Matthew 16 (WEB)
The meaning of the acrostic in Matthew 16:16 is represented in the words of Peter in his confession of Jesus.
One of the ancient symbols for Christianity is the fish.
I think one of the reasons why the fish is that ancient symbol for Christianity and for Christians is because Jesus called fishermen to follow him at the Sea of Galilee.
He said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Inside that fish symbol, sometimes you see the word ichthus.
Have you ever wondered what ichthus means?
It's actually an acrostic of Greek letters, and I'd like to explain that to you today.
The letter Iota stands for Iesus, the name for Jesus, the Greek word for Jesus in the New Testament.
I like to read from Matthew chapter 1, verse 1, the very first verse of the New Testament.
It says, "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."
In Matthew chapter 1, we find the genealogy of Jesus, which shows that he has the legal right to rule Israel as the king.
In fact, the angel told Joseph that Mary would give birth to a son.
And he said, "You will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
The name Jesus means Jehovah saves.
Jesus came to save us from our sins.
The second letter in the acrostic is Christus, standing for Christ.
And it's interesting, when you read through the Gospel of Matthew, that Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi is so important.
In Matthew chapter 16, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?"
And the disciples gave different answers.
And then Jesus said to Peter, "But who do you say that I am?"
And Peter said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
The word Christ, or Christos, means Messiah.
And the whole Gospel according to Matthew proves that Jesus is the promised Messiah of the Old Testament.
Old Testament scripture after Old Testament scripture is quoted in the Gospel according to Matthew to prove that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
The next Greek letters are theos.
And we see here that the word theos means God.
John chapter 1 and verse 1.
John, who was one of the disciples of Jesus, said, "In the beginning was the Word — logos — and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
Jesus Christ is theos.
Jesus Christ is God.
We believe in one God who exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
One God in three persons.
Jesus Christ is God in human flesh.
John 1, verse 14 says, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glories of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
Jesus Christ came and he took on human flesh.
He added sinless humanity to his deity.
So he is a divine person with two natures, a divine nature and a sinless human nature.
He is unlike any other person in the world.
John 1, verse 18 says, "No one has seen God at any time.
The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared."
So what is God like?
When we look at Jesus, we discover what God is like.
And we discover that God loves people.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
The last letter in the acrostic stands for Soter, Savior.
And I'd like to turn over to Luke chapter 2.
Of course, we have the Christmas story in Matthew chapter 1, and we also have it in the Gospel according to Luke chapter 2.
And Jesus, as you know, was born in Bethlehem, the city of David.
And the angel appeared to the shepherds and said to them that they were to go into Bethlehem, and they would find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger.
And so that's what they did.
They came and they found Jesus there.
The angel said, "There is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior" — Soter — "who is Christ the Lord."
The sign of the fish.
What a beautiful symbol for Christians today and for Christianity.
And it reminds us that we are called to be followers of Christ and fishers of men.
1The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2But he answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3In the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you can’t discern the signs of the times! 4An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will be no sign given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”
He left them and departed. 5The disciples came to the other side and had forgotten to take bread. 6Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7They reasoned among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.”
8Jesus, perceiving it, said, “Why do you reason among yourselves, you of little faith, because you have brought no bread? 9Don’t you yet perceive or remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up, 10or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up? 11How is it that you don’t perceive that I didn’t speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
12Then they understood that he didn’t tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17Jesus 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. 18I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven; and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.” 20Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.
21From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.
22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This will never be done to you.”
23But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.”
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? 27For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will give to everyone according to his deeds. 28Most certainly I tell you, there are some standing here who will in no way taste of death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”