Pastor Jonah preached Matthew 16:13-20. He taught us that Christ has forgiven our sin, defeated spiritual oppression, and torn down the wall of hostility and division that keeps people separated. And we get to be partakers in that glory. Lector: Meagan Baker
Pastor Jonah preached Matthew 16:13-20. He taught us that Christ has forgiven our sin, defeated spiritual oppression, and torn down the wall of hostility and division that keeps people separated. And we get to be partakers in that glory.
Lector: Meagan Baker
Where you say something has an impact on what you say…have you noticed?
If I’m at home and get up to walk into the kitchen, and my wife says, “wait don’t go in yet” I think she’s either got a surprise for me or doesn’t want me to see what she bought on amazon (amen?)
But what if she said the same thing at Waverly Hills Sanitarium? Know that place?
If you’re from here…you do. Old tuberculosis/mental health hospital in Louisville.
Now best known for its ghost tours…it’s the kinda place that puts you on edge.
For those who have lived here awhile, even hearing “Waverly Hills” immediately puts a little shiver in your spine.
So if you’re there, and someone says “WAIT DON’T GO IN YET!” It communicates something different…
Where you say something impacts what you say, and where you say something can say a lot…
This morning, we’re going to look at one of the most important things Jesus ever said, but I want to focus on where he said it and why he said it there.
Look at how v. 13 begins with me:
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi…
-Matthew 16:13
C.P. Was located in the northern part of a region the OT referred to as Bashan.
The locals had two other names for it. Bashan, but also “the land of the serpent.”
Why might that be? The OT gives us some clues.
Gen. 14:5 and Deut. 3 teach us this is where Nephilim clans lived/descendants there. King Og, ruler of a giant clan, lived there.
For people in Jesus’ day, CP would have sounded spooky.
This is where offspring of the Serpent’s armies lived…land of the serpent.
Joshua 12:4 connects these giants and these offspring for us:
Og king of Bashan, one of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived at Ashtaroth and at Edrei and ruled over Mount Hermon.
-Joshua 12:4
Og, the giant ruler over Mount Hermon. Ashtaroth and Edrei, named after invading false-gods from the spirit world.
Mt Hermon, in Bashan, would have sent an even deeper chill down people’s spines.
This is the same root word as the one God used when he told Joshua to wipe out the giant clans.
Waverly Hills creeps us out because we know what happened there
In the Jewish mind, CP, Bashan, Mt Hermon…all of this would have set alarm bells ringing. This is the place of spiritual invasion/oppression/desecration.
This shows up in Hebrew songs, too…look at this portion of Psalm 22
Do not stay so far from me, for trouble is near, and no one else can help me. My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls; fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in! Like lions they open their jaws against me, roaring and tearing into their prey.
-Psalm 22:11-13
Can you think of anyone in the Bible described as a roaring lion prowling about in search of prey?
Peter, the Apostle Jesus will soon speak to in Matthew 16, records this for us in 1 Peter 5:
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
-1 Peter 5:8
So, who are these bulls of Bashan behaving like our great enemy the devil?
Bashan is the land of demonic invasion.
The “bulls of Bashan” are a frequently used metaphor for evil spiritual forces
Psalm 22 is a song about spiritual oppression, which helps us understand why Jesus quotes Psalm 22 from the cross!
He’s not actually surrounded by bulls and lions at his death, but he’s under assault from the spiritual realm.
So…CP=Bashan. Bashan=land of the serpent. This place meant something to these people. It’s not just about what Jesus says here, it’s also where he says it
After being together for years, Jesus stops here and asks Peter a question:
Who do you say that I am?
-Matthew 16:15
In that day, people believed Bashan, and specifically Mt. Hermon, was the place where Genesis 6 happened, where rebel elohim invaded the earth.
Remember earlier I said they had 2 other names for this place? The land of the serpent…and the gates of hell.
They believed Mt hermon, and Bashan in general, is where the invasion began.
It was the seat of demonic power on earth, and the stones themselves show us this is true:
More than twenty temples have been surveyed on Mt. Hermon and its environs. This is an unprecedented number in comparison with other regions of the Phoenician coast. They appear to be the ancient cult sites of the Mt. Hermon population and represent the Canaanite/Phoenician concept of open-air cult centers dedicated, evidently, to the celestial gods.
