# Event Details - **Event Name**: Bible Study at 11am - **Event Start and End Date**: Tue, 25 Aug, 2026 at 11:00 am – Tue, 25 Aug, 2026 at 03:45 pm - **Event Description**: Bible Study at 11am The Lessons Appointed for Use on the Sunday closest to August 24 Year A Proper 16 RCL Track 1 Exodus 1:8-2:10 Psalm 124 Romans 12:1-8 Matthew 16:13-20 The Collect Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Old Testament Exodus 1:8-2:10 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them. The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, K*ll him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.” But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.” Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him. The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him, “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.” Clever Women Prevail! - Reflections on Exodus 1:8-2:10 by Dr. John Holbert The passage chosen for today’s lectionary is so rich, so filled with nuggets of insight, any of which could serve as a veritable fountain of inspiration for any preacher, that it becomes necessary to focus reflections on smaller parts of the textual array. I am most attracted today to the confrontation between the mighty pharaoh, at the time the world’s grandest, most powerful ruler, and the two Hebrew midwives, women designated as guides and helpers for the onerous and too often deadly task of childbirth. Because the time of the tale is set over 3000 years ago, one may only imagine how many women and children died at the birth stool, surely as high as 50% in those long ago, primitive days. Thus, the work of the midwives was vital, and deeply prized, by any struggling cultural group, hoping for survival from one generation to the next. However important the midwife role clearly was, when compared to pharaoh they were pathetically infinitesimal in comparison to the world’s mightiest monarch. All the more reason to savor the wonderful humor of the meeting of the pharaoh with these two wily women. Shiphrah is a recognizable Semitic name, perhaps meaning “to be fair” or “to shine”. Puah is also certainly Northwest Semitic in origin and is cognate to a Ugaritic (the written language of the Canaanites) word meaning “young girl.” Thus, their youth and beauty are maximized in their names. By contrast, the pharaoh is not named; he is thus merely an archetypal villain. The exhaustive search for just which pharaoh this may have been historically is ultimately a scholarly waste of energy, however, many doctoral dissertations have been written on the subject. The biblical scene pits malevolent monarch against insignificant female youths, a common enough literatary type scene, repeated in cultures across the world. Pharaoh has a dilemma. He has among his slaves a group of people with a unique ability to propagate in great numbers. Ex.1:7 states this gift plainly, borrowing language from the opening chapters of the book of Genesis: “The children of Israel were fruitful, and swarmed and grew. They multiplied and grew so powerful that the land was filled with them.” Any Bible reader will hear in these sentences clear echoes of Gen.1:22 and 1:28 where Elohim charges first the animals and then the humans to “be fruitful, multiply (“swarm”), and fill the land.” Without a mention of Elohim in the Exodus story until 1:17, the reader knows all too well that God remains active in that familiar blessing. What these Israelites are especially good at is multiplication, and the author does not mean by that that they are good at math. Pharaoh is worried about these rabbit-like peoples and devises two successive plans to cut their multiplication off. He fears that if they continue to grow they will finally join any invading armies, fight against the Egyptians, and escape from their work, the labor pharaoh needs to build his cities. He first tries to work them to death, “setting taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor” (Ex.1:11). The assumption is that after a long day of back-breaking work, the last thing on their minds when they get home is multiplication if you get my drift. “But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and swarmed, so that the Egyptians were terrified” (Ex.1:12). Something is plainly not right here; harsh oppression should not lead to expansion of the people, but so it happens. So, in horror of these magical people, “the Egyptians became ruthless,” demanding hours upon hours in the brick kiln and the fields, all designed to stop the ceaseless Israelite population explosion. Both plans fail miserably, so pharaoh now turns to a more direct genocidal scheme. Enter Shiphrah and Puah. Pharoah commands the two women with clarity and force: “When you play the role of midwives with these Hebrew women, and see them at the birth stool (presumably birthstones that the women grab as they labor), if it is a boy, K*ll him; but if it is a girl, let her live” (Ex.1:16). On the face of it, the plan is deeply misguided. After all, is it not the women who give birth, while it takes only one man to impregnate them. Why not K*ll the girls? Well, males first in all things, even murder, I suppose! But the two girls pay no attention to the explicit command of the pharaoh and they allow the boys to live, because, we are told, “they feared Elohim” (Ex.1:17). And when the enraged pharaoh calls them back to the throneroom, and demands to know why they have not done what he demanded, they not only