SIDE A SIDE B: Unredeemed Lives and Saved Souls

Notes and reflections on the second talk of the “Side A Side B” preaching series at the Feast Valle Verde May 23, 2021

Happy birthday Catholic Church 😊

(It’s amazing to note that this recap, still in the gospel of Matthew, has been timely with our celebration of the Pentecost.)

Matthew 16:16

16 Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

The very first pope, St. Peter, had become the solid rock of this one, holy and apostolic Catholic church, and proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah! But where did he get that confidence of declaration?-No wonder, he really followed Jesus!

Who do we follow? It is not bad to follow role models. Keep in mind that who we follow shapes how we look and live our lives, and how we relate with other people.

Who would you rather follow, devil or Jesus? 99% of the time, most of us will respond, “Jesus!” Are you sure? Yes, you go to church and serve. But, do you really follow Jesus?

Would you rather follow your own version of Jesus or would you follow the real Jesus?

One Big Message: We become Like the Lord we follow!

Many follow their own version of Jesus!

Most of the time, we treat Christianity just like a grocery store. We only choose what will make us feel comfortable and beneficial. We only want a provider, miracle worker, helper, healer and savior Jesus! However, if we feel like Jesus is challenging us, we don’t want Jesus who instructs us to forgive our enemies, to be selfless and to sacrifice. We don’t want an inconvenient Jesus! Let us ask His grace to follow the real Him, and not just our own version of Him!

In this part of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus spent more of his time with his disciples, sharing with them the real mission before arriving at the final day in Calvary. Unfortunately, at this point in time, they still didn’t get the mission of Jesus!

Matthew 16: 13-14

13 When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

Caesarea Philippi was a significant place in the northern part of the Sea of Galilee. It was a place for pagan gods. It was littered with many temples of Syrian Baal gods. This place also had a long colorful history of Greek gods and goddesses with a huge temple to worship the emperor of the Roman empire. Amidst this plethora of idols around them, Jesus asked the disciples whom they followed.

If we look at the history up until today, somehow, we become like Caesarea Philippi, a place where people worship many gods – money, power, fame, pleasure, success - even likes and views from our social media pages. People want to be in trend. However, we must choose and decide who to follow.

Who do you follow?

Jesus, after asking, “who do you say that I am,” and listening to his disciples of what they heard from other people of who He is, He then asked a more important question.

Matthew 16:15

15 Jesus said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

No Bible-based answers. Based on our experiences and encounters with Him, who is Jesus really for us?

When you follow God, it must be personal.

Only you can choose to follow Jesus. It must come from a deep, personal revelation and conviction. Others can’t make that decision for us. Following Jesus is a personal decision.

Only you can sacrifice your life for God.

That’s a decision we need to make each and every day. Sacrificing means “less of me, more of Jesus!” From there, we are becoming more like Jesus that we follow.

When Jesus asked again this piercing question, “who do you say that I am,” we can imagine the disciples in awkward silence. Some of them were probably gazing at their feet or glancing on trees just for them not to look at Jesus, who’s also looking at them. Perhaps, they had felt that they might give a wrong answer. But out of nowhere, Peter saved the day declaring,

Matthew 16:16

16 Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

The word Messiah used in Greek was Mashiyach, an emotionally packed and historically loaded word, meaning the Anointed One, which also means Christ!

But what does it mean to be anointed? To be anointed meant that oil was poured over the head, and only the kings and priests were anointed that way. For the Jews, Jesus being the Mashiyach, the anointed one, meant two things. First, that Jesus is the new Moses, a priest figure who would free the Jews in the way God liberated them from Egypt. And second, that Jesus is the new King David, the greatest king in their history who united Israel as the world’s super power. These are the Jews and Peter’s expectation of the Messiah. Peter and the disciples, saw Jesus as a priest liberator and a political king. Whether Peter had a right version or expectation of Jesus, he planted this flag on the ground and declared making a decision that Jesus is the new Moses and the new David.

