it to Him.  That’s the only reaso n we’re able to say of Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  On our own we don’t have a clue as to who Jesus is.  By nature we’re dead in our transgressions and sins.  We’re spiritually blind to who Jesus is, as Paul wrote, “No eye has seen what God has prepared for those who love Him.”  Just as Peter needed to have that truth revealed to Him, so do we.  Paul clues us in as to how that saving truth is revealed to us, “No man can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.”
 
The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us.  But the Holy Spirit isn’t a magician magically leading us to that confession.  He’s a mechanic.  Just like mechanics use tools to fix cars, the Holy Spirit uses a tool to lead us to know who Jes us is.  The tool is God’s Word.  The Spirit uses the Word to draw our eyes to Jesus and then convinces us who Jesus is – the Son of God, the anointed Savior from sin.  As Olympic athletes give credit to coaches, teammates, and family for their gold medal performances, we give glory to God for leading us to the gold medal confession of Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
 
Do you realize then how important it is to hear God’s Word?  God’s Word is to our faith what food is to our body or what water is to a plant.  Take food away from the body or water from a plant and they get weaker and die.  It’s vital for us to continue to hear God’s Word because it not only leads us to confess, “Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God,” but it keeps us confessing that saving truth.  That’s why the psalmist said, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let’s go to the house of the Lord.” 
 
And I know how busy we are, how tired, how little time we have to play, and how we want to be good hosts to our Sunday company.  Surely we’re not expected to be that faithful to hearing the Word.  Well remember what God’s Word does.  It causes us,” to grow up in our salvation” – to stay strong in our saving confession of Jesus.  Plus failing to hear God’s Word is a sin.  God said, “Let’s not give up meeting together.” and “Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy”. Refusing to hear God’s Word causes a double whammy, it threatens our faith and it’s a sin that’s punishable with death and eternal hell.
 
That’s why it’s such a blessing to hear God’s Word.  It directs our eyes to Jesus.  We see Him as the one God anointed to be our Savior from sin.  We see Him carrying out His mission so willingly, “Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross.”  We look at Jesus on the cross and say, What love!  Jesus is there for me.  He’s suffering the curse for my sin; paying the debt for my sin; earning a place in heaven for me.  Hearing God’s Word leads us to continue to make that gold medal confession, “Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God”. Jesus is God’s one and only Son, my only Savior from sin.
 
As God reveals the saving truth about Jesus to us, He gives us responsibility.  Jesus said, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  The keys is a special power and right that God gives to His people to not forgive people who aren’t sorry for their sins but to forgive those who are sorry for their sins.
 
Talk about a huge responsibility.  If people refuse to repent of their sin God says don’t assure them of forgiveness.  That sounds horrible.  But offering forgiveness to someone who’s not sorry is like giving a drink to an alcoholic.  It’ll=2 0harm them.  If we forgive someone who’s not sorry they’ll just figure all is well, continue in that sin and drift farther from God.  By refusing to assure them of forgiveness we’re showing them the seriousness of their sin and encouraging them to repent.  And if someone is sorry for their sins?  We simply assure them that Jesus, with His death on the cross has totally erased their sin.
 
Our responsibility when people repent is not to judge the genuineness of their repentance.  It isn’t to override God, who said, “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.”  Our God-given responsibility is to assure that person that Jesus, the very Son of God, anointed by God to be their Savior is just that, their Savior.  Our responsibility is to simply assure that person that their sins, thanks t o Jesus suffering, blood and death, have been tossed away as far as the east is from the west.
 
But aren’t there times when we refuse to forgive?  That’s sin.  That means we’re drifting from God.  Our place in His family in threatened.  When we refuse to obey this command of God then this is where we need to be, hearing God’s Word.  What’ll happen then?  The Holy Spirit will work through that Word to open our eyes to our sin and lead us to repent.  He’ll direct our eyes to Jesus’ cross where we see Him suffer for our sins, erase them with His blood and earn a place for us in heaven with His death.
 
As the thrill and peace of being forgiven sets in, we better realize who Jesus is – the Christ, the Son of the living God - and what He’s done – earned a secured a place for us in heaven.  And guess what we’ll be willing to take – take the responsibility that God’s given to us and willingly forgive all those who repent of their sins.
 
You know there’s no pressure when we hear Jesus ask, “But what about you, who do you say I am?”   By God’s grace we know the answer as we’ve learned it from God’s Word.  We’re thrilled by that answer as God’s revealed it to us.  Jesus is the Son of God.  He is our Savior from sin.  That’s a perfect answer, a gold medal answer that leads us to stand, not on the gold medal podium, but on the golden streets of the heavenly Jerusalem.

 

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Pentecost 13 – 8/10/08 – Rev. Peter Sulzle

 

You Have Great Faith. 

1.       That persistently pleads for mercy. 

2.      That collects crumbs of mercy.

 
Matt. 15:21-28
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.” 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”  24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” 25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
 
            You have great faith!  That’s quite a compliment, especially when Jesus is giving it.  What does a great faith look like to you?  Surely we’d think the person with great faith has to be very trustworthy, service oriented, ministry minded, adversity tested, and spiritually gifted.  Maybe some of the apostles come to mind like Peter, James, and John. 
 
            But do you recall what Jesus told Peter last week, “You of little faith.”  Peter lost focu s on Jesus when he was walking on the water.  Then compare Peter to this woman we hear about today.  At first glance, you wouldn’t think Jesus would commend a desperate Canaanite foreigner for her great faith.  But he did.  Today we’ll learn from Jesus what makes a great faith.  You’ll see how God can say to you, “You have great faith.”  A faith that persistently pleads for mercy.  A faith that collects crumbs of mercy.
 
            We find Jesus traveling northwest by the Mediterranean Sea to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  Most of the people in this Canaanite region were dubbed as heathen foreigners.  Nevertheless a Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!  My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.”  This is a desperate parent who has made her child’s misery her own.  She realizes the situation is out of her control.  Her child is demon-possessed.  She could not communicate rationally.   She was in pain and danger.  She was violent with others.  The future looked bleak. 
 
            But this wo man knew where to go.  She sought out and cried out to Jesus, “Lord, Son of David.”  She confessed him as the promised Messiah who could work a miracle for her.  She pleaded for mercy realizing she deserved to have Jesus turn his back on her.  But Jesus did not answer a word.  We’re not even told why.  It could have been a way to test her faith or help her lean on the promises she knew.  After the episode of Peter’s floundering faith, it could have been meant to show the disciples a great, persistent faith.  Either way, Jesus didn’t answer and it led to further conversation. 
 
            After much pleading, his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”  It seems that the disciples wanted Jesus to grant her request, not so much because they had compassion on her, but because they were annoyed.  Jesus responded, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”  His earthly ministry was largely spent ministering to God’s chosen Jewish nation.  Jesus wasn’t saying that he was sent only to save Israel.  The woman knew this.  She knew he was the Savior of all.  So even when Jesus kept silent and even when the disciples wanted her to go away and even when Jesus says his ministry is largely to another group of people, she kept pleading.  She fell to her knees and cried, “Lord, help me!”  Talk about persistence!