concoct a delightful lie, but at the same time make fun of Egyptian women in the bargain. “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women,” they say; “They (unlike your weak and pathetic Egyptian women) are vigorous (lit: “full of life”), and give birth before we arrive at the stones.” The implication is that the Israelite women give birth on their own and head right back to work, their newborns strapped to their backs. But instead of questioning the midwives further, or trying to defend the honor of his Egyptian women they have just maligned, he makes a fateful and terrible command to “all his people: every boy that is born (the Hebrew text does not add “to the Hebrews;” that is an addition from later translations) you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let the girls live” (Ex.1:22). And, of course, one boy is indeed thrown into the Nile, but hardly to die, but to live and become the savior of his people. His name is Moses. Pharaoh has been bested by these two lowly midwives, a prefiguring of the eventual and certain defeat of the pharaoh and his people by the former Israelite slaves under the protection of their God, YHWH. The fun of this tale does not cover the powerful truth that it enshrines: the real power of the world is not to be found in pharaohs or kings or prime ministers or presidents, but in God alone, a God who is forever on the side of the oppressed, working against those who would claim power over those deemed lesser than or weaker than they. Despite what appearances may say, the pharaoh is not in control of the world, but only and always God. The Psalm Psalm 124 Nisi quia Dominus 1 If the LORD had not been on our side, * let Israel now say; 2 If the LORD had not been on our side, * when enemies rose up against us; 3 Then would they have swallowed us up alive * in their fierce anger toward us; 4 Then would the waters have overwhelmed us * and the torrent gone over us; 5 Then would the raging waters * have gone right over us. 6 Blessed be the LORD! * he has not given us over to be a prey for their teeth. 7 We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler; * the snare is broken, and we have escaped. 8 Our help is in the Name of the LORD, * the maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 124 Commentary by Leonard Vander Zee Digging into the Text: Psalm 124 is again one of that special collection of Psalms called “Songs of Ascent.” These Psalms were associated especially with the liturgical life of Israel during the pilgrim feasts in which the people traveled to Jerusalem and its Temple. It’s clear that this Psalm has a liturgical setting. It begins, “Let Israel now say,” and ends with a confession of complete dependence on Jahweh. Another indication of the Psalm’s liturgical usage is that it is not a list of actual historical incidents in which Israel triumphed over its enemies. It uses evocative poetic imagery to describe times of intense danger and the miracle of God’s deliverance. That poetic language makes it a useful liturgical element for a wide variety of times and places. The NRSV translates verse 2: “when our enemies attacked us.” The actual Hebrew word is not the one for enemies, but Adam, mankind, people. This also implies that the message of the Psalm does not just point to Israel’s historical battles with its enemies. In his commentary on the Psalms, James L. Mays writes, The word adam is used here as in Psalm 10:19; it is a collective noun for Israel’s enemy, the nations in their humanness. The enemies are “man” in contrast to the Lord. The danger was of the quality and kind that posed the basic choice of existence in history, the choice between trusting God or man as the decisive power. “If it had not been the Lord who was for us…!” That is what pilgrims must and may say as the truth about themselves. This Psalm, therefore can be said by all God’s people, no matter what their circumstances. We all face times of intense hostility from others, moments in which we feel swept away by a flood of pain, grief, or betrayal. It is the stuff of life in the world. Pastors should be aware that some people get stuck in such confessions of the Lord’s deliverance because they vividly and painfully recall moments of seeming abandonment, times in which prayers for deliverance seem unanswered, experiences in which the flood did overwhelm. How can we sing this Psalm in the dark? How can we confess God’s deliverance when we or those we loved were “swallowed alive?” It’s important for the preacher to keep these people in mind, and not just riff on the wonders of God’s deliverance. One thing we might point out is that this in the genre of the wisdom literature of Israel. For example, in Proverbs we read, “Train children in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not depart from it.” (22:6) That is not meant as a promise to all faithful parents of their children’s future. Like all wisdom sayings, it reflects a general truth that we see in the world. So too, the deliverance for which this Psalm gives thanks, does not preclude moments in which disaster did come, enemies did triumph, and the flood of misfortune did overwhelm. A quick look at Israel’s history will reveal that truth. The Psalm declares that our only true and lasting help comes from the Lord. We cannot rely on human devices, or governments to deliver us. We cannot be assured that no disaster will befall us. Yet, God’s people can faithfully confess that “Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth.” It looks at our lives through the eyes of faith and the promise of God’s covenant faithfulness. No matter what, God is our help and salvation, not any human person or institution. Ultimately, Christians read this Psalm, like all the rest, in the light of Christ. He is our help and shield, and in his cosmic victory over sin and death on the cross and in his resurrection no human power can overwhelm us. As Keith Getty writes in his widely acclaimed hymn “In Christ Alone,” No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man, Can ever pluck me from His hand ‘Til He returns or calls me home Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand. “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” The confession that God is the creator of all things in heaven and earth, offers us hope because God’s wisdom encompasses time and eternity, God’s power dwarfs all human power. He is our source and maker and is therefore above all earthly powers. God alone is worthy of our trust and confidence. The Epistle Romans 12:1-8 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-- what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. Commentary on Romans 12:1-8 by Israel Kamudzandu The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans is both a countercultural and counter-political document. It points to the global renaissance of a human family whose identity, frame of perception, and discipleship are based on God’s act of reconciling with humanity, regardless of our vulnerability (Romans 1:18-5:11). Romans 12:1-8 is a summary and reminder of Romans 1-11, in which the Apostle Paul is writing an apologetic of the presence, work, and callings of God on the entire human family. Readers are called to live a countercultural lifestyle, moving from the life of flesh to a life formed by the Holy Spirit. Thus, writing to those under the Roman Empire, Paul persuades Christian communities living in the imperial center to live not according to the political ideologies of Rome, but rather to live out faith on the basis of what God did in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. While some scholars think Romans is a doctrinal letter, I think of Romans as a call to abandon the sin of individualism and to embrace the cross-cultural Christian life. The life to which Paul calls Christians in Rome, and consequently those in the 21st century, is a life that exhibits the essence of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Put differently, a holy life is one through which all one says and does is governed by sacrificial living (Romans 12:1; see also Isaiah 6:3; Philippians 2:5-11). To worship the God proclaimed in this letter, and throughout Scripture, is to adopt a stance of humility and self-denial. In the Scriptures, readers see God’s attraction to humility through whom God calls (for example, Luke 1:46-56). For some, humility is a birthright; for others, humility is a learned disposition. The former is easily discernible among people who live in so-called third-world nations. Christians in the Roman Empire were probably accustomed to the culture of affluence; we can see this in the Apostle Paul’s appeal in verse 1, where he pleads with Christians to present their bodies as instruments of the Holy One. In third-world countries, humility is often a daily posture. Those who struggle to feed their families, send their kids to school, afford clean water, and maintain a farm see God in their daily vulnerabilities. Alternatively, so-called first-world nations seem to take God for granted, easily becoming blinded by affluence, political smartness, academic achievement, and the striving for the American dream while failing to appreciate God’s provisions of these blessings. Instead of being thankful to God, first-world Christians risk worshiping God’s blessings instead of worshipping God, the source of true life. Hence, the Apostle Paul calls on Christians to metaphorically see the manifestations of God not just in the materialistic world, but in every aspect of their lives. In essence, worship is not just a Sunday adventure, but an everyday sacrificial practice. The way Christians live their lives in today’s world should be one embracing worship both within and outside of the church building. In Romans 12:1, the Apostle Paul seems to raise the following question: Where is God in your living? In this regard, Paul’s appeal and persuasion points Christian practitioners to what can be called testimonial living. When Christians live out a life of testimony, they become instruments of evangelism, missionary work, and discipleship. Most of what we encounter and read in the Scriptures depicts the lives of faith practitioners transformed by God’s grace and compassionate love. Distinct from a sermon, testimonies function as vehicles by which others hear and perceive God’s work in the lives of people. There is no sacrificial living without a testimony. Notably, the Apostle Paul is not just talking about sacrificial living; he himself is a testimony (see especially Romans 12:1-8). Paul’s life in God is a story, one that must be told throughout global Christianity. We also see models of this sacrificial and testimonial life in the lives of apostles such as Mary Magdalene, who offered her life as “a living sacrifice.” She declares: “I have seen the Lord. He is risen” (John 20:18). Testimonial experiences lead one on a journey from “conformity to transformation” of one’s living through