Richard Davenport
August 27, 2023 – Proper 16 – setting 1
Matthew 16:13-20
Such a simple thing, such a simple statement, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” It’s just a few words and yet, for being so simple, it is also powerful. It’s a statement that’s out of reach for people. Without God to reveal this to you, you would never find it.
Peter’s statement comes after Jesus is having a debate with the Pharisees and Sadducees. They want a sign. They want some proof that Jesus truly is God, or at least that he speaks with the authority of God. Jesus doesn’t go for it. He’s not a trick pony, here to do whatever you think he should just to satisfy your curiosity.
Instead, he asks the disciples what they think. They rattle off a list of things others have said, the rumors and gossip floating around. But Jesus isn’t interested in what others think. He wants to know what they think, and so he asks them directly, “But who do you say that I am?”
“You are the Christ,” the Anointed One, the greatest of prophets, the great high priest, and the king of kings all rolled into one. He is all of the things humanity was meant to be. He isn’t just human, he’s a perfect human. He faithfully carries out the duties and responsibilities given to all humanity. He is what all of us should be.
He is also the “Son of the living God.” He is God, walking and talking with his people here on earth. He is the one person in all of creation that has power of sin, death, and Satan. He is God and perfect man together as one, the living example of the kind of connection God desires to have with his people.
Now, Jesus has been called the Son of God before in Matthew’s Gospel, this is the first we’re openly hearing of him being the Christ. Jesus responds, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven revealed it to you. And I tell you, you are Petros, Peter, and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”
The Christ, God’s representative, here on earth. This is what all of humanity should have been, but has been unable to do since the fall into sin. Perfection was lost and now perfection has returned in the person of Jesus, the Christ.
Simon recognizes this. It had been revealed to him by God that here was the one promised. God promised a messiah, the Hebrew word for Anointed One, and now he was here before them. Simon, ever the spokesman for the disciples, is commended for making this simple announcement. Despite his many faults and failures, he has gotten this one right and it is so important that Jesus calls everyone’s attention to it. Jesus gives him the name, Petros, Peter. A common name now, but this is the first recorded instance in all of Greek literature of anyone having this name. Simon, now Peter, makes this confession on behalf of all of the disciples and this is what the church is built on.
Now, we don’t see Jesus speaking exclusively to Peter here, as the Catholics do. True, Jesus says “you” singular, but Peter is also representing all of the disciples. After his resurrection, Jesus will say much the same thing about the keys of the kingdom and he makes clear he’s talking to all of the disciples together. They will be the ones who will be busy about the work of the church. Everything they say and do will carry the authority of Christ himself. He has named them his representatives and he will send them out to share the message of what they have seen and heard during their time as his disciples.
Such a simple statement. When you pare away all of the garbage that people have come up with about who Jesus is, it really is just that simple. He’s not Elijah or one of the other prophets. He’s not John the Baptist. He’s not here just to be a great teacher or healer, though he does do those things. If that’s all he was, we wouldn’t be much better off than we were before. Sure, some people were healed of their ailments. Sure, he explained God’s Word in a little more depth than we had before. Yet, those people who were healed ended up dead anyway. We learned more about God’s Word, but we look around and it’s not as if the world is a whole lot better off than it was. If God chose to send another worldwide catastrophe on the order of the Flood, it would be hard to argue against it.
Peter’s statement is so simple and yet it says everything it needs to say. Jesus isn’t any of those other things. He is the Christ, the one who had been promised so long ago, the one who will restore mankind to the humanity it had lost, the one who will bring God and man together at last. A simple statement, and yet probably the most important statement you can make. God has revealed himself to you and you have put your trust in him. Acknowledging him as the Christ means also acknowledging he has come to save you, that everything he will do will be for you. He will redeem you. He will rescue you. He will restore you. He is the Christ. That’s his job.
