Matthew 16:13-20 (NLT)
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now 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. 19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” 20 Then he sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Questions Jesus Asked
1. Who does everyone say I, the Son of Man, am?
This was a question pertaining to people who had just heard of Him but had not been close to Him.

2. Who do you say I am?
This is directed to people who had be around Him. Peter was willing to step out and say what others were afraid to say. We should be able to share what God has shown us without fear. However, verse 20 shows that timing is critical to everything.

The key we are given may be different than the key given to others.

What is the key to opening the doors to our communities?

Some important concepts we can glean from these verses are the following:
-The church is built on the revelation of the Father.
-Spiritual issues must be revealed. We need to look pass the obvious and see the spiritual nature behind it.
-If the church is built on the rock and we have the keys to build the church on the rock, we should be pastoring the community.
-We need to have a freshness of the question, “ Who do you say I am?” We can never let the answer to that question become stale in our minds.
-Jesus gets personal before He gives access to the keys to the Kingdom.
-Some religious people do not know who Jesus is.
-We need to knowing Jesus is relational, not informational. He is more than a concept or religion

Prayer:

Dear Father, thank you for sending Jesus.  Help me to know Him better each day.  Please direct me and teach me how to share His love with others.  Give me courage to tell others who He is and how He changed my life.  Please give me wisdom to know Your timing on when to share.  Thank You, Lord.  Amen.

 

 

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