We Hold These Truths...

[JohnDB]

Am I going political?
NO...not this century.
But this is going to be a rather lengthy thread...so get comfortable and you will see what is going on in my head most of the time and I will tell you a story...THE MOST IMPORTANT STORY!

Lets start with School in Ancient Israel...
It wasn't compulsory...meaning that parents didn't have to send their children but...most parents considered school to be very important for girls and boys because the Rabbi and Levites there would teach history, reading, writing and basic mathematics. They used the Torah (Book Of The Law) or first five books of Moses. They were rather unique in that they let girls attend school. They weren't expected to do all that well as they weren't tested like the boys were...but they went.
Now for the boys...hey, If they did well one day when they growed up they could be an "Expert in the Law" (Lawyer) which was labeled as a Grammiton in Greek manuscripts or even a Rabbi/Judge. This "elementary" school they went to was called Bethgashepher. (bet-hgashep*her). Graduation was at 13 where you were expected to have memorized the entire five books of Moses. It was poetry so it wasn't impossible but it was rather difficult. To this day the Jews still chant/sing sections of the Torah when reading it aloud in Hebrew.

And as we all recall from our elementary school days...some students did better than others did. Some just weren't "cut out for school". Those that really excelled went on to Bet.h.midrash. There they would learn/memorize the other books of the Tenakh (Old Testament) and discuss the finer points of the LAW. Now if you came from a respected family and did exceedingly well...you would run around begging Rabbi to allow you to follow them. (telmuhdeme)
And if one said "YES" then it was "GAME TIME". Your whole purpose in life was now to become just like your Rabbi. You ate how and when your Rabbi ate. You walked like he walked. You said the exact same prayers he said in the order he said them in...if he broke the bread and then gave thanks...that was precisely what you would do. If he did it in reverse order...you did it in reverse order. If he sneezed you sneezed...if he snored and you didn't...you learned how to snore when you slept. Your goal was that one day your rabbi would turn around to you and say, "Go Make Disciples/Telmuhdeme" and you were now a Rabbi in your own right. But the original rabbi would live on through you. You would answer any question and decide any judicial case just like the original rabbi would.

Now some of the guys might have done well...but financial pressures remained. Dad was getting old and not able to bring home the bacon like he used to...he might have to call out sick a lot. (no doctors or even aspirin in those days) Meaning that if you were going to eat you had to drop out of school and go earn a living on a boat or in the construction trades like the Romans were always hiring for.

Speaking of Romans...
They were prolific builders. Herod the Great did a lot of building and conquering of the Ancient Near East. He was a truly political animal who knew how to please everyone. (mostly) He was all about Hellenizing Israel and that section of the Mediterranean. He paid huge sums of money to help the Jews rebuild their Temple...increasing the size of the hill it sat on to hold the new and improved and bigger Temple. (it took forty+ years to complete) as well as building community centers/gymnasiums and co-ed latrines and Theatres and public baths...as well as putting a Greek Idol at every water source. This really upset the Jews so there were a few wells and springs that the Romans left alone and free from idols so the Jews could get water.
They also built complicated city gates. These "gates" were more than what we would picture today. They held posts there that housed the city council and tax collectors. They could, at any time, quickly be turned into a defensive position and swallow and destroy an entire legion of enemy soldiers. They consequently were the last place any attacking army would ever think of attacking.

 

[JohnDB]

Enter Jesus.

The Apostle Peter flunked out of school or dropped out...we don't know. But he seemed to take a lot of pride in fishing and his skills as a fisherman. When Jesus ASKED Peter to become his Telmuhdeme/disciple Peter jumped at the chance. Jesus was known to be a very up and coming rabbi. (a schmeekah rabbi...the highest order of Rabbi) He always taught in poetry...a very difficult task in itself but memorizing his lessons would be easier than most. Peter, at first declined...like most would. This was serious stuff. Peter was rough, uneducated, and not the most highbrow guy around. He was better known as the guy who you would love to get a beer with after work. He was a friend to most everyone and well respected if not liked.

Now...after three years of "cleaning up his act" and watching miracle after miracle being performed...Peter had even performed some himself when He did them "In Jesus' Name". There was no doubt whatsoever in Peter's (or any of the other Apostle's/Disciple's mind that this Jesus was absolutely the Messiah. They might not understand every thing He said but there was no doubt of the identity of Jesus in their mind. The lame had walked, the blind would see, the Lepers were cleansed, He walked on water and commanded the weather, He could feed thousands upon thousands of people with a simple lunch and turn water into wine. Like the "real" messiah was going to do more than this?...as if.
Well, it was at this point that Jesus took yet another break to take them to a Gentile city for some vacation time. Jesus regularly worked a relentless schedule when on task...so a break from time to time (inside of Israel proper but away from the Jews) was a regular thing...that didn't mean though that the lessons and learning ever stopped.
The city of destination was Caesarea Phillipi. Now the city (at the base of Mount Hermon) was named something else. But when Herod the Great died his territory was split up and Phillip (the Tetriarch) rebuilt the city and renamed it after Caesar. But there was another city named "Caesar" as well so this one had Phillip's name attached to it.
Now this city was famous...as some downtown locations are famous.
At the base of Mount Hermon there are three springs that feed the Jordan River before it gets to the "Sea of Gallilee/Lake Tiberias" and then becomes the river again before it dead ends at the Dead Sea. The spring at Caesarea Phillipi gushed with such force that it was thought to be fed by the River Styx itself...and thus a way to get to the underworld.
And in true Roman/Greek fashion an Idol at the spring was almost considered mandatory. Before Phillip renovated the City the "Temple" there at the spring was dedicated to a "Baal" type Greek God. Babies and infants from slave prostitutes would be offered up as a blood sacrifice to excite the gods. You could buy one and slaughter it to gain favor from this god so you could win your struggle against someone else. (lawsuits or business competition or something else similar)

