Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends, on this Wednesday morning. I wonder if it’s chilly where you are today?
Probably, you’ve been called some terrible names in your life. Maybe some were in joking fun, but maybe others were intended to wound your soul deeply. Would it surprise you if I told you Jesus called people names sometimes? Yes, He really did!
Today, let’s look at one of them. The past few days we’ve been with Jesus and His disciples at Caesarea Philippi, and they‘ve had a very memorable conversation as Jesus said He would give them the “keys for the kingdom of heaven.” Remember?
Matthew tells us that Jesus then did a very strange thing: “Then He ordered His disciples NOT to tell anyone that He was the Messiah.” (Matt. 16:20) Now WHY would Jesus tell His disciples NOT to share with anyone this remarkable experience we’ve been unpacking? I have two suggestions:
First, the disciples DID NOT YET understand most of what Jesus had said to them that day.
Have you ever tried to explain something you didn’t understand? What a mess, right? It would not be until after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, but especially after their anointing by the Holy Spirit that these ordinary guys would both understand and be able to explain it to others!
Pause: We must ask if WE understand the “Keys to the kingdom” Jesus was entrusting to those disciples and to us who are followers of Jesus, and can we explain it to others?
The second reason Jesus told the men NOT to share what they’d experienced is that TIME was now becoming a very significant issue for Jesus.
Jesus knew that His atonement death would be most significant if it happened in Jerusalem on Passover as He became the fulfillment of what Jews had been anticipating every Passover since the days of Moses, 1400 years before.
Jesus was now very carefully evaluating how the people were responding to Him, so everything was going to come to fulfillment that Passover weekend, yet several weeks ahead. Of course, the disciples had NO idea, not even the faintest notion, what Jesus was going to experience and how it would become THE central reality for those “Keys of the Kingdom of God”.
But please look closely at the next thing Mathew records for us in Matt. 16:21 “From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.“ (Matt. 16:21)
Probably, my friends, you’ve frequently placed yourself in the story with these disciples walking along with Jesus watching the miracles and listening to Jesus teach. But I doubt any of us can really imagine the major turn of events Matthew is describing here. Matthew’s use of the phrase ‘from that time on’ suggests the weeks which followed were filled with rapid fire events and statements by Jesus which all pointed toward what we know happened that Passover/Easter weekend, but these disciples could not have imagined.
Matthew wrote his account of Jesus years after Jesus ascended back to heaven and therefore, he carefully chose these words to indicate a major change in Jesus’ strategy with His disciples.
While it was troubling to ALL the disciples, Simon Peter, of course, refused to hear Jesus speak of these things and Peter actually got confrontational with Jesus! Matthew writes: “Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Jesus. ‘Never Lord! This shall NEVER happen to You!” (Matt. 16:22) Now I don’t blame Peter, do you?
What Jesus predicted made no sense at all and was horrifying. Peter was a big strong man, and I believe the bodyguard role in Peter was rising up. He would simply NOT let this happen to his friend Jesus. I’m sure you remember in the Garden of Gethsemane, a few weeks later, Peter actually took action by taking a swipe, with his dagger, at the arresting guards, cutting off an ear! (Matt. 26:50,51)
But here, at Caesarea Philippi, the very same place where Peter had made such a wonderful, bold declaration about the divine identity of Jesus, only a short while before, suddenly the script had flipped, and Jesus needed to rebuke Peter with words Peter would never forget: “Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God but merely human concerns.” (Matt. 16:23) Oh my! Did Jesus just call Simon Peter “Satan”?! The same Peter that only a short while before Jesus had poured such praise on Peter!
YES, and it’s a ‘wake-up call’ for you and me, isn’t it? We’ve all experienced very quickly going from living a God honoring life to succumbing to a temptation from the dark kingdom which draws our mind and heart far away from God, haven’t we? Have you spent much time trying to figure out WHY you are vulnerable to those temptations, WHY you actually oppose Jesus so easily and quickly? Are you taking some steps to prevent that weakness in your character?
In Peter’s resistance to the thought of Jesus being brutalized and killed, Peter naturally leaned into his human logic which demanded that God protect His Son while here on earth. Peter could not imagine that the Son of God’s divine mission on earth would require His atonement death. Peter seemed to feel that he must control the situation, he must defend and protect Jesus, even if Jesus wasn’t going to defend Himself. Peter had so much to learn.
Several weeks later, after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, it was this same Peter who rose to his feet and boldly proclaimed WHY Jesus had to die and rise from the dead, remember? 3000 people responded that day, convicted by the Holy Spirit that Peter was proclaiming God’s truth, and they were ready to fully trust that Jesus was both their Messiah and their Savior! (Acts 2:32-41)
But in this moment, with Jesus having just accused Peter of thinking and acting like Satan, all the disciples were stunned, trying to put together all they had seen and heard that day at Caesarea Philippi.
We need to pause and deeply consider it with the “lessons learned” notes below. How well do you understand the truths Jesus was proclaiming here my friends? Have you discovered how turning your eyes to Jesus changes your perspective on everything, IF Jesus is your Savior and King?
The song I’ve found today celebrates that truth and tomorrow we’ll continue for Jesus has much more very important things to say.
Today’s Scripture: Matt. 16:21-23
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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