Real Life Selkirk
**July 19** King Jesus' Ekklesia (Matthew 16:1-20)

  • Sermon

    Key Passage

    Matthew 14:13–21 NIV
    When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

    Series Introduction

    The book of Matthew is where we get our definition of a disciple
    Matthew 4:19 ESV
    And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
    Biblical Disciple Defined:
    Following Jesus
    Changed by Jesus
    Obedient to Jesus— Making Disciples
    The book of Matthew is where we see our calling as disciples:
    Matthew 28:19–20 NIV
    Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
    So we are using the book of Matthew as our Field Manual on how to live as disciples.
    We have walked through the book of Matthew to this point.
    As we have crossed Matthew 14, we have hit the 1/2 way mark of the book.
    Identity of the King
    Matthew goes to great lengths to introduce Jesus as the Messiah, King, God in the flesh, and savior.
    A disciple is someone who sees and knows who Jesus is.
    Not what preachers say, not what culture says, but rather, what the the Word of God says.
    Authority of the King
    We have just completed a segment where we have emphasized the authority of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom He brings.
    You will see how the passages and teachings of Jesus drive us to a humble surrender to Jesus Christ, His authority and His Kingdom
    This isn’t me imposing this upon the Scriptures. This is the emphasis of Matthew and what he draws out of Jesus life.
    A disciple is someone who lays their lives down to follow Jesus
    That is our calling. My authority or His.
    Kingdom Living
    Now, we will move to a part of the book of Matthew that will emphasize Kingdom Living
    I know this has had practical elements that we can put directly into our lives.
    But Jesus’ identity has been established and His authority has been seen.
    Some have surrendered to the authority, others have rejected His authority.
    Now, Jesus’ ministry will begin to focus on His disciples and those who are choosing to follow Him and what life in the Kingdom means for them.
    These next few passages don’t just convict. They meddle. They meddle with our lives. Our core beliefs.
    God, through His Holy Spirit is going to start pointing at some parts of our lives that we are uncomfortable with.
    This is sanctification. This is the consequence of a surrendered life as a disciple. This is a life that looks more like Jesus as we follow Jesus.
    We don’t wear Jesus down to our sinful nature
    As we devote ourselves to Him, He wears down our sinful nature into conformity to His holiness.
    As a disciple of Jesus, this is our journey.

    Sermon Introduction

    I love how the text moves in our passage today.
    For the last few weeks, we have been looking at the teachings of Jesus.
    I remember when I was at North Idaho College, training for my future career in Law Enforcement.
    We would take classes about law, arrest techniques, and driving cars very fast.
    But do you know what we weren’t doing? We weren’t out there being cops doing these things in the field. We were learning about them.
    I remember talking to my classmates about how hard it is to learn these things, but not being able to see them in action in real life.
    There is a difference from the classroom and real life. This is true in almost every area of life.
    Parenting: Most of us were better parents with more answers, and then we had kids.
    Work: Most of us felt more equipped after an education, but then we started the job.
    Me as a cop: I thought I had been trained with all of the answers, then someone wanted to square up with me and fight.
    The disciples had just heard about:
    The Kingdom of Heaven being like seed on good soil
    The Kingdom of Heaven being like yeast in bread
    The Kingdom of Heaven being fruitful
    The Kingdom of Heaven having eternal Heaven and Hell consequences.
    These are great things to learn, especially from the mouth of Jesus.
    But then real life meets our passage today.

