Lent Day 34 [4.12.2025] / The Rock of Salvation

Scripture: Matthew 16:13-20 / 마태복음 16:13-20

Psalm 62:6 - Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

Overview:

As Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He would turn to His disciples and as them, “Who do the people say the Son of Man is?” To this, the disciples responded that some claimed Jesus was the resurrected John the Baptist, others claimed that He was Elijah, and still others claimed that He was Jeremiah or one of the prophets of old. Then Jesus directly asks His disciples who they think He is. Peter would respond famously, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” To this response, Jesus would exclaim that Peter is blessed for this truth was not revealed by any human means, but by God; and upon this truth, Jesus declares that He would build His Church and to Peter, grant the keys of the kingdom of heaven that whatever he binds on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever he looses on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Significance of Caesarea Philippi:

Caesarea Philippi was a Greco-Roman city located about 30 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. This city was known for pagan worship and heinous practices of idolatry. Baal worship had taken place here during the periods of the kings of Israel and king Jeroboam had built idols not too far from this area (1 Kings 12:25-33). Under the Greeks, this city became the center of worship for the fertility god, pan, a half-human and half-goat creature. The Romans would continue the worship of this false god but rename it banias. This area was also most known for a great cave that gives way to a distributary stream from the Jordan river. Traditions held that this cave opening was the gate to the underworld and some of the religious practices included sacrificing children by throwing them into the entrance of the cave and all kinds of sexual immorality. This city consisted of demonic and dark practices so much so that no good Jew would even consider going there. So why did Jesus bring His disciples to a place like this?

Amid such evil, Jesus turns to His disciples and asks them who they believe Him to be. It was here at the spiritual gates of hades that Peter (Simon son of Jonah) declares Jesus Christ to be the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. In response, Jesus declares that He will establish His Church upon this truth, a confession that would serve as a bedrock for the Kingdom of God here on earth. To commemorate such a promise, Jesus gives Peter his name which means rock, and presents Peter with the keys to the kingdom of God.

The Church:

Firstly, we learn much of what the Church should be and is called to do within a sinful and broken world. We are called to proclaim the true identity and power of Jesus Christ to all the world, and the Church is to be established on the one truth that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Secondly, we know that Jesus promises that upon this truth, the gates of hades would not prevail against the Church. This presents a new understanding of the Church that we may have missed. Jesus does not promise that the doors of the Church would withstand the attack of the enemy, but rather the Church would have the authority and power to overcome evil by tearing down its gates and conquering its city.

How can we experience this victory? By turning the keys of the Kingdom of God to open the door of eternal life and locking the door of death through the gospel of Jesus Christ. After the first coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost as described in Acts 2, the apostle Peter would deliver a powerful message to the crowd explaining the outpouring of the Spirit, the message of Jesus Christ, and urging the people to turn to Jesus and be baptized in His name for the forgiveness of sins. On that day, thousands were converted and baptized. Further in his ministry, the apostle Peter would be sent to Cornelius to open the message of the gospel to the Gentiles, and on that day, the Holy Spirit came upon the family of Cornelius and his family. He gave them the word of the Lord and baptized them in the name of the Lord that day.

The calling of the Church is to oppose evil and save the lost by unlocking the truth of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit into all the world. The bible reminds us that we too have been baptized by one Spirit as to form one body; no matter our ethnicity, background, age, or distance, we are all called to be one Church. This also extends beyond our present age to unite our faith with those before and after us (Galatians 3:29). So together with the faith of the apostle Peter, we too have the truth that serves as the bedrock upon which Jesus is building His Church and He has given us the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Reflection:

1. Are we living out the original potential that Jesus Christ had for the Church?

2. How are we unlocking the truth of Jesus Christ in our lives and through our lives every day?

   
   

Prayer:

1. God, thank you for teaching me about the blessing of and the identity of the Church.

2. Jesus, help me to receive the wisdom and passion of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

3. Holy Spirit, help me to share my faith courageously with all those around to unlock the work of the Holy Spirit in my life and in the life of all those around me.

   
   

개요:

예수께서 가이사랴 빌립보 지방에 이르셨을 때, 제자들에게 “사람들이 인자를 누구라 하느냐?” 라고 물으셨습니다. 제자들은 어떤 사람들은 예수님을 다시 살아난 세례 요한이라고, 또 어떤 이들은 엘리야, 또 다른 이들은 예레미야나 옛 선지자 중 하나라고 말한다고 대답했습니다. 그러자 예수님께서는 제자들에게 직접 “너희는 나를 누구라 하느냐?”라고 물으셨고, 베드로는 “주는 그리스도시요 살아 계신 하나님의 아들이시니이다” 라고 고백합니다. 이에 예수께서는 이 진리를 사람이 아닌 하나님께서 알게 하신 것이라 하시며, 이 믿음 위에 교회를 세울 것이며, 베드로에게 천국 열쇠를 주어 땅에서 매면 하늘에서도 매일 것이요, 땅에서 풀면 하늘에서도 풀릴 것이라고 선포하십니다.

