Special Mid-Summer 3-Night Series on Hard Sayings of the Bible (Answers to Questions 5a and 5b - "and on this rock")

 

1.    a.  Matthew 16:15-19.  Jesus held an interesting conversation with His disciples after going a ‘round’ with the Pharisees and Sadducees. He asks them: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They tossed out a couple of names, then Simon Peter says: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” Then Jesus says to Simon Peter: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven has. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Many readers of this passage believe that Jesus was anointing Peter to be head of the church, and the Roman Catholics also say that Peter was the first Pope. What message was Jesus giving His disciples at that time, and throughout the millennia?

b. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Simon Peter writes to the elect in Christ the message in 1 Peter 2, beginning at verse 2 through 10 (this was part of a recent lesson preached on at a Sunday worship service). What is being conveyed in this passage about our identity as Christians – which Jesus was implying in His words recorded at Matthew 16:15-19?

 Answers:

 

a.    This is one of those hard passages that, when read at face value in the English language, appears to be saying that Jesus was anointing Peter to be head of the Church!  If that was true, then Jesus would be contradicting the Holy Spirit who said in other places, including verses in Ephesians 5, verses in John’s Gospel, chapter 3, at Colossians 1:15-20, 24, in Revelation, and implied elsewhere that Jesus is the head of the Church. Let’s turn to Colossians 1:15-20,24.  Jesus is the Head of the Church. So what is Jesus saying in Matthew 16, then?

It is helpful again to return to the original language of this passage (Koine Greek). Jesus blesses Peter as He refers to him as Simon Bariona/Simon son of Jonah. He adds, "Because flesh and blood did not reveal this" mystery to you but My Father in heaven did. So Peter, God spoke to you and gave you this revelation – what a blessing!! You are Petros/Peter, and on this petra/rock – this understanding that I, Jesus, Am the Messiah, the Son of Man, long foretold, as in centuries gone by, and it is on this Rock – this Foundation – will My Kingdom be built.  You will be given authority in this Kingdom (represented by the keys), Peter, as will those who will be anointed with you for that purpose, to, through the Holy Spirit,  bind and loosen, to be My Kingdom Ambassador here on earth. So in this promise, Jesus has given Peter a "2-fer," (1) awareness of the blessing just now bestowed upon him, and (2) the further revelation that in His, Christ’s kingdom Petros/Peter will be given certain authorities. For example, look who Christ appoints to reveal the kingdom and who identifies the Holy Spirit anointing at Pentecost! There would be further revelations given to Peter about his role in God’s kingdom; he would share responsibilities with other apostles.

This corresponds to Ephesians 2:20 – let’s read that. Jesus is the foretold chief cornerstone of the Church - the Rock. Does anyone know the purpose of a cornerstone or foundation stone?

                                          St. Albans, Washington DC

Now let’s turn to 1 Peter 2:2-10 to further capture the full meaning. Remember, this is Peter, the apostle that the Roman Catholic Church mislabels, wrongly identifies, as the Head of the Church, who is writing under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the explanation of Matthew 16:15-19.


According to what the Holy Spirit says here, how does Peter describe The Rock, Jesus Christ?  (vss. 4, 6-8) Why "living stone"?

Who are the other living stones? What happens to them? (v. 5) How is it built?

     What does it mean to be a royal priesthood? (v. 5,9) 

     How does that understanding affect how you look at your calling to be a disciple of Christ?

Special Mid-Summer Bible Conversation on Hard Sayings in the Bible (Question 4 - Hell))

 

1.    Why does God send people to hell if He is a God of love? (note the emphasis)

For many years many Christians have been taught either directly or indirectly, that if we sin, God will send us to hell. What is hell? There are two definitions. 

• First, it is the definition of grave or the state of the dead. The Apostles’ Creed says that Jesus descended into hell at His death -see page 53 in the Book of Common Prayer. In this instance, the words “Hades” and “Sheol” are interchangeable with the word “hell”. 
• The second definition of hell is that it is eternal separation from God, an existence in complete darkness. The Bible uses the image of fire to represent complete destruction of any hope of life again in the “light”; in human experience the only persons who, by God’s Divine will, literally lived in a fire without a speck of smoke on them nor any singe of fire on them were Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego, as recorded in Daniel chapter 3. Their being cast into the fiery furnace because they refused to worship the king. The king was so enraged (after all, he had conquered the entire nation and now here were 3 upstarts who thought that their wills were unconquerable), that he ordered the fire to be “cranked up” high to the highest heat level possible; the heat of the fire destroyed the very guards who cast them into the fire. Fire destroys completely; no one could reassemble ashes back to their original form. Thus, the Bible speaks of this definition of hell when it describes a permanent separation from God as the “lake of fire” or “eternal fire”. If you have ever been in a house fire where the heat escalates and the electricity fails, so that the black smoke all but eliminates a person’s ability to see their hand before their face, use that picture to understand what this permanent separation could look and feel like. Complete and eternal darkness.

So, the question: why does God send people to hell? The answer: God does not send people to hell.

The fact is, people are already condemned to go to hell because they are sinners, obeying the god of darkness (compare Ephesians 2:1-4). Because of that humanly irreversible sin condition and the rebellion attached to it, God’s wrath is naturally upon them – regardless of what they themselves, or anyone else says otherwise. But God, who in His great love and mercy for those created in His image, gave his only begotten Son as the means to escape the wrath. Let’s see that at Romans 5:6-11, and also the clearly spoken illustrative declaration by Jesus in Matthew 25:31-46. As Jesus indicates, the lake of fire what we call hell, was created for the devil and his angels from before time because of their rebellion to God. Since the fall of man in the garden, we have been obliged to follow the king of all rebellion into the same fate as he and his demons because of our inherited sin and accompanying lifestyle and allegiance to the devil’s world system. Let's say that you are on a cruise ship and something happens that is causing the ship to slowly sink. The ship releases its lifeboats; the Coast Guard rushes to the scene with additional lifeboats. What is the purpose of the lifeboat? To rescue someone from certain death. Between the two rescue options, there are more than enough lifeboats to save everyone on board the cruise ship. What would you do: get into a lifeboat, or take your chances with the sinking ship? After all, all of your possessions that you brought on board are still in the cruise ship and maybe there is still time to run and grab them! Do you pass up a seat in the lifeboat in the hopes that you will be able to retrieve the precious items and get on one of the lifeboats when you reach the deck? That's the same scenario that faces all of us: God has made a provision for deliverance from the sinking ship through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, and accepting Him as Lord and Savior. He is the Lifeboat. Will you choose to accept Him, or will you cling to those things that give you pleasure, wealth, feel-good vibes, etc. and try the Lifeboat later? Or maybe you have already chosen...