This time Phillip changed the God to an "ashera" type fertility god. This one was to Pan. Yes, commonly seen as a half goat and half man. This type of god was "excited" by sexual activity. If you excited a god they would bless you with whatever their speciality was and you could expect better crops, better business customers or even children.
So...first the goats would be brought out (male and in heet females) and they would begin to breed...Then the dancing girls would come out and do some very suggestive dancing. Then came everyone's favorite "Audience Participation Time" where for a fee you could purchase one of the Temple's prostitutes and excite the fertility god Pan. And this place was special...it was known as the world's largest outdoor orgy. EVERYONE knew the reputation of this place...but yet this was the place where Jesus chose to begin a lesson.

And this sets up what I really wanted to point to....

13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 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. 18 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. 19 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.”20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.


So....now we get to understand this section.
Remember...the Apostles are at the Three year mark on a "HOLY PILGRIMAGE" just getting comfortable in their positions but are not going to be comfortable right here sitting on the sidelines of the world's largest orgy going on...
They don't know even where to look...they hate this place and everything that it stands for. They don't want to look at the women...they are most likely disgusted by the history that the Romans have created here.

So...
Jesus asks the question.
"Who do others say that I am?"
They give answers of what EVERYONE else has been saying.
John the Baptist was known for being a passionate guy. He was always "fired up" about something...to the point where he got thrown in prison because Herod (the jerk Edomite) threw him into prison for marrying a married woman ... his brother's wife...who got his head cut off.
Elijah...another guy who was known for calling fire down from heaven in the face of a King and Queen who hated him. Another passionate guy who really didn't know the word "political correctness". He would unhesitatingly smart off to the King in a minute. He had a nervous breakdown because of his passion for God.
Jeremiah...again another passionate guy who was crazy for God all the time...to the point of facing down Kings and being declared a Traitor...but he never recanted or swerved from the course. Said a "fire in my bones" would burn out of control if he didn't preach what God laid on his heart always.

so Jesus is being compared to these guys?
That lets you gain some insight into what He was like on a daily basis.

Now...meanwhile...back at the Orgy...

Jesus asks Peter again "Who do YOU say that I am"...

and Peter gives the appropriate answer. Peter's answer tells us in "short" that Jesus is a personable guy...you can know him...that He is friendly. That God actually knows people on a personal level and gives away miracles like so much candy in his pocket...

What is also amazing is that no one is talking about the ORGY going on in the Background...And that is soooo important.
Instead of talking about any of the bad stuff going on around them Peter is simply telling HOW GOOD GOD IS....

And this is where the crux of the Lesson is made.

This nugget of truth (right after Peter gets his name that does not describe him) of saying how good God really is in the face of the most depraved wickedness in the most wicked of places is exactly what God is going to build his Kingdom upon...his ECCLESIA or "called out ones" or "set apart ones" AKA "Church". Meaning...we don't and should't point wagging fingers or brow beat anyone if we wish for them to begin their own personal relationship with Christ...we simply need to tell them How Good God really is and what good things God has done for us...thats it. People already know what sin is...they don't need us to tell them.
AND
When we get this...the treasure (keys) vaults of Heaven are available for us to use at God's discretion for furthering His Kingdom. (limitless wealth and power)
And because they understand this principle now...and when utilized properly they will know what to declare as sinful and what to declare as good. (binding and loosing)
And this is the truth...the one that we hold most dear.,
Paul, in Romans, later writes, "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those of us in Christ Jesus" it is kinda an understatement to say the least about it.

 

[for_his_glory]

JohnDB Great Post.

Who are we who wore the shoes of a sinner that we need to look down on those who need Christ as much as we did and still do.

www.followtherabbi.com Gates of Hell.

Jesus was talking to Peter as they stood on the physical rock in Caesarea Philippi which was a rock literally filled with niches for pagan idols, where ungodly values dominated. It was there that Jesus asked Peter who he thought Jesus was and it was only by Gods Spirit that revealed to Peter that Jesus was the Christ (Messiah), son of the living God, Matthew 16:13-18. Jesus said upon this rock (truth) I will build my Church and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Are we not also to be that rock of witness (truth) as the Disciples were in their traveling witness of Christ as they taught others! So what has changed from this past time to the present is that many Christians compromise their own values and would never step foot into the gates of hell to confront the evil that is in this world. Many of our churches have become politically correct as to not step on any toes, because after all we do not want to offend anyone, but Jesus challenged his followers to be on the offense, to proclaim the truth without shame.

Gods true Church should become staging areas rather than fortresses; places that equip Gods people to confront a sinful world instead of hiding from it. Jesus knows that the pagan world will resist, but he challenges us to go there anyway, and to build his church in those very places that are most morally decayed. God’s word is never changing and will certainly never come back void.

 

[ezra]

after reading this with man kind nothing much has changed from politics to religion which some substitute for relationship ...nothing new under the sun but the good news is we can be changed --a new creation in Christ W I P