Greetings, this is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a moment of truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. And today, I'd like to challenge you to think through the five ways in which Jesus' ministry shifts after Peter's confession of him as the Messiah. Now, you may remember that last time we looked at that climactic scene in the Gospels. There's a real character and integrity to the Gospel narratives.

There's highs and lows, and one of the high moments of the Gospels is after years, months of ministry, where Jesus begins to reveal himself as the very Son of God, that the apostles, the disciples, finally confess that he is Messiah. And Peter says, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. So that is indeed a climactic moment in the narrative of the Gospels. But Jesus' ministry shifts dramatically after this, and there's five major ways in which his ministry shifts. He goes into another gear, into a higher gear, if you will, after Peter's confession.

And I want to go over those five major ways. But before I do, I would like to also invite you to our Wednesday night Bible study. We have launched it. It's kicked off. We've been rolling now for two weeks, but it's not too late to begin coming as well.

So we want to invite you to our Wednesday night Bible study. It's a good time to be introduced to New Geneva. If you aren't able, for example, to come to our Sunday morning worship service, and we would invite you to do that most of all. But if you're not able to because of prior commitments, then we very genially invite you to our Wednesday night Bible study. And you will hear today a little bit of my teaching mode, my teaching method, when it comes to the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth.

And that is our subject, our topic, again, for the year. And we are inviting you to come and join us in the homes of our people. That is our setting. And it's been a very successful setting for us. And we've had visitors and our own people in the church turn out then to the homes of our people.

And it's very genial atmosphere, friendly and conducive to learning. We have snacks, coffee, tea, fresh bread, fresh water, whatever it may be to quench your thirst while you're amongst us. And then also we will try to quench your thirst for the living water of life, which is the gospel, of course. And it's been such a delight for us over the past year to study the life of our Savior and its context to the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth. So we also look at the times.

Who was ruling? The Herods. We look at the Herods. We look at the Romans. We look at the ruling classes of the Jews and all provide a sound setting for the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth.

And we meet on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. And I would just encourage you to call me, Pastor Dave Bass, at area code 208-523-0196 to find out the various locations and which one is nearest to you and where you can go and meet me and meet the people in our congregation. And it's a very low-key, if you will, to find out a little bit more about what New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church is about and who I am, my teaching style, teaching mode, and the people in our congregation, too. So Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. is when we meet.

And you don't have to worry about having missed two lessons already because each lesson is self-contained and you'll benefit from it. It will be continuous with previous lessons and continuous with lessons to come, too. So they're all linked, but you don't have to have had all of them in order to glean much from the lesson you're there for on that particular night. So I just, once again, invite you to our Wednesday night Bible study at 7 p.m. Give me a call to find out locations, area code 208-523-0196. And one of the topics that we'll be treating, of course, is the one I just mentioned to you.

This is kind of a sample, if you will, of my teaching style and some of the things that you'll be learning. And my topic today is the five ways in which Jesus' ministry shifts after Peter's confession. Now, you may not have ever realized this before, but so let me bring this to your attention. Jesus' ministry does shift. You remember the opening part of his ministry, the first year or so of his ministry, Jesus begins preaching the gospel.

He has come to do this, to preach the kingdom of God. Repent and believe, Jesus says, for the kingdom of God is amongst you. And, of course, that king was Jesus himself amongst the people. He began to teach. He began to heal.

He began to do great wonders and miracles. And people began to get the idea that this was someone out of the ordinary. Peter, the disciple said, some think that you're Elijah. Some think you're John the Baptist, raised from the dead. Others think you're Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

Who do you say that I am? And, of course, Peter confesses, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. What a marvelous and beautiful confession. Well, after having made that confession and Jesus himself realizes that his father has now revealed to his disciples that he is the very son of God, the Christ, the Messiah, his ministry shifts. In five major ways, Christ's ministry shifts after that confession.

And how does it shift? Well, number one, Jesus begins to predict his passion. Jesus begins to predict his passion. Oh, the text says right after Peter's confession, Matthew says, From that time, that is from that time when that good confession was made by Peter, from that time Jesus 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 and on the third day be raised. Oh, what does the text say right after that?

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, Far be it from you, Lord. This shall never happen to you. Oh, after having made that good confession and being called Simon Barjona, being renamed to Peter, right, the rock. Jesus said, This has been reviewed to you by my father. You are now Peter, the rock.

And in the very next sentence, practically, he turned to Peter and said, Get behind me, Satan. You are a hindrance to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man, right? Because this was the work Jesus was sent to do. This was the thing he was sent to accomplish. That is, to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.

To this he was commissioned by his father. So Jesus begins now to predict his passion. And he does this repeatedly throughout the rest of his ministry, right to the day before the day of his crucifixion. Now, Jesus begins to predict his passion and tell his disciples, but it wasn't until after his resurrection that they realized these things. Isn't that true?