the mind, heart, and soul (Romans 12:2). Paul is a paradigm of such transformation, as his life was powerfully and dramatically transformed by his encounter with Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). Like Paul’s life, our lives will indeed become aligned with the gospel of Jesus Christ if transformed by our encounter with Jesus on our own Damascus roads. The injunction of the word “therefore” in Romans 12:1 signals a change of direction in the life of one who has had such an encounter with the love of God, as that life becomes consistent with gospel living. Instead of conforming to the ideals of the world, one will take a 180 degree turn toward a life of service and humility in and outside of a Sunday morning service. With humility comes a loss of pride, arrogance, and ego; these three are cancerous to the church as they give birth to superiority and inferiority complexes. Caught between affluence and Christianity, humanity consciously and unconsciously slides into the dark world of wretchedness, injustice, and the dehumanization of others. Instead of obscuring God in those whom one dehumanizes, transformation will illuminate God’s presence in all human beings. This metamorphosed life, heart, soul, and mind leads to a renewal of consciousness and allows one to be an instrument of God. God made humans to be partners in transforming the world (Genesis 1-2). In God’s creation, God summons heavenly communities to create a human being in the image of the divine (Genesis 1:24-29). God breathed God’s Spirit only in a human being, giving humanity the responsibility to tend and care for other created entities. From the beginning, God invites humanity into a transformative relationship. Paul’s letter to the Romans, if not all his letters, should be read within this canonical context. Paul was entrusted with a gospel in which human families are called to be transformed in every aspect of their lives: the cultural, ethnic, gender, political, economic, social, and geographical boundaries. This transformation comes to us through grace, as we are saved through our belief in God and in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The power of the gospel to equalize humanity before God becomes the impetus through which we become part of the “body of Christ,” a term Paul uses to describe the church and its members (Romans 12:4-5). Thus, each member’s identity and essence becomes intertwined with the other, regardless of our color, gender, nationality, ethnicity, or race. Our faith in God becomes our common denominator, rather than our affluence, education, status, or upbringing. With God as the source, a transformed life oriented to the Holy Spirit is the engine that drives our growth as a fellowship of believers (Romans 12:5). In the context of Paul’s theology and practical life applications, remember that transformation and renewal are not one-time events, but an intentional process endeavored through humility, prayer, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and our total surrender to the Trinity. If the body of Christ loses its divine interdependence, it will lose its source of power. Without the power and formation of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian, one will not be able to discern God’s purposes in his or her life. In other words, the grace of God and power of the Holy Spirit are indispensable qualities to assist people in their “discernment in what is good, acceptable to God, and perfect” (Romans 12:2). The good news of Jesus Christ is a corrective to 21st-century individualism because it advocates for the transformation of the entire human family. Paul employs the image of the church as a human body with several parts working in tandem in its function. Similarly, clergy’s call and work with lay people and others in the world should be done in ways that give holistic health to that body. We are called to a life that appreciates the diversity of gifts and talents through which the body of Christ can function as God intends. This body functions from a posture of humility when each part is invited to contribute (Romans 12:5-6). Used in the service of building the church, each part will be enriched, appreciated, and honored in his or her magnifying of God. Indeed, one’s gifts find meaning in the giftedness of others, who seek to build the Kingdom of God in today’s world. The Gospel Matthew 16:13-20 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, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. Barclay Commentary The Scene Of The Great Discovery 16:13-16 When Jesus had come into the districts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of Man is?" They said, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." He said to them, "And you--who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Anointed One, the Son of the living God." Here we have the story of another withdrawal which Jesus made. The end was coming very near and Jesus needed all the time alone with his disciples that he could gain. He had so much to say to them and so much to teach them, although there were many things which then they could not bear and could not understand. To that end he withdrew to the districts of Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi lies about twenty-five miles north-east of the Sea of Galilee. It was outside the domain of Herod Antipas, who was the ruler of Galilee, and within the area of Philip the Tetrarch. The population was