Day 293 (Matthew 16, Mark 8) - Year 6
12:37 Share

Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. Today's episode may not be suited for young ears, so use your own discretion as you listen.

After rebuking the Pharisees and Sadducees, two groups of leaders in the religious community, Jesus turns the experience into a teaching tool for his disciples. As he often does, Jesus uses the things around them as metaphors, but sometimes, like today, it can be confusing for the disciples because they think he's talking about the physical thing, not the spiritual thing. Jesus compares the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees to leaven. For those of us who don't spend much time in the kitchen or on the cooking channel, here's a quick leaven lesson.

It makes bread rise, and a tiny amount leavens the whole loaf. The Jews have a long-standing tie to unleavened bread, and they even have a feast that features it. The Feast of Unleavened Bread, also known as Passover. Back to the illustration. Jesus says the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees is like leaven. In other words, just getting a little bit of their teaching mixed in with what you believe will impact the way everything pans out.

These two groups have some major differences with each other, and we'll link to a short article about those differences in the show notes today, but the thing they have in common is that their teachings are primarily focused on morality. You can probably see how this could have the veneer of religion, but without the heart behind it. And you can probably also see how that would impact every area of your life, like Jesus points out.

The minute morality becomes the goal, we start to fix our eyes on our actions instead of on the saving action of Christ. When we focus too much on being good people, whatever that means, it can actually begin to negatively impact the way we view others and treat others. We can become self-righteous, looking down on others who haven't gotten their act together like we have.

When we're primarily concerned with looking like good, upstanding citizens, then it's offensive to be confronted with the truth that we're actually sinners in need of a Savior. You can see how morality can easily hijack the gospel while wearing the same Sunday suit. So Jesus warns his disciples to watch out for that teaching and that mentality because it will impact everything. It will leaven the whole loaf of your faith.

Jesus points to the two food multiplications to remind his disciples that what he offers, the gospel, is always enough. There were 12 baskets left over after multiplication number one with the Jews, one for each of the disciples, and there were seven baskets left over after multiplication number two with the Gentiles, representing perfection and completion.

Jesus wants his disciples to understand that he is sufficient for each of them individually and for all the people of the world. But they miss the symbolism he's pointing to until he explains it. I find it interesting that Jesus fills his disciples in on the truth, but he doesn't fill the Pharisees and the Sadducees in on it here. Remember how he warned his disciples in Matthew 7, "'Do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.'" He demonstrates that here.

Going to battle against a hardened heart is a waste of your time and energy. Not even a good and true argument can change someone's mind. Only God can soften hearts and open eyes to see the truth. Then in Mark 8, Jesus heals a blind man by using his own spit. We know he can heal immediately and without even touching a person, so why is he using spit?

Probably because spit is considered disgusting in Jewish culture and most cultures. So for Jesus to be able to heal using something people consider to be contaminating only goes to show his power all the more. If I could make the best meal you've ever eaten out of the trash in your garbage can, you'd know I'm a great chef. Jesus can use even the things the world looks down on as a means of blessing. It's also interesting that this man's healing is a two-step process for Jesus.

It's his only healing recorded in scripture that isn't immediate. Why did Jesus need a round two? It's not like he has a low battery or a weak signal. What's the deal? Lots of scholars think Jesus intentionally made this a two-step process so he could illustrate something to his disciples. This healing happens immediately after the disciples demonstrate their own partial vision. They're starting to see and understand who Jesus is, but not fully. It will take more time. But

But Jesus will bear with them until they see clearly he's not giving up on them.

After this, they take a trip to Caesarea Philippi, about a 50-mile round trip on foot. It's in a nature reserve at the foot of the mountains with a huge cave entrance in the middle of a rock face, and there's a river running through it. We go here on our Israel trips, and it's beautiful. But in Jesus' day, it was associated with extreme wickedness and debauchery. It was the site of lots of pagan worship rituals, everything from bestiality—because they worshipped goats—to child sacrifice.

People would throw their babies into the mouth of the cave, and if the river carried their blood in it, the gods had rejected their sacrifice and they had to try again to appease them. People believed the mouth of the cave was the gate to the underworld. They called it the gates of hell. In the show notes, we'll link to a picture of Caesarea Philippi, as well as an article about it.

Why would Jesus take his disciples on a field trip here of all places? Why not apple picking or a nice round of golf maybe? Why the gates of hell? As we already know, Jesus is all about object lessons. So he takes them there to make a statement. And just as they're approaching the site, he sets up that statement by asking a question.

Who do people say that I am? Do they think I'm the Son of Man? By the way, that phrase, Son of Man, comes from Daniel 7.13, and it's a reference to the Messiah. It's actually Jesus' favorite way of referring to himself. We'll link to a short article about that name in the show notes.

Then Jesus gets personal. He asks them who they think he is. We already know he's a mind reader. He's not asking this question for himself. He doesn't need affirmation or validation from teenagers. He's asking this question for them. Peter says, you are the Christ, the son of the living God.

