What/who/where is the Church of Jesus Christ?
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” (Matthew 16:13-20).
Where does Jesus Christ choose to build His Church? On the learned, wise, and educated? On the rich Jewish tradition? In the Temple? In Jerusalem, the holy city? No, just as with the cross we find the Church of God’s plan to be completely counterintuitive to our human nature. It is on a small rabble of poor, uneducated, vagabond fishermen out in the wilderness that Christ chooses to build His Church. What could these now poor and nomadic twelve men possibly do that would allow for the Church to survive? Nothing, and it is for this very reason that Christ chooses this place for His Church. Only if His Church is built on the weak and humble things of this earth will it shine forth God’s power to the world. As always it is in the meek and lowly that we find God revealing Himself to us and never in the glorious and pompous ways of this sinful world.
The confrontation of Peter and Jesus Christ in this passage is not exclusive to Peter but is something that we all are faced with. At one point or another (and daily during our walk with Him) we come face to face with Jesus Christ in our life and He forces this question upon us: “But who do you say that I am?” Not what do others say, not what do the scholars say, not what does your church say, not what does your reason say, not what do you think are the possibilities; but clearly and unavoidably, what do you say? This is no longer a moment of human opinion or conjecture but it is a moment of the miracle of revelation. This is not Peter’s human opinion of Jesus, no, this is the revelation of God made known to Peter where without it he would be completely unable to make this bold and unprecedented confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” As Christ tells Peter so clearly, this is not something that Peter could learn on his own and is not something that men could have revealed to him, no, this confession that Peter makes and that we make today is only known to us by the grace of our Father in heaven. Paul exactly echoes this sentiment of Christ later in his first letter to the church at Corinth, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ [Jesus is Yahweh!!!] except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3).
Peter is nothing special, Peter is simply a poor, uneducated fisherman who no longer has a home and follows around a rebel rouser throughout the country. But what is unique about Peter in this circumstance? What do we look for to identify with? Peter is confessing his faith, plain and simple. It is this confession that holds uniqueness and it is nothing from Peter himself. Jesus Christ chose to build His Church on a confession of faith. It is this example that we must follow to the end of the age. "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God" (Luke 12:8-9). It is imperative that we walk in the footsteps of Peter and mark our lives and Christ’s Church with our confession of faith. If we pretend to found the Church today on anything but a clear confession of Christ as the Son of the living God then we have betrayed what has been entrusted to us. The Church that Christ has set up in the world is not a social club, a collection of pious people, a religious society, or anything else of the sort; it is simply His called group of followers who have the confession of Jesus as the Christ and Savior of the world on their hearts, minds, lips, and lives at all times. Let us rise every morning anew focused on Jesus Christ before us who looks us directly in the eye, gazes into our soul, and asks, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?”
The Church is never about opinions and never about what we think or what “people say;” it is always about what God says in Jesus Christ and nothing else. Is what God says hard to swallow? Is what God says confusing? Is what God says in conflict with the world? Is what God says just plain silly to our reason?
The age old question and temptation of Satan is this: “Did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1). These are Satan’s first words in Scripture and they are ultimately the first and last temptation he throws our way. Satan’s number one goal is to feed off of our prideful and presumptuous self to get us to doubt God’s very Word, replacing it with our own notions and interpretations. Everyday of our lives Satan is whispering in our ear, “Did God really say that, did He really mean that?” This is doubt; this is the very opposite of faith. This strikes us hardest when we read Scripture (and don’t think Satan isn’t right there just waiting to jump on the opportunity when we crack open our Bibles) for Satan gets us to try and interpret it in our own way. He tricks us into seeing “figurative” and “symbolic” language where it does not exist as he whispers doubts about God’s plain Words into our ears. Being as wily as he is, he manages to get us to still believe and proclaim it is “God’s Word” when in reality it has been transformed into our own word thru our false interpretation of God’s plain Words. As an example of this we can look at some words out of the mouth of Jesus Christ that we find in Scripture: “This is my body. This is my blood.” Satan jumps on these words right from the get go: “God couldn’t possibly mean that, could He? Surely He didn’t really say that? Surely He must have meant something else… How could bread and wine be His very body and blood? Did God really say that?” But we must ask, who are we to doubt the very Word of God? In faith we must not doubt these words even if they appear in Scripture just once, but when we look we find that they in fact appear no less than four separate times in the exact same form. What did Jesus Himself say when tempted by Satan? “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). It is on the Word of God that we live. We stake our lives solely on Jesus Christ - He is the Word made flesh. "This is my body. This is my blood. Take. Eat and drink."This is not our “take” or “view” on the Word of God that we live by, but solely on His simple Word as He proclaims it and makes it known by His Holy Spirit. It is upon this confession of Jesus Christ and His revelation of Himself as the Word of God that the Church is built and sustained in all things.