mainly non-Jewish, and there Jesus would have peace to teach the Twelve. Confronting Jesus at this time was one clamant and demanding problem. His time was short; his days in the flesh were numbered. The problem was--was there anyone who understood him? Was there anyone who had recognized him for who and what he was? Were there any who, when he was gone from the flesh, would carry on his work, and labour for his kingdom? Obviously that was a crucial problem, for it involved the very survival of the Christian faith. If there were none who had grasped the truth, or even glimpsed it, then all his work was undone; if there were some few who realized the truth, his work was safe. So Jesus was determined to put all to the test and ask his followers who they believed him to be. It is of the most dramatic interest to see where Jesus chose to ask this question. There can have been few districts with more religious associations than Caesarea Philippi. (i) The area was scattered with temples of the ancient Syrian Baal worship. Thomson in The Land and the Book enumerates no fewer than fourteen such temples in the near neighbourhood. Here was an area where the breath of ancient religion was in the very atmosphere. Here was a place beneath the shadow of the ancient gods. (ii) Not only the Syrian gods had their worship here. Hard by Caesarea Philippi there rose a great hill, in which was a deep cavern; and that cavern was said to be the birthplace of the great god Pan, the god of nature. So much was Caesarea Philippi identified with that god that its original name was Panias, and to this day the place is known as Banias. The legends of the gods of Greece gathered around Caesarea Philippi. (iii) Further, that cave was said to be the place where the sources of the Jordan sprang to life. Josephus writes: "This is a very fine cave in a mountain, under which there is a great cavity in the earth; and the cavern is abrupt, and prodigiously deep, and full of still water. Over it hangs a vast mountain, and under the cavern arise the springs of the River Jordan." The very idea that this was the place where the River Jordan took its rise would make it redolent of all the memories of Jewish history. The ancient faith of Judaism would be in the air for anyone who was a devout and pious Jew. (iv) But there was something more. In Caesarea Philippi there was a great temple of white marble built to the godhead of Caesar. It had been built by Herod the Great. Josephus says: "Herod adorned the place, which was already a very remarkable one, still further by the erection of this temple, which he dedicated to Caesar." In another place Josephus describes the cave and the temple: "And when Caesar had further bestowed on Herod another country, he built there also a temple of white marble, hard by the fountains of Jordan. The place is called Panium, where there is the top of a mountain which is raised to an immense height, and at its side, beneath, or at its bottom, a dark cave opens itself; within which there is a horrible precipice that descends abruptly to a vast depth. It contains a mighty quantity of water, which is immovable; and when anyone lets down anything to measure the depth of the earth beneath the water, no length of cord is sufficient to reach it." Later it was Philip, Herod's son, who further beautified and enriched the temple, changed the name of Panias to Caesarea--Caesar's town--and added his own name--Philippi, which means of Philip--to distinguish it from the Caesarea on the coasts of the Mediterranean. Still later, Herod Agrippa was to call the place Neroneas in honour of the Emperor Nero. No one could look at Caesarea Philippi, even from the distance, without seeing that pile of glistening marble, and thinking of the might and of the divinity of Rome. Here indeed is a dramatic picture. Here is a homeless, penniless Galilaean carpenter, with twelve very ordinary men around him. At the moment the orthodox are actually plotting and planning to destroy him as a dangerous heretic. He stands in an area littered with the temples of the Syrian gods; in a place where the ancient Greek gods looked down; in a place where the history of Israel crowded in upon the minds of men; where the white marble splendour of the home of Caesar--worship dominated the landscape and compelled the eye. And there--of all places--this amazing carpenter stands and asks men who they believe him to be, and expects the answer, The Son of God. It is as if Jesus deliberately set himself against the background of the world's religions in all their history and their splendour, and demanded to be compared with them and to have the verdict given in his favour. There are few scenes where Jesus' consciousness of his own divinity shines out with a more dazzling light. The Gates Of Hell Jesus goes on to say that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against his Church. What does that mean? The idea of gates prevailing is not by any means a natural or an easily understood picture. Again there is more than one explanation. (i) It may be that the picture is the picture of a fortress. This suggestion may find support in the fact that on the top of the mountain overlooking Caesarea Philippi there stand today the ruins of a great castle which may well have stood there in all its glory in the time of Jesus. It may be that Jesus is thinking of his Church as a fortress, and the forces of evil as an opposing fortress; and is saying that the embattled might of