That's the first way in which Jesus' ministry begins to shift after Peter's confession. Well, secondly, the second way in which Jesus' ministry shifts after Peter's confession is that Jesus' ministry shifts from Galilee, this is geography now, a little bit of regionalism, Jesus' ministry shifts from Galilee to Judea and Jerusalem, from Galilee to Judea and Jerusalem. Now, Jesus' focus becomes urban from being rural, we might say. In fact, his hometown of Nazareth was in Galilee, and this was the region in which he began his ministry, the region in which Peter made his good confession in Caesarea Philippi. So he begins his ministry here.

He's on the Sea of Galilee from time to time, isn't he? And then he's also in the fields and farms and the more or less rural area of Israel, that is Galilee, for the beginning of his ministry. But now that region begins to shift now. Jesus' focus becomes urban from rural. And Luke tells us that when the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

I've always loved that expression. That is an expression of determination. That is an expression of the solidity of the will of our Savior, the firmness of his commitment and purpose. When the days drew near for him to be taken up, that is to undergo his passion, to be crucified and buried and raised from the dead and then rise into heaven to his Father to be glorified again. This is the sense, the telescoping of his passion in these words, the time for him to be taken up.

Well, when he began this process, then, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. His will was determined to execute the will of his Father. Well, this was by design as well. The focus, now geographical focus of his ministry from Galilee to Judea and Jerusalem was for a purpose and by design. Because Jesus says as well in Luke 13, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.

Yes, this is where the prophets of old were killed by their generation. And this is where the prophet will be killed by his generation. It cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem. So, from here on in, after the good confession of Peter that he is the Messiah, the very son of the living God, the focus, geographical focus begins now to turn from Galilee to Judea and Jerusalem. And this is where we will find our Lord in the Gospels from here on in, in this geographical region, as he then goes to the capital, if you will, and spends a lot of time in the temple precincts as well.

And we'll look at that in a few moments because that has to do with our fifth and final shift after Peter's confession. But let's not rush too quickly. Let's look at the third way in which Jesus' ministry shifts after Peter's good confession. That third way, number three. Jesus creates an increased polarity as it becomes clearer who he is and what he has come to do.

Well, we will see an increased polarity between those who love him and those who hate him now after Peter's confession because it will become clearer and clearer as he sets his face towards Jerusalem and goes to Jerusalem. And along the way, he creates more polarized enemies and more dedicated followers. And this is just exemplified, I think, of one of my favorite passages in all of the Gospels is the confession, another confession, if you will, of Peter. After the miracle of the loaves and fishes, you may remember this.

Well, the Gospel of John gives us a very dear and sweet insight into not only the polarity that begins to develop, but also the great love and dedication of his disciples. After the miracle of loaves and fishes, Jesus gives us a great discourse in John chapter 6, recorded for us in John chapter 6, where Jesus gives us a great articulation of what that miracle entails, what it means, the implications of the multiplying of the loaves and fishes. And he gives us that great discourse in John chapter 6, the bread of life discourse.

And when he says, then, in conclusion, with great passion and great climax, Jesus says, if you do not eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part in me. And you remember that many were offended by this teaching. How can we eat his flesh and drink his blood? And after that discourse, and after that clear, delineated declaration, we read in John, after this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. This was one of those teachings that they just could not stomach, so to speak, that pun and being intentional.

If you do not eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part in me. And after these disciples, many of them, this is that increased polarity that I'm talking about. Jesus' ministry became very clear at this point. And when these things were articulated by him, preached by him, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, John goes on to say, Jesus said to the twelve, do you want to go away as well?

Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. Isn't that beautiful? I've always loved that confession by Peter, too.

After all this time, they've heard him. They've been with him. They've followed him now for all of this time. They've seen what he's done. They've seen, they have seen the love.

They have seen the power, the majesty, the glory of the Christ. And they've heard him preach and teach the very words of God. And Peter says to him, when he asked him, do you want to go away as well? Peter says, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

Oh, I have felt this way many times myself. And those times when you think it's not worth living the Christian life, it's not worth following Jesus. Have you ever had those doubts? Well, many have in the past. But I just urge you to remember the words of Peter.

To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. This is what I've discovered in my life. And I cling to this confession of Peter's as well. Because to whom am I going to go?

I'm not going to go to Muhammad. I'm not going to go to Buddha. I'm not going to go to any other. Because Jesus alone has the words of life. So this, to me, is a very beautiful confession.

But it also demonstrates the increasing polarity that characterizes Jesus' life and ministry as he begins to preach and teach and move towards Jerusalem. And this happens in the world today, doesn't it? Many people come to a church, perhaps, or they come to the Gospels. Maybe they come to the Bible. They're interested in Jesus.

They know he's a good man and that he has very powerful teachings, perhaps, that they've heard about. And so they begin to discover just who Jesus is. But after a while, they also see that he's very exclusive. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by me, one of those exclusive verses in the Bible, whereby Jesus declares himself and himself alone to be the Savior of the world.

And for this reason and for other reasons as well, many, when they begin to unpack just who Jesus is, they also turn away and no longer walk with him. But we, those who know him, those who have been birthed by him spiritually, we know him, we love him. And to whom else will we go? Because Jesus has the words of life.

