16:1-4 - The reason that Jesus refuses to give the Pharisees and teachers of the Law the sign they are looking for, is because of their motivation in asking for the sign. In verse one, the word from the Greek defined as "test" is the same word that is used about Satan when he tempted Jesus in the desert. The Pharisees have come before Jesus out of the same motivation as Satan...to trap and destroy Jesus. These men have already seen Jesus miraculously heal people and interpret the law like no man ever before him...they would have seen the signs they were looking for if they had a heart focused on truth and faith. There are many times that we miss the signs of God at work in this world, because we look through a lens of selfishness or distractedness or whininess. We will see God at work when we faithfully trust that God is at work.
P.S. - The sign of Jonah is a reference to Jesus returning from the dead. Jonah appeared to the people in Nineveh after being "dead" in the belly of a great fish. Jesus knows that he will be going into the tomb and will rise again...and even after the sign of his resurrection, the Pharisees and teachers of the law will still not believe.
16:17-18 - These are some of the most disputed verses in all of scripture! One of the reasons that they are so disputed is because many Protestant Christians don't want to sound anything like the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has taken this passage on Peter being the rock the church will be built on and turned it into a hierarchical church system that places Peter as the original Pope. To combat this, many Protestants have looked for any other possible explanation. Maybe Jesus is referring to himself when he talks about the rock. Maybe they were at a place with a rock formation and Jesus is making the point the church starts here and now with this group of men. Or maybe...just maybe...he means that he is going to begin the building of his church with Peter! Peter was the one who spoke for the disciples in verse 16 about who Jesus was...Peter is always an outspoken leader int he group...Peter preaches the sermon in Acts chapter 2 after the Holy Spirit has come that basically begins the Christian Church. I believe the rock Jesus referred to is Peter, and I don't think it has anything to do with Popes or hierarchies or anything like that...I just think that Jesus is saying Peter will be the early church leader that spearheads the Christ-following movement.
16:19-20 - So what does all that freaky stuff about binding and loosing things on earth carrying over into heaven mean? Does that mean Peter is being given the power to make the rules about who gets in and who doesn't get in in heaven? I don't think so. What I believe is that Jesus is continuing on with the ideas he started in verse 17 and 18. Peter is going to be given the keys to start the Christian church...the Holy Spirit...when the Spirit comes into Peter and he preaches the gospel and thousands become Christians, he has opened the gates of heaven through the power of the message of Christ. Jesus paid the price and conquered death and sent his Spirit to dwell within us so that we can open the gates of heaven to all those who hear our message and see our lives. So this passage has nothing to do with Peter or any of us having some mysterious power over God to make Him do whatever we want...it means that God has already paid the price and worked His plan and we can connect people to His Way by preaching His truth and living that Way.
3 comments:
Personally, i think that this chapter has a strong influence on people today not to ask God for a sign.
When people ask for signs, they sometimes expect to see God work so they could watch over His shoulder and see that he is doing what they want how they want.
What should we do? we ought to do what God says, and NOT What satan does!
talk to you tomorrow!
Faethon
I can relate a lot to Peter. In one instance, he is confessing that Jesus is the Son of God – the Christ. In the next, he is telling Jesus what to do. I’ve lost count of how many times I walk out of church or d-group praising our Lord and in the next hour or day I am telling Jesus the way it ought to be according to me. Good job…
I also pray (not as much as I should) that I don’t get suckered into some false teaching. The Pharisees and Sadducees are still here – they just look different and have changed their message a little. May our Lord protect all of us from that – give us wisdom to know His Word verses someone twisting the Word.
j
I was once in a discussion regarding the beginning of this chapter. We started talking about the question: what is your faith based on? Several people shared cool stories about how they came to God, but then we all agreed that our faith in God is not based on the cool things he does, but on the fruit that comes from putting work into our relationship. Yes, God came down and changed the course of history. For some of us, he then stepped it up so we would notice this. But the true fruits and values came afterwards. By putting work into our walk. If all we are is like the pharisees and always demand a miracle (though we've seen them already) it develops a very shallow and unfruitful faith.
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