    Topic- True Compassion

    Over the last couple of months, I feel God has been working on my heart. As I prepared this sermon, I want to share three areas that I observed in my world where I saw God’s work in my heart:
    Story #1-
    On June 1, I logged onto my social media. (I am moving away from social media in my life. If you’ve sent me a friend request and I haven’t responded...sorry) But I check on the important things, like my Minnesota Vikings.
    I saw that they had changed their team logo on the profile to a rainbow version of their team logo.
    My first response was, “Ugh, here we go again. Another month of jamming sinful behavior down our throats.”
    I scrolled through a few of the comments and saw vile responses on two sides of a matter that our world wants to fight about.
    I tend to lean toward the, “Well, I’m going to unfollow my team for the month to make a point.” line of thinking.
    This is when God convicted my heart:
    This is an issue that has struck not just hundreds of thousands of people in our nation and in our community.
    This is an issue that has struck my own family.
    What does God see in this moment?
    Does He want to join in with a few Holy zingers?
    No. I don’t believe so
    I believe this breaks the heart of God.
    There are people, created in His image, created to know Him, created to find their identity in Him who have believed something else
    They have rejected Jesus Christ as Lord and have chosen a lifestyle and an identity as their Lord and are proclaiming it from the rooftops.
    If their identity is not in Jesus, their eternity is hell.
    God loves them. God is brokenhearted. Am I?
    I started thinking about my daughter. I’m brokenhearted about my daughter who is caught up in this lie.
    It is my hope and prayer that there is a believer who has enough of the heart of God to show compassion to her, not the comments that I saw on social media.
    My daughter needs Jesus, not a lecture.
    Story #2-
    Around a month ago, I was dutifully working on a sermon in my living room.
    I really get focused on sermons. I pray, I ask God for guidance. I study, read, listen and learn.
    I want to Gospel to impact lives! But I also forget that sometimes God is preaching a sermon that isn’t in my notes.
    My doorbell rang and a longtime neighbor that I have known only by waving through the years was standing there.
    Her daughter had been arrested and released from jail. Her daughter had nowhere to go, no money, no friends, no home. My neighbors house was not an option because of her release terms from jail.
    I had a sermon to prepare. I had God’s work on my plate. I have to give you guys the best.
    But God showed me my heart. Standing before me was a desperate mother. She was broken and hurting and I was the only Christian she knew that might help.
    Understand this, I’ve never asked her for anything and she’s never asked me for anything.
    The reason she was standing before me at that moment was God.
    I sat down and listened to her and told her that I would be willing to talk with her daughter and see if I could help.
    She left and I went back to my sermon, but only for around 30 minutes because the daughter came to my front door.
    Lisa and I invited her in, fed her dinner and found a place for her to stay.
    She had a need, but she had a different need.
    She was where she was because she had a lord of her life, but it wasn’t Jesus.
    My heart broke for her, knowing that her destination is hell apart from Jesus.
    That is why it was worth dropping my sermon for the day.
    I don’t say this to brag, but rather to share with you what God is doing in my heart.
    I open up with these two stories because I hear the words of Jesus in our previous parables, but when it comes to real life, it has taken the work of God in my heart for me to change.
    We stand here every week as a church and say,
    Vision:
    We exist to reach the world for Jesus, one person at a time.
    Our passage today shows us at the ground level how this must begin.
    We don’t learn theological points, then convey those theological points for the salvation of others.
    God’s word has to take root in our hearts
    Our hearts have to break. Our sinful lives have to change. We have to conform to the eyes, hands and heart of Jesus! Otherwise, no soul will embrace the Gospel from our message.
    We are talking about the word, “compassion” today.
    It is something we see in Jesus.
    It is something the disciples knew in theory, but their practical knowledge fell woefully short.
    Today we are going to look at the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000.
    This is a powerful story that I believe God wants us to be very familiar with.
    Many of us have heard this sermon preached about the “Multiplication of Jesus”
    How we give Jesus our loaves and fish and he will prosper us.
    There is a multiplication teaching to this passage. But it is in the context of the heart of Jesus
    This passage is about the heart of Jesus.
    It is recorded in all four Gospel accounts
    It is the only miracle other than the resurrection that is recorded in all four gospel accounts.
    Why do you suppose that is?
    There is something in this passage that reveals the heart of God that He wants us to see.
    Question to Answer:
    What is true compassion?
    This is a question we will all wrestle with in our lives.
    What is compassion?
    What are the boundaries in compassion?
    What is Jesus asking of me?
    This will all boil down to clear teaching in our passage today.

    True Compassion is seeing what Jesus sees (verses 13-14)

    Matthew 14:13 NIV
    When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.
    Matthew helps us set our context here. We can see the purpose behind the movement of Jesus.
    It says, “When Jesus heard what had happened...”
    We ask the question, “What did Jesus hear had happened?”
    The passage just prior, two things are revealed.
    First of all JTB, Jesus’ cousin, had been killed by Herod
    Second, Herod had heard about Jesus and believed Jesus was JTB resurrected from the dead.
    In grief and in complications we see Jesus’ response
    Grief because his cousin had been killed
    Complications because Herod now possibly had his sights set on Jesus.
    This is a place where we can see the humanity of Jesus.
    Both of these pieces together compounded would make anyone emotionally overwhelmed.
    Being emotionally overwhelmed in this life is a reality
    God created us in His image. We see that God has emotion. Strong emotion.
    He exhibits joy, anger, pleasure, and peace.
    We too carry emotion.
    As a response of hearing this about Herod and JTB, Jesus withdrew by boat to a solitary place.
    If you remember, Jesus had gone to his hometown and preached.
    The people there didn’t have much faith. However, the people in the places surrounding His hometown seemed to desperately want to hear him.
    Nazareth is around 10 miles from the Sea of Galilee, so Jesus withdrew to the sea of Galilee, got into a boat and went to a solitary place
    Why do you think he went to a solitary place?
    To be with God.
    After He dismisses the crowd, he sends his disciples into the boat and he goes up on the mountain by himself to pray.
    The whole purpose of Jesus in this moment was to be with the Father.
    I want to explore this.
    It is a bit of a rabbit trail, but we don’t have too many verses to cover today.
    Is anyone in this room overwhelmed? Stressed? Worried? Battling the news, grief and struggles this world offers?
    There are always responsibilities, but the greater the worry, grief and stress, the greater we need to be in a solitary place with God.
    You may have come to church today to find hope in your circumstance. I want you to know that church will not provide that solution. A sermon will not provide that solution. Five points on how to find peace in life will not provide that solution.
    God is your solution. God and only God.
    And you may be here today and need to hear this: Get alone with God. Get rid of all of the distractions. Shut your phone off. Turn down your computer. Get a babysitter for the kids.
    Go to God. Go to the Word. Spend time pouring out your heart, your fears, your worries, the consequences to Him.
    Allow Him to strengthen you. Build you. Carry you.
    Matthew 14:14 NIV
    When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
    Spending solitary time with God is necessary and good, but sometimes there are disruptions.
    Can I get an amen?
    Let’s notice this. There is an interruption here.
    Was God in the interruption? Yes.
    Did Jesus still make time to be alone with God? Yes.
    Jesus got into the boat and started going to the isolated place and people on the shoreline said, “That’s Jesus in the boat. Let’s follow Him!”
    They probably had their binoculars and started tracking where he was. Others started following the crowds.
    It built up so much and they traveled on foot through enough towns that a massive crowd.
    I want you to see this:
    When Jesus landed, did He see 5 minutes of isolation? Did He see his quiet time with God?
    No, He saw the crowd.
    I want to pause here because interruptions are a big part of life.
    Believe it or not, I am an introvert at heart.
    That means that I find my energy from not being around crowds, rather than from being around people.
    For a long time, I thought something was wrong with me. God put me in a place that I have to work with people, but people drain me.
    Now I have discovered that God is glorified in my weaknesses. Go figure. He should have said that somewhere.
    In reading about being an introvert, one thing that stood out to me is that interruptions frustrate everyone, but they especially anger introverts.
    It is because when they are formulating a thought, that thought literally touches every part of their brain before crossing the road and coming out of their mouth.
    That is why introverts sit at a table think of the right thing to say when the conversation has moved on to three different topics.
    But in this process of figuring out what to say and how to say it, if the introvert is interrupted, you have taken a massive part of their brain processing and flushed it before anything could be formed.
    That is why other people are so much work. You have to have conversations with them.
    You burned their limited energy with other people.
    It’s hard not to see interruptions as personal or at a minimum a frustration in life.
    It is rude, or a problem that needs to be solved or ignored.
    I want you to see what the heart of Jesus is.
    Remember, the heart of Jesus demonstrates the heart of God.
    Jesus saw the crowds and He had compassion on them.
    I want to bump over to the book of Mark and see what Mark highlights about this explanation:
    Mark 6:34 NIV
    When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
    Do you hear the heart of Jesus?
    They were like sheep without a shepherd.
    Jesus has used this language before. He sees these people as sheep.
    Sheep need a shepherd
    Sheep are defenseless
    Sheep fight with each other
    Sheep will wander off and get themselves killed
    Jesus sees these people like this
    There were people claiming to be shepherds, but the sheep were either being neglected or abused, or completely abandoned.
    Jesus saw people who needed a savior.
    He had compassion on them.
    Who was in the crowd?
    There were likely people who leaned toward the Roman govt
    There were people who leaned toward the Jewish leadership
    There were sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes
    There were righteous church attending folks.
    What did they all have in common? They needed a shepherd from where they were in life.
    And they knew they needed a shepherd. That is why they came to Jesus.
    Do you see this in Mark 6? How did Jesus help to meet the needs of the people?
    He taught them the truth from the mouth of God.
    God give us your eyes
    May we not simply see you for who you are
    May we see those around us as you see them
    They are not problems, political issues, or interruptions
    They are hearts and souls that are lost apart from Jesus
    True Compassion is seeing what Jesus sees

