The New Testament BIBLE STORY #12

 The New Testament

BIBLE STORY #12

Especially written for children

Chapter Twenty:

Jesus builds His church and the Transfiguration

WHO THE CHURCH IS BUILT UPON

     It was time for Jesus to visit the villages of the district

of Caesarea Philippi, about 120 miles from Jerusalem, and about

30 miles from Tyre, on the North-west coast of Palestine. This

was the furthest that Jesus would travel in His ministry.  On the

way Jesus stopped to pray for a while and then asked His

disciples, "Who do people say that I am?"

     "Well Master," the disciples began to say, "some say you are

John the Baptist, others say you are Elijah, and still others say

you are Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 

     "Now who do you say that I am," Jesus asked them.

     "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," replied

Peter with assurance in his voice.

     "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona!" replied Jesus, "for flesh

and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in

heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter (Greek - Petros, small

stone), and on THIS ROCK (Greek - Petra, huge boulder) I will

build my church, and the powers of death will not kill it out. I

will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever

you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever

you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

      Ii is true also that Peter was the leading apostle at the beginning

of the the Christian church in Acts 2. He did play an important role

in leading the church; but by the time of the apostle Paul that was 

not the case at all; Paul was not phased in his ministry by any apostle

before himself., as his writings make clear.

     Other passages in the New Testament make it clear the foundation

stone that the Church is b built on is Jesus Christ.

     Then He told the disciples to tell no one that He was the

Christ (Mat.16: 13-20).

     Jesus' fame was large enough and the people flocking to see

Him was overwhelming at times, without His disciples making a

direct effort to pronounce that Jesus was the promised Messiah to

come.

     Many have been puzzled over this section of teaching by

Jesus. But when you understand the Greek language it was written

in, all the difficulties should solve themselves. Jesus was not

saying that the Church of God would be built upon the man Peter

as some claim. The NT shows that Jesus is the "chief corner

stone" and it is upon Jesus as the head of the Church, that the

Church of God is built. Jesus is the "petra" - the huge massive

crag of a stone, while Peter the man was "petros" the small

stone. 

     Concerning the authority to "bind and loose" and have it

bound or loosed in heaven. This also has given thought and even

with some, established a kind of "divine authority for ministers"

doctrine. Some think that at times a "priest" or "minister/s" can

make God bind or loose decisions they make for other people or

for their "church flock."

     Again, understanding the Greek, and the tense it was written

in, can answer our questions we may have. In the translation of

the New Testament by B.J. Phillips there is a comment among the

appendix footnotes, telling us the tense of the Greek and that it

is more probable that the translation of this section should have

been something like this: "And whatsoever you bind on earth must

be what is already bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on

earth must be what is already loosed in heaven." 

     Jesus then was telling Peter and all the disciples that they

could have authority to bind and loose, but they better make sure

it was within the laws and will of God in heaven, and that they

need to keep in mind that the Church of God is founded upon

Jesus, not any human man.

     Now, if we do not want to bother with the Greek language,

and we stay only with the KJV English translation, we can still

make a case for understanding what Jesus said here without

putting it into the sanction of "divine human authority" bracket.

There are certain times within the Churches of Christ that

binding or loosing decisions must be made to safeguard the

Church. An example of this is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 5.

Here is a case of an unrepentant sinner (large sins of a wrong

life style), and the apostle Paul telling the church at Corinth

to disfellowship the man, to put him out of the local church

congregation, so such sins as he was practicing would not be

multiplied and practiced by others in the church. This was a

decision that had qualities of binding and loosing.

     Yet, even this was something that was within all the laws

and commandments of God, where God's truth and way on the 

matter was very clear. The congregation in that instant that Paul 

was addressing were upholding the laws of God. Binding and 

loosing in the context of 1 Cor. 5 is a context of living within and

upholding, the commandments of God.

     Binding and loosing for the disciples of Christ has nothing

to do with that which God has allowed and permitted as "freedom

of choice" for each individual in the body of Christ. A group of

disciples cannot tell you to only wear one certain color of dress

or suit in attending church services, for example. Such things

God does not have a law for, so no human person or persons can

bind or loose on such a matter. 