evil will never prevail against the Church. (ii) Richard Glover has an interesting explanation. In the ancient east the Gate was always the place, especially in the little towns and villages, where the elders and the rulers met and dispensed counsel and justice. For instance, the law is laid down that, if a man has a rebellious and disobedient son, he must bring him "to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives" ( Deuteronomy 21:19 ), and there judgment will be given and justice done. In Deuteronomy 25:7 the man with a certain problem is told to "go up to the gate to the elders." The gate was the scene of simple justice where the elders met. So the gate may have come to mean the place of government. For long, for instance, the government of Turkey was called the Sublime Porte (porte being the French for gate). So then the phrase would mean: The powers, the government of Hades will never prevail against the Church. (iii) There is a third possibility. Suppose we go back to the idea that the rock on which the Church is founded is the conviction that Jesus is none other than the Son of the living God. Now Hades was not the place of punishment, but the place where, in primitive Jewish belief, all the dead went. Obviously, the function of gates is to keep things in, to confine them, shut them up, control them. There was one person whom the gates of Hades could not shut in; and that was Jesus Christ. He burst the bonds of death. As the writer of Acts has it, "It was not possible for him to be held by death.... Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let thy Holy One see corruption" ( Acts 2:24 ; Acts 2:27 ). So then this may be a triumphant reference to nothing less than the coming Resurrection. Jesus may be saying: "You have discovered that I am the Son of the living God. The time will soon come when I will be crucified, and the gates of Hades will close behind me. But they are powerless to shut me in. The gates of Hades have no power against me the Son of the living God." However we take it, this phrase triumphantly expresses the indestructibility of Christ and his Church. The Place Of Peter We now come to two phrases in which Jesus describes certain privileges which were given to and certain duties which were laid on Peter. (i) He says that he will give to Peter the keys of the Kingdom. This is an obviously difficult phrase; and we will do well to begin by setting down the things about it of which we can be sure. (a) The phrase always signified some kind of very special power. For instance, the Rabbis had a saying: "The keys of birth, of the rain, and of the resurrection of the dead belong to God." That is to say, only God has the power to create life, to send the rain, and to raise the dead to life again. The phrase always indicates a special power. (b) In the New Testament this phrase is regularly attached to Jesus. It is in his hands, and no one else's, that the keys are. In Revelation 1:18 the risen Christ says: "I am the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades." Again in Revelation 3:7 the Risen Christ is described as, "The holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens." This phrase must be interpreted as indicating a certain divine right, and whatever the promise made to Peter, it cannot be taken as annulling, or infringing, a right which belongs alone to God and to the Son of God. (c) All these New Testament pictures and usages go back to a picture in Isaiah ( Isaiah 22:22 ). Isaiah describes Eliakim, who will have the key of the house of David on his shoulder, and who alone will open and shut. Now the duty of Eliakim was to be the faithful steward of the house. It is the steward who carries the keys of the house, who in the morning opens the door, and in the evening shuts it, and through whom visitors gain access to the royal presence. So then what Jesus is saying to Peter is that in the days to come, he wit be the steward of the Kingdom. And in the case of Peter the whole idea is that of opening, not shutting, the door of the Kingdom. That came abundantly true. At Pentecost, Peter opened the door to three thousand souls ( Acts 2:41 ). He opened the door to the Gentile centurion Cornelius, so that it was swinging on its hinges to admit the great Gentile world ( Acts 10:1-48 ). Acts 15:1-41 tells how the Council of Jerusalem opened wide the door for the Gentiles, and how it was Peter's witness which made that possible ( Acts 15:14 ; Simeon is Peter). The promise that Peter would have the keys to the Kingdom was the promise that Peter would be the means of opening the door to God for thousands upon thousands of people in the days to come. But it is not only Peter who has the keys of the Kingdom; every Christian has; for it is open to every one of us to open the door of the Kingdom to some other and so to enter into the great promise of Christ. (ii) Jesus further promised Peter that what he bound would remain bound, and what he loosed would remain loosed. Richard Glover takes this to mean that Peter would lay men's sins, bind them, to men's consciences, and that he would then loose them from their sins by telling them of the love and the forgiveness of God. That is a lovely thought, and no doubt true, for such is the duty of every Christian preacher and teacher, but there is more to it than that. To loose and to bind were very common Jewish phrases. They were used especially of the decisions of the great teachers and the great Rabbis. Their