    True Compassion replaces our ideas of compassion

    Matthew 14:15 NIV
    As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
    As evening approached.
    I want to pause there.
    What had Jesus done with these people.
    He had compassion on them. They likely had needs of every sort as they came to him.
    There were thousands and the numbers were likely growing by the minute.
    Jesus taught them until evening.
    There is a spiritual endurance these people had.
    They didn’t come to Jesus and say, “We are awaiting our 30 minute sermon”
    They came to Jesus. He had compassion on their soul. And He presented the truth to them.
    This was not a series of motivational thoughts. This was not a 5 minute devotional.
    Do you think a 5 minute devotional is going to transform your life?
    Or do you think pressing in to the King of Kings because He is the source of truth and He is showing His compassion by sharing the truth of the Bible with you. This will transform your life.
    They were there until evening.
    The disciples were probably getting hungry and they were seeing that it was getting dark.
    They thought, “Well, we’d better bring this to an end. These people don’t have any food and asking them to stay any longer is unreasonable.”
    They felt that they would do the compassionate thing and send people home...away from Jesus.
    Here is where assumptions kill.
    The Pharisees assumed they knew what the Messiah was supposed to do—They were wrong and they missed Jesus entirely because of their assumption
    The people in Jesus hometown assumed they knew Jesus identity (his father, mother and siblings)— They were wrong and they missed Jesus entirely because of their assumption
    Even Herod assumed he knew who Jesus was as a prophet—He was wrong and he completely missed Jesus.
    Here, the disciples assume that they know what is best for the people.
    Is this because they had gone to Jesus and said, “Lord, these are your sheep and you are the shepherd, what do you want us to do?”
    Or did they assume some level of authority and say, “We know what is best for these people.”
    They assumed God’s will, however, Jesus would not let them miss this opportunity to build their faith.
    Matthew 14:16–17 NIV
    Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
    Jesus says, “If we are going to to this in your wisdom, then show me the power by which you are going to perform.”
    They had already crossed that bridge in their mind. They had already asked the question, “Is there enough food present in the crowd?”
    The answer was a resounding “no”
    I want you to see this. This has been one of the biggest failure points of my life and of my ministry.
    I see a need, I see a person, I see a situation and I come up with what I feel is the best circumstance I could think of.
    So often, my solution seem inadequate and doesn’t seem to do anything.
    In fact, when I look at the problems in the world around me and my capability to do anything, it leaves me largely paralyzed.
    If I cannot help them all, I’d rather just not help anyone.
    That is the solution that the disciples found themselves.
    We can’t help these people, so let’s send them home.
    I want to make this point significantly clear today.
    I cannot give true compassion. It is not capable within myself
    I can see needs. I can feel hurt with people. But I cannot have any sort of compassion apart from the heart of God.
    It is God’s compassion they need. Not mine.
    My compassion is a flawed helpless compassion that is limited to my wisdom and strength.
    His is a compassion that can change the hearts and lives of the worst sinner.
    In themselves, they did not have the capability, vision or power to demonstrate God’s compassion.

