The Impactful Life of Jesus
Sermon Notes
Introduction:
Today we’re continuing our teaching series called The Story, where we’re going through the biblical narrative from the very beginning in Genesis 1 to the last amen in Revelation 22, and today we’re studying the impactful life of Jesus. We’re studying the impactful life of Jesus, and a time when he tells his disciples to live impactful lives like him...Everybody wants their life to have purpose, to make an impact in some way. Everybody at some point in their lives asks questions like “What’s my purpose in life?... What’s my purpose? Why am I here?...How can I make an impact on this world?...” Most of us start asking questions like this in high school when we’re thinking about our future career and college or vocational degree. Then after high school some of us realize we don’t like our career and degrees, so we change career and degrees. I’ve also seen some people hate their careers, but they feel stuck in their careers because they’ve already put in so many years and want to collect their pension, or they don’t even know where to begin if they started pursuing a new career.
My point is everybody at some point in our lives, wrestles with what we’re supposed to be doing in this short life we’re living. What about you? Do you want your life to have an impact on this world?...Do you want your life to have an impact on your family?...Do you want your life to have an impact on your friends, your co-workers, your classmates, the people we love in this city?...Well today Jesus is going to teach us how to live an impactful life like him, so let’s turn to Matthew ch 16 and check it out. If you open your bible to the middle and keep turning right, you’ll find the gospel of Matthew there. We’ll be in Matthew 16:13-24. Title of today’s message is The Impactful life of Jesus and here’s the big idea. The Christian life is meant to be impactful not comfortable...The Christian life is meant to be impactful not comfortable...
Context:
Here’s your context. Over the past few weeks we’ve been studying the life of Jesus. We’ve studied the happy life of Jesus, the great power of Jesus, and the compassionate heart of Jesus. Well today we’re studying the missional heart of Jesus, the missional impact of Jesus. In Matthew 16 he’s teaching his disciples how he plans to advance the kingdom of heaven. He’s teaching his disciples and us how to live an impactful life like him. So let’s check it out.
The Word:
Matthew 16:13 states, “When Jesus came to 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.’ 15 ‘But you,’ he asked them, ‘who do you say that I am?’” It’s a great question considering he’s in Caesarea Philippi, which was a central place for Greco-Roman worship. In Caesarea there’s a huge rock wall where the Romans built numerous temples to worship numerous gods. It was basically a temple strip mall for worshiping different gods. The newest temple they built was a temple to worship Caesar, and he had the words King of Kings, Lord of Lords inscribed on it. Some scholars say Jesus was facing this rock, staring at all the temples and pagan gods, when he asks “Who do you say I am?”
Now what’s always interesting to me is people are still asking this exact same question about Jesus today. They’re still asking who is Jesus Christ? At least once a year we see articles on this same question from sources like The New York Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek, or a documentary on The History Channel. Why? Why is it that every year in every generation, we’re still questioning the identity of Jesus nearly 2000 years after he lived? I mean nobody is still questioning who Muhammad, Ghandi, or Gautama Buddha is, and nobody will be questioning who you and I are 2000 years after we’re gone. It doesn’t matter how fat your 401k is, how big your entourage is, how much Usher like swag you think you have, nobody will be questioning who you are 2000 years after you’re gone. It’s because we know who you are. We know just like Muhammad, Ghandi, and Buddah, we’re all just humans. But every year, in every generation, we’re still asking who is Jesus Christ? The fact that he’s the only one in human history whose identity we’re still questioning, makes his identity uniquely different than ours. Jesus is asking the disciples “Who do you say I am,” because he wants them to know his identity is uniquely different than the Greco-Roman pagan gods, than Caesar, than anyone else in history.
Again vs. 15, “‘But you,’ he asked them, ‘who do you say that I am?’ 16 Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ 17 Jesus responded, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah,, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven.” Peter says Jesus is the messiah, meaning he’s the long awaited savior Israel’s been waiting for. He’s the messiah, the Savior, a living God unlike the dead Greco-Roman pagan gods of Caesarea...and notice Jesus doesn’t reject Peter’s claim, instead he affirms Peter’s claim. Jesus affirms he’s the messiah, the savior, the living God. It’s exactly why the identity question about Jesus doesn’t ever go away. The reason every generation still asks who Jesus is, is because the salvation of every generation still depends on his name. It depends on people having to believe what Peter believed, which is that Jesus is their messiah, their savior, their living God.