regular sense, which any Jew would recognize was to allow and to forbid. To bind something was to declare it forbidden; to loose was to declare it allowed. These were the regular phrases for taking decisions in regard to the law. That is in fact the only thing these phrases in such a context would mean. So what Jesus is saying to Peter is: "Peter, you are going to have grave and heavy responsibilities laid upon you. You are going to have to take decisions which wig affect the welfare of the whole Church. You will be the guide and the director of the infant Church. And the decisions you give will be so important, that they will affect the souls of men in time and in eternity." The privilege of the keys meant that Peter would be the steward of the household of God, opening the door for men to enter into the Kingdom. The duty of binding and loosing meant that Peter would have to take decisions about the Church's life and practice which would have the most far-reaching consequences. And indeed, when we read the early chapters of Acts, we see that in Jerusalem that is precisely what Peter did. When we paraphrase this passage which has caused so much argument and controversy, we see that it deals, not with ecclesiastical forms but with the things of salvation. Jesus said to Peter: "Peter, your name means a rock, and your destiny is to be a rock. You are the first man to recognize me for what I am, and therefore you are the first stone in the edifice of the fellowship of those who are mine. Against that fellowship the embattled powers of evil will no more prevail than they will be able to hold me captive in death. And in the days to come, you must be the steward who will unlock the doors of the Kingdom that Jew and Gentile may come in; and you must be the wise administrator and guide who will solve the problems and direct the work of the infant and growing fellowship." Peter had made the great discovery; and Peter was given the great privilege and the great responsibility. It is a discovery which everyone must make for himself; and, when he has made it, the same privilege and the same responsibility are laid upon him. The Great Rebuke 16:20-23 He gave orders to his disciples to tell no one that he was God's Anointed One. 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 be raised on the third day. Peter caught hold of him, and began to urge upon him: "God forbid that this should happen to you! This must never come to you!" He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are putting a stumbling-block in my way. Your ideas are not God's but men's." Although the disciples had grasped the fact that Jesus was God's Messiah, they still had not grasped what that great fact meant. To them it meant something totally different from what it meant to Jesus. They were still thinking in terms of a conquering Messiah, a warrior king, who would sweep the Romans from Palestine and lead Israel to power. That is why Jesus commanded them to silence. If they had gone out to the people and preached their own ideas, all they would have succeeded in doing would have been to raise a tragic rebellion; they could have produced only another outbreak of violence doomed to disaster. Before they could preach that Jesus was the Messiah, they had to learn what that meant. In point of fact, Peter's reaction shows just how far the disciples were from realizing just what Jesus meant when he claimed to be the Messiah and the Son of God. So Jesus began to seek to open their eyes to the fact that for him there was no way but the way of the Cross. He said that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer at the hands of the "elders and chief priests and scribes." These three groups of men were in fact the three groups of which the Sanhedrin was composed. The elders were the respected men of the people; the chief priests were predominantly Sadducees; and the scribes were Pharisees. In effect, Jesus is saying that he must suffer at the hands of the orthodox religious leaders of the country. No sooner had Jesus said that than Peter reacted with violence. Peter had been brought up on the idea of a Messiah of power and glory and conquest. To him the idea of a suffering Messiah, the connection of a cross with the work of the Messiah, was incredible. He "caught hold" of Jesus. Almost certainly the meaning is that he flung a protecting arm round Jesus, as if to hold him back from a suicidal course. "This," said Peter, "must not and cannot happen to you." And then came the great rebuke which makes us catch our breath--"Get behind me, Satan!" There are certain things which we must grasp in order to understand this tragic and dramatic scene. We must try to catch the tone of voice in which Jesus spoke. He certainly did not say it with a snarl of anger in his voice and a blaze of indignant passion in his eyes. He said it like a man wounded to the heart, with poignant grief and a kind of shuddering horror. Why should he react like that? He did so because in that moment there came back to him with cruel force the temptations which he had faced in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry. There he had been tempted to take the way of power. "Give them bread, give them material things," said the tempter, "and they will follow you." "Give them sensations," said the tempter, "give them wonders, and they will follow you ... .. Compromise with the world," said the tempter. "Reduce your standards, and they will follow you." It was precisely