Matthew 16 - Authority to Bind and Loose

He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:15-18.

Jesus begins sharing with His disciples the deeper revelation of who He truly is. While the Pharisees and the multitudes offered possibilities of Him being John the Baptist, Elijah, or even Jeremiah, the Heavenly Father wanted the disciples to know that Jesus was more than the promised Messiah; He is God's son, the very essence of God in the flesh. Revelation knowledge from the Holy Spirit came over Peter and he proclaimed this truth by saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!" This is a revelation that does not come from intellect or learning, but by divine revelation from above.

Jesus proclaimed that upon this rock (which is the revelation knowledge of Jesus being the Christ, the Son of the living God AND the proclamation of such truth), He would build His church. Don't be fooled into thinking that the church is built on the man Peter, because it is not! It is built on the Savior Jesus! We see this explained by the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans 10 - if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead AND you confess Him as Lord, you shall be saved. Revelation and proclamation are the keys to being born again!

The gates of Hell did not, cannot, and never will prevail against Jesus' church. People who are trapped in sin, guilt, and condemnation need deliverance and the church has the authority and power of Jesus Christ to deliver the message and set the captives free. What an awesome privilege and responsibility!

Matthew 16 - Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees

Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Matthew 16:6-12.

After the healing of the Canaanite woman's daughter and the feeding of the second multitude of 4000 in the wilderness, the Pharisees come back again, questioning Jesus. They knew very well that this amazing feat of feeding some 20,000 people with seven basketsful of leftover food was a sign by Jesus to the rulers of Israel that one greater than Moses had come. Moses fed Israel manna in the desert when they fled Egypt, but here was a man who feed them a super abundance of fish and loaves! God had never done anything like this before! Jesus was declaring that He was not only an anointed Jewish man (the Son of man), but that He was also divine, of God ( the Son of God). For that reason, the Pharisees came asking for a sign from heaven that would prove this truth.

Of course, Jesus was not going to provide any such thing, because the evidence was already there and in abundance. He answered that a wicked, evil, and adulterous generation requests signs when the evidence is as plain as the nose on one's face. In this new kingdom, revelation of truth comes by faith and not continual natural proof. Besides, even if Jesus had provided them with some sort of sign, they never would've believed it! Their hearts were hardened and calloused; they were blind and deaf and doomed to destruction (in 70AD).

Jesus warned His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, meaning the man made doctrines that make the Gospel of no effect. At first the disciples thought He was talking about bread, but Jesus always speaks of spiritual things before dealing with natural issues. The spiritual sin or leaven of this Pharisaical/temple system would be the greatest obstacle to the Gospel message advancing forth. This is still true today. Religion (even some facets of Zionism), Christian watch-dogs, and denominationalism are the greatest hindrance to the advancement of the Gospel of grace. All of us need to examine the teaching we are sitting under and purge out anything that does not line up with God's precious Word!

Matthew 15: Hearts Laid Bare

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. Matthew 15:18-20.

After the miraculous feeding of the multitude, the Pharisees came to Jesus asking why He and His disciples didn't ceremonially wash their hands in accordance with the tradition of the Jewish elders. The implication was that Jesus and the disciples were defiling themselves by eating without washing.

Jesus confronted them with their hypocrisy and then turned and taught His disciples re spiritual cleanliness. Here is the lesson: It isn't what goes in to a person that makes him or her unclean, but what comes out of his or her mouth, ie his or her words. Why words? Because the words and the ensuing actions (which are the manifestation of those words) reflect the condition of that person's heart. Yes, there are religious people today, just like the Pharisees, who say all the right things, but their conduct is very different from their speech. I'm sure that if you stuck close to them for any length of time (as a fly on a wall) you would probably hear very different words come out of their mouth from what is espoused while attending church functions.

God is all about giving us new, clean hearts that speak His words and perform His actions. The condition of one's heart is based on what he or she believes, and that belief is based on one's thinking. How does one change his or her thinking to line up with God's thinking? Meditate on the Word and keep meditating, even when circumstances and people pressure you to give up, cave in, and quit!

Matthew 14 - Rise Above the Wind & Waves!

And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Matthew 14:28-31. 

After the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus directed His disciples to go over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee to the land of Gennesarat while He went up to a high mountain to pray. A wonderful spiritual lesson was about to unfold; as the wind kicked up and the waves began to roll, the disciples found that they could not maneuver their boat toward their destination. Circumstances were against them, and they were doomed to fail without God's intervention.

Jesus knew of their circumstance but waited until after 3am to come to them - not as a rescuer who would snatch them out of their predicament, and not even as one who would calm the wind and the waves. No, He came as one who would show them HOW they were to RISE ABOVE the wind and waves and do what they had been called to do. He came to them walking above the wind and waves, revealing Himself as not only an anointed flesh man, but also an anointed, spiritual God man.

What is the message to us on the other side of the cross? Persecutions and obstacles will be there, and they may be huge, both from the spiritual realm and the natural realm. But we, as born again children of God, are to rise above all of that, with our spiritual sights set on Jesus, and do as He has called us to do. We cannot let fear stop us, but must push through our fleshly hesitancies and things that defy our natural reasoning and move forward in faith. Those of us who are bold like Peter will do supernatural, miraculous things, provided we step out in faith AND keep our eyes on Jesus. This is impossible to do in our flesh, but with and IN the spirit, all things are possible!

Jesus casually walked above a wild and tumultuous sea, and Peter did too! The same power and authority IN CHRIST is available to the church today! How exciting!

Matthew 14 - The Feeding of the Five Thousand

And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves tohis disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children. Matthew 14:19-21. 

After John the Baptist was killed, Jesus knew His march toward the cross was nearly upon Him. We see a change in His teachings toward His disciples, mainly a "ramping up" of spiritual laws and truths where these natural men would be required to live and operate supernatural lives long after Jesus was gone from the earth.

The first of such teachings was the feeding of the five thousand. Here, Jesus revealed to them that this new kingdom operates under the seed principle, meaning that the smallest of things, when placed in Lord's hands and offered to the Heavenly Father, will reap a great abundance. All they had to feed these five thousand men plus their wives and children were two small fish and five loaves of bread. But this was more than enough in the hands of the Savior! That day, the multitudes ate till they were full and even had twelve filled baskets left over to bless others! Moses had fed Israel manna in the wilderness, but this was greater than manna! One greater than Moses had come.

This historical account is a great spiritual lesson for us in the body of Christ, some 2000 plus years beyond the cross. If the Lord has called us to do something that in the natural seems impossible, then we are to offer the small little bits that we have and place them in His hands. The Heavenly Father will bless it and there will be an abundance. Give it time, but the harvest will surely come. It is a spiritual law!

We live in a wonderful kingdom! It is a kingdom that will continue to grow, flourish, and bear great fruit. It is a kingdom that will never end! Amen!