Again vs. 17, “Jesus responded, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah,, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” So as Jesus is facing the rock of pagan temples in Caesarea he says “Peter I’m not building my church on the rock of pagan temples. I’m building my church on another rock. I’m building my church on this rock!” Scholars say the rock Jesus is talking about either means Peter, Peter’s confession of faith, or Jesus and his teachings. But Jesus will build his church through each of these things. He’ll build his church through Peter, through the confessions of Jesus being the messiah, and through the teachings of Jesus recorded in the Bible by the Apostles. He’ll build his church even through future disciples like us. Ephesians 2:20-22, “The church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you are also being built together...” Jesus is the “cornerstone,” the primary “rock,” the entire church is being built on. Without the cornerstone, without Jesus the entire church would crumble.
Simply put, Jesus is predicting he’ll build the church, a community of believers that not even the gates of Hades, the gates of hell can overpower. We know what Jesus predicted is true, because here we are 2000 years later and the church is still standing. Despite years and years of persecution the church is still standing, which reminds me of a 19thCentury French soldier H.L. Hastings quoted. The soldier was trying to convince the King of France to rescind orders to persecute the church. The soldier said “Sire, the Church of God is an anvil, that has worn out many hammers.” He said the church is an anvil, it’s the flat iron block blacksmiths hammer metal on. He said the church is like that, it’s like an anvil that’s worn out many hammers, meaning you can try to persecute and destroy it, but history’s proven it can’t be destroyed! It’s still standing, still gathering, still moving forward, and not even the gates of Hell can overpower it!
Again vs. 18, “...on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.’” Jesus is saying that Peter and the other apostles will accurately record his teachings, they’ll accurately record the way to heaven. The bible has Jesus’ teachings, it has the keys to heaven which is the gospel. The gospel is the key that unlocks the door to heaven. The gospel message is that Jesus is our messiah, our Lord and Savior who lived, died, and rose again for our sins. It’s the message that we’re saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Those who believe in that message here on earth, will unlock the doors of heaven for eternal life.
Vs. 20, “Then he gave the disciples orders to tell no one that he was the Messiah.” The reason he tells them not to tell anyone at this time, is because this would’ve fast forwarded the timeline for his crucifixion. He still had work to do, he still had ministry to do, and spreading the news that he’s the messiah would’ve caused the Jewish leaders to crucify him too soon. So Jesus tells them not yet, not until he finishes all the work he came to do.
Vs. 21, “From then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, ‘Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to you!’ 23 Jesus turned and told Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan!’” The reason Jesus says this is because Peter’s getting in the way of Jesus going to the cross. Peter has a different understanding than Jesus regarding what the messiah came to do. He thinks the messiah’s supposed to be a conquering warrior, not a suffering savior. So he tries correcting Jesus, but Jesus corrects him. I love how honest the bible is about the success and failures of the disciples. I mean Peter goes from being praised to being rebuked. He’s like “Hey guys, did you just hear that? Jesus called me a rock...Dwayne Johnson isn’t the rock, I’m the rock!” Then a few minutes later Jesus humbles him calling him Satan. The bible is very honest, very authentic in telling the truth about the success and failures of the disciples. In 1st century literature if you wanted to start a movement you only recorded your successes not your failures. But the bible’s so unique to 1st century literature, because it records both their successes and their failures. The bible can always be trusted, because the bible always tells the truth, even about their failures.
Again vs. 23, “Jesus turned and told Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.’ 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.’” I’ll explain what Jesus means by this in a few minutes. I’ll explain what he means by the phrase take up his cross, but for now let me give you 3 things we’re learning from this text. It’s 3 things we’re learning from Jesus when it comes to how to live an impactful life.
