Friday, June 10, 2022

Matthew Series, Week 29 - “Marvelous Knowing”

When someone asks me to pray for them, there are times when I have a sense that they believe that because I’m a pastor my prayers are worth more than someone else’s. Scripture does say that, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16b).” But that means that it’s any believer who’s prayers can be powerful and effective, not a holier class. 

And so, when I get this sense, I’lI ask the person two questions, “Will you give God the recognition if your prayer is answered,” and “Will you be mad at God if he doesn’t answer your prayer?” Because if we already know God, then we will both give him the recognition that’s due him, and we will trust in his will. But if we don’t know God then we will take the miracle for ourselves without giving credit to God, or we will use it as another reason not to believe.

But as we’ve seen in the last several weeks in our summer series in Matthew, knowing Jesus is more important than what we can get out of him.


And this idea of knowing Jesus, is what brings us back into the Gospel of Mathew, where we’ll be picking it back up in in chapter 16, verse 1.

And as we open our Bibles to Matthew 16:1, let’s talk about where we are.


In the last two weeks we have been seeing a build up to an “Ahaha” moment. Two weeks ago we saw Jesus challenge the disciples to exercise their faith by feeding the five-thousand, to which they didn’t. Though later Peter would exercise faith by getting out of the boat in a storm and walking on water with Jesus, he quickly reverted to a state of doubting faith.

Then last week we looked at the reason why the religious leaders and the disciples didn’t have the faith that Jesus was searching for. It was because they were so focused on things not of God that they were missing Jesus’ point. Yet it was a non-Jewish Canaanite woman who got it. She displayed the kind of faith that Jesus was looking for. Faith that doesn’t just say it believes, but pursues God no matter what.

It is now in this week that we come to the “Ahaha” moment for the disciples, and a moment that turns Jesus’ focus from training the disciples, to fulfilling his purpose. Let’s read Matthew 16, starting in verse 1.


“1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.

“2 He replied, ‘When evening comes, you say, “It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,”3 and in the morning, “Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.” You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.’ Jesus then left them and went away.

“5 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6 ‘Be careful,’ Jesus said to them. ‘Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’

7 They discussed this among themselves and said, ‘It is because we didn’t bring any bread.’

“8 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, ‘You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11 How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ 12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

“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 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.”


In these three moments, we see, not only the “Ahaha” moment, but a transition for both the disciples in their understanding of Jesus, and Jesus’ ministry in general. Let’s take each moment in turn.


First, like last week, a group of religious leaders, come to Jesus and ask him for a sign. This isn’t the first time we see religious leaders coming to Jesus for a sign. Back in Matthew 12, a similar group asked Jesus for the same thing, a miracle to be done. In that case and this one, Jesus tells them that the sign they will receive is the sign of Jonah. In the first case, it’s one of the first times Jesus reveals something about his death and resurrection. In this case another point is at the center of the response.

The religious leaders wanted a sign, Jesus response was to show them that no sign is good enough to the one who is not truly seeking to understand it. Jesus brings up how the people of his day could look towards the sky, and because of the weather they could understand what type of day it was going to be. But take a moment and think about that. They could interpret things that effected their lives, yet here they were given no direct sign form Jesus, because of all the work that had already been going on was the sign. The feeding of the five and four thousand, the healing of countless people. These were signs given to multiple people, and yet they weren’t good enough.

Jesus recognized that signs were not good enough for the religious leaders, and so the sign they would receive would be Jesus’ death and resurrection. A sign that, if understood by people seeking God, would be the greatest sign. Not only would it be great because it was the fulfillment of God’s redemptive work, but it would be the sign that would kick off the final age of humanity. 


From there, Matthew takes us to another moment, this time with the disciples in focus. They’ve just left the religious leaders and their desire for a sign. Reading Jesus’ words it seems easy to understand their meaning, but for the disciples who are focused on food, Jesus’ words are easily misunderstood. They’re thinking about bread, and Jesus is speaking about spiritual realities. At this point the disciples have seen a lot, probably more than any of us could imagine, because the four Gospels do not include everything that Jesus did (John 21:25). 