But these expectations will be later clarified by Jesus himself to be refined later on. As for Peter, it was remarkable that he made a verdict to follow Jesus born out of personal conviction. He really decided to follow Jesus! This is something to look forward to! When it comes to non-essential matters, it’s okay to sit on the fence sometimes and remain undecided. However, when it comes to essential or to what truly matters, we must be like Peter to have that courage to plant our flag on the ground, and to really decide on which side we’ll be standing on.

If Jesus asks you today, “Who do you follow?” What will you answer?

Matthew 16:17

17 Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My heavenly Father.

Jesus honored Peter for his answer. God does not require a high IQ to understand. God is constantly revealing Himself in our lives. In His love for us, He wants Himself and His love to be known by us, His children.

Sometimes, we may feel that God is playing hide and seek with us. But the truth is, he refuses to stay hidden. He will always meet us where we are and reveal himself to us. The question is, why can’t we see or understand him at times? The problem is actually within us. Sometimes we can’t see Him clearly because of our sins, shame and pride. If we would allow Him, God is healing our blindness (check last talk’s recap for Unleavened Bread and False Teachings) so that we can see and encounter Him. That’s why He’s always revealing, loving, saving and blessing us. God is a loving Father who longs to reveal Himself to us. Let us open your eyes to who He truly is and what He’s doing in our lives. Open our ears and heart, and listen to Him. He’s speaking and revealing His love for us every single day of our lives.

Matthew 16:18-20

18 And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.

As Catholics, we believe that Jesus confirmed Peter’s role as the head of the early church. The leaders of the early church believed that in these verses, He established the authority of the pope as the head of the universal church.

But the story takes a shocking twist.

After showing Peter’s wisdom, he shows Peter’s foolishness.

Jesus did not even give Peter six minutes to bask in the spotlight. He showed that even the first pope had his shares of flaws and mistakes.

Matthew 16: 21-23

21 From that time on, Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. 22 Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” 23 He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

This was the only time that Jesus called another human being ‘Satan’ in the bible. He just happened to be our first pope.

We fight temptations daily. When we’re fighting temptations, we can learn from Jesus. Don’t argue and make debate with the temptations, or you lose.

Just get rid of the temptation.

If we are being tempted, end it as quickly as possible. Shoot the temptation down.

Peter knew that Jesus was the Mashiyach, the anointed one - the new king and priest. But did he know and clearly understand what it all meant? Not at all!

Peter was a product of his culture.

His expectations for the Messiah were exactly the same as everyone else - a political leader who would drive out the Romans and re-establish the nation of Israel as the world super power again. To be fair, Peter was not wrong. Based on the Jewish literature, even in the Old Testament, the past Mashiyachs were actually violent. They usually picked up the swords, led armies, and cut throats of their enemies (Book of Judges and Maccabees).

Every other Mashiyach sheds the blood of his enemies to win. But the Mashiyach of Jesus sheds HIS OWN BLOOD so that others will win.

Matthew wanted us to see ourselves in Peter.

Peter got the title of Jesus right, but he didn’t get His heart.

We know who Jesus is. We call Him savior, healer, blesser, provider, shepherd, miracle worker – we love that! But the question is, did Jesus come into this world to follow us around, answer our prayers, and give us the miracles that we need? That’s what a lot of people think of who Jesus is. If Jesus is like that, then He is no different than that perennially waving golden cat as luck charms. A lot of people think of Jesus as that for ‘me’ – to heal me, to provide for me, to bless me. God is basically asking us, who are you following? Are you following Jesus or are you following your own version of Jesus?

Matthew 16: 24-25

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after Me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

When we heard the word, “Take up your cross,” we think of cross as our problems. But in ancient Jews, it only meant one thing. Whoever is taking up that cross will die. When Jesus said, “Take up your cross,” frequently, the Jews would see in the streets of Jerusalem a guy, carrying his cross with a phalanx of Roman soldiers behind whipping him. They know that the guy is going to die in a matter of hours.

For a lot of people, Jesus’ invitation to them is come and follow Him and He will answer our prayers. That Jesus is not in the scripture!

Jesus is not asking us, “Come and live comfortable.” He’s asking us, “Come and die and you’ll truly live.”

Truly follow Jesus and be a blessing to others. Live our life for others. That’s the invitation!