#1 An impactful life offers a different message = An impactful life offers a different message than the culture’s message. Jesus affirms Peter’s claim that Jesus is the messiah, the savior, the living God, and he affirms this while living in a city with pagan temples. He affirms this while living in a city where people believed you can worship whatever gods you want, you just can’t say your God is the only God. But Jesus says, “I’m building my church on a different message than that cultural message, and it’s that I’m the messiah, the savior, the only living God. I’m not one of many ways, I’m the only way! I’m the way, the truth, the life, the only one who holds the keys to heaven, and I’m passing those keys onto anyone who believes in that message.” Jesus could’ve easily followed the culture’s religious pluralistic message, but instead he offered a different message unique to the culture. You’ll never have an impact on people’s lives, if your life and message isn’t any different than their lives. To have an impact on people’s lives, you have to live and offer a message that’s different than their lives. Jesus says it starts with believing he’s your messiah, your savior, your living God. He says if you believe in that message, you’ll become a part of an impactful movement, that not even the gates of hell can overpower.
#2 An impactful life pushes back darkness = An impactful life pushes back darkness in our family, workplaces, schools, cities, and neighborhoods. Jesus said the church will be such an impactful movement, that not even the gates of hell can overpower it. Now some people think that means Jesus will protect us from Satan’s attacks. They’re like “Don’t fear Satan’s attacks, because Jesus will protect us. The gates of hell can’t overpower us!” But that isn’t what Jesus is saying here. This isn’t about the gates of hell attacking us, it’s about us attacking the gates of hell. I mean think about it, a gate isn’t an offensive weapon, it’s a defensive weapon. You don’t go into battle with a gate, you don’t try shanking people with a gate. It’s because a gate isn’t an offensive weapon, it’s a defensive weapon. So Jesus is saying is we’re supposed to be the ones on offense, we’re supposed to ones taking the fight to hell, instead of letting hell take the fight to us. We’re supposed to be the ones pushing back darkness in our lives, families, workplaces, schools, cities, neighborhoods. Orlando’s the 9th most unchurched city and 6th most de-churched city in America out of 19,000 plus cities. We’re one of the most unchurched, de-churched cities in America, which means we’re on the front lines in the fight against darkness in our country. We’re also one of the worse mid-size metropolitan cities for homelessness, child homelessness, human trafficking, and the list goes on. There’s darkness in our so called city beautiful, and Jesus has us in this city to push back that darkness. So if you want to live an impactful life, then help push back the darkness in people’s lives, push back the darkness in our city. Jesus says if we push back darkness with the hope of the gospel message he’s given us, the church will become such an impactful movement that the gates of hell will crack, the gates of hell will not overpower it.
#3 An impactful life isn’t a comfortable life = An impactful life isn’t a comfortable life, which Jesus makes clear when he corrects Peter for trying to stop him from going to the cross. But Jesus doesn’t live a comfortable life, he lives a cross life, and tells us to live a cross life too. He tells us to take up our crosses and follow him. This means shedding our Peter mentality of living a comfortable life hardly serving, hardly giving, hardly doing anything to help push back darkness in our city. The cross life isn’t a comfortable life, it’s a sacrificial life where we sacrifice our time to serve people, invest in people, shine light into the darkness of people’s lives. The cross life is meant to be a sacrificial life where we give financially, give generously, give sacrificially an amount that alters our lifestyle. It’s comfortable not serving or giving to others, not giving and serving the local church you’re a part of. But the impactful life isn’t a comfortable life, it’s a sacrificial cross life. Jesus sacrificed his time serving people, he sacrificed his wealth in heaven, he sacrificed his very own life for our sins. He died on the cross pushing back the darkness of sin and death, then he rose on the 3rd day proving the gates of hell can’t overpower him. He invites you to follow him, to carry your cross with him, to live an impactful life with him.
The Big Idea:
The big idea of the message is the Christian life is meant to be impactful not comfortable. ...The Christian life is meant to be impactful not comfortable...So are you living a comfortable life or an impactful life?...Are you living a life and message that’s comfortably aligned with the culture, or living a life and message aligned with Jesus to impact the culture?...Are you living a comfortable life that doesn’t push back darkness, or living an impactful sacrificial life that’s pushingback darkness?...What can you do to help push back darkness in your family, workplace, school, city, and neighborhood?...What can you do to help build the local church, to help build this local church, so the gates of hell can’t overpower it?...City Awakening let’s believe in our messiah like Peter, and take up our crosses like Jesus. Let’s live not a comfortable life, but an impactful sacrificial life like Jesus. Let’s pray, and then let’s go put a dent in the gates of hell for our city.