     At another time in Jesus' ministry He said to His disciples,

"Whoever sins you remit or cancel, they shall be cancelled, and

whoever sins you retain, they shall be retained (John 20:23). 

This would again be a situation as Paul was addressing in 1

Corinthians chapter 5. It could also apply to a disciple or

disciples leading someone to baptism. Some only want to be

baptized because their friend was baptized, or their wife or

husband was baptized, or because their parents want them to be

baptized. It is not a genuine personal repentance to baptism. And

so discriminating disciples of Jesus would in all baptism

cases decide if it is truly from a genuine heart, that the person

wants to be baptized. If it is genuine, then baptism can be

performed and the individuals sins can be cancelled. If it is not 

genuine then no baptism should be performed and hence the 

individuals sins are retained, until the day of true heartfelt 

repentance.

     So, there is a certain amount of authority given by Jesus to

His disciples, in binding and loosing, within His church, but

that binding and loosing must always be within the laws and

commandments of God.

     Also of course, any organization, such as a church

congregation of an area, must make "administrative" decisions.

The place to meet, the time of the day to meet, how long the

service or meeting will last, and a hundred and one other like

things. This must be done by a body of people within that

organization that have been given authority by the whole

organization to make such decisions, or by a vote of the

congregation as a whole. Such decisions must be made for a 

smooth operation of an organization made up of many person. 

And needless to say, all such decisions will not please everyone 

all the time.

     But, Jesus was not here talking about the latter but the

former.

JESUS FORETELLS HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION 

     From the time of Jesus' visit to the region of Caesarea

Philippi  He began to show His disciples that He must go to

Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief

priests and scribes, and be killed, but on the third day be

raised to life once more.

     This news hit Peter like a bolt out of the blue, as if stuck

by lightening. With dismay he said to Jesus, "God forbid Lord!

This shall never happen to you!" Peter was meaning that he and

all the disciples would do whatever it took to make sure He would

not die by the hands of the elders and religious leaders of their

day.

     "Get behind me Satan," Jesus, with severe and grim tones to

His voice, quickly replied, "You are a hindrance to me; for you

are not on the side of God but of men." And with those words all

went silent, no one venturing to say anything more about the

subject. But, many of the disciples kept what Jesus had said in

their hearts, meditating on what they could possibly mean, for

none wanted to believe Jesus would die, not being so young and so

popular among the people. They just could not imagine that the

elders and priests could have enough power to have Jesus put to

death. At that time, Judea being under the overall rule of the

Roman Empire, only by the authority of the Roman government 

could any citizen of Judea be put to death. The disciples, at that

time, could not in their wildest dreams, imagine what was to

come, but Jesus knew, and knew it was the Father's will that it

should be as the prophets of old had foretold (Mat.16: 21-23).

WHAT IT TAKES TO FOLLOW CHRIST

     Jesus then called all the multitude to Himself as well as

His disciples, and said, "If any person would follow me and be 

my disciple, they must deny themselves and take up their cross of

burden and imitate me. For whoever would save their life shall

loose it; but whosoever looses his life for me and the Gospel's

sake, will save it. What does it profit a person if they should

gain the whole world, yet loose their life. For what can a man

give in exchange for his life? Whoever is ashamed of me and of 

my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the

Son of man also be ashamed, when He comes in the glory of His

Father with the holy angels."

     Jesus was speaking of the life a person can have in Him, the

inner Holy Spirit life, that leads to eternal life at the

resurrection day. You could gain the whole world, be head

of the physical Empire that rules the whole world, you could be

the richest person in the world, you could have the fame of the

whole world, like some Hollywood movies stars have, but if you

are not raised to eternal life one day in the resurrection when

Jesus returns in glory, then what have you really gained? In the

long run you will have gained nothing lasting, certainly way

less, very much less than those who will have gained that

resurrection.  They may have had to deny themselves many things

in this life time (great wealth, fame, splendid comfort,

prominent and illustrious jobs or positions on the human scale 

of things) to follow and imitate Christ Jesus, to stand up and not

be ashamed of belonging to Christ, and obeying His commandments.

