Song “The Old Rugged Cross”
This morning’s Gospel reading is Matthew 16:13–19:
When Jesus went
into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say
that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others
Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But
who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said
in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him
in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not
revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so, I say to you, you are
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the
netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you
the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Song “Nearer, My God, to Thee”
“But who do you say I
am?”
Jesus asks this of
all twelve disciples not long after feeding thousands in Galilee and facing a
challenge from the Pharisees and Sadducees to perform “a sign from heaven” to
prove himself.
The disciples and
Jesus moved to the other side of the Galilee and forgot to bring bread, which
caused the disciples to fret over concern about what they would eat.
Jesus scolded them
for not having trust in Him, especially just after watching Jesus feed
thousands with just a few loaves and fishes, for the second time
in his ministry (Matthew 16:9-10).
They, like the
Pharisees and Sadducees, were missing the forest for the trees, and they had
not yet learned to put their trust in the Lord rather than on material
provisions.
At their next stop in
Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks them the big question of faith. Who do you say I am?
To the Pharisees and
the Sadducees, he was a troublesome teacher, one who threatened their political
power. To most of the other Israelites in the region, he was a healer and a
leader, at least for as long as it cost them little to follow.
While some thought
that Jesus was the Messiah, they only believed it for as long as they could
maintain their own estimation of what a Messiah would be and do. They wanted a warrior to expel the Romans
and restore the kingdom on earth, rather than a path to eternal salvation and
forgiveness of their own sins.
Now, the question
becomes important for the twelve disciples chosen by God to carry out the
ministry of the church throughout time.
Who do you say I am?
If Jesus is just a
political person or a wise teacher with healing gifts, then He’d hardly be
remarkable or worth given one’s life to serve.
No church, no Gospel
of such a man would endure, nor would the disciples in their mission. After
all, if these twelve who had ringside seats to Jesus’ works and teachings could
not grasp who He truly is, then how could anyone else who had not had
that vantage point?
Who do you say that I am?
That question applies
to us as well. It’s pretty easy at those
times when the burden of living our faith authentically in the world to just
shrug off the divinity of Jesus.
We can easily become
the mighty croud called to hear Jesus’ teaching, happy to be fed and
entertained for a while on a Sunday morning and then act as if that had no
bearing on the other 167 hours in the week.
When it comes to
professing Jesus as the true Son of God and the necessity of living in His
word, though, we can grumble and walk away, mutter about “hard sayings” and
convince ourselves that these teachings have no relation to the real world. We
can, in essence, decide to prefer our own
concept of God and salvation to Jesus’
and end up denying
him.
Or, we can become like
the Pharisees and Sadducees. Instead of shrugging off Jesus, we can react with hostility and anger to the gentle nature of
God’s call to holiness and salvation.
How many times have
we called on Jesus to do a mighty work as “a sign from heaven” in order to
prove Himself to us, rather than “interpret the signs of the times” on our own
accord?
When we were small
children, some of our tried to test our parents to prove their love by buying
us junk or letting us do something stupid, too.
(Well, I know I certainly
did on occasion.)
Our parents were a
lot smarter than us back then, though, and so is God at all times.
Who do you say I am?
It’s the question
that will force us to decide between being disciples,
spectators, or antagonists.
Who
do you say Jesus is — and who do you therefore say you are?
Song “How Great Thou Art”