    True Compassion offers the little we have to by used by Jesus for His purposes

    Matthew 14:18–21 NIV
    “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
    I know everyone wants to jump right to this passage and jump on the prosperity gospel train.
    If you put a little offering in the offering plate, God will multiply it!
    If you do a little, God will give you a bunch.
    So we give under this compulsion.
    Is this compassion? Is this surrender? Is this lordship?
    It is not an act of trust, faith or surrender to go to God and say, I’m giving you something and I expect you to give me back more.
    This is you trying to be God, while using God’s power for your own gain.
    This is the heights of idolotry.
    God is not an idol. He is not to be used for our own gain.
    He is to be glorified in the hearts of all who surrender to Him.
    Jesus showed them His heart.
    His heart was first of all compassion for the lost. They were lost and they needed the truth.
    But the need for their daily bread came to the surface and Jesus had compassion on them as well for this need.
    So Jesus asked His disciples to give him all they had.
    What they had was 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.
    Now, I love this.
    Jesus could have asked everyone to sit down and He could have drawn up a Wonderbread snow-storm. And Wonder bread could have fallen from the sky and everyone could have eaten.
    But Jesus didn’t do this.
    He took all that the disciples had to offer.
    It wasn’t too little. It wasn’t insignificant.
    What they had needed to be surrendered entirely to Jesus.
    Notice that Jesus gave thanks for the bread.
    He didn’t tell the disciples, “thank you”. He told God, “thank you”.
    Your food doesn’t come from your grocery budget or from the grocery store. It comes from God.
    He then broke the bread and gave it to the disciples
    I want to pause here and point to a massive ministry truth.
    The source of our heart should be the love and compassion of Jesus for a lost and dying world.
    Many people put offering in the basket or give online.
    Praise God for that. That is necessary and good.
    But what I want you to see is that they didn’t just give what they had to Jesus, Jesus gave it back to them to give to others.
    The resources required them to do the ministry Jesus wanted, based on His compassion for the people
    They participated in Jesus multiplication.
    But it wasn’t for them. It was for the glory of God and His compassion on these people.
    Are you willing to give what you have because God has opened your eyes to what He sees.
    But then use the life and heart He has given you to be part of what God does in someone else's life?

    Conclusion

    A few weeks ago, I was reading Nehemiah and he had heard about how Jerusalem was in ruins.
    It broke his heart. I want you to know that he could have used his salary, his influence and his ideas to start making a change.
    Instead, He went to God in prayer.
    He then allowed Himself to be used by God as part of the solution.
    The king asked him why he was sad. The king had never seen Nehemiah sad before.
    Before answering, it says that Nehemiah prayed to God before answering
    He then told the king about the situation in Jerusalem and how it broke his heart.
    The king sent him to rebuild the walls
    This is a story about the power of God, when it is led by God.
    In Nehemiahs, own strength, it would have been a guaranteed failure.
    In God’s hands, the compassion of God, True Compassion was seen for the people of Israel and Nehemiah played a big role.
    The difference between the 5 loaves and 2 fish is that in the hands of the disciples, it was worthless. In the hands of Jesus it met the need and revealed His nature.
    Church, when we opened this message today, we asked a simple but life‑altering question:
    What is true compassion?
    And we began by looking at our own lives—our reactions to culture, our frustrations with people, our interruptions, our assumptions, our limits. We saw how easy it is to know the teachings of Jesus in theory, but how hard it is to live them when real people with real needs show up at our door, or on our newsfeed, or in our family.
    We said earlier that the book of Matthew is our Field Manual for discipleship. Not just learning about Jesus. Not just agreeing with Jesus. But becoming like Jesus.
    And today, in Matthew 14, Jesus takes His disciples out of the classroom and into the field. He takes compassion out of theory and puts it into real life.
    And here is what we learned:

    1. True compassion is seeing what Jesus sees.

    When Jesus stepped off that boat, He didn’t see an interruption. He didn’t see a burden. He didn’t see a crowd that needed to be managed.
    He saw sheep without a shepherd. He saw souls. He saw eternity.
    And church—this is where compassion begins. Not with our opinions. Not with our politics. Not with our comfort. Not with our preferences.
    Compassion begins with spiritual vision—seeing people the way Jesus sees them.

    2. True compassion replaces our assumptions with Jesus’ heart.

    The disciples thought they were being compassionate: “Send them away, Lord. Let them get food. Let them take care of themselves.”
    But they never asked Jesus. They assumed. And assumptions kill compassion.
    We do the same. We assume we know what people deserve. We assume we know what God wants. We assume we know what will fix the problem.
    But Jesus says, “They do not need to go away.” “You give them something to eat.”
    True compassion doesn’t start with our ideas. It starts with Jesus’ heart.

    3. True compassion offers what we have to Jesus and trusts Him to multiply it.

    The disciples looked at their hands and said, “We only have…”
    Five loaves. Two fish. Not enough.
    And Jesus said, “Bring them here to me.”
    Church, this is the turning point of compassion. Not when we have enough. Not when we feel enough. Not when we understand enough. Not when we fix enough.
    But when we bring what we have— our time, our tears, our prayers, our resources, our broken hearts— and place them in the hands of Jesus.
    Because in our hands, it’s never enough. But in His hands, it becomes more than enough.

    So what is true compassion?

