The Son of the Living God Makes Us Temples of the Living God

+ In the Name of Jesus +
The Son of the Living God Makes Us Temples of the Living God.
Matthew 16:13-20
Pentecost 13 (Pr 16A)
August 27, 2023

1. Caesarea Philippi was a creepy place—it would have been very creepy for the disciples because it was thirty miles north of the Sea of Galilee, Gentile territory beyond the borders of Israel. It was also the site of a temple to the god Pan. Nearby was a cave called “the gates of hell” where the worshippers would sacrifice goats. Years before, human sacrifices were performed there. It was a creepy place because of what happened there. It was also a troubling place because it showed what people come up with on their own. Next week I will teach my first Catechism lesson of the year—“How do we know about God”—and the first part talks about natural knowledge of God. Looking at nature, we know there is a creator who is wise and powerful and cares for his creatures. The letter to the Hebrews says, “Every house is built by someone, and God is the one who built everything” (Hebrews 3:4). But if natural knowledge is all we have, we will make a lot of wrong guesses, like the Greeks and Romans did when they sacrificed goats at the gates of hell to try to satisfy the god Pan. Their guesses did not lead them to the true God, or to an understanding of what God wants.
2. It was there that Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  Simple question. Mixed answer. “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  Jesus was clear about who he was. He was clear when he taught, and when he taught about himself, but the people had their own ideas. Because they mentioned Elijah, Jeremiah and the prophets, we know these were Jewish ideas that really looked back rather than forward to a promised Messiah. Their guesses did not lead them to Christ either.
3. But Peter said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  The Messiah, the Christ, that means “the Lord’s Anointed,” and that means “The One set apart by God to serve God’s people. The one promised from the beginning who would crush the serpent’s head.” And note what Peter said next, “the Son of the living God.” They were probably within sight of the temple at Caesarea Philippi. What do temples have, either out front or in a special room inside? … A statue of the god. We would call it an idol. Peter and the disciples would have called it a “graven image.”  A lifeless god. A statue with eyes that don’t see and ears that don’t hear. And what it represented wasn’t alive either. There was no god Pan. He was a character in mythology. A god created in man’s image. “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” meant, “Jesus, you are more than all these things we see here!”
4. And Jesus said, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”  “This was not revealed to you by flesh and blood” means “This is not any human being’s guess about what some god is or wants. This is not any human being’s opinion about who this traveling preacher Jesus is. This was revealed to you by my Father in heaven.” With his words and works, Jesus was revealing who he was. By healing many, by feeding the thousands, by walking on water and stilling a storm, Jesus showed that he was the only one who could do these things—the Christ, the Son of the living God—God himself.
5. We will confess that in a few minutes in the Nicene Creed. This is something that God has revealed to us, too, with Jesus’ words and works on the pages of Scripture. That’s the second part of Catechism lesson number one, “How do we know about God.” God gives us revealed knowledge through the written Word. That’s the reason the Word is central to our worship—why we frame Scripture readings with psalms, Alleluias, and exclamations, “The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God!” “The Gospel of the Lord. Praise be to you, O Christ!” Because this is where God comes to us. This is how we know anything about him. God doesn’t leave us to guess who he is or what he wants. He has sent us Jesus, whom John calls “The Word became flesh and dwelled among us.” God sent us Jesus to reveal his will and his love by his teaching and by his actions—especially by his great act of sacrifice—giving up his life as a sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world. That’s why we aren’t killing goats in caves. That’s why we aren’t bringing lambs to an altar in Jerusalem. Our God has revealed to us that he, the Father, gave his only Son, moved by his love (John 3:16). He wants us to trust in him, and have the love and life he wants to give. Any other idea of God is only a guess. Any other idea of what God wants from us is only a guess.
6. In September, our Monday/Wednesday class is going to begin a study of 1 John. At the end of the first century, there were many guesses about who Jesus was. Some said, “Only human. A very good teacher, and nothing more.” Some said, “Only divine. High and holy, who can’t be defiled by actually taking on human flesh.” And John wrote his letter, saying “Our hands have touched him!” He repeated the thought from his gospel: “He has come in the flesh.” And he is indeed the Son of God, one with his Father.
7. And he is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  He is “God-with-us” who came to this earth, “for us and for our salvation.” No one could guess this. Jesus is not a god made in man’s image, but God himself who took on the likeness of human flesh to deal with sin (Romans 8:3). Who really suffered for us in that human flesh. He did that to restore his image in us. He does that whenever we hear his Word. He transforms us and sanctifies us—he makes us his temples—places where he dwells and where his worship is offered—as we follow him in his love and grow, “every day to be / good and gentle, more like thee.”
8. The “gates of hell” at Caesarea Philippi was a creepy place. But Jesus said, “Even that won’t overcome the truth, revealed by the Father, that I am the Messiah.” The real gates of hell, can’t overcome that truth, either. The devil uses his lies and human guesswork to put something in the place of Jesus, but God’s truth prevails. On that rock his church is built. When everything in life is uncertain, our God’s love, demonstrated in Jesus, is our solid rock. In him alone our hope is found!

Amen.

Matthew 16:13–20

      ¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴They 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?”

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷Jesus 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. ¹⁸And 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. ¹⁹I 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.” ²⁰Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.