In the end we must remember Peter was a complete sinner like ourselves. This shows us that the Church will always be made up of weak, unfaithful, fainthearted, timid, and even stumbling and denying sinners. We must remember Peter’s walk and recognize that ours as the Church will be no different. After Peter’s amazing confession of faith in Christ he went on to be called Satan by Jesus Himself, deny Christ three times in one night, attack and harm a man with a sword in the Garden of Gethsemane, doubt Christ’s resurrection, and even promote false teachings before he was finally corrected by Paul; and it is on this human weakness that Christ ironically builds His Church.
It is on sinners that Jesus Christ builds His Church and it is on the grace of the cross that they must rely because of their countless weaknesses. The Church of Jesus Christ is built on human weakness in conjunction with the overriding power of God’s grace.
When we look at Peter and Judas Iscariot we will find that they are very similar: Called to follow Jesus Christ; wanted Christ to be the Messiah; remained “around” and “followed” Christ throughout His ministry; betrayed/denied/rejected Christ on a least one occasion. So what is the difference? The difference is this singular point: Judas wanted God to be his salvation on his terms and not on Christ’s terms. Peter however let Christ work in him and change him (and yes, with pitfalls and stumbling galore!) and in the end surrendered (by grace!) to Christ on Christ’s terms.
How often are we and so many others in the church like Judas? We want salvation, we want to lose this depraved state, yet we want Christ to be our Messiah in our way. Like Judas we want Christ to save us and yet let us remain in this worldly state. Judas wanted Christ to be the Messiah the Jews of the day assumed, i.e. a new earthly King of the Jews like David. This, in my mind, is why Judas attempted to speed up that process by forcing Christ into a compromising situation (getting arrested and prosecuted) that Christ would be forced to “fix” by establishing a “new Jerusalem,” calling down angels, and exhibiting His authority. Judas probably never dreamed that Christ would just humble Himself and go “gently into the night;” even today we still struggle with this amazing and unfathomable act of humility by Jesus Christ. Ultimately this is a big “hang up” for a lot of us who wish to “follow” Christ, we want Him but we want Him in a certain way and on a certain timetable. How often do we “hear” what we want from Scripture, and how often do we make the choices that we “want” God to give us? Peter on the other hand surrendered to God’s will and timetable as he was overcome by God’s grace to come to repentance, while Judas arrogantly attempted to get Christ to be the earthly “King of the Jews” on his timetable and in his way, and was therefore overcome by grief and despair.
Let us pray that we realize the razor-thin line between Judas and Peter; that grace can never be on our terms but must always be on Jesus Christ’s terms. Christ has already died and conquered this world for us (the battle has already been won! "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" [John 16:33]), why then do we insist on trying to trivialize that by hanging onto the very thing Christ died to destroy?
So what can we say is the ultimate difference between Peter and Judas? The true Jesus Christ.
Judas clung to a Christ of his own devising and Peter clung to the Christ, the Son of the living God, whom had been made known to Him by the Father’s undeserving grace. As with all men, the only thing that separates or unites them is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the only difference maker, as all men have sinned and fall completely short of the glory of God.
Jesus Christ alone builds the Church and His plan is hidden from us. What we see from our worldly perspective as the “tearing down of the church” is often times the “building up of the true Church” and what seems as the “great times” in the church (in our eyes) may very well be a time of demolition. This breaking down and destruction often brings the true proclamation of Christ out of the woodwork; for this message often gets “lost” amidst a plurality of false gospels when Christianity is a popular “fad.” A simple examination of history shows this very thing to be true. As we see with the first century apostles, Christianity truly thrives when it is persecuted and is against all odds; and as we see with the Catholic Church over the centuries before the Reformation, Christianity at its core is lost when it becomes the “human” and “popular” establishment. If we simply examine Christ’s words we will see that the True Church will never be marked by great numbers or be the “majority:” “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).
