Sunday, March 30, 2025 AM
WHO AM I? - What I Came To Do
Mike Teel, Pastor
FOCAL PASSAGE:
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 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. 19 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.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. 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. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “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.” —Matthew 16:16-23
THE
CONTINUES
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. —Matthew 16:21
1. LACK OF
—Jesus continues His significant conversation with His disciples in Caesarean Philippi.
—After Jesus acknowledges His identity as both God and Messiah to His disciples, He explains what He came to do.
2. POOR
SKILLS
—Matthew reports from that time on, after the confirmation that He was the Christ, He begins to show them what He must do.
—It was a turning point in His relationship with the disciples.
—But they did not comprehend all Jesus was saying.
—We must learn to be good listeners and listen all the way through, not interrupting and then determine how we should proceed.
PETER IN THE
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “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.” —Matthew 16:22-23
1. PETER AND HIS
—Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes Him for speaking these things.
—He is actually angry with Jesus for suggesting this because this is not the way he had envisioned this.
2.
BEHIND PETER’S DISAPPOINTMENT
—I probably do not need to remind you how the disciples all had a wrong concept of the Kingdom Jesus was attempting to establish.
—The notion that Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God could be defeated and be killed was difficult for them to grasp.
—How could God die? Why would He die? What about the kingdom?
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. —Isaiah 53:1-5
—Jesus’ death would represent a total catastrophe and this was inconceivable.
—Remember these men had left and forsaken everything to follow Jesus.
—What they did not understand, at this moment, was Jesus would come in two advents:
——The first as the suffering servant depicted in prophesy as we just read.
——The second is the conquering, King. (Revelation 19)
FROM THE
TO THE
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “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.” —Matthew 16:22-23
1.
REBUKE
—In just a few moments of time Peter went from the Penthouse to Jesus’ doghouse.
—Upon hearing Jesus say this, Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him. (v. 22)
—Isn’t it interesting how we believe we sometimes know more of God’s will than Jesus?
—We call it today “Health and Wealth Theology.”
2. JESUS’
REBUKE
—Peter went from being called “blessed” to being called a tool of “Satan”.
—We know Peter is a believer and has been blessed of God to see Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, yet he allows himself to be used as a tool of Satan.
—This is not unusual. Many well-meaning church members has stood in the way of what was right, not because they are rebellious but because they didn’t understand God’s plan.
—Jesus knew that as long as Peter thought in a manner that was untrue, he would be an obstacle to God’s plan.
3.
TAKE AWAY
—The more spiritual we are the more danger there is for Satan to desire to use us.
—This is especially true when we have just come off a spiritually high event in our lives.
—Satan desires to sift us like wheat.
31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” —Luke 22:31-32
LIVE IT OUT
What about you this morning? What great revelation or work of grace has God done in your life recently that causes Satan to want “to sift you like wheat” ?
Has God shared with you a great revelation, or have you experienced a work of grace recently? If not, why?
As a result of our study today, how is God directing you to respond?