    Let me answer the question plainly:
    True compassion is seeing people through the eyes of Jesus, surrendering our assumptions, and offering what we have to Him so He can do what only He can do.
    True compassion is not sentiment. It’s not convenience. It’s not tolerance. It’s not agreement. It’s not withdrawal. It’s not self‑protection.
    True compassion is the heart of Jesus expressed through the hands of His disciples.
    And church—this is where discipleship becomes real. This is where the kingdom moves from theory to life. This is where the Holy Spirit begins to meddle with our hearts. This is where sanctification takes root. This is where we stop wearing Jesus down to our image and let Him wear us down into His.
    This is where we become a church that truly lives our vision:
    “To reach the world for Jesus, one person at a time.”
    Not with lectures. Not with arguments. Not with assumptions. But with compassion— the compassion of Jesus Christ flowing through us.
    May God give us His eyes. May God give us His heart. May God give us the courage to bring our loaves and fish to Him. And may the world be fed—not by our strength, but by His compassion working through us.
    We must see as He sees
    Realize we are truly insufficient
    He is more than sufficient

      • 1 Corinthians 13:7NIV2011

  • Sermon

    Key Passage

    Matthew 16:1–20 NIV
    The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away. When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.” Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

    Introduction

    For thousands of years, humanity looked at the heavens and assumed the earth was the center of everything.
    It made sense.
    Every day the sun appeared to rise in the east, travel across the sky, and set in the west. The stars seemed to rotate around us. The earth felt stationary. Human experience seemed to confirm that the earth was the center and everything else moved around it.
    This became known as the geocentric model—the idea that the earth (geo) was at the center of the universe.
    The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle argued for an earth-centered universe, and later Claudius Ptolemy developed a mathematical model explaining the movement of planets around the earth. This model became dominant for more than a thousand years.
    But over time, astronomers began noticing problems.
    The planets did not move exactly as the earth-centered model predicted. Some planets appeared to slow down, reverse direction, and move backward in the sky (called retrograde motion). To make the model work, astronomers added increasingly complicated explanations and adjustments.
    Then came a revolutionary proposal.
    In the 1500s, Nicolaus Copernicus proposed that perhaps the problem was not the planets' movement—but humanity's assumption about our position.
    What if the earth was not the center?
    What if the earth was moving?
    What if the earth rotated on its axis and revolved around the sun?
    This was the heliocentric model—the sun-centered view.
    Later, astronomers such as Galileo Galilei used telescopic observations to provide evidence supporting this view, and Johannes Kepler demonstrated that planetary motion followed predictable patterns.
    The discovery changed everything.
    The greatest shift was not simply astronomical. It was philosophical.
    Humanity had to confront this reality:
    The universe did not revolve around us, even though it appeared that it did.

    The Ramifications

    1. It Changed How People Viewed Their Place in the Universe

    The old worldview said:
    "We are at the center, and everything revolves around us."
    The new worldview said:
    "We are part of something much larger, and we must understand our place within it."
    It was a humbling discovery.

    2. It Changed How People Interpreted Reality

    People had to learn:
    "What seems obvious may not always be true."
    The sun appears to move across the sky, but that appearance is caused by the earth's movement.
    Our perception was real—but incomplete.

    3. It Required a Complete Reorientation

    The problem was not simply adjusting one fact.
    The entire framework changed:
    Navigation changed.
    Astronomy changed.
    Science changed.
    Humanity's understanding of its place in creation changed.
    They didn't simply add a new idea.
    I think it is brilliant that our creator would make us the heartbeat of His creation, but not the center of the universe. We literally revolve around the sun. Something much larger and more powerful. In fact, without the sun, Earth would have no life.
    Sounds a little like humanities relationship to God, doesn’t it?
    They had to rebuild their understanding around a new center.

    Sermon Connection to Matthew 16

    Today, we are talking through Matthew 16.
    This is where the illustration becomes powerful:
    The disciples also had a worldview that needed to be overturned.
    Today, we may have a worldview that needs to be overturned
    They assumed:
    "The Messiah has come, and now everything will revolve around us—our nation, our victory, our expectations."
    They were waiting for Jesus to establish their kingdom.
    But Jesus was revealing something completely different:
    "The Kingdom does not revolve around you. You revolve around the King."
    Matthew 16 is a Copernican moment for the disciples.
    Peter says: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
    And Jesus responds by revealing: "I am building my ekklesia."
    In other words: "This is not about creating a movement where people gather around your hopes and expectations. This is about forming a people who revolve around Me, receive My authority, and carry My mission."
    The shift is:
    From: "How can Jesus fit into my life?"
    To: "How does my life fit into Jesus' kingdom?"
    From: "Jesus is here to bless what I am doing."
    To: "I am here to participate in what Jesus is doing."
    From: "The church gathers because we need Jesus."
    To: "The church gathers because the King is forming, equipping and sending His people."
    Today, Jesus brings up a word that He has not used before. It is the Greek word, “Ekklesia”. It is a word that we translate as church.
    But as we often need to do, we may need to reorient ourselves to this word.
    Much like humanity had to reorient itself to the reality that we do not revolve around the sun, our world has given us an idea of what the church is. It is a definition that all of us have bought into in some way.
    As Jesus defines the church, it may become a Copernicus moment for many of us today.
    This thing called church.
    When I talk about church, I want you to know what I think:
    I think of a beautiful building with a steeple and a cross on the top of the steeple
    I think of church pews. I have so many memories of old orange church pews
    I think of stained glass
    I think of singing songs and listening to preaching
    I think of dressing up on Sunday, carrying my Bible, and combing my hair
    There are many fond memories, but blended with that are some not so fond memories.
    It was the thing we did every Sunday
    I grew up in church and I’m grateful I did. But growing up in church doesn’t mean that I really grasped what Jesus meant when He said, “Church”
    Some of us didn’t grow up in church.
    Your ideas of church have something to do with depictions of church from watching the Simpsons
    You may have seen “church people” being all judgy and standoffish
    You may think of a club of people who are all holy, but you won’t fit.
    Some see it as an arm of a political philosophy in our culture. They keep people religious to keep them voting a certain way.
    Brainwashing
    Some even see it as a power-hungry, money-hungry manipulative scam that at its historical heights did awful things in this world, but currently just preys on old ladies with TV evangelists.
    There are no shortages of church definitions.
    We are even gathered here today as a church. What are we here for?
    I think it is important that we do not assume that we are all on the same page.
    I want to look at Jesus today and ask myself the question, “Is that how I see the church?”