And Jesus says God has blessed Peter with that information because there's no way he would have figured it out on his own. God opened his eyes to the truth. That's what God does. Then Jesus makes a big statement. Here's the first half of it. Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 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 picture him gesturing to the cave when he references the gates of hell. The part just before that, where he talks about building his church, is interpreted one of two primary ways depending on which faith tradition you come from. The first view says Jesus is building his church on Peter.

The second view is that Jesus is building his church on the truth of Peter's statement that Jesus is the Messiah. My primary concern anytime we hit potentially divisive text is that I always want to be faithful to each specific text in particular and how it fits into the rest of scripture as a whole. So I'll point out a few things I think might be noteworthy, and we'll link to a short article with more info in the show notes, as well as two very long articles for those of you who want to geek out on this topic.

The name Peter, as we've talked about before, is the word petrus, which refers to a fragment of loose rock, like a pebble. And the word Jesus uses for rock here is the word petra, which refers to a mass of rock that is earth, like a mountain. The whole sentence basically translates to, "'You are a pebble, and on this mountain I will build my church.'"

In my opinion, it doesn't sound like he's saying Peter is the foundation of everything. In fact, that runs contrary to what we see elsewhere in Scripture. We see it in Matthew 21 and Ephesians 2 and Acts 4. And 1 Corinthians 3.11 says, In stonemasonry, the cornerstone is the most important piece. If it's removed, the whole thing collapses.

Jesus says his church will outlast everything, but things built on people don't last. They have an expiration date.

That's not to say that Peter and his role in the early church aren't important. He plays a huge role. In fact, in the very next sentence, Jesus gives him a significant amount of authority. But he's just not a sufficient foundation for the church. We see immediately and repeatedly that he isn't infallible. When Jesus tells them he's going to have to die soon, Peter pulls Jesus aside like a parent and rebukes him. Then Jesus says, "'Get behind me, Satan!'

Some say he's just making a comparison between Peter and Satan, and others say Satan is working through Peter here and Jesus is actually addressing Satan. Regardless of which it is, we get the point. Jesus has to go to the cross. And when he tells the disciples that they will have to take up their own cross and follow him, it lets us know that he knows exactly what kind of death he's going to die. In fact, John 18, 4 tells us that explicitly. Jesus knows.

Satan knows too and wants to stop it all from happening because it seals his defeat. But regardless of whether he tempts Jesus directly, like in the wilderness, or through the misguided concern of one of Jesus' closest friends, Satan is not going to stop God's plan for redemption. According to Revelation 13.8, the cross has been the plan since before the world was created.

My God shot was from the conversation in Sendown Central. It felt like a pep talk with some visual aids that these guys would really need based on all they're about to endure. Jesus knows he'll be going to the cross soon, and he's starting to prep them for his death. Not only that, but he's prepping them for when he raises from the dead and then ascends to heaven, leaving them to carry on his mission on earth. He knows they'll be tempted to think this was all for nothing. He knows they'll face oppression and doesn't want them to shrink back.

He takes this trip to the worst place imaginable to basically say to them, see all this wickedness? Not even this can stop my kingdom. Not even this is a threat to my church. My kingdom will outlast everything. In addition to that, he's giving them a charge. He wants them to storm the gates of hell, so to speak. After all, they went to Caesarea Philippi. They sought it out. And by the way, gates? The gates of hell? Gates are defensive. No one attacks with their gates.

So this isn't just a promise that the enemy won't defeat them. It's a call to go on the offense because we win. And he's giving them hope in advance so it can serve them well during times of fear, uncertainty, doubt, and oppression. And we carry that same hope with us too. Nothing you encounter today can stop his kingdom. You can be bold in your faith because he's our king and he's where the joy is.

Hey, Bible readers. I get asked a lot about my favorite Bible resources. And because I'm an auditory learner, I love tools that help me with listening. One of the very best tools I found is the Dwell Bible app. You don't have to sit down and read with your eyes to really learn God's Word. In fact, for thousands of years, people have learned Scripture by hearing it.

That's how most people throughout history have engaged with the Bible. So whether I'm in the car, out for a walk, getting ready for the day or cleaning house, I can listen to God's Word with the Dwell Bible app. Plus, the app lets you choose different voices and background music. So if you want to make it easier to engage with the Bible, especially when you're on the go, I highly recommend the Dwell Bible app.

visit dwellbible.com forward slash TBR or click the link in the show notes. You guys, we're on the home stretch here. In the home stretch. I don't know. If I were into sports metaphors, I'd say we were rounding third and headed for home or whatever. I don't know baseball, but I do know how to help people read the Bible. So...

One way to make sure you've been as strong is to sign up for our pre-cap emails. It can be super easy to lose motivation, especially as the chaos of the end of the year unfolds. So these daily emails are like breakfast in bed. Each day's devotional, Bible reading, and recap are delivered right to your inbox with links to both the audio and video recaps.

You can sign up for the pre-cap at the bottom of our homepage, thebiblerecap.com, or click the link in the show notes. By the way, if you want to make sure these don't end up in your spam folder, go ahead and add our newsletter's email address to your contacts. It's hello at thebiblerecap.com. Now that's what I call a grand slam. I don't know what that means.