THURSDAY- 18^TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME –B

Gospel: Matthew 16:13-23: You are Peter, and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

I Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34: I will make a new covenant and will never call their sins to mind.

The Messiah’s Dramatic Revelation of Himself and His Church:

Peter’s Great Confession, Mt 16:13-20

It was time for the disciples to learn that Jesus was building a church-an assembly of people who would be confessing Him to be the Messiah. There is a demanding questions ever asked by Jesus. It is demanding because the answer given determines a person’s eternal destiny with God in heaven or apart from God in hell. This is the only answer to the question that can qualify a person for heaven. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter understood and gave the answer and he was qualified for heaven.

1.     Christ was in the  area of Caesarea Philippi (v.13)

2.     This confession is not the confession of the world (v.13-14)

a.     The first critical question

b.     The false confessions

3.     The confession declares one’s trust in Christ (v.15-16)

a.     The second critical question v.15

b.     The true confession: a personal trust in Christ

4.     This confession is revealed by God  alone (v.17)

5.     This confession is the foundation of the church (v.18)

a.     Fact 1: His church

b.     Fact 2: He builds

c.     Fact 3: He protects

6.     This confession assigns great responsibility to believers for the church (v.19)

a.     A responsibility to use the keys to the kingdom of heaven

b.     A responsibility to bind and loose on earth

7.     This confession must be understood before being shared with others (v.20)

Thought: The true church is universal. It is made of all who genuinely confess Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of God. If God is living, then Christ is living. Jesus Christ is “My Lord and my God.”

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