Messiah Moments
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Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
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[c] 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.
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Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,
5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;
7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Messiah Moments
Today we’re looking at Matthew 16:13-17 and Romans 12: 1-8. Peter and Paul took the Good News about Jesus to the world and each had their own ‘Messiah Moment.’ Peter’s ‘moment’ is recorded here in Caesarea Philippi and Paul’s famously on the Road to Damascus. When Jesus asked, ‘Who do you say I am?’ Peter said ‘You are the Christ.’ Paul asked ‘Who are you Lord?’ (Acts 9:4), Jesus replied, ‘I am Jesus who you are persecuting.’
Looking at Peter and Paul’s ‘Messiah Moment,’ three sections jump out at us. The three headings are: Jesus is the Living Christ, we are to be a Living Sacrifice and together we are the Living Body of the risen Christ.
Three Sections in this Passage to unpack
Living Christ
Living Sacrifice
Living Body
Living Christ
a. Caesarea Philippi - The backdrop to this is in Matt 16:13 Jesus is in Caesarea Philippi 25 mls NE Sea Galilee. All around that region are temples and statues to Greek Gods (Pan god of nature), and Ancient Syrian Baal worship. There was a white marble temple dedicated to Caesar, assassinated on the ‘Ides of March’ BC44. In this place Jesus asks his disciples,
b. “Who do people say I am?” The answers then may be similar to answers today: one of the great teachers of our times, one of the prophets reincarnated. Today people like to say he was a great man: Jesus the great, like Alfred & Alexander the Great, William the Conqueror, Burnham the great, Farage the conqueror!
CS Lewis, Cambridge professor, said Jesus is a liar a lunatic or God. Because of the things he said about himself being God, the way, the truth, the resurrection, the life; he was either deluded or he was who he said he was God.
The woman at the well in John4 said ‘I know the messiah is coming’…Jesus said 4v26 ‘I who speaks am he!’ Mk 14v53 at his trial High Priest put it to Jesus ‘are you the Christ?’ Jesus said ‘I am….’ Plus, he forgave sins, he allowed people to worship him, those are not the actions of a great man. He is either deluded or he is Lord. CS Lewis writes ‘let us not come up with any patronising nonsense about him being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.’ Lewis was convinced Jesus was Lord, he was certainly his Lord and Saviour. But this is not an intellectual exercise this says John (Jn 20v31) has been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God and that believing you might have life.’
When Jesus asked, “Who do people say I am?” then and now people try and answer; he was great. John Stott writes (Contemporary Christian pg 306) ‘Our claim is not that Jesus was one of the great spiritual leaders of the world…Jesus is not ‘the great’ he is the only, he has no peers, no rivals and no successors!’
Jesus is not ‘the great’ he is the only, he has no peers, no rivals and no successors! John Stott
c. Peter’s Messiah Moment- Jesus ups the stakes and asks, ‘who do YOU say I am?’ Peter answers ‘You are the messiah the son of God.’ It is his Messiah Moment! Jesus replied ‘Blessed are you …this was revealed to you by my Father in heaven.’
Peter’s messiah moment declares the human Jesus to be divine, the living Christ.
From this messianic name ‘Christos (Χριστός)’ came the 1st Christian creed ‘kyrios Iesous’ (Greek) ‘Jesus is Lord’ the disciples started calling Jesus; ‘Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’ (eg 2 Peter 3:18). Kyrios Iesous became the basis of accepting s.o as Christian in the early church. [Baptism] Romans 10:9 ‘If you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved.’ People w/h declared this creed as they were baptised into the early Christian Church ‘Kyrios Iesous.’ The human Jesus is the living LJC.
This great truth was revealed to Peter (Matt 16:17). It was also revealed to Paul through a revelation of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:12). Revealed means they did not work it out by logic or intellect – it was revealed, just as it was revealed to you when you first believed.
[d. Personal] Do you have a Messiah Moment? Jesus asks, ‘Who do you say I am?’ What do you come up with? I can't answer for you. For me, Jesus is messiah; He is my Lord, my friend, my hearts desire, he’s my saviour, he makes my life worth living, before my family, before myself. Why? Because all those gods in Caesarea Philippi were either dead or false; my Jesus is the Living Christ. That’s my personal answer. What’s your answer?