What is occurring in America these days with the overwhelming attack on “Christian culture” is a great thing for the Church. What looks like a destruction of the church in fact hides the true work of Christ that is going on behind the scenes. We are seeing years and years of complacent and misguided “Christianity” being destroyed so that we can get back to the basics, back to the Gospel, back to Jesus Christ. What we see taking place in America is the beginning of a “reformation” of sorts as true Christianity in America has been buried for years under “revivals,” “spiritual experiences,” “decision theology,” and “Jesus cults” (such as the Mormons). When Christianity becomes marked by suffering and persecution in this country only the true Church will be left standing as all the false gospels will fade away when “push comes to shove.”
While Christ tells us that the weeds will be left amongst the wheat in this world (the unbelievers, false prophets, and false gospels that are scattered amongst the true Church and believers), we find that He occasionally purges and cleanses the Church thru trial and tribulation. Christianity in America has become a human religion, a culture, a social event, a spiritual drug, and a human centered establishment. If for the Gospel’s sake God chooses to put us to the flame we will welcome this cup of sorrow and suffering with much rejoicing and with words of endless praise to our awesome Savior.
The Church of Jesus Christ is truly founded on the brink of the valley of death, and suffering, trials, and tribulations follow it always. God deems this necessary for the Church so that it will always be forced to rely on Him, His mercy, and His grace and never on its own devices. Even when God humbles us daily and we face death all day long for His sake we never despair for He is with us and His unfailing love and eternal promises comfort us. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). Our role is simply to confess Jesus Christ and to proclaim His righteousness to the world. Regardless of the outward state of the band of believers we are to hold fast to this our singular mission. Whether we are like sheep to the slaughter or are sharing in a time of peace, we fear not for we hold to the promises of God and know that He is our deliverer in Christ Jesus. So into “battle” we go with Christ’s name on our lips, never afraid to confess, proclaim, preach, and bear witness to Him to the world that is ready to devour us. As with Peter, Jesus Christ stands before us today calling us by the Gospel, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” Empowered by the grace of God we too simply proclaim and confess, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
In boldness we declare with the Psalmist: “I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as you know, O Yahweh. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly. Do not withhold your mercy from me, O Yahweh; may your love and your truth always protect me. For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. Be pleased, O Yahweh, to save me; O Yahweh, come quickly to help me” (Psalm 40:9-13).
Where does Jesus Christ choose to build His Church? On the learned, wise, and educated? On the rich Jewish tradition? In the Temple? In Jerusalem, the holy city? No, just as with the cross we find the Church of God’s plan to be completely counterintuitive to our human nature. It is on a small rabble of poor, uneducated, vagabond fishermen out in the wilderness that Christ chooses to build His Church. What could these now poor and nomadic twelve men possibly do that would allow for the Church to survive? Nothing, and it is for this very reason that Christ chooses this place for His Church. Only if His Church is built on the weak and humble things of this earth will it shine forth God’s power to the world. As always it is in the meek and lowly that we find God revealing Himself to us and never in the glorious and pompous ways of this sinful world.
The confrontation of Peter and Jesus Christ in this passage is not exclusive to Peter but is something that we all are faced with. At one point or another (and daily during our walk with Him) we come face to face with Jesus Christ in our life and He forces this question upon us: “But who do you say that I am?” Not what do others say, not what do the scholars say, not what does your church say, not what does your reason say, not what do you think are the possibilities; but clearly and unavoidably, what do you say? This is no longer a moment of human opinion or conjecture but it is a moment of the miracle of revelation. This is not Peter’s human opinion of Jesus, no, this is the revelation of God made known to Peter where without it he would be completely unable to make this bold and unprecedented confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” As Christ tells Peter so clearly, this is not something that Peter could learn on his own and is not something that men could have revealed to him, no, this confession that Peter makes and that we make today is only known to us by the grace of our Father in heaven. Paul exactly echoes this sentiment of Christ later in his first letter to the church at Corinth, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ [Jesus is Yahweh!!!] except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3).