The end result will be everlasting glory in the Kingdom of God.

     And then Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are

some standing here who will not taste of death before they see a

sight of the Kingdom of God, with glory and power" (Mark 8: 34 

to 9: 1)

     Jesus was speaking about a soon transfiguration event that

some of His disciples would witness.

JESUS' TRANSFIGURATION AND THE ELIJAH TO COME

     Matthew and Mark state that "after six days" while Luke is

somewhat more specific in stating "about eight days after these

sayings."  It would seem by all the accounts it was around eight

days later, that Jesus took with Him, Peter, James and John his

brother, up into a high mountain. There was just the four of

them. 

     The disciples must have been wondering what was going to

happen if anything at all special was going to happen. They did

not have to wait long for the answer. Suddenly there was "light'

but light like they had never seen before. In their eyes Jesus

had CHANGED!  His face had become like the sun for brightness 

and glory, and all His clothes were as white as any bleach could 

make white, white. It was all practically more than their eyes could

look at, but somehow they were able to see it all in its fully

splendid powerful GLORY!

     Then something else happened that shocked the socks off them

as we say. There stood Moses and the prophet Elijah, talking to

Jesus. Obviously at this time in history there was enough

physical information that had been handed down through the

centuries, as to the physical appearance of Moses and Elijah.

They knew it was Moses and they knew it was Elijah that were

having a conversation with Jesus.

     "Lord! " exclaimed Peter, "It is good  that we are here, if

you wish I will make three booths here; one for YOU and one for

Moses and one for Elijah."

     Peter was still speaking when a bright cloud over-shadowed

them, and then they heard this voice from the cloud saying, "This

is my beloved Son, with Him I am well pleased; listen to Him."

     At the sound of this voice the three disciples fell on their

faces and were filled with great awe and fear, realizing they

were witnessing the very glory and presence of God, as well as

the future event of the resurrection that Jesus had so often by

now spoken about. The resurrection to glory of all the children

of God at the coming of Christ in glory, at the end of the age,

when the Kingdom of God would be a literal reality on the earth.

     The disciples were still fallen down on their faces when

Jesus came and touched them and said, "Rise up, and have no

fears."

     And when they lifted up their heads and looked, they saw no

one but Jesus only.

     They were on their way down the mountain when Jesus

commanded them, "I want you to tell not a single soul about the

VISION you have seen today. Do not tell anyone until I am raised

again to life from death."

     At this request and command the disciples said, "Then why is

it that the scribes say that Elijah must first come?"

     They thought that they had the proof and the golden

opportunity now to really declare that Jesus was the promised

Messiah, because they had seen Elijah come, and the very scribes

of their nation were saying that Elijah had to come first before

the Messiah would come on the scene. 

     "Oh, Elijah shall come," replied Jesus, "and shall restore all 

things, but at this present time Elijah has indeed already come, 

and they did not know or recognize him, but did and said

evil and whatever they liked about him from their darkened

hearts. So they will also do to the Son of man, who will also

suffer from their hands."

     Then, it became clear, they knew He was speaking to them

about John the Baptist (Mat.17: 1-13).

     The three disciples had witnessed a foretaste of the

resurrection in glory at the coming of the Kingdom of God on

earth, when Jesus will return in power and glory. So it was as

Jesus had said some days earlier, that some would not taste of

death until they saw the Son of man coming in power and glory.

You will notice that Matthew says it was a VISION the three

disciples saw. A vision is in the minds eye, not something that

is a  literal happening per se. Moses and Elijah died, they are

still dead to this very day. They, like all who have lived, are

in the grave waiting that blessed resurrection day. When the

last trumpet, the voice of the arch angel, will sound, and the

dead in Christ shall rise first and then we which are alive,

shall be changed, in the twinkling of an eye, and we shall

all be gathered by the angels to rise and meet Jesus in the

clouds, in the air, and so be with Him for ever more (2 Thes. 

4: 13-18; 1 Cor.15; Mat.24: 29-31).

     The prophecy concerning the coming of Elijah before the

Messiah, is found in Malachi chapter 4.

