Follow Where Jesus Leads

You are listening to a message from Thrive Community Church, a church located in Southwest Florida. For more info, visit us at thrive-fl.org. We are in week five of our series, Come Follow Me, as we journey with Jesus through the Gospel of Matthew. We started this whole series out with the call of His first disciples by the Sea of Galilee. And now, at this point in time, where we are in the Gospel of Matthew, is kind of a critical moment. In some ways, it's kind of a chiasm in the middle of this whole Gospel. Now, some of my students who have had my classes will know chiasms are all over in the Bible. It's where the center is kind of the main theme. And today, the question comes out where Jesus asks His disciples, and Peter responds. Peter shows some of the highest heights in the Gospel, you know, walking on water, and the lowest depths, almost drowning in that same water. And that's what Pastor Zender talked about last week. And we see today, a highest height, he confesses that Jesus is the Messiah, and the lowest depths. He has a total misunderstanding of what that means. And so, that's where we're at today in our Gospel. So, Matthew 16. Let's read this. 13 to 26. Now, when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples. Do you know where Caesarea Philippi is, by the way? It's as far north as you can get. You're almost really, in a sense, you're outside of the promised land. You are as far away from Jerusalem as you can possibly get. Far away. You are in a pagan kind of area. It was named after Caesar Augustus, by a man named Philip. That's why it's called Caesarea Philippi. And there's a huge temple to Pan, the Greek god of, I think it's frivolity, but I don't know. They're all kind of frivolous gods, anyways. And so, it's the opposite of Jerusalem, in one sense. He is as far away as possible, and He's asking His disciples this. He asked His disciples, who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they said, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. That He strictly charged that His disciples to tell no one that He was the Christ. From that time on, Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, Far be it from you, Lord, this shall never happen to you. But He turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan. You are a hindrance to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. And then Jesus told His disciples, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me, for whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul, or what shall a man give in return for his soul? Powerful text, the highs and lows. It's an amazing point, and like I said, it's kind of the nexus. It's that in-between point. This becomes this confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, and then how He understands what it is, is kind of almost centered in the Gospel. And after this now, we'll see the implications of what it means. And Peter understands and doesn't understand. He gets it and he doesn't get it. He sees, but he doesn't perceive. And it takes a little more than just being able to say a few words to get what it means to be a disciple. So today, this story I think is telling us three things that disciples do. They first of all perceive who Jesus is, but then they also believe what Jesus does. And thirdly, they follow where Jesus leads. Okay? Fascinating, perceiving who Jesus is. It's not a coincidence, right before this story, and this is the way when you study the Gospels, when you study any text, when you study literature in general, but when you study the Gospels, realize these things, these inspired by the Holy Spirit, but they put the Gospels together amazingly intricately. I mean, it's just an amazing thing. Right before this whole section on Caesarea Philippi, right before he asks, who do you say that I am, he is dealing with his disciples who don't get it. Okay? He had just dealt with the group of Pharisees, these Bible nerds, these people who should know everything, and they're demanding from Jesus a sign to prove who he is. T...