Moving on to …………..
Living Sacrifice
Romans 12:1 ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.’
Paul begins with the words ‘Therefore.’ Someone once said when you see ‘therefore,’ look back and see what it is there for!
There is a clue in the verse ‘in view of God’s mercy.’ “Therefore” means we should give ourselves totally to God in view of all that was said in Romans Chapters 1-11. in a nutshell, by God’s mercy: We are justified by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone.
“In view of God’s mercy,” also means that the only motivation for us to serve is gratitude.
Two things Paul urges us to do – 1. Living Sacrifice: Offer all to God and 2. Become transformed.
1. “Offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.” Paul is using a “temple” metaphor. We come as worshippers to the temple with ourselves as the offering. In prayer and devotion, put your all at God’s disposal. The burnt offering was burnt totally. It represented complete consecration and devotion to God.
2. Be transformed by renewing - Rom 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed (Greek word metamorpho) by the renewing of your mind. NB the contrast between “conform” and “transform.”There are two mind sets: the world's and God’s will.
Romans 12:2 says, reject the world’s way of thinking, feeling & behaving, and desire a Christ-like character and lifestyle.
How do we do that?
[1] Paul says “view” the mercies of God toward us. View means: look at and reflect on the mercies of God. “Count our blessings” (Ps 103:2), and consider the mercies God has given us as individuals. “Kindle” our hearts by meditation on the merciful acts and deeds and grace of God [picture Bear Grylls blowing on embers].
[2] Paul speaks about the “renewing of the mind.” He doesn’t explain here what this means but in Colossians 3:9-16, it is to have truth from God’s word “dwell in us richly.” Our mind is renewed through the Word of God and it is the Spirit of God that moves us to offer ourselves as sacrifices
(1 Corinthians 2:11-14).
Living Body
In Romans 12 to Rom 16 Paul goes into detail of what it means to be a fellowship. He teaches that the body of Christ is a living body (Christ the head). There are said to be over 90 different illustrations Christian fellowship - a Bride, City of God, Light on a hill, Salt of the Earth, Temple, Royal Priesthood, Flock, Vine, Family... It may surprise you that in the whole bible, only Paul uses the body as a metaphor (& 1 Cor 12).
a. Paul’s Messiah Moment was his very first encounter with the risen Christ when he was knocked off his horse by the light of Christ. The voice said “Why are you persecuting me, Paul?” Acts 9:4 The head is not separate from the body. Hurting Christians is hurting Christ himself. Christian fellowship was not an organisation it is the living body of the risen Christ - Christ is the head. Rom 12:4, ‘just as each of us has one body many parts so in Christ we who are many form one body each member belongs to the other.’ Notice in the Body - we belong to each other; we need each other. Wherever you go in the world, we find the body of Christ and we realise that we are part of that. I travel and speak at different places and although I am just visiting I know that I belong; we are one body. What does the body look like? Rom 12:3 teaches us it's the humility of not thinking highly of yourself but that you are part of the body. Think of the entire body. Central to this thinking is humility.
Let me finish with two questions
Q1 Romans 12:4 Is this church ‘one body, many members… each belonging to the other?’
Do we belong to each other? Do we look out for each other? Do we all have different gifts? The Lord gives gifts so that unity grows. We are not a bunch of people we are a fellowship, a communion. We worship together, we share HC together, we pray together, WhatsApp group sharing & caring, we get together as a fellowship... socially enjoying each other: quiz evening, Birthday celebrations in St Paul's Centre do we belong to each other (Rom 12:4)?
Q2 Are you a living sacrifice, transformed mind casting worries & cares on JC). Transformed in morals, in honesty, ££ and social media. When Paul says offer your bodies as living sacrifice to God (Rom 12:1) he means commit every day to the Lord, it is your daily act of worship. This is about the very core of our being. As we grow in faith our Lord puts his finger on areas of our lives which need to be sacrificed. Transformation is a process. Renewal of the mind is ongoing.
Reach out to the risen living Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ today and he will lead you into a deeper walk with Him.