Peter the Sign of Jonah and Forgiveness / Matthew 16:13-20 / Pr. Ted A. Giese / Sunday August 27th 2023 / The Season Of Pentecost / Mount Olive Lutheran Church

Mount Olive Lutheran Church / Rev. Ted A. Giese / August 27th 2023, Season of Pentecost, Matthew 16:13-20. “Peter the Sign of Jonah and Forgiveness”

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then He strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that He was the Christ.

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord. Amen.

Grace peace and mercy to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Good Christian Friends. This is one of the key passages we turn to for the doctrine of the Office of the Keys that two fold office where we confess our sins and receive absolution “that is, forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven,” but before we get to that perhaps it would be good to go back to the beginning of

Chapter 16 in our Gospel where the antagonists of the Gospel of Matthew “the Pharisees and Sadducees came [to Jesus], and to test Him they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ (“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailors take warning”) [Jesus continues speaking to the Pharisees and Sadducees saying,] You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So [Jesus] left [the Pharisees and Sadducees] and departed.”[1] (OK, remember that sign of Jonah comment it will be important later.) 

Jesus then sat down and taught His disciples, warning them to be wary of the Pharisees and Sadducees because they seek frivolous external sings and teach a life of appeasing and placating God with their good works and actions. Following this they carried on to Caesarea Philippi where our Sunday’s appointed text begins with this question: Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Now this is sort of like a catechism question in some ways. For you older people here today do you remember your public questioning, where you were asked questions about the faith and about Scripture? Well this question Jesus asks is like asking today something like, “When do people say the end of the world will come, and what do they say it’ll be like?” To which you could answer, “Well some say a) and some say b) and some say c)” Then the follow up question would be, “but what do you say about the end of the world?”

Here let me explain: The term Son of Man, had been around since the Old Testament (you might remember that in the valley of the dry bones God asks Ezekiel, “Son of man can these bones live,”[2] it was also found in the Old Testament books of Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, in the Psalms, and in Job. Son of Man was a big topic of speculation throughout the period between the writing of the last book of the Old Testament and the events of the New Testament. Part of this speculation included questions about the conclusion of the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi; Malachi ends like this, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”[3]

So when Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” their answer, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets,” is the standard boiler plate answer of the day based on the religious speculations of the day. Some of the people who had been doing the speculation were the Pharisees and Sadducees. That being said the speculations concerning the Son of Man centred around a future event of salvation for the people, this term Son of man is thought about by the Jewish people in a little bit of a different sort of way as compared to the term Messiah which was seen as being much more political and less connected with the end of time and final judgment and the like. When the disciples answer Jesus’ question with “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets,” they weren’t really answering the question and Jesus wanted them to take it past the regular everyday simple answer that anyone would give in casual conversation and really answer it.

Now this coming of the Son of Man was understood to be a sign of the coming End and a sign of the coming Great and Awful Day of the LORD. So keep in mind that the Pharisees and Sadducees had wanted a sign and Jesus had told them that they’d have no sign “except the sign of Jonah.” When Jesus redirects the question about the Son of Man by asking His disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” and Simon Peter, our dear Saint Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” It’s as though Saint Peter is saying, “Some people say the Son of Man is John the Baptist, or Elijah, or Jeremiah or one of the prophets, but I (Peter) say that You Jesus, You are the Son of Man!” to which Jesus replies, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”

And there you have it, even in the English you can hear the play on the words, “sign of Jonah,” “Simon Bar-Jonah,” “sign of Jonah,” “Simon Bar-Jonah,” it’s even more obvious in the Greek. So what is the “sign of Jonah?” four chapter earlier Jesus had explained that the sign of Jonah is this, “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”[4] Jesus is speaking about His coming crucifixion death and burial (day one) His Sabbath rest in the Tomb on Holy Saturday (day two) and His Easter Sunday Resurrection (day three). That will be the only sign that will be given to the Pharisees and Sadducees, the only evidence given to the evil and adulterous generation that the Son of Man has come. Saint Peter’s confession of faith in Christ Jesus is a prophecy in and of itself that hits at the heart of what Jesus was going to do, hits at the heart of what the Son of Man is all about that He will suffer and die, and on the third day when He is risen from the dead that death and resurrection will be the “rock (upon which Jesus) will build (His) church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Connected to that church Jesus says that He “will give (Saint Peter and the rest of His disciples) the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” This Jesus says before His crucifixion and death.

