MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2022

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Monday, September 5, 2022

 

Confronting the “Gates of Hell”

 

Mark 8: 34 (NLT)

 

    Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.

 

 

1.     Considering their location at Caesarea Philippi, why was Peter’s use of the word “living” significant when he declared Jesus to be “the Christ, the Son of the living God”?                                           READ:  Matthew 16: 13 – 16  

 

 

 

 

2.     The church has long debated Jesus’ meaning of “rock” in Matthew 16: 18 On this rock I will build my church.”

 

  • Traditionally ,the “rock” is Peter’s confession the Jesus is the Christ.(i.e., Christ, the Son of the living God, the foundation of the church.

READ: Acts 4: 10 & 11 and 1 Corinthians 3: 10 -15) This is Pastor Jeff’s view.

 

 

 

 

 

  • Some consider Peter to be the rock, the leader of the church upon whom Jesus will build His church.

 

 

  • Consider this: Rabbi’s used visible objects, metaphors, to convey their lesson. At Caesarea Philippi there was the :rock of the gods” on where numerous statues of pagan gods were displayed in niches carved into the face of the cliff – What could be the symbolic meaning of Jesus’ declaration. “on this rock I will build my church”? Could this be another metaphor that Jesus was using to convey that upon the rock of pagan values and dead idolatry that the church would replace those values an institute wordship to the living God?