가이사랴 빌립보의 중요성:

가이사랴 빌립보는 갈릴리 바다 북쪽 약 48km(30마일) 떨어진 곳에 위치한 그리스-로마 도시였습니다. 이 도시는 이방 신들을 섬기고 우상숭배가 극심했던 장소로, 이스라엘 왕들 시대에는 바알 숭배가 이루어졌고, 여로보암 왕이 이 지역 근처에 우상을 세우기도 했습니다(열왕기상 12:25-33 참조). 헬라 시대에는 반인반수 형태의 다산의 신 ‘판(Pan)’을 숭배하는 중심지였고, 로마 시대에는 이 신을 ‘바니아스(Banias)’라 부르며 그 숭배를 이어갔습니다.

이 도시에는 요단강의 지류가 흘러나오는 큰 동굴이 있었고, 고대인들은 이곳을 지하세계의 문, 곧 지옥의 문이라 여겼습니다. 그들은 이 동굴 입구에 아이를 제물로 던지거나, 성적으로 문란한 의식을 행하는 등 어둡고 사악한 행위들을 했습니다. 이처럼 유대인들은 감히 들어가지도 않는 이 도시로 예수님은 제자들을 데리고 가신 것입니다.

이처럼 사악한 영적 환경 한가운데에서, 예수님은 제자들에게 “너희는 나를 누구라 하느냐?” 라고 물으십니다. 이 '지옥의 문' 앞에서 시몬 베드로는 “주는 그리스도시요 살아 계신 하나님의 아들이십니다” 라고 고백하고, 예수님은 이 진리 위에 교회를 세우겠다고 하시며, 시몬에게 ‘반석(베드로)’이라는 이름을 주시고, 천국 열쇠를 맡기십니다.

교회:

1. 교회의 사명과 본질

   우리는 죄 많고 깨진 세상 속에서 예수 그리스도의 참된 정체성과 능력을 선포하도록 부름 받았습니다. 교회는 바로 “예수 그리스도는 메시아이시다”라는 단 하나의 진리 위에 세워진 것입니다.

2. 지옥의 문을 이기는 교회

   예수님은 지옥의 문이 교회를 이기지 못할 것이라 하셨습니다. 이 말씀은 우리가 흔히 생각하는 방어적인 의미가 아닙니다. 교회는 공격적이고 적극적으로 악의 문을 부수고 성을 무너뜨리며 전진해야 합니다.

   
   

우리는 어떻게 승리를 경험할 수 있을까요?

하나님 나라의 열쇠를 사용해 영생의 문을 열고, 죽음의 문을 잠그는 것, 곧 예수 그리스도의 복음을 선포하는 것입니다.

사도행전 2장에서 오순절 성령 강림 이후, 베드로는 대중에게 복음을 선포하며 예수 그리스도를 전했습니다. 그날 수천 명이 회개하고 세례를 받았습니다. 그 후, 그는 고넬료에게 파송되어 이방인에게도 복음을 전했고, 고넬료의 온 가족이 성령을 받고 주의 이름으로 세례를 받았습니다.

교회의 부르심:

교회는 악을 대적하고, 복음을 통해 잃어버린 영혼들을 구원하는 사명을 받았습니다. 성경은 우리 모두가 한 성령으로 세례를 받아 하나의 몸이 되었다고 말합니다. 인종, 배경, 나이, 지역을 초월해 우리는 하나된 교회로 부름 받았습니다. 갈라디아서 3장 29절은 믿음 안에서 우리는 모두 아브라함의 자손이요 약속대로 유업을 이을 자라고 선언합니다. 이는 과거와 현재, 미래의 믿음의 공동체를 하나로 이어주는 약속입니다.

베드로 사도의 믿음과 함께 우리 역시 그리스도께서 교회를 세우시는 반석 위에 서 있으며, 복음을 통해 하나님 나라의 열쇠를 받은 자들입니다.

묵상 질문:

1. 우리는 예수님께서 교회에 부여하신 원래의 사명을 잘 살아내고 있는가?

2. 우리는 매일의 삶 속에서, 그리고 우리의 삶을 통해 예수 그리스도의 진리를 어떻게 풀어내고 있는가?

   
   

기도:

1. 하나님, 교회의 축복과 정체성을 가르쳐 주셔서 감사합니다.

2. 예수님, 복음의 지혜와 열정을 저에게 부어 주소서.

3. 성령님, 저의 삶과 제 주변의 모든 이들의 삶 속에서 담대히 믿음을 나눌 수 있도록 도와주시고, 성령님의 역사를 경험하게 하소서.