But it also tells us that as Jesus marches toward Jerusalem, the closer he gets to Good Friday, the closer he gets to Golgotha, the closer he gets to his cross, the more increasing polarity, the more resistance from his enemies, and the more love and dedication from his 12 apostles in particular, but also those of the people who are his disciples, increasing polarity then as Jesus approaches Jerusalem. Well, that's the third way in which Jesus' ministry shifts after Peter's confession. But there are also other ways too.

Number four, the fourth way in which Jesus' ministry begins to shift after Peter's good confession of him as Messiah, the Son of the living God. Well, number four, Jesus' enemies begin to plot his death at this time. And the closer he gets to Jerusalem, and the more impact he makes as he goes, and the more people begin to see him for who he is, the more his enemies begin to plot his death. So great then, this is a corollary really of number three as well, because so great becomes this polarity that I just spoke of, that the leaders of the people plot his death.

Four, the text tells us, You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified, he tells his disciples. And then the text tells us, The chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. Yes, this is what begins to transpire then as Jesus approaches Jerusalem, especially in the week prior during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, they begin to plot to kill him. They plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.

So this was the process underway as Jesus approaches. Jesus, the polarity becomes so great that indeed they plot then to kill him. The fifth way in which Jesus' ministry begins to shift after Peter's confession to we see increasingly Jesus' teaching focuses on the end of Jerusalem and his return. He begins to anticipate the end. Even as they plot to destroy him, he undertakes to reveal how they will be destroyed and how the end will transpire, because those who plot to kill him are but enemies of God.

And Jesus begins to reveal in a variety of ways, through parables and through discourses, that they will be destroyed. The enemies of God will be destroyed. And that will come in the microcosm of the destruction of Jerusalem, but also will come in the end of the world as Jesus begins to predict it as well. This becomes an increasing motif in his ministry, in his teaching, and in his life ministry too, the cleansing of the temple being one example of precisely how he demonstrates the wrath of God and the cleansing that God will bring to his enemies and how the end will transpire in great wrath and anger, the anger of God.

So the fifth way in which, major way, the fifth major way in which Jesus' ministry shifts after the good confession of Peter, after indeed he reveals him to be the son of the living God, is that Jesus' teaching increasingly focuses on the end of Jerusalem and Christ's own return. Jesus more and more teaches regarding the end of all things, including the destruction of Jerusalem.

For example, in Luke 21, we read, And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. And they asked him, Teacher, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place? And he said, See that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name, saying, I am he. And the time is at hand.

Do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once. And Jesus then begins to speak of the end, doesn't he? He speaks of the end preeminently in the Olivet Discourse, when he stands on the Mount of Olives. And from the Mount of Olives, you can see the Temple Mount, and you can see much of Jerusalem spread out before you on the Mount of Olives.

And so there, Jesus sat with his disciples just before he goes then to the Last Supper and goes to be betrayed and be killed and crucified. He sits down on the Mount of Olives, thus it's called the Olivet Discourse, and tells his disciples about the end, tells them about the destruction of the Temple and what it will be like and his coming as well. And this is an increasing motif of Jesus' latter ministry. One of the things that characterizes his ministry after Peter's good confession, he begins to tell of the end of all things and of his second coming, of his return, when he will come in great power and glory, then to judge the nations.

He has the parable of the sheep and the goats, for example, in Matthew 25, where he demonstrates his judgment of the peoples at the last day. So this becomes an increasing theme and increasing motif throughout Jesus' ministry. These are the five. These are the five major ways in which Jesus' ministry shifts after Peter's good confession. He begins to predict his passion, number one.

Number two, his ministry shifts from Galilee to Judea and Jerusalem. Number three, Jesus creates an increased polarity as it becomes clearer who he is and what he has come to do. Number four, Jesus' enemies begin to plot his death. They begin to hound him, don't they? And hound and ghost his heels waiting for an opportunity.

And then fifthly, Jesus' teaching increasingly focuses on the end of Jerusalem and his return, his second coming. So these are the things that in which major ways in which Jesus' ministry shifts after Peter's good confession. Now we'll be taking up this topic in the Bible study and we'll be discussing many of these elements. So if you have any questions or comments that you wish to add, I just encourage you to come to our Wednesday night Bible study and throw in your two cents. Give us your perspective.

And we'll be glad to answer any questions that you might have. Our Wednesday night Bible study will be dealing with this topic probably over the next couple of weeks. And we hold our Bible study at 7 p.m. on Wednesday nights. And we have it in the homes of our people. And I just encourage you to find out times and locations for this Bible study where you can meet me, you can meet the members of our congregation, get a flavor of New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church by coming to this Bible study.

And it's at 7 p.m. And you can find this information at area code 208-523-0196. That's area code 208-523-0196 for further information. And you can join us for worship on Sunday too. I encourage you to do that. Join us for Sunday morning worship 10 a.m. on Sunday.

And we're located at 101 4th Street right on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. And you can once again call us for further information on all of these things at area code 208-523-0196. And please come and join us on our Wednesday night Bible study at 7 p.m.