-Rami Arav, The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Hermon, Mount (Place) p. 159
This region has more temples to rebel elohim than any other region yet discovered.
And so here, in Bashan, Jesus decides it’s time to ask Peter the question.
He waited to press his closest friend on this most important question until they were at the place where his friend would have believed spiritual invasion began.
Here is Peter’s response:
You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.
-Matthew 16:16
You are the anointed one, the Savior, the Lord of All, one with God.
Peter is saying you. Are. the. King.
Jesus blesses peter for this confession, and then says one of the strangest verses in the NT:
I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
-Matthew 16:18
“Rock” here is referring to Peter, it’s referring to Peter’s confession, and the actual rocks they are standing on.
Your translation might render “powers of hell” as “gates of hell.”
which is the name of the very place they are standing.
These gates cannot conquer the church. Spiritual oppression will not withstand the church.
Jesus is SHOWING them something profoundly theological and spiritual by asking them this question in this place.
And what comes next makes this even more clear.
Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone.
-Matthew 17:1
Here we are in Bashan, the gates of hell, and Jesus has just said the gates will not withstand the church.
Then, he leads them up a high mountain in Bashan, outside of Jerusalem.
Would anyone like to guess the name of this mountain? Mt. Hermon!
The very place the invasion of Gen. 6 was said to have occurred.
The very place where evil forces from the unseen realm came to distort, deceive, and destroy God’s creation, including his image bearers.
And what does Jesus do there?
As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as Light.
-Matthew 17:2
One author, whose work we’ve referenced throughout this series, puts plainly what Jesus is showing here:
I’m putting the hostile powers of the unseen world on notice. I’ve come to earth to take back what is mine. The kingdom of God is at hand.
-Dr. Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm
Last week, we said for a gospel to be truly good news, it must address all that is wrong with the world: The Fall, The Invasion, The Tower.
The transfiguration of Jesus shows us what will be done about the Invasion.
The Lord himself will come and reclaim what is his. He will put his enemies under his authority, he will fill the church with his power, and not even the gates of hell will hold us back.
Why did Jesus wait to ask Peter? Because where he asked him was just as important as what he asked him.
And why did he ask Peter for his sacred confession on this rock, the gates of hell?
Because he was taking back what belonged to him. He was showing his closest friends that he had authority even over the spiritual realm.
And to do that, he says the gates of hell cannot withstand the church, and then he himself, the head of the churches, enters into the gates of hell, goes up the mountain, and reveals himself in his glory.
The invasion has been undone, Christian. This means you don’t have to be afraid.
You don’t have to be afraid of the voice of accusation in your head, the voice of doubt, the voice of scarcity or insecurity. You don’t have to be afraid of temptation or spiritual oppression. Because the King has come, and by faith the King dwells in your heart.
And if you don’t have to be afraid, you don’t have to listen, either.
Yes, the devil remains on the prowl. Yes, be alert! And part of being alert is to remember what is actually true: he may be like a lion, but he’s a limping one.
He’s a false lion, his teeth have been pulled by the Lion of Judah.
So, when the voice of accusation, temptation, doubt, insecurity, fear creeps in…
Recognize it for what it is! It’s not your father…it’s that limping lion
When you hear it, remember the lion of Judah stands beside you, before you, he hems you in on all sides.
In those moments, hear Jesus saying, “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not withstand it.”
In those moments, see in your mind Jesus’ face shining like the son, his clothes transfigured into dazzling white, and I want you to experience the peace of Christ which passes all understanding.
If you are here and you are not a Christian, I want you to know this peace can be yours.
Peace not only to quiet temptation, but to overcome it.
There is a peace that will not only settle your soul, it will fill you with power, because when you cry out, “Jesus is Lord,” when you confess this as Peter did, the Spirit of the Living God will fill you.
And greater is he who lives in you than the spirit at work to accuse and tempt you.
Just before doing this, Jesus told his disciples they would not perish before seeing the Kingdom of God.
That is what he is showing them on Mt hermon…the kingdom of God begins with the beauty of the King.
In that kingdom, spiritual oppression ceases, wars cease, and one day death itself will cease. So, if you want that kingdom, come to the King.
Each week, we become participants in the life of the King by doing what he told us to do…calling our minds to the night when he was betrayed…
COMMUNION