By connecting these two moments, Matthew gives us an insight into the mindset of the disciples. They were falling into a pattern that was similar to the religious leaders. Signs by Jesus were common place at this point. Thousands being feed, water walking, healings, demons being casted out, were all becoming common place. And so the disciples were headed down a path where they were not realizing what was happening.

Sure they knew that Jesus was a great teacher, that he had power beyond anything hat any of them had ever seen, but did they interpret the signs of the times correctly. The yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees was that they could not interpret the sigs of Jesus arrival. Their teachings precluded Jesus as the Messiah, as the Savior that was prophesied, and so, Jesus is therefore warning the disciples to not fall into that same mindset.


And so in the next moment we see, Jesus asks them a question, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” This first question is really asking, how do the people around us interpret the signs that are going on right now. To which we get the disciples’ response, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” This is the interpretation of Jesus by those who don’t realize what’s happening. Those who are not interpreting the signs correctly. 

But here’s the big question, this is the make it or break it moment, Jesus asks the question of the disciples, “Who do you say I am?” This question seeks to answer if the yeast of the religious leaders has found root in the disciples. This question seeks to see if the disciples are interpreting everything they have seen correctly. And the response? “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

This answer is the “Ahaha” moment we’ve been building up to for the last two chapters. These guys don’t get a lot of things right. They are dull as Jesus says, more often than not. They falter in their faith time and time again, but they are interpreting the situation correctly. In John’s Gospel, after a particularly hard teaching by Jesus, people begin to leave. Jesus turns to his twelve core disciples and says, “You do not want to leave too, do you (John 6:67)?” To which Peter responds with, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God (6:68-69).”

Though the disciples don’t have it all together, they do interpret what’s going on correctly. Jesus isn’t just a sign provider, he isn’t just a good teacher to follow, he is the God come down. Jesus is the one that has eternal life. Jesus is the one that, love him or hate him, has to be taken on his own terms. 

From Jesus, the religious leaders wanted signs on demand, and the people wanted their physical needs met. Yet Jesus is calling people not to come to him out of their own desires for what they can get out of him, but to know him as he says he is. The Canaanite woman understood this, and now we see that the disciples are beginning to understand as well. 

This doesn’t mean that the disciples will have perfect faith moving forward, as well see next week, the opposite is true, but what it does mean is that they are moving forward. They are interpreting things correctly. It’s not about the signs, miracles, and wonders, it’s about knowing who Jesus is and following him on his terms.


It’s easy for us to be like the religious leaders and the people, wanting these supernatural things from God. Yet what God wants is a deeper personal relationship with us on an individual basis. He wants us to know him, like he knows us. That it’s not about what we can get out of him, but it’s realizing what he has already done for us, and praising him for it.


Jesus isn’t calling us to perfect faith, but rather to a faith that seeks him for who he is. That kind of faith can falter, but is moves forward because it seeks the object of its faith, the Creator who made us. 

My challenge for you this week is to go before God and just be satisfied with knowing him. If you are asking God for a miracle, ask him to strip you of the mindset that seeks him for what you can get, rather that who he is. It’s not wrong to ask God to move in miraculous ways, we ask him for those every time we lift up a person in prayer, but we need to come to a point where we are satisfied with knowing God, in the absence of miraculous works.

In addition to this, we need to be mindful of the events that are going on around us. We need to have our eyes open to where we find ourselves in human history. Everyday we step closer to the return of Jesus and it seems that day is speeding closer at break neck speed. 

This week, re-read the passage seeing the difference between the mindset of wanting God for miracles, and wanting God for who he is. And pray that your desire to know Jesus will out weigh your desire for what you can get out of him. Then seek the moment of the Holy Spirit to keep you mindful so that you can be interpret the situation that God has put you in.


Let us seek God, to know the Creator as he desires us to know him, so that we are people who may interpret the times around us as our God has worked them out to be. Amen.

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