Messiah | Matthew 16:13-20 | Sean Sewak

The word Messiah begins with a big Bible word that is packed with a whole story. The Hebrew word Mashiach means “the anointed one,” and that anointing reaches back into Israel’s kings, where Saul and David were marked with oil for their reign. The anointed one is not just a religious title. The Messiah is the chosen rescuer, the ruler God sends to save his people.

The book of Judges gives the hard backdrop for why the world needs a king. Israel enters the promised land, and within one generation another generation grows up “who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.” The diagnosis lands heavy: “There was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” That line sounds ancient, but it also sounds very current, because a culture built on personal opinion keeps assuming the truth is somewhere “in here.” Romans names the deeper issue: every person serves something, either sin that leads to death or obedience that leads to righteousness.

Daniel 9 adds the surprising shape of the Messiah. The anointed ruler comes, but he is “cut off and will have nothing.” That does not look like chariots, horses, armies, or conquest. The true King looks different from the world’s kings, and his kingdom looks different too.

Jesus brings the question to a point at Caesarea Philippi: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter’s confession answers, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus says flesh and blood did not reveal this, but the Father in heaven. The rock is not merely human cleverness or religious nearness to Jesus. The rock is Spirit-given sight, the supernatural clarity that lets broken people truly say, “Jesus is Lord.”

The church is held together by that same Spirit. First Corinthians makes it plain: no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. The church is not perfect, and that is obvious because broken people are in it. Yet in the Messiah’s hands, broken things are made whole.

The kingdom of God is both now and not yet. Jesus says it is not coming in a way people can point at and say, “See here or there,” because the kingdom is in the midst of his people. Revelation sings that the slaughtered Lamb purchased people by his blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation, making them a kingdom of priests. John 13 gives the visible mark of that kingdom: love for one another. The anointed one was cut off so that those far away could be brought near, and sin and death no longer have dominion over those who cling to him.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. The world needs a true King [19:13] Judges names the sickness clearly: no king, and everyone doing what seems right in their own eyes. That is not freedom in the deepest sense, because the heart is not neutral ground. Romans presses the same point by saying every person becomes a servant of something. The question is not whether rule exists, but whether sin rules or Christ rules. [19:13]
• 2. The Messiah looks unexpectedly cut off [20:41] Daniel’s anointed ruler does not arrive with the obvious signs of earthly success. He is cut off and has nothing, which sounds like failure until the cross reveals the strange wisdom of God. The world expects a king who conquers by force, but God sends a King who rescues through suffering. The Messiah’s loss becomes the doorway for sinners to be brought near. [20:41]
• 3. Confession comes by revelation [30:46] Peter’s words are not treated as a lucky guess or a smart theological answer. Jesus says the Father revealed it, which means true recognition of Christ is a gift before it is an achievement. A person can be near church, near Scripture, and near Christian people, yet still need eyes opened by God. The Spirit gives the clarity that turns religious information into living sight. [30:46]
• 4. The Spirit holds broken people together [31:39] First Corinthians says no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. That makes the church more than a gathering of people with shared preferences or similar backgrounds. The miracle is that broken people, each in need of the Savior, can be bound together by grace. The Spirit’s closeness makes reconciliation possible where human strength would eventually run out. [31:39]
• 5. The kingdom is known by love [36:32] Jesus gives love for one another as the sign that marks his disciples. God’s kingdom does not expand like an empire chasing power, fear, and scarcity. The slaughtered Lamb creates a priestly people whose life points to abundance, peace, and joy. The church shows the world its King by embodying his love in real, visible ways.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [12:00] - Peter Confesses the Messiah
• [13:34] - Opening Prayer
• [14:24] - Big Bible Words and Messiah
• [16:00] - Messiah Means Anointed One
• [16:55] - The King and His Kingdom
• [17:14] - The World Needs a King
• [19:13] - Everyone Did What Was Right
• [20:15] - Daniel’s Anointed Ruler
• [23:19] - Israel Rejects God as King
• [24:25] - Sin as a Tyrannical Rule
• [25:10] - Peter’s Spirit-Given Confession
• [31:11] - The Spirit Builds the Church
• [34:15] - The Now and Not Yet Kingdom
• [36:32] - Known by Love for One Another

Bible Reading

Matthew 16:13-20
“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.’” [12:00]

Judges 2:10-12
“And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. They abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger.”

Daniel 9:25-26
“Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.” [20:41]

1 Corinthians 12:3
“Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says ‘Jesus is accursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.” [31:39]

John 13:35
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” [36:36]

Observation questions

1. In Matthew 16, what different answers were people giving about Jesus before Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”? [11:42]
2. In Judges 2, what happened in the generation after Israel entered the promised land, and what did that forgetting lead them to do?
3. In Daniel 9, what two surprising things are said about the anointed one: what title is he given, and what happens to him? [20:41]
4. According to John 13:35, what visible sign does Jesus give so that people will know who his disciples are? [36:32]

Interpretation questions

1. Judges says there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. What does that reveal about the human heart and about the kind of leadership people truly need? [19:13]
2. Daniel says the anointed one will be “cut off and shall have nothing.” How does that reshape common expectations of what a rescuer or king should look like? [21:24]
3. Jesus tells Peter that flesh and blood did not reveal his confession, but the Father did. What does that suggest about why some people can be near Christian things and still not really see Jesus clearly? [30:46]
4. If no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit, what does that say about what holds the church together when people are weak, broken, and different from one another? [31:11]

Application questions

1. Everyone serves something, whether sin that leads to death or obedience that leads to righteousness. What tends to rule the heart most strongly right now: approval, comfort, control, fear, pleasure, success, or something else? How can that be recognized in daily habits? [24:25]
2. A culture of doing what seems right in our own eyes can feel normal. Where is there a strong pull to trust personal instinct over Christ’s rule, and what would submission to Jesus look like in that exact place? [19:56]
3. Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” When that question is answered honestly, is Jesus mainly being treated as a helper, an example, a religious figure, or truly as Messiah and Lord? What would need to change if the answer is mixed? [25:43]
4. True confession of Christ is a gift of God, not just human insight. Where is there a need to ask God for opened eyes, either personally or for someone who is close to church things but still seems unable to see Jesus? [32:20]
5. The church is a place where broken people are held together by grace. What makes it hard to stay close to other believers when disappointment, awkwardness, or conflict shows up? What might it look like to trust the Spirit instead of pulling away? [31:56]
6. The kingdom of God is already in the midst of Christ’s people, even though it is not yet seen in fullness. Where has that kingdom been glimpsed recently in ordinary life—in peace, repentance, reconciliation, generosity, or joy? [34:40]
7. Jesus says people will know his disciples by their love for one another. What would visible love look like in this group in the next few weeks: checking in on someone, forgiving someone, sharing a need, making time, offering help, or something else? [36:51]