Daily Reading Passages
Click below for access to the passages. Biblegateway.com is an excellent site with many versions of the Bible. The link below opens in NIV. Youversion.com is a new site that allows you to annotate your own Bible, make notes, and comments once you create an account. That link opens in the TNIV version. Other versions are available at both sites.
Coaching Comments
The Old Testament reading today closes out Genesis and takes us into Exodus. Genesis 50 through Exodus 1-2:10. This is a moment of transition. In the last chapter of Genesis we see the burial of Jacob and then years later the death of Joseph. At this point the family we are following is living in Egypt on prime property, under the protection of the throne. They are respected and honored by the Egyptians. They have everything they need.
But as we turn the page into Exodus things change. At least three generations have passed since the family of Israel moved to Egypt. They have grown and multiplied and multiplied again. A new king came to power who didn't know or respect Joseph's family and he saw the growing Hebrew community as a strategic threat. Somehow over the course of years he managed to enslave the Hebrews, but they continued to multiply. In order to stop this growing threat Pharaoh passed a law that any Hebrew bo born would be killed. And this sets up the introduction to the story of Moses.
The New Testament reading, Matthew 16:13 - 17:9, shows us a sequence of very important moments in Jesus' ministry.
First, in a conversation with the disciples, Jesus asks them who they think He is. They give a range of answers, but Peter is the one who steps out and says what they all are hoping. "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." This is the first open confession of Jesus position and divinity. After this, Jesus responds to Peter in what has become a very controversial passage of scripture. First, Jesus renames this disciple from Simon, his Hebrew name, to Peter, a Greek name that means "little stone." Then Jesus says, "On this rock I will build my church." The long-standing interpretation was that Jesus was referring to Peter as the rock that would be the foundation of the church. Of course that was a foundational text in the Roman church's claims of pre-eminance and ultimately the founding of the papal structure. Others agree that Jesus was speaking about Peter, but not in a way that signified any lasting authority that could be passed on. Others suggest that the rock Jesus was referring to as the foundation of the church was Peter's confession. That on the basis of the confession that Jesus is the Messiah and divine, Jesus would build his church. There is some credibility to this, since this is the confession that is necessary for the church to grow.
In any case, Jesus is speaking for the first time about the church He intends to launch, and in His words He is giving this new church great power and authority. In fact, He is delegating some of His Divine authority to this new body.
Having accepted Peter's claim, Jesus went on to begin instructing His disciples about what kind of Messiah He would be. There was a certain tradition within Judaism that was expecting and hoping for a Messiah who would be a powerful political and military leader, who would overthrow the Roman occupiers. But Jesus wanted to paint a different picture. And so He begins to plainly speak about his upcoming death, and the cost that would be paid by these disciples.
This is followed by the transfiguration, where Peter, James and John got an intimate view of Jesus' divine nature. This was meant just for them, since Jesus instructed them to keep the whole thing a secret until after His death. Probably since these men would be leaders of the new community, Jesus wanted to solidify their faith, so that they would be able to stand during the coming trials.
The Psalms reading for today is Psalms 21:1-13. This Psalm, written by David, celebrates the blessings that God gave to David throughout his life. He is worshiping God and recounting all the good things that God has done for him. It's a reminder to us that every good thing in our lives deserves a round of praise to God.
In the reading from Proverbs, (Proverbs 5:1-6), we turn now to specific instructions and counsels for living. This first section counsels the listener to avoid adultery. In fact, the whole of chapter five is about this subject. This (and other temptations) look good from the outside, they sound reasonable and attractive. But once you've crossed that line, the path leads to destruction.
2007 Cohort Comments
Comments (2)
Nate Burton said
at 1:38 pm on Jan 26, 2009
Hey Marc, I think Jesus could have also been talking about himself (as this rock) referencing what he said in verse 16. What do you think? It might also seem a bit inappropriate if He meant Peter since He calls Peter Satan a few verses later. Still catching up on reading and comments, but since no one else had anything to say on Sunday, just thought I'd ask your opinion.
Marc Schelske said
at 4:22 pm on Jan 26, 2009
Hey Nate, that's certainly a fair reading given other passages of scripture. There's no question that Jesus is the foundation of the church. But it's a hard reading to wedge into this particular verse for me.
If you follow the sequence of the verse, it's pretty clear that Jesus is talking to Peter about Peter. The first half of the sentence, "I tell you that you are Petros," is clearly to Peter, and the context of the statement is Peter's confession of Jesus as the Messiah. To then switch the focus of the second half of the verse to Jesus ("...and on this rock I will build my church") when it's still actually part of the first sentence, would require Jesus thumping his chest or pointing to himself or some other cue outside the words themselves in order to be clear. That would essentially leave the text saying, "You are Peter, and I am the rock the church is built on." But that's not what the verse says on its face. It says, "You are Peter, and upon THIS rock, I will build my church." So what's the THIS about. It could grammatically be that Peter is the rock. That's the claim of the Catholic church. But it also seems not to square with the rest of the NT. It could logically be Peter's confession of Jesus as the Messiah, since that is what predicated this response from Jesus in the first place. Jesus asks, then Peter says Jesus is the Messiah, and then Jesus basically says, "You got it buddy. You're no longer a little stone. Now that you know that, your a big rock. That's the kind of belief that will build this church." This is my reading of the text. I think theologically your suggestion makes sense. I just have a hard time making the text clearly go in that direction.
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