CRUCIFIXION BEFORE GLORY??

Jesus has led His disciples all the way to Caesarea Philippi and told them:                    

“...upon this Rock I will build my ‘ekklesia’ [church] and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.”

Are the disciple impressed? Or were they thinking...               

‘Big deal! At least He’s finally admitted to being the Messiah.           

Where to from here?                                                     

Jerusalem?? To suffer and be killed?...then rise on the third day??        

You’ve got to be kidding!’ (Matt 16:21-28)

Peter is not impressed – at all!  It looks like he now grabs ‘the Christ, the Son of the living God’  - maybe by the arm (from Gk: proslambano: take aside) and gives him a piece of his mind!! (from Gk: epitimao: censure/rebuke).

How did Jesus answer?...

“Get thee behind me Satan: thou art an offence to me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”

Whamo! – take that!

Is this what Jesus meant?

So what does the Catholic Church now say?                                    

“Peter will remain the unshakeable Rock of the Church...the bishop of the Church of Rome, successor to Peter, is head of the college of bishops, the Vicar of Christ and Pastor of the universal Church on earth.”

Does that sound to you like taking up your cross to follow Jesus Christ the Rock?

Yes guys, you heard right. Crucifixion lies ahead! 

AT THE GATES OF HELL!

Jesus takes His disciples all the way north to Caesarea Philippi.   
(Matt 16:13-20)                                            

Whatever for??                                                                         
No self-respecting Jew would dare come near this place... obscene fertility orgies would be held here at the ‘Gates of Hell’ where water once gushed out of this rocky cave!                                                                        
Perhaps there’s an important announcement coming, but first up...          

“Who do men say that I the Son of Man am?”                              

(Wow, that’s a bold claim: the right to universal dominion!)                                  Matthew has already told us Jesus is the Christ (Messiah) but now Simon is sure –                                                                                

“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God”

To mark the moment Simon is named Peter, meaning ‘a stone’ (petros), then...  

“...upon this Rock (petra) I will build my ‘ekklesia’ and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

This probably seems no big deal for these disciples...                     

‘You’ve brought us all the way here, just to tell us this?’                                      

We know this is the first reference to the Church (ekklesia) but already they are ‘an assembly of men called out’... and why should they feel threatened by the gates of hell?  
So far the only surprise for them is Peter being given authority with ‘the keys of the kingdom of heaven’.

Before we move on... Who or what is the Rock?                                  

Is it really Peter, like the Catholics so boldly claim?                                

Apostle Paul spells it out for us... “that Rock was Christ”               

...and later, Simon Peter agrees... “Ye also, as lively stones...” while Jesus Christ is “a rock of offence”

Where to from here?                                                                                            
Could Jesus possibly build His church - any church - on Peter?...NEXT! 

IS THERE ANY HOPE FOR GENTILES?

What a contrast!...                                                           

A Canaanitish woman has just shown her great faith in the Lord as Son of David, then some 10,000 people have climbed a mountain for Jesus to heal and feed them with just 7 loaves and a few small fish.                                                  

Now we have antagonists – Pharisees and Sadducees - joining forces to trip up Jesus by demanding a sign from heaven. (Matt 16:1-12)

Hello??  We all know...

    Red sky at night – sailors delight.                       

Red sky in the morning – shepherds warning! 

What does Jesus give them? A sign from the depths of the ocean instead – the prophet Jonas - vomited out to go preach to Gentiles!...after 3 days and nights in the whale’s belly.

How that must have stung! Religious Pharisees are too ‘special’ to welcome Gentiles, while rationalist Sadducees would ridicule God’s ability to bring Jonah back alive.  It’s time to abandon (kataleipo) them.

Even the Jewish disciples are rebuked as ‘ye of little faith’, forgetting that Jesus could easily feed more people with less bread and fish and still produce left-overs. 

As the hymn says: ‘O God, thy grace no limit knows’

What was that sign from heaven?  
Grace!...yup, undeserved favour.                

Perhaps there’s hope for Gentiles yet?