Then upon His Easter Resurrection Jesus gives this office of the keys to the the disciples, we hear this in the Gospel of Saint John chapter twenty when Jesus says to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I Am sending you.” And when He had said this, Jesus breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”[5] Here we again see the office of the Keys given for the benefit of the whole World. But this is a very important point, this forgiveness is not generic forgiveness, this forgiveness is tethered to Christ Jesus Himself that is why the confession of Saint Peter and the Office of the Keys go together.  

Dear ones we live in a very unforgiving World right now. More and more we hear physical and mental health prioritized without even a whisper of spiritual health, but as much as the body needs to be fit and the mind resilient and sharp the soul needs to be virtuous and above all else forgiven for it to have any peace. Meanwhile the World has become unappeasable in many ways; Rather than forgive you people would sooner cut you off and throw you to the wolves if, in some way, you offend them. Who among us is free from the need to be forgiven? The office of the keys is growing more important every day. Seek to be forgiving within your family, amongst your friends, with your coworkers and employees. Take to heart the encouragement of Saint Paul in his letter to the Ephesians “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”[6] We pray for this when we pray the Lord’s Prayer saying “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Week in and week out the Church here at Mount Olive provides opportunities to grow in this on the Lord’s Day and during the week. We remember our baptism, we are called to confess our sins, and we receive from Christ both in word and in Sacrament the forgiveness He won in His crucifixion upon the cross of Calvary.

For our part as grateful recipients of the gift let us extend that forgiveness to each other and to our neighbour, to everyone we are in contact with. The disciples and now the pastors have a uniquely public office in the administration of this forgiveness but that doesn’t mean that they are the only ones who can forgive sins. Husbands and wives need to be able to seek and receive forgiveness from each other, just as children and parents and siblings in the family need to have the same. And like I said outside the family in work and in friendship, even with complete strangers, the Christian as the Lord’s chosen people, part of the royal priesthood of all believers[7] has something in the forgiveness of Christ that the World desperately needs. Think of your personal need for forgiveness and consider what you’ve graciously been given faith in Christ Jesus the fountainhead of all true forgiveness, a church home and a pastor to speak words of forgiveness to you and to put that forgiveness right into your hands and upon your lips in Holy Communion. Now imagine what life would be like if you knew nothing about Jesus and only heard of Him when people cursed His name, where you had your sins right there with you every day, every hour, every minute but no true forgiveness for them, just more and more and more sin piled upon you every waking hour. There are people, likely some you know who are in need of what you, by the grace of God have been gifted, share this with them as it has been shared with you.

In the Creeds of the Church we confess that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” As a Christian you stand on that Rock who is Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit is at work keeping you there and urging you on. We likewise confess that we believe in “the forgiveness of sins,” therefore live lives of forgiveness and let that forgiveness first poured out upon you spill over onto the people around you. It’s of no good to your neighbour if you keep this forgiveness to yourself. There is enough forgiveness in Christ Jesus for everyone.

Our Gospel Reading today ends saying that, “[Jesus] strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that He was the Christ,” after His cross and passion, after His resurrection from the grave that all changed, we are now publicly and privately charged with doing the opposite, now we are sent with the task of telling everyone what He has done, that He is the Christ and we have been forgiven and this forgiveness is for everyone. Amen.

Let us pray: Lord have mercy on us, Christ have mercy on us, Lord have mercy on us, “take our minds and think through them, take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire; for the sake of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen.

[1] Matthew 16:1-4
[2] Ezekiel 37:3
[3] Malachi 4:5-6
[4] Matthew 12:40
[5] John 20:19–23
[6] Ephesians 4:31–32
[7] 1 Peter 2:9