Peter is nothing special, Peter is simply a poor, uneducated fisherman who no longer has a home and follows around a rebel rouser throughout the country. But what is unique about Peter in this circumstance? What do we look for to identify with? Peter is confessing his faith, plain and simple. It is this confession that holds uniqueness and it is nothing from Peter himself. Jesus Christ chose to build His Church on a confession of faith. It is this example that we must follow to the end of the age. "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God" (Luke 12:8-9). It is imperative that we walk in the footsteps of Peter and mark our lives and Christ’s Church with our confession of faith. If we pretend to found the Church today on anything but a clear confession of Christ as the Son of the living God then we have betrayed what has been entrusted to us. The Church that Christ has set up in the world is not a social club, a collection of pious people, a religious society, or anything else of the sort; it is simply His called group of followers who have the confession of Jesus as the Christ and Savior of the world on their hearts, minds, lips, and lives at all times. Let us rise every morning anew focused on Jesus Christ before us who looks us directly in the eye, gazes into our soul, and asks, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?”
The Church is never about opinions and never about what we think or what “people say;” it is always about what God says in Jesus Christ and nothing else. Is what God says hard to swallow? Is what God says confusing? Is what God says in conflict with the world? Is what God says just plain silly to our reason?
The age old question and temptation of Satan is this: “Did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1). These are Satan’s first words in Scripture and they are ultimately the first and last temptation he throws our way. Satan’s number one goal is to feed off of our prideful and presumptuous self to get us to doubt God’s very Word, replacing it with our own notions and interpretations. Everyday of our lives Satan is whispering in our ear, “Did God really say that, did He really mean that?” This is doubt; this is the very opposite of faith. This strikes us hardest when we read Scripture (and don’t think Satan isn’t right there just waiting to jump on the opportunity when we crack open our Bibles) for Satan gets us to try and interpret it in our own way. He tricks us into seeing “figurative” and “symbolic” language where it does not exist as he whispers doubts about God’s plain Words into our ears. Being as wily as he is, he manages to get us to still believe and proclaim it is “God’s Word” when in reality it has been transformed into our own word thru our false interpretation of God’s plain Words. As an example of this we can look at some words out of the mouth of Jesus Christ that we find in Scripture: “This is my body. This is my blood.” Satan jumps on these words right from the get go: “God couldn’t possibly mean that, could He? Surely He didn’t really say that? Surely He must have meant something else… How could bread and wine be His very body and blood? Did God really say that?” But we must ask, who are we to doubt the very Word of God? In faith we must not doubt these words even if they appear in Scripture just once, but when we look we find that they in fact appear no less than four separate times in the exact same form. What did Jesus Himself say when tempted by Satan? “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). It is on the Word of God that we live. We stake our lives solely on Jesus Christ - He is the Word made flesh. "This is my body. This is my blood. Take. Eat and drink."This is not our “take” or “view” on the Word of God that we live by, but solely on His simple Word as He proclaims it and makes it known by His Holy Spirit. It is upon this confession of Jesus Christ and His revelation of Himself as the Word of God that the Church is built and sustained in all things.
In the end we must remember Peter was a complete sinner like ourselves. This shows us that the Church will always be made up of weak, unfaithful, fainthearted, timid, and even stumbling and denying sinners. We must remember Peter’s walk and recognize that ours as the Church will be no different. After Peter’s amazing confession of faith in Christ he went on to be called Satan by Jesus Himself, deny Christ three times in one night, attack and harm a man with a sword in the Garden of Gethsemane, doubt Christ’s resurrection, and even promote false teachings before he was finally corrected by Paul; and it is on this human weakness that Christ ironically builds His Church.
It is on sinners that Jesus Christ builds His Church and it is on the grace of the cross that they must rely because of their countless weaknesses. The Church of Jesus Christ is built on human weakness in conjunction with the overriding power of God’s grace.
When we look at Peter and Judas Iscariot we will find that they are very similar: Called to follow Jesus Christ; wanted Christ to be the Messiah; remained “around” and “followed” Christ throughout His ministry; betrayed/denied/rejected Christ on a least one occasion. So what is the difference? The difference is this singular point: Judas wanted God to be his salvation on his terms and not on Christ’s terms. Peter however let Christ work in him and change him (and yes, with pitfalls and stumbling galore!) and in the end surrendered (by grace!) to Christ on Christ’s terms.
