Peter’s Confession

LENT – Ash Wednesday

Today is the start of Lent, the 40 days (plus 6 Sundays) that lead up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Traditionally the church has seen this as a time for personal spiritual reflection and the development of new habits that draw us closer to God. 

The daily devotional material through Lent will focus on themes in the gospel of Matthew, so there may be some jumping around with the passages we read in order to highlight the themes more clearly. We begin with a series of passages in Matthew in which Jesus points to who he is and what his ultimate end will be.  

Matt 16:13-20

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ 14 And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ 15 He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ 16 Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ 17 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. 18 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. 19 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.’ 20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Jesus asks the question that has been asked about Jesus from over 2,000 years, “Who do you say Jesus is?” A variety of answers are offered, then Peter answers, “You are the Messiah (or in Greek “the Christ”), the Son of the living God.” As we have seen this is a hard-won answer. The disciples took awhile to get to this understanding, that the Messiah, the Son of God, would be among them, walking, talking, eating, drinking, that seemed unimaginable. But with the nudging of the Holy Spirit, Peter has made the breakthrough, putting the pieces together. 

Vs. 18, 19 are among the most debated verses in the Bible. The challenge arises from trying to determine who/what is being referred to by “this rock” in vs. 18. The name “Peter” means rock – so is Peter the rock or is the truth the Jesus is the Messiah (vs. 17) the rock, upon which the church will be built. I favour the view that it is the statement that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God that is the rock/foundation upon which the church is built. And then vs. 19 the “you” is not Peter, as an individual, but is “you” referring to the church as the body of Christ.

The core truth of the passage remains, Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God – and that truth is central to the Christian faith. Strip everything away and that is what is left as the heart of Christianity – everything flows from that truth. As Lent begins we are invited to again commit ourselves to live following Jesus who is the Messiah, the Christ. (Messiah and Christ are titles that belong to Jesus, rather than being part of Jesus’ name.)  

PRAYER: 

God of glory and wonder, we rejoice that you sent your Son, Jesus the Messiah, to walk among us, to live with us. We thank you that Jesus, your only Son and our Lord, came to reveal your love and grace to us. All we can say is “Thank you” for this great gift and grace. In Jesus’ name. Amen.