Blow Your House Down

One day the big bad wolf came and knocked on the first little pig's door and said, "Little pig, little pig, let me come in." The little pig answered, "No, no, I won't let you come in, not by the hair on my chinny, chin, chin." "Well," said the wolf, "then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in." So he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house down and swallowed the first pig. On to the second little pig’s home, the same scene occurred. The wolf was on the move--blowing down homes and swallowing his pink piggy victims. Was there no safe place to hide from the wolf?

It wasn’t easy being a follower of Jesus. Sure, the disciples were spending face-to-face time with Jesus, but have you taken a look at some of the disciples’ interactions with the religious locals? Tough crowd to please! The religious teachers, Jewish leaders, scribes, Pharisees and even John the Baptist’s disciples give Jesus and His crew a hard time (including various plots to get rid of them). Everywhere you look good, religious people were huffing and puffing about Jesus and His disciples.

Of course, the disciples weren’t always “up to speed” with what was going on around them. Jesus had to get frustrated with their thick-skull lack of understanding when it came to things of the Kingdom. No doubt Jesus had many conversations with them--teaching them and testing their understanding of God’s kingdom. Let’s read about one of these encounters.

[Read Matthew 16:13-20.]

Of all the people to be mistaken for, the disciples list some of the most disaster-stricken. The prophets, spokespeople for God, bring to the people a message from God, would be held in high-esteem, or you would think. The message they brought, however, didn’t always sit too well with the general population. Remember Jeremiah? He was Jeremiah, nicknamed the weeping prophet, foretold of the rejection and suffering of God’s servant. What about Jesus’ life (and His disciples’ lives) said: disliked, bearer of bad news, likes to weep a lot? Elijah, another prophet, was expected to return at the end of time. Perhaps he is a prophet seen in better light, but do you remember his story? He had a lot to go up against; hard times didn’t avoid this follower of God. Despite being God’s servant, life wasn’t easy for Elijah.

Finally, Peter got the answer right about Jesus’ question about His identity. You’re not Elijah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, or one of the prophets--you’re the Messiah. You are the Promised One from God. You are the Redeemer of Israel.

Jesus’ response? Good job, A plus, gold star, cookie for you. “Now, know that this confession of Me being Messiah is the foundation of the Church and we’ve got the power of Hades beat!” We’ve moved from a quiz about Jesus’ identity, to defeating the very gates of Hades. What a leap!

Many of you may know that Hades is a place of the dead--not exactly a place we’d like to call home. Avoidance of this particular place, and anything associated with it, has been a pastime for humanity for thousands of year. Whatever a group of people knew it as, or however they tried to avoid it, no one wants to be a part of a “place of the dead.” No one wants to be haunted by a “place of the dead,” either. No, I’m not talking about ghosts and goblins--but the fear of evil, the fear of Hades, the fear of Satan. It seems as if we give the devil a lot of credit in our lives. Sometimes “the devil made me do it” is our excuse (or, better yet, “I’m just human . . .”). Other times we hunker-down in an effort to avoid the terrible actions of Hades—look at how evil runs rampant in our town, surely we have something to fear. We blame our hesitancy to boldly go into our community on the pitfalls and immoral behavior of our neighbors. If we expose ourselves to the evil in their lives, won’t we become infected? Fear of evil can rule our lives if we’re not careful.

Jesus is quick to point out that His disciples do not need to fear what was happening around them (the religious community was out to stop Jesus’ teachings) or what would happen (Jesus’ death and resurrection; their future persecution). Why don’t they have to fear any of this? Because even the gates of Hades are no match for the kingdom of God. In ancient times, cities were protected from enemies by strong, thick walls. During the day, citizens, tradesmen, and visitors needed access to the city through the walls--hence the city gates. The gates would have been guarded, protected from enemy attack. The gates became important in the safety of a city because to control a city’s gates was to conquer it. If a city lost control of their gates, they could not determine who could come in or leave—no matter how strong the surrounding wall. The citizens were at the mercy of those who held the gates.
Imagine it: even the gates of Hades will not overcome the kingdom of God. The key point in the defenses of Hades will not overpower, overcome, or conquer the kingdom of God. Jesus has won the battle! We don’t have to fear evil—it’s not that powerful, it won’t overcome us, it won’t conquer us!

The Church is the people of God, called into community with the Lord through the redemptive work of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Greek word ekklesia is used for “church,” and means, “the ones called out.” We have been called out from the world, to form a community centered around God, with other believers. This community doesn’t resemble any other group in this world. We are called to be different. We think, speak, choose, react, behave, act—essentially live—differently. The fears of the world do not govern our life. This community, empowered by God, doesn’t fear the power of Satan—Jesus Christ has overcome Satan and his evil. This community of Christ doesn’t hesitate to move forward, but searches for souls in distress, those far from a healing relationship with God.

Are we locking our doors against the gates of Hades, afraid the big bad wolf will come blow down our house? Or, do we realize power of the Messiah? We’ve already had Someone knock down the gate and conquer the city of Hades. The big bad wolf is roaming the streets, but we don’t have to fear him. The big bad wolf is peaking in windows and knocking on doors, but we don’t have to be scared. The big bad wolf is trying to blow down houses and scar lives, but we don’t have to be anxious. By God’s power we can daily submit ourselves to God through discipline and grace. Our daily Kingdom life is like a brick home that keeps the wolf at bay. The cozy fire and warm hospitality of our home welcomes the coldest, hardest sinner into the Body of Christ. We have nothing to fear--Christ has already won. We faced with the broken, hurtful world, we live in Christ’s victory. He holds the city gates. Let us spread the good news—Christ has won and freed us all!