The Promised King: You Are the Christ, the Son of the Living God

Matthew 16 is the great hinge of the Gospel.

The Pharisees and Sadducees demand a sign. He refuses. He warns His disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees — by which He means their teaching.

Then in Caesarea Philippi, He asks the most important question any human being can answer: Who do you say that I am?

Peter answers: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

From that moment, Jesus begins to teach plainly what He had only hinted at before: He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things, be killed, and on the third day be raised. And He calls everyone who would follow Him to take up his cross.

The Promised King is the Christ. And the Christ is the Crucified.

A sign from heaven

The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Him they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.

He answered:

"When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' And in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times."

"An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah."

He left them and departed.

The Promised King has already given them all the signs they need. Healings. Exorcisms. Provisions. Resurrection of the dead. They are blind by choice. No further sign will help.

The only sign He has left is the sign of Jonah — His own death and resurrection.

The leaven of the Pharisees

When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. Jesus said to them:

"Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

They began discussing it among themselves: We brought no bread.

Jesus, aware of this, said:

"O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?"

"How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

The Promised King's warning is doctrinal. False teaching is leaven — small and quiet at first, eventually spreading through the whole loaf.

"Who do you say that I am?"

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples:

"Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

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."

This is the great confession of the Gospel.

The crowds saw Him as a prophet — a high view, but not high enough. Peter sees Him as the Christ — the long-promised Anointed King. And not just the Christ, but the Son of the living God.

The Promised King is more than the King. He is the Son. He is God.

"Blessed are you, Simon"

Jesus answered:

"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."

This is the heart of the gospel. Right confession is not the achievement of clever reasoning. It is a gift of the Father. Peter knows because the Father has revealed it to him.

"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."

This is the first time Jesus uses the word church in the Gospels. He will build it. The gates of hell will not prevail against it. The keys of the Kingdom are given to His apostles.

The rock on which He builds is debated — Peter himself, or the confession Peter just made. Both are united. The Church is built on the confession that Christ is the Son of the living God, and on the apostolic foundation of those who first made and proclaimed that confession.

Then He charged the disciples to tell no one that He was the Christ. The time was not yet right.

The first prediction of the cross

From that time 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.

Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him:

"Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you."

But Jesus 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."

Peter has just made the great confession. Now he becomes the instrument of temptation. The same lips that confess Christ rightly can also tempt Christ deeply when they refuse the cross.

The Christ Peter confessed is the suffering Christ. To want the Christ without the cross is to set the mind on the things of man.

Take up your cross

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?"

The Christian life is summarized in three verbs: Deny. Take up. Follow.

Deny yourself — say no to self-rule.

Take up your cross — be prepared to die.

Follow Me — keep walking in the direction the King has set.

The Promised King calls His disciples to walk the same road He walks. The cross He bears is the model for the cross they will bear.

"For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

The next chapter — the Transfiguration — is the partial fulfillment of this saying. Three disciples will see the glory of the King unveiled. And the chapter after that, and after that, the road to Jerusalem will continue, and the cross will draw nearer.

Closing prayer

Father, thank You for revealing to us, as You revealed to Peter, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Save us from the leaven of false teaching. Build us into Your Church, against which the gates of hell will not prevail. And give us the grace to take up our cross daily, deny ourselves, and follow the Promised King to the very end — knowing that whoever loses his life for His sake will find it. In Jesus' name, amen.