Sunday School Lesson: Jesus is Messiah

Purpose: To understand what it means to confess that Jesus “is the Christ, the Son of the living God” and how that confession shatters our presuppositions about Jesus.

Scripture: Matthew 16:13-23

If you could ask any person in the world one question, whom would you ask, and what would you want to know?

Let’s locate Caesarea Philippi on a map. It is north and east of the Sea of Galilee, about halfway between the Sea of Galilee and Damascus Syria.

Why were Jesus and the Disciples at Caesarea Philippi?

They were travelling and preaching, teaching, and healing. They had just recently traveled to Tyre and Sidon in Phoenicia, then returned to the Sea of Galilee and the city of Magadan where the Feeding of the Four Thousand took place, then left there and proceeded to Caesarea Philippi.

Caesarea Philippi was located at one of the sources for the Jordan River. In ancient times the location had been a shrine to the Greek and Roman nature god, Pan and was originally named Panion. Caesar Augustus gave the city to Herod the Great. Herod’s son Philip renamed the city after the emperor and himself.


13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
Matt 16:13

Why do you think Jesus asked this question?

When Jesus said, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" was that like saying, "Who do people say that I am?"

From William Barclay’s The New Daily Study Bible:

Confronting Jesus at this time was one pressing and demanding problem that would not go away. His time was short; his days on earth were numbered. The problem was – was there anyone who understood him? Was there anyone who had recognized him for who and what he was? Were there any who, when he had departed from this world, would carry on his work, and labor for his kingdom? Obviously this was a crucial problem, for it involved the very survival of the Christian faith. If there were none who had grasped the truth, or even glimpsed it, then all his work was undone; if there were just a few who realized the truth, his work was safe. So Jesus was determined to put all to the test and ask his followers who they believed him to be.


Who do people today say Jesus is? If you were to ask ten people on the street, "Who do you think Jesus was?" how do you think they would answer? What are some common views of Jesus among our generation?

Why do you think Jesus cared who people said he was?

Should we care what people think of us?


What is the correct answer to the question “Who do you think Jesus was”?

Are you familiar with C.S. Lewis' "Lord, liar, or lunatic" argument? Can anyone explain that to us?

From C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity:

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
We are faced, then, with a frightening alternative. This man we are talking about either was (and is) just what He said, or else a lunatic, or something worse. Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God. God has landed on this enemy-occupied world in human form.


14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
Matthew 6:14

From Barclay:
….Jesus determined to demand a verdict from his disciples. He had to know before he set out for Jerusalem and the cross if anyone had even dimly grasped who and what he was. He did not ask the question directly; he led up to it. He began by asking what people said about him, and who they took him to be.

What different answers did Christ get to His question?

What do the answers tell us about Jesus’ reputation with the people?

For 400 years the Jewish people had believed that the time of the prophets was history. But they did believe and several passages in the Old Testament concur that the prophets would return and usher in a savior for all the people.

15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Matthew 16:15

Can you imagine that upon hearing that question, there may have come a moment of silence?

Who do you say Jesus is?


16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
Matthew 16:16

What does “Messiah” mean?

From the Hebrew “Mashiah”, translated into the Greek “Christos”, literally means “anointed one”, an anointed agent of God appointed to a task affecting the lot of God’s chosen people. Mashiah is used numerous times in the Old Testament most commonly connected with the anointing of kings or priests. In the New Testament it is used exclusively for Jesus. After the death and resurrection of Jesus, “Messiah” took on a specifically Christian meaning as a title that referred only to Jesus and it was used so frequently that the Greek form “Christ” became his second name. “Lord” and “Savior” are also used but not with the same frequency as “Messiah”.


What happened the first time you spoke publicly about your faith in Christ?


17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Matthew 16:17-20

Why was Peter blessed?

When Jesus says, "this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood. . ." does he mean we can't come to this conclusion without God revealing it to us?

In what way is coming to faith and understanding the gospel a supernatural event?

How did God work in your life and lead you to faith in Christ?

What does he mean by, "this rock"?

This is the first of only two times in the New Testament that Jesus speaks of a “church”.

What exactly is a church?

The word church is the English translation of the Greek “ekklesia” which literally translated means “assembly” or “gathering”.

What exactly is a church?

Some say it is Rome. Some say it is a local church as we think of it. Some think of it as any gathering of believers, formal or informal. Some think of it as the universal, invisible church. Some say that parachurch organizations such as campus ministries or mission organizations are like a church or part of the church. What exactly is a church?

Is this group, in some sense, a church?

What kind of church like activities can this group engage in?

Loving one another. Teaching one another. Encouraging one another. Forgiving one another. Bearing with one another. Greeting one another.

Are there any church-like activities that this group cannot do? What about baptism? What about the Lord's supper?

In what way is a gate a weapon? What is being suggested here?

What does it mean that “the gates of Hades will not prevail” against the church?

Gates are actually more defensive than offensive. It sounds like the church is going to take the offensive.

Barclay:

….Hades was not the place of punishment, but the place where, in primitive Jewish belief, all the dead went. Obviously, the function of gates is to keep things in, to confine them, to shut them up, control them. There was one person whom the gates of Hades could not shut in….

Who?

Barclay:

Jesus Christ…burst the bonds of death….this may be a triumphant reference to nothing less than the coming resurrection. Jesus may be saying: “You have discovered that I am the son of the living God. The time will soon come when I will be crucified, and the gates of Hades will close behind me. But they are powerless to shut me in…
However we take it, this phrase triumphantly expresses the indestructibility of Christ and his Church.

Someone explain verse 19. What does that mean?

Why do you think Jesus warned the disciples not to tell?

What two great truths can we glean from this passage?

1. Human categories, even the highest, are inadequate to describe Jesus Christ.

2. This passage teaches that our discovery of Jesus must be a personal discovery. Jesus’ question is: “You – what do you think of me?” When Pilate asked him if he was the king of the Jews, his answer was: “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”

Our knowledge of Jesus must never be at second hand. We might know every thought about Jesus that human minds have ever thought out, we might be able to give a competent summary of the teaching about Jesus of every great thinker and theologian – and still not be a Christian. Christianity never consists of knowing about Jesus; it always consists in knowing Jesus. He did not ask only Peter, he asks every one of us: “You – what do you think of me?”

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." 23 But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
Matt 16:21-23 (NRSV)

We don't have the actual words of Jesus in verse 21. How do you imagine this-do you think Jesus just mentioned His upcoming death in passing, went into detail about it, or something in between?

We know that the disciples didn't get it. They were totally caught off guard by Jesus' death. Why didn't they get it, in light of Jesus clear teaching on this?

We sometimes only hear what we want to hear. There is an admonition for real humility for us. We have to wonder in what ways we have missed Jesus teaching and not know it. We must not be like the disciples who assumed they got it.

What do you think about Peter’s reaction in verse 22?

How do you think Jesus’ reaction made Peter feel?

What difference does it make what we believe about Jesus?