Knowing Him 37: Retreat and Evaluation

Jesus moves north with His leaders for some time away from the crowds, for a ministry team retreat. As they make their way north, Jesus begins evaluating the ministry with them. He asks them a simple question that sparks an incredible declaration. The question: “‘Who do people say I am?’” (Mark 8:27). It is the most important question the leadership team can be asked. Notice the question is not about how many people are involved in the ministry. It is not about how many new followers are there. It is a question that cuts to the core of the movement. The question is about what people actually know about Jesus and not about what people know about me, my group, my church, my life, my job, my friends or my organization. Can you see the big difference? In the humanistic, materialistic, self-centred world in which we find ourselves, the question of who Jesus is doesn’t fit very well. There is no time for contemplating that question because we are all too consumed with who we are. In the eternal scope of things, the most important question you will ever answer is: Who is Jesus and what do we do with Him?

How would the disciples know what the people were thinking about Jesus? Remember, they had been involved in some heavy-duty, people-intensive ministry for the past six months. They went on a short-term mission project, feeding 5,000 men, women and children. They were highly qualified to evaluate the general pulse of the people. The answer they gave must have been a bit discouraging for Jesus: “‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and, still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets’” (Matt. 16:14). After almost three years of public ministry, telling people that He was fully God, the Messiah, fully human, born in Bethlehem, schooled in Egypt and raised in Nazareth, and they only think He is John, Elijah, Jeremiah or some prophet. Can you hear the discouragement in Jesus’ voice and feel His pain as He responds to their evaluation of the movement by asking them, “‘But what about you? Who do you say I am?’” (Matt. 16:15). He may have been almost wincing, not sure He wanted to hear the answer. I think the disciples huddled for a while; then returned with this incredible answer spoken by the oldest leader, Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt.16:16). Wow! What an unbelievable response by His leaders! They had it right! They figured it out; they were learning and growing in their knowledge of who He was. Inside, Jesus must have taken courage that everything He had done up until this point by investing in them was not in vain. Peter sees Jesus’ pleasure and everyone starts to pat Peter on the back, “Good answer, good answer!” Jesus sees that they are proud of their accomplishment and seizes the moment to teach yet another important leadership principle. Jesus basically says, “Simon Peter, you know that your earthly dad did not reveal this truth to you, so don’t take even a moment to bathe in your human pride. My Father in heaven revealed the truth to you” (Matt. 16:17).

We saw this principle back in John 3 when we had an encounter with John the Baptist at the river Aenon. Remember, John, the humble leader, said, “‘A man can receive only what is given him from heaven’” and “‘He must become greater; I must become less’” (John 3:27,30). If you understand anything about Jesus, it is because God has been gracious to you and revealed this truth to you. It is not because you are more intelligent or smarter than anyone else. It is solely because God, in His grace, willingly chose to reveal that to you. If you are learning anything from this study, it is not because I am some great writer of devotional material. It is because your Father in heaven has been gracious to you and has opened your understanding and revealed His Son to you. There is no place for boasting from creatures who are 100 percent dependent on a greater power, a divine being so much bigger than ourselves. All we can do is fall on our knees and say, “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am not worthy, and yet you loved me enough to open my eyes and reveal your Son, Jesus, to me and save me. I worship you.”

I do not want to pass up this opportunity to correct two teachings that the Christian Church has used for centuries which have caused enormous problems, division, and pain. The problem revolves around what Jesus says in this passage, “‘And 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” (Matt. 16:18). Many have wrongly interpreted this to mean that Jesus was saying to Peter that He was going to build His Church on Peter, the rock. This could not be further from the truth. Paul makes it abundantly clear that Jesus is the rock (1 Cor. 10:4), the foundation (1 Cor. 3:11), and the cornerstone (Eph. 2:20) of the church. The thought that Peter was the rock has existed in certain parts of Christendom for so long because it was believed that the name, Peter, means “rock” (John 1:42). It does not — it means “stone.” If there is any doubt, one need only to go to the words of Peter himself in 1 Peter 2:4 and see that Peter calls himself and us living stones build upon the cornerstone — who is Christ.

The other wrong teaching is that we are to separate ourselves from the world, to hunker down behind closed doors because the Kingdom of Darkness is advancing against us. The truth is that this verse teaches just the opposite. We are on the offensive, not the defensive. The gates of Hell cannot stand against the onslaught and attack of Jesus’ Church. Let me make it really clear what this passage is teaching. The Church of Jesus Christ is built on Jesus as the bedrock, the foundation, and the cornerstone. His Church has one head and that is Himself (Eph. 5:23). No man could even come close to leading the worldwide, multicultural, multi-generational, diverse Church of our Saviour. Furthermore, Hell does not stand a chance against the advancement of the Church of Jesus Christ, not because we are some great army, but because the one out in front leading the charge is none other than the Lion of Judah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who was and is and is to come. Spend some time asking God to help you put Jesus in His rightful place at the center of your life. Talk with others today about these truths.