the same temptations with which Peter was confronting Jesus an over again. Nor were these temptations ever wholly absent from the mind of Jesus. Luke sees far into the heart of the Master. At the end of the temptation story, Luke writes: "And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time" ( Luke 4:13 ). Again and again the tempter launched this attack. No one wants a cross; no one wants to die in agony; even in the Garden that same temptation came to Jesus, the temptation to take another way. And here Peter is offering it to him now. The sharpness and the poignancy of Jesus' answer are due to the fact that Peter was urging upon him the very things which the tempter was always whispering to him, the very things against which he had to steel himself. Peter was confronting Jesus with that way of escape from the Cross which to the end beckoned to him. That is why Peter was Satan. Satan literally means the Adversary. That is why Peter's ideas were not God's but men's. Satan is any force which seeks to deflect us from the way of God; Satan is any influence which seeks to make us turn back from the hard way that God has set before us; Satan is any power which seeks to make human desires take the place of the divine imperative. What made the temptation more acute was the fact that it came from one who loved him. Peter spoke as he did only because he loved Jesus so much that he could not bear to think of him treading that dreadful path and dying that awful death. The hardest temptation of all is the one which comes from protecting love. There are times when fond love seeks to deflect us from the perils of the path of God; but the real love is not the love which holds the knight at home, but the love which sends him out to obey the commandments of the chivalry which is given, not to make life easy, but to make life great. It is quite possible for love to be so protecting that it seeks to protect those it loves from the adventure of the warfare of the soldier of Christ, and from the strenuousness of the pathway of the pilgrim of God. What really wounded Jesus' heart and what really made him speak as he did, was that the tempter spoke to him that day through the fond but mistaken love of Peter's hot heart. Optional parts of the readings are set off in square brackets. The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. The Collects, Psalms and Canticles are from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979. From The Lectionary Page: http://lectionarypage.net - **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/hunters-creek-village/bible-study-at-11am/200030587385733 - **Event Categories**: Art, performances, Theatre, literary-art, Entertainment, Workshops, trips-adventures, Sports, Meetups, health-wellness, Nonprofit, Kids - **Interested Audience**: - total_interested_count: 0 ## Ticket Details ## Event venue details - **city**: Hunters Creek Village - **state**: TX - **country**: United States - **location**: 1656 Blalock Rd, Houston, TX, United States, Texas 77080 - **lat**: 29.8032 - **long**: -95.52338 - **full address**: 1656 Blalock Rd, Houston, TX, United States, Texas 77080, 1656 Blalock Rd, Houston, TX 77080-7321, United States, Hunters Creek Village ## Event gallery - **Alt text**: Bible Study at 11am - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events8/banners/72b25aa97141ae8bef38ddb874d86150bd899bcc681f714570bd264972ef1d96-rimg-w1200-h900-dca89868-gmir?v=1787203833 ## FAQs - **Q**: When and where is Bible Study at 11am being held? - **A:** Bible Study at 11am takes place on Tue, 25 Aug, 2026 at 11:00 am to Tue, 25 Aug, 2026 at 03:45 pm at 1656 Blalock Rd, Houston, TX, United States, Texas 77080, 1656 Blalock Rd, Houston, TX 77080-7321, United States, Hunters Creek Village. - **Q**: Who is organizing Bible Study at 11am? - **A:** Bible Study at 11am is organized by St. Christopher's Episcopal Church. ## Structured Data (JSON-LD) ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Event", "name": "Bible Study at 11am", "image": "https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events8/banners/72b25aa97141ae8bef38ddb874d86150bd899bcc681f714570bd264972ef1d96-rimg-w1200-h900-dca89868-gmir?v=1787203833", "startDate": "2026-08-25", "endDate": "2026-08-25", "url": "https://allevents.in/hunters-creek-village/bible-study-at-11am/200030587385733", "location": { "@type": "Place", "name": "1656 Blalock Rd, Houston, TX, United States, Texas 77080", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "1656 Blalock Rd, Houston, TX 77080-7321, United States", "addressLocality": "Hunters Creek Village", "addressRegion": "TX", "addressCountry": "US" }, "geo": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": "29.8032", "longitude": "-95.52338" } }, "eventAttendanceMode": "https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode", "description": "Bible Study at 11am\n\nThe Lessons Appointed for Use on the\t \nSunday closest to August 24\t\nYear A\nProper 16\nRCL\t\nTrack 1\t\t\nExodus 1:8-2:10\nPsalm 124\nRomans 12:1-8\nMatthew 16:13-20\t\t\nThe Collect\nGrant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show fort", "organizer": [ { "@type": "Organization", "name": "St. Christophers Episcopal Church", "url": "https://allevents.in/org/st-christophers-episcopal-church/17291462", "description": "St Christopher’s strives to be a community filled with dedicated Christians who are passionate about serving God through worship, study and service." } ] } ] ```