Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Who Do You Say Jesus Is? | New Testament | Matthew 16

Episode Date: January 23, 2023

How do you view Jesus? How did you come to get to know Jesus? Do you fully understand who Jesus is? Are you more concerned with God or with yourself? In today's episode, Keith walks verse by verse through Matthew 16 to discuss who Jesus really is. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in 2023. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Matthew 16

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. All the chapters in the Bible are not created equal. Let me give you an example. We're in the book of Matthew, and every chapter in Matthew is equally true. But not every chapter is like chapter 16. Put Matthew 16 on your short list for when you find yourself wanting to read the Bible, but are unsure where to start reading.

we're going to go verse by verse through a part of this chapter and try to squeeze as much spiritual juice out of it as we can. Let's start in verse 13. When Jesus came to the region of Cesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say that the son of man is? If you ask that question today, who do you think Jesus is? You'd get a lot of different answers. I mean, there's a Republican or Democrat Jesus, who sounds a lot like the party's political platform. platform. There's New Age Jesus, who doesn't really care if you're a part of a church as long as you're spiritual. There's therapist Jesus who solves your personal problems. There's touchdown Jesus who

helps athletes win the big game. There's non-judgmental Jesus. He doesn't judge anyone except for those who judge others. We could go on and on, but you get the point. There's a lot of different Jesus is floating around today, just like there were in Jesus' day. Here's how the disciples answered his question. They replied, some say John the Baptist, others say you're Elijah, and still others, Jeremiah are one of the prophets. But then Jesus puts them and you and me on the spot. He says, verse 15, what about you? Who do you say that I am? Jesus won't let this be an academic exercise where we analyze other people's responses. He expects us to put our nickel down too. Notice that His disciples had been with him a long time, but they're still coming to grips with who he is.

Maybe you've been in church or consider yourself a Christian for quite a while now. You're still not off the hook. You still have to answer this question. Verse 16. Simon Peter says, you are the Messiah, the son of the living God. Ding, ding, ding. Peter got the right answer. But how did he get the right answer?

Verse 17. Jesus replies, blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my father in heaven. Jesus says, you didn't figure this out on your own, Peter. So don't pat yourself on the back. It's not like you were smarter than other people. You understand who I am because my father revealed it to you. No one becomes a Christian because they're smart or spiritually sensitive. Just think if we did become Christians because there was something about us that figured out the truth, well, then in heaven we'd have something. We'd have something.

to brag about. We could look at others and say, hey, we got it and you didn't. But the Bible is clear. There is no boasting in heaven. Why not? Well, because everyone becomes a Christian the same way Peter did. By God's grace, God revealed his truth to us, so there's nothing to brag about. If you'd given me 10,000 lifetimes to figure things out on my own, I still would have never understood who Jesus was. The only reason that I'm a follower of Jesus is because God, opened my eyes and softened my heart and drew me to himself verse 18 Jesus says 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 Jesus promises to build his church on the testimony of Peter and the other disciples

see Jesus didn't leave behind a school or a book or a political machine much less a military Jesus left behind his church, and he promised that nothing would overcome it. Sometimes we don't like church. I mean, I get it. Sometimes I don't like it either, and I'm a pastor. We probably have good reasons for not liking it. But even when we don't like the church, Jesus loves the church. That doesn't mean he loves everything churches do.

In fact, Jesus often rebukes and corrects and disciplines his church. I'm sure he weeps over the sins of the church. but even then he still loves it. The church is his body, warts and all, the church is his bride. If you aren't part of a church, please join one. If you are part of a church, please serve and give and be committed to it. Verse 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. Jesus had been telling the disciples what is going to happen when they get to Jerusalem. It's not pretty. He's prepping them for his death and resurrection. Are they picking up what he's laying down? Nope, they're clueless.

They don't get it at all. Verse 22. Peter took a messiah and began to rebuke him. Never, Lord. This shall never happen to you. Now, Peter just clearly stated that Jesus is the Messiah, and yet he doesn't know what kind of Messiah. Jesus is. Messiah means anointed one or king. Peter expects Jesus to go to Jerusalem to defeat the Romans,

but Jesus is a different kind of king. He's going to Jerusalem to die for the Romans, and everyone else too. Peter expects Jesus to be enthroned in a political kingdom. Jesus instead will be enthroned when he's hoisted up on a cross with a sign over it that reads, King of the Jews. Jesus will set up his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. But that's at his second coming, not his first. Jesus turned to Peter and said, 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. That's a pretty harsh rebuke. I mean, according to Jesus, Satan has put these thoughts in Peter's mind. I'm sure Peter was very surprised to hear that. But there's a warning in that to us. Do we have in mind God's concerns or our own concerns? And do we understand what kind of Messiah Jesus is?

Verse 24. Jesus said to his disciples, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life for me will find it. Jesus went to the cross and he calls us to follow him. He calls us to die to ourselves. He calls us to die to ourselves.

We follow a suffering Messiah, so we shouldn't be surprised when we experience suffering. Here's the last verse we'll look at. Jesus ask a question, verse 26. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? What good will it be if someone gets straight A's and loses their soul? What good will it be if your kids make the All-Star team but lose their soul? What good will it be if you climb the corporate ladder but lose your soul?

What good will it be if you're in great physical shape but lose your soul? You get the point, right? There's an endless number of things that could distract us and lead us to losing our soul. None of those things I mentioned are bad. In fact, just the opposite. They're good things, but they can get in the way of following Jesus. They're good things, but they become bad things if you make them the ultimate thing. If you place them above Jesus, if they keep you from being in the church that Jesus established,

if they keep you from following him, then they can lead to you losing your soul. Hey, heavy stuff today. I hope you'll come back to Matthew 16. I will be praying that God opens your eyes like he did Peter so that you would know who Jesus is. Amen. Hey, thanks for listening. If you want to go deeper, sign up for the 10 minute Bible. Talk newsletter. You'll get a short email once a week. It'll challenge you to grow in your faith,

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