    Sermon

    Matthew 16:13 NIV
    When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
    Just for context here: the region of Caesarea Philippi is in the very northernmost part of Israel.
    It is very near the modern day borders of Lebanon (north and west of Israel) and Syria (north and east of Israel)
    We don’t know why Jesus traveled there, but we do know that He did go there.
    This wasn’t a very Jewish region during the time of Jesus.
    While in this place, Jesus asks a profound question:
    Who do people say that I am?
    I want to go back to the definition of faith that we introduced a few weeks ago.
    Faith:
    Relationally knowing God as revealed in the Bible
    Submission to His authority as King
    Humble obedience when He speaks
    I’m not going to walk through the Biblical defense of all of these again, but I want to use this as the backdrop of understanding Jesus’ question here.
    Who do people say that I am.
    This is a question of identity.
    Who is the identity of Jesus.
    If the people do not identify Him as God in the flesh or Messiah, Jesus is drawing large crowds, but there is little corresponding faith.
    They cannot have a Biblical faith, if they do not know God when He is standing among them.
    Another aspect of faith we spoke about was that faith is not for us. Faith is for the glory of God in this world.
    We will see how that connects to what Jesus further talks about.
    Who do people say that I am?
    Matthew 16:14 NIV
    They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
    The disciples say, “Some people say you are JTB resurrected from the dead. Even Herod Antipas down in southern Israel thinks that.”
    Some say Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.
    Elijah, Jeremiah and the prophets were all sent by God to give the message of God to a world that needed to know God.
    Was Jesus sent by the Father?
    Yes
    Did He give the message of God to a world that needed to know God?
    Yes.
    The difference was that Jesus was a prophet, but not ONLY a prophet.
    The people saw Him as only a part of who He truly was.
    Matthew 16:15 NIV
    “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
    This is on the heels of a handful of events that the disciples appear to have failed miserably.
    They wanted to send the crowd away before Jesus fed the 5000
    They stayed in the boat (except Peter) when Jesus was walking on the water
    They wanted to send the woman away before Jesus cast the demon out of her daughter
    They wanted to send the crowd away before Jesus fed the 4000
    Even earlier in our text (that we will cover later), they are confused because they forgot to bring bread on their trip.
    In almost all of these cases, Jesus challenged their view of faith.
    Jesus takes this moment to ask them what they see as Jesus identity.
    The answer from Peter is a turning point of Jesus’ entire ministry.
    Matthew 16:16 NIV
    Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
    Peter says, “You are the Messiah”
    This word “Messiah” is so important. It means, “Anointed one”
    There were three roles that had an “anointing”
    Prophet, Priest, and King.
    The anointing was a picture of God’s setting this person aside for a role that would be defined by Him.
    Jesus was set aside not as a prophet, a priest or a king.
    He was set aside by God as The Prophet, The Priest and The King.
    And He wasn’t just a guy who had been set apart for these roles.
    He was the Son of the living God.
    Peter identifies that Jesus is not merely human.
    He is both God and human.
    If we go to our faith definition, Peter is starting to understand that Jesus is:
    King— Supreme authority
    Priest— The only means to God the Father
    Prophet— The perfect words of God to man
    Son of God— God’s presence among them.
    We’ll get into this more in a moment.
    Matthew 16:17 NIV
    Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
    Jesus identifies that Peter didn’t just come up with this in his own mind.
    Rather, this was God working in Peter’s heart and mind to correctly identify who Jesus is.
    If this was revealed by God the Father in heaven, it is a validation of the truth of what Peter had just said.
    In fact, it is quite similar to what God the Father had said about Jesus at His baptism:
    “This is my son whom I love. Listen to Him”
    Then sent the Holy Spirit to rest on Him.
    God the Father has validated Jesus’ role.
    Matthew 16:18 NIV
    And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
    Here is where it gets interesting.
    Peter had just correctly identified Jesus.
    Now Jesus correctly identifies Peter.
    If you remember, Peter’s name was Simon before he met Jesus.
    But Jesus said, “You don’t look like a Simon. You look like a rock. I’m going to call you Peter.”
    A rock as a foundation for the church for what Jesus says next.
    Paul talks about this in the book of Ephesians:
    Ephesians 2:19–20 NIV
    Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
    Do you see that the foundation is the apostles. Peter was an apostle. Jesus is the chief cornerstone
    And the church is built upon the faith and the calling of these people.
    Matthew 16:18 NIV
    And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
    Jesus introduces a word that He had not used before.
    It may seem simple or as a part of a new revelation of what is to come. But this word marks a massive transition in Jesus ministry and a clarity to our calling even today.
    Church
    I want to begin by defining this term.
    This word was not uncommon to the disciples at this moment. But it would be understood completely different from what we understand today.
    We may say, “Well we have 2000 years of church history, so we will likely understand it better than they did at that point.”
    I disagree.