     Here Christ makes it clear that it is not the literal first

Elijah that lived centuries earlier, that is meant, but someone

who will come in the power and might of Elijah, someone who 

will speak the words and truth of the Almighty God as Elijah did 

in his day. Christ also makes it clear that this prophecy has a DUAL

prophetic fulfilment - one fulfilment at the first coming of

Christ, and another yet future fulfilment just before the second

coming of Christ. The context of Malachi is just before the

prophetic "day of the Lord" - just before "the Lord's day" that

most of the book of Revelation is all about. Jesus makes it clear

that another Elijah man (as John the Baptist was before Christ's

first ministry on earth) will come "shall come" (future tense) as

Jesus said, and shall "restore all things." 

     This also tells us that by and near the end of this age, the

truths of the word of God will have been so distorted and bent

out of shape, that a "restoring of all things" will be greatly

needed. The Elijah to come will restore all things to its purity.

     As before when John the Baptist fulfilled that prophecy,

most did not recognize him as the Elijah to come. So it probably

will be at the end of this age, most, even many within the very

true Church of God, will not recognize or know who the end time

Elijah is. It will only be those who have their nose in the

Bible, who are searching the Scriptures, who are willing to be

corrected, who desire to grow in grace and knowledge, that shall

understand who the end time Elijah is. May you and I be among

those who will recognize the Elijah to come, if he should appear

in our life time.

AN EPILEPTIC BOY IS HEALED

     The next day when coming down from the mountain, as they

approached the other disciples, they saw a great crowd about them

and scribes arguing with them. Immediately the crowd when seeing

Jesus ran up to him. Jesus looked at them all and said, "What

are you discussing with the scribes?"

     One person spoke up and replied, "Teacher, I brought my son

to you, but you were gone. Well, I brought him for healing,

because he has a dumb spirit, an evil spirit takes and seizes him

and dashes him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth and

grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to

cast out the spirit, when I saw you were not among them, but they

could not cast it out."

     Jesus answered, "O faithless generation, how long do I have

to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son to me."

     They brought the boy forward towards Jesus, and when the

evil spirit saw Him it took the boy and convulsed him, and he

fell to the ground rolling about and foaming at the mouth.

     "How long has the boy been like this?" Jesus asked the

father. "From childhood," the father replied, "and it has often

cast him into the fire and into water, trying to destroy him. But

if you can do anything at all to heal him, please have pity on us

and help us."

     Jesus said to the man, "If you can! Why, all things are

possible to him that believes."

     Then the father of the child with a loud cry and anguish

said, "I believe Lord, I believe, please help my unbelief!"

     

     As a large crowd was gathering about Him, Jesus rebuked the

evil spirit, "You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out

of him, and never enter him again." 

     The evil spirit was not about to give up without some sort

of a fight. He took hold of the boy once more and convulsing him

terribly, it came out, and the boy was lying there like a corpse;

so that most of the people there said among themselves that the

boy was dead.

     But Jesus leaned over and took the boy by the hand and he

arose, perfectly well and healthy, free from any evil spirit.

     Later, in private, the disciples asked Jesus why they had

not been able to cast out the spirit. Jesus said to them,

"Because of your little faith. Truly I say to you, if you have

faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain,

'Move over to another place,' and it will move; and nothing will

be impossible to you. Then again, such healing can only be done

by much prayer and fasting" (Mat. 17: 14-21; Mark 9: 14-29).

     We see here that it is faith that is required to do such

mighty healing miracles, and we also see that Jesus taught that

faith comes by and through much prayer and fasting. Prayer and

fasting draws us close to God, and it is by being close to God

that faith grows and is made strong.

     Moving mountains in a literal way (unless for some specific

reason such would be required) was an analogy that Jesus was

giving to show that through faith miracles can be done. To do

this type of healing that Jesus (which is as great a miracle as

literally moving a mountain to a different location) did, took as

much faith as if for some reason a mountain had to be moved to

save life or avert continual pain, grief, and sorrow. Jesus

was simply pointing out that through faith nothing is impossible

with God. For He has power over all the spirits of the unseen

world and all the physical laws of this planet and universe.

                 ..........................

Written October 2002