Rev. Charles Lehmann + Matthew 16:13-20 + Pentecost 14
In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.
Appearances can be deceiving. Though Olympic athletes usually look like
icons of perfect health, those muscles can cover cancerous tumors that are
eating them away from the inside out. Beautiful and delicious looking fruit
can sometimes hide rot that goes to the core. And, in the case of today's
Gospel lesson, a beautiful spring rushing from a cave near Caesarea Philippi
can mark the place that false gods had been worshipped nonstop for nearly a
thousand years.
Caesarea Philippi had housed Israelite shrines to false gods ever since
the days of the judges. In those days, the city was called Dan and marked the
northern border of Israel. But when Jeroboam abandoned worship of the true god
in 922 B.C., he set up idols for the Israelites to worship and forbade his
subjects from worshiping the true god in Jerusalem. He said, “These are your
gods who brought you out of Egypt” and he put his golden calves in Bethel and
in Dan.
When the Greeks conquered Israel, the shrine to the golden calf in the
city of Dan was replaced with a shrine to a false god of the Greeks. This new
shrine was still standing when Jesus brought his disciples to Caesarea
Philippi. Any Israelite would have known what stood on the northern end of
town. There, at the base of Mount Hermon a stream gushed out of a deep cavern
and flowed south into the River Jordan. Statues of Pan had been placed in
carved niches all around the mouth of the cave. Pagan worshippers came to the
cave daily to offer sacrifices. They wanted Pan to give them an abundance of
water so that their crops would grow. They wanted him to give them children
and wealth. In short, they looked to Pan for all good things in life.
We might listen to this and sigh with a sense of relief. At first glance,
it doesn't seem like we have the rampant idolatry in Garrett County that was so
common in first century Israel. We've left behind the graven images and
fertility cults. At Saint John's we like to think that we're not idolaters.
We've given up superstition. We trust only Jesus.
Luther describes what a god is in the Large Catechism. He writes, “What
does it mean to have a god? Or, what is God? Answer: A god means that from
which we are to expect all good and in which we are to take refuge in all
distress. The confidence and faith of the heart alone make both God and an
idol. If your faith and trust is right, then your god is also true. On the
other hand, if your trust is false and wrong, then you do not have the true
God. Many a person thinks that he has God and everything in abundance when he
has money and possessions. He trusts in them and boasts about them. [If he
loses his money] he is despondent, as though he knew of no God.”
Luther's point is clear. If you place your trust in your money, your job,
your family, your health or anything but the true God, then you have created an
idol for yourself. Sadly, we all have done this. We have all fashioned idols
for ourselves. In time of need and sorrow, do we always look to God for
comfort? What happens when life seems to be going badly? Sometimes we try to
pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. Instead we should fall to our knees and
pray, “God be merciful to me, a sinner!”
If we were to starting counting off all those things we've trusted as our
gods, we'd never run out. When the world schedules a sporting event on a
Sunday morning, where do we want to be? Next month, on the first Sunday of
deer season, how many of us will be here? The thoughts of man are only evil
continually. Our idolatry, like our sin, knows no bounds.
When it came to idolatry, the people of Caesarea Philippi were amateurs.
Their idols were made of metal, wood, and stone. We, on the other hand, are
professionals. Our idols are countless. They can be our jobs, our bank
accounts, our families, or our high school sports schedules. They can even be
something as simple as a few extra hours in bed on Sunday morning. Our idols
are in our flesh, and we carry them around in our minds. Our fallen
imaginations are expertly skilled in creating false gods and placing them
between us and Jesus.
In today's text Jesus asked his disciples who people said that He was. He
asked them to make a confession of their faith. The true God who created the
entire universe stood in a city filled with idols and asked His disciples who
they said He was. Would they see Him the way the world did—as nothing more
than a man, the son of a house-builder in northern Galilee? Or would they,
with the Canaanite woman call him “Lord, Son of David?” Last week we learned
that the Canaanite woman didn't just trust Christ for her salvation (though
that would have certainly been enough) She also trusted him to cast out the
demon that was tormenting her daughter. She looked to Jesus for all good in
life. She took refuge in Him in all her distress. She would let no idol, not
even that of her own pride, stand between her and her Savior. But this
Canaanite woman was unusual. Not all Gentiles believed. Many held tightly to
their false gods.
The disciples began their answer by listing everyone that people had
guessed Jesus might be. “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and
still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” But Jesus didn't really want
to know what others were saying. He said, “But what about you? Who do you say
I am?”
It was then that Peter made his good confession. Though he was surrounded
by idols that were worshipped by thousands, Peter ignored them all and said,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” What beautiful words! Peter
confessed Christ and denied every idol all in the same breath. He said, “You
are the Messiah. You are the Lord's Anointed One. You are the One Promised of
old. You are the Son of the Living god. All of these idols are worthless
pieces of stone. They are dead and lifeless. They cannot save me. They
cannot forgive my sins. They give nothing but eternal death. I trust you for
my salvation. Only you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”
Peter's words did not come from himself. No one in Caesarea Philippi told
him to say them. He hadn't arrived at them through study of science or
philosophy. These words were given to Peter by God the Father. Peter had
believed the testimony of the Old Testament and had recognized that Jesus was
God in the flesh. And so Jesus commended Peter's confession. He said, “Flesh
and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.” The
flesh-and-blood people of Caesarea Philippi could never have recognized Jesus.
Caesarea Philippi was proud of its pagan ways. The cave that opened into
Mount Hermon dropped deep into the earth to a dark, still pool. The idolaters
who worshipped there believed the cave was an opening into the underworld.
They literally thought that their city was built on the gates of hell.
But the gates of hell were in for a shock. Listen to the Lord's words!
“I tell you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and
the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Peter has confessed Christ to
be the Son of the Living God, and the gates of hell are powerless against our
Lord.
Without Christ, our idols would drag us all into the open maw of hell.
Satan's appetite would not be satisfied until he had taken us all into
everlasting torment. But because you are baptized into Christ, death and hell
are in for a nasty surprise.
You are baptized into Christ, the Son of the Living God. You are baptized
into Christ, the One whom hell could not hold. Jesus has died on the cross to
forgive your sins. And after He died, Jesus descended bodily into hell and
proclaimed His victory to Satan and all his evil demon horde. By dying, our
Lord Jesus destroyed death. And after proclaiming this victory in hell, Jesus
rose victorious from the grave, never to die again.
Dear Christians, Jesus' message to Peter is clear. The church is built
upon the confession of Christ, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.
Christ has carried your punishment on the cross. He has gone down into hell
and risen victorious from the grave. Because He has risen from the dead, you
too shall rise. The grave has no more power over you than it had over Him.
You will die. You will rest for a time in the grave. But the gates of
hell will not prevail against you. The Lord will come with the shout of an
archangel and He will call you, His beloved child. He will raise you from the
dead. He will give you an incorruptible body that will live in heaven with Him
forever. And when the Lord calls you by name, your grave will open. No gate
will be closed to you. Satan will be powerless to keep you in the grave.
You, forgiven child of God, are safe in your Savior's keeping. Christ,
the Son of the Living God will come for you, and you will live with Him forever.
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your heart and
mind in faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Charles R. Lehmann
Pastor, Saint John's Lutheran Church, Accident, MD
http://chaz-lehmann.livejournal.com
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