    Ekklesia (Church)-

    Greek word meaning “assembly”
    Just for the sake of helping to understand this, let’s remove the word “church” from this verse and replace it with the Greek word, “Ekklesia”
    The word “church” is going to carry with it our definitions.
    Ekklesia is a word that can be seen for what it is.
    No one woke up this morning and said, “I’m going to ekklesia today”
    I want to walk through what the disciples would have heard when Jesus said, “On this rock I will build my ekklesia.”
    They would not have heard what we think of as “church”
    They would not have thought about a white building with a steeple
    They would not have thought about a pastor or worship songs
    In fact, they would not have even thought of anything religious.
    Ekklesia was not a religious term. It was a political term.
    When Jesus said “Ekklesia”, the disciples heard:
    A summoned assembly
    under the authority of a sovereign ruler
    Gathered for deliberation, decision and action
    Often they would gather to make decisions or hear the events of the community and act according to what they felt was best in the situation.
    representing the will of the king in the public square
    It was respected, authoritative and binding
    Those gatherings were called an ekklesia.
    If you want some extra credit, Acts 19:39 talks about an ekklesia that met regarding Paul on one of his missionary journeys.
    You will see what the understanding of “ekklesia” was.
    Before Matthew 16:
    Crowds would gather because they were interested.
    An Ekklesia gathered because they were summoned
    Crowds would watch in amazement
    An Ekklesia would participate in the activity.
    This is the turning point of Matthew 16.
    The disciples understood that Jesus was going to summon people to lead and guide under his authority
    Likely they were thinking that Jesus was going to make His political move.
    This will all tie together, just hang in there.

    Jesus is the Sovereign King

    I want to go back to the “Messiah, Son of God” phrase
    Jesus was Priest, Prophet, King, and God in the flesh
    The prophet calling gathered a crowd
    People gathered to listen to the truth
    That is what they identified Jesus as.
    But they didn’t identify Him as King.
    Matthew 16:18 NIV
    And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
    When Jesus said, “I will build...”
    Who is summoning the Ekklesia?
    Jesus is.
    When Jesus said, “...my ekklesia”
    Who has ownership of the ekklesia?
    Jesus does.
    Here is something that we need to know about Jesus’ ekklesia
    He is the sovereign King.
    I am going to put this into terms that we can understand.
    He is a higher king than our president.
    He is a higher king than our government
    He is a higher authority than the United Nations.
    He is the highest and ultimate authority above all else.
    His Kingdom is higher than any other kingdom of this world.
    I am not calling us to a political rebellion against our nation.
    But I will stand here and say the Kingdom of Heaven is superior to the United States of America.
    It is superior and higher than any other government or structure in our world.
    As Americans and Christians, we must replace our love of country with our love of Kingdom.
    Only through our citizenship in the Kingdom can we be effective citizens in our country.
    Ekklesia was a political structure in a political world.
    Jesus’ ekklesia was the highest structure because He is the Sovereign King.
    Our attitude, motives, and heart cannot be shaped by the world news. It must be shaped first by the King who rules over our first citizenship and who is the ultimate authority over the kingdoms of this world.

    The King has an Enemy

    If we are called to the Ekklesia of the King, we are pulled into a battle against those who oppose the King.
    In this circumstance, there is an opposition to the King.
    Matthew 16:18 NIV
    And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
    I want you to see that Jesus specifically calls out His enemy
    Hades
    Not Rome, Not the Jews, not political arguments of that day.
    In fact, the understanding here is that those arguments would be laid down and these ones would be picked up.
    There is an enemy, a real enemy to the real struggles in this world.
    The enemy is not people.
    The people around us are captive to the enemy.
    The enemy is the domain of death, the power of deception, the spiritual forces that oppose Jesus’ authority.

    The Ekklesia has a mission

    Jesus is clear that he is the King, there is an enemy and He gives us the picture of what we are called to do.
    Matthew 16:18 NIV
    And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
    Gates aren’t offensive tools
    We don’t sit in church and endure the gates of hell.
    Gates stand as a protective element to a stronghold
    The Ekklesia is called to invade the gates of hell under the direction and authority of the King.
    If your picture of church is coming on a Sunday and sitting in a fairly uncomfortable seat and listening to a sermon, hoping to get motivated to make a minor change in your life, you have created a definition of church that does not line up with what Jesus says here.
    You aren’t living as the church. You are engaging in your idea or a cultural idea of church. But not Jesus’
    At Real Life Selkirk, we have a vision. That vision is to reach the world for Jesus, one person at a time.
    Our vision as a church is to invade the gates of hell and set captives free by the authority of our King, Jesus Christ.
    If you want to know about our building that we have going up, you can get all caught up on the details or the building plans.
    But the purpose behind that building is to be a training ground for the church to go into the world and set captives free.
    We are not building a church. Jesus already said that He would build the church.
    We are building a structure so we can accomplish the mission He is giving us.