How often are we and so many others in the church like Judas? We want salvation, we want to lose this depraved state, yet we want Christ to be our Messiah in our way. Like Judas we want Christ to save us and yet let us remain in this worldly state. Judas wanted Christ to be the Messiah the Jews of the day assumed, i.e. a new earthly King of the Jews like David. This, in my mind, is why Judas attempted to speed up that process by forcing Christ into a compromising situation (getting arrested and prosecuted) that Christ would be forced to “fix” by establishing a “new Jerusalem,” calling down angels, and exhibiting His authority. Judas probably never dreamed that Christ would just humble Himself and go “gently into the night;” even today we still struggle with this amazing and unfathomable act of humility by Jesus Christ. Ultimately this is a big “hang up” for a lot of us who wish to “follow” Christ, we want Him but we want Him in a certain way and on a certain timetable. How often do we “hear” what we want from Scripture, and how often do we make the choices that we “want” God to give us? Peter on the other hand surrendered to God’s will and timetable as he was overcome by God’s grace to come to repentance, while Judas arrogantly attempted to get Christ to be the earthly “King of the Jews” on his timetable and in his way, and was therefore overcome by grief and despair.
Let us pray that we realize the razor-thin line between Judas and Peter; that grace can never be on our terms but must always be on Jesus Christ’s terms. Christ has already died and conquered this world for us (the battle has already been won! "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" [John 16:33]), why then do we insist on trying to trivialize that by hanging onto the very thing Christ died to destroy?
So what can we say is the ultimate difference between Peter and Judas? The true Jesus Christ.
Judas clung to a Christ of his own devising and Peter clung to the Christ, the Son of the living God, whom had been made known to Him by the Father’s undeserving grace. As with all men, the only thing that separates or unites them is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the only difference maker, as all men have sinned and fall completely short of the glory of God.
Jesus Christ alone builds the Church and His plan is hidden from us. What we see from our worldly perspective as the “tearing down of the church” is often times the “building up of the true Church” and what seems as the “great times” in the church (in our eyes) may very well be a time of demolition. This breaking down and destruction often brings the true proclamation of Christ out of the woodwork; for this message often gets “lost” amidst a plurality of false gospels when Christianity is a popular “fad.” A simple examination of history shows this very thing to be true. As we see with the first century apostles, Christianity truly thrives when it is persecuted and is against all odds; and as we see with the Catholic Church over the centuries before the Reformation, Christianity at its core is lost when it becomes the “human” and “popular” establishment. If we simply examine Christ’s words we will see that the True Church will never be marked by great numbers or be the “majority:” “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).
What is occurring in America these days with the overwhelming attack on “Christian culture” is a great thing for the Church. What looks like a destruction of the church in fact hides the true work of Christ that is going on behind the scenes. We are seeing years and years of complacent and misguided “Christianity” being destroyed so that we can get back to the basics, back to the Gospel, back to Jesus Christ. What we see taking place in America is the beginning of a “reformation” of sorts as true Christianity in America has been buried for years under “revivals,” “spiritual experiences,” “decision theology,” and “Jesus cults” (such as the Mormons). When Christianity becomes marked by suffering and persecution in this country only the true Church will be left standing as all the false gospels will fade away when “push comes to shove.”
While Christ tells us that the weeds will be left amongst the wheat in this world (the unbelievers, false prophets, and false gospels that are scattered amongst the true Church and believers), we find that He occasionally purges and cleanses the Church thru trial and tribulation. Christianity in America has become a human religion, a culture, a social event, a spiritual drug, and a human centered establishment. If for the Gospel’s sake God chooses to put us to the flame we will welcome this cup of sorrow and suffering with much rejoicing and with words of endless praise to our awesome Savior.
The Church of Jesus Christ is truly founded on the brink of the valley of death, and suffering, trials, and tribulations follow it always. God deems this necessary for the Church so that it will always be forced to rely on Him, His mercy, and His grace and never on its own devices. Even when God humbles us daily and we face death all day long for His sake we never despair for He is with us and His unfailing love and eternal promises comfort us. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). Our role is simply to confess Jesus Christ and to proclaim His righteousness to the world. Regardless of the outward state of the band of believers we are to hold fast to this our singular mission. Whether we are like sheep to the slaughter or are sharing in a time of peace, we fear not for we hold to the promises of God and know that He is our deliverer in Christ Jesus. So into “battle” we go with Christ’s name on our lips, never afraid to confess, proclaim, preach, and bear witness to Him to the world that is ready to devour us. As with Peter, Jesus Christ stands before us today calling us by the Gospel, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” Empowered by the grace of God we too simply proclaim and confess, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
In boldness we declare with the Psalmist: “I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as you know, O Yahweh. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly. Do not withhold your mercy from me, O Yahweh; may your love and your truth always protect me. For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. Be pleased, O Yahweh, to save me; O Yahweh, come quickly to help me” (Psalm 40:9-13).