    The Ekklesia has authority

    Matthew 16:19–20 NIV
    I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
    These passages are often misunderstood or miscommunicated.
    It seems that whenever there is anything that may be confusing or vague, false teachers rush to fill that void with their own garbage teaching.
    Who is the King?
    Jesus
    Who has ultimate authority?
    Jesus
    Jesus gives His authority to the church as they work to accomplish His mission in this world.
    What does that mean?
    Let’s go back to what an Ekklesia is.
    The Ekklesia in a community was a group of people who were called out for a purpose. They were under the authority of the King, and did their best to fulfill the will of the King.
    This is the difference between the crowds and the church
    The crowds gathered to watch a show.
    The church was sent under the authority of the King to do what the King wanted them to do in the world.
    There is authority under the King to invade the gates of hell.
    This doesn’t mean that we now have ultimate authority. This doesn’t mean that we have the ability to dictate the will of God.
    It does mean that we have the authority given to us by God to accomplish what He has ordered us to do.
    He isn’t going to send us into battle, then tell us not to engage the enemy.
    He’s saying, Get into the battle and when you see an opportunity to expand the kingdom, go because you have my authority to do so.

    The rest of the text

    We need to get to the rest of this text
    I want to interpret these in light of what we just read.
    Matthew 16:1–4 NIV
    The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.
    The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus looking to test him
    They asked for a sign.
    This may sound familiar because a different group of Pharisees came to Jesus asking for a sign back in Matthew 12.
    Jesus said a very similar statement to them. They would receive the sign of Jonah.
    In that text, he also called them a wicked and adulterous generation.
    What is happening here?
    These were religious leaders that had come up from Jerusalem to find evidence to indict Jesus.
    They ask for a sign to test Jesus.
    This is a challenge to the authority of Jesus.
    If you are in school, who gives the test. The teacher or the student?
    The teacher.
    A test always comes from a higher authority to a lower authority.
    This is because the results of that test are judged to be correct or incorrect by the one giving the test.
    These people are claiming to be the authority over the Son of God.
    Jesus had already done enough that there was not a lack of evidence.
    Jesus was not going to follow their kingdom. Their structures. Their authority.
    He is God and He is the the King.
    Ultimately, they wanted a King that would submit to them and their authority.
    This is the first thing that we must see about the Ekklesia.
    Either you are a part of the Ekklesia and you are fully surrendered to King Jesus.
    Or, you are captive to the will of the enemy.
    Jesus will not conform Himself to make you comfortable.
    King Jesus’ and His Ekklesia were in direct opposition to:
    Their cultural religion
    Their comfort
    Their consumerism
    Their traditions
    Their systems.
    We don’t follow King Jesus for our will. We follow Him for His Kingdom
    Matthew 16:5–12 NIV
    When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.” Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
    This is a somewhat humorous interaction between Jesus and His disciples here.
    They forgot the bread for the trip
    They are probably quietly blaming one another for not bringing bread.
    Jesus says, “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees”
    They say, “Well, bread has yeast. Is Jesus making some connection here?
    If Thaddeus hadn’t forgotten the bread, then we wouldn’t be sitting here confused in the boat.
    But Jesus clarifies something for them.
    The yeast is the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
    The teaching of the Pharisees was some of the primary teaching of their day.
    I want you to imagine someone telling you not to listen to any of the school teachers in your day.
    Then who do we listen to?
    King Jesus is here now.
    Jesus is giving the disciples a warning.
    As they move on to the next text about the Ekklesia, I want you to see this:
    Jesus is not questioning their belonging in His Ekklesia.
    He is questioning their awareness
    They are chosen, called and would be commissioned.
    But they were naive
    distracted
    Unaware of the threats
    Unaware of the mission
    Unaware of the dangers that their teaching would cause.
    We live in a world with false teachers everywhere.
    We must grow in awareness
    Not just in caution, but in a clear understanding of the truth.
    They would know the counterfeit liars in their world because they know the truth.
    This is why we teach the Word of God in the way we do.
    This is not my direction through Scripture. I want us to become familiar with the voice of the Holy Spirit as He has inspired the Scriptures.
    We cannot be naive.

    Conclusion

    Discipleship is not a program. It is humble submission to Jesus as King—and the gritty willingness to join His battle.
    If Jesus is the sovereign King… If His ekklesia is the kingdom assembly… If His mission is to invade the gates of Hades… Then following Him will never be comfortable.
    No one joins a battle for comfort. No soldier enlists because it is easy. They enter knowing:
    the fight will be hard
    the enemy will resist
    they may be wounded
    they may lose things they once held dear
    the mission will demand sacrifice
    But they join because the King is worthy. Because the kingdom is greater than anything the world calls important. Because the mission matters more than comfort, culture, or convenience.
    This is the Copernican shift of discipleship: My life does not revolve around me.My life revolves around the King.
    The church Jesus builds is not a crowd seeking comfort. It is a kingdom assembly summoned by the King. It is a people who expect resistance, embrace sacrifice, and refuse to quit when the mission gets costly. It is disciples who know that spiritual battle is normal, not unusual.
    The gates of Hades do not fall to casual Christians.They fall to gritty disciples who know their King, submit to their King, and advance the mission of their King.
    This is the church Jesus is building. This is the calling He awakens in His disciples. This is the life we are invited into— not comfort, but courage;not ease, but endurance;not programs, but battle;not cultural Christianity, but kingdom grit.

      • Matthew 16:1–20NIV2011

      • Matthew 16:13NIV2011

      • Matthew 16:14NIV2011

      • Matthew 16:15NIV2011

      • Matthew 16:16NIV2011

      • Matthew 16:17NIV2011

      • Matthew 16:18NIV2011

      • Ephesians 2:19–20NIV2011

      • Matthew 16:18NIV2011

      • Matthew 16:18NIV2011

      • Matthew 16:18NIV2011

      • Matthew 16:18NIV2011

      • Matthew 16:19–20NIV2011

      • Matthew 16:1–4NIV2011

      • Matthew 16:5–12NIV2011

Real Life Selkirk
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