A simple statement, but one that Peter later has trouble with. When Jesus is arrested and Peter is trying to follow the proceedings, suddenly he can’t find those words anymore. “You are the Christ,” becomes “I don’t know the man.” What happened to that simple statement? Where did it go? Did he forget? Is he changing his tune? Was he mistaken the first time?
As it turns out, Peter didn’t forget. He wasn’t mistaken. Jesus hadn’t suddenly stopped being the Christ. The difference is that Peter wanted to announce him to be the Christ. When it was just Peter, Jesus, and the other disciples, the worst that could happen is maybe some teasing from the other disciples if Peter, in his brashness, had given a wrong answer. Proclaiming him to be the Christ there was safe. Now things have changed. Now the Christ is on trial and people want him dead. Now it looks like the priests and the Pharisees have the upper hand and they’ll try and quash this Jesus movement once and for all. Now, being associated with the Christ might actually carry a measure of danger. Someone might do something to him because of it, something he won’t like. Peter changes his tune, not because the facts have changed, not because Jesus changed, but because Peter’s afraid.
Such a simple statement, but one that we’re just as afraid to make. It’s true. We know it’s true. The truth that Jesus is the Christ has been revealed to us by the Father and the Spirit has opened our eyes to see it. Peter and the other disciples were told not to make it known because it wasn’t time yet. But that time has come and gone. Jesus has revealed himself through his death and resurrection. He has shown himself to be the promised savior. He seeks to gather all of his sheep together in one flock. He has sent his people into the world to make known that salvation has come. The Christ has come to restore his people.
Such a simple statement, but the consequences of making that statement. You could offend someone with your beliefs. People might think you’re trying to push your beliefs on them, but those beliefs are just yours and everyone else has their own beliefs, their own truth, so just keep your beliefs to yourself. You could get ridiculed. People might think you’re an old fuddy duddy who hasn’t opened his eyes to see that all of this is just superstition. There’s no God. There’s nothing but this life, so live it the way you want. You could get lumped into the same category as those folks you see standing on the street corners around town holding the various signs calling people to repent. I mean, they seem a little weird and maybe being associated with them might make people think that’s the kind of thing Christians do all the time.
To be Peter here in our Gospel reading or to be Peter later when Christ is on trial. Those are the two options open to us. Confess Jesus, or deny Jesus. Denying Jesus only got Peter guilt, shame, and regret. Confessing Jesus is recognized as a blessing and a gift from God. God rejoices when we confess him before others.
God also understands temptations. He understands ridicule. He understands when others think less of you. He knows that, despite how blessed you are, the temptation to hide your confession, as Peter did, is always there. Jesus wants you to hear again that this confession is the foundation for everything he has built, not just here on earth, but into eternity. It is because the promised Christ has come to restore your life, your humanity, your purpose, everything that made you who God meant you to be.
It’s telling that, after all is said and done, Jesus makes a point of coming to Peter personally to make sure he knows he’s forgiven. Jesus wants to make that clear to you too. We confess before him that we are sinners, that we’ve sinned by thoughts, words, and deeds, by what we’ve done and by what we’ve left undone. We’ve given into the temptation to stay hidden, to avoid notice, to keep our worldly reputations untarnished by association with Jesus, even when we know that he’s the only way to salvation, not just for us, but for the whole world. We confess that we have sinned by refusing to speak of him to those around us who are perishing.
And just like he came to Peter, he comes to us and offers us that same forgiveness. That’s who he is. He is the Christ, the one who brings salvation through forgiveness and grace. He announces that forgiveness to you, every time you bring your sins to him, no matter how terrible they are and no matter how often you come to him. He died for all sins, even when that sin is a refusal to confess him. He is anointed to be the one to bring salvation to you and he does so joyfully. Even though Peter denied him at his lowest point, Jesus was still glad to forgive him later.
Just as Jesus is anointed in his baptism, you have been anointed as well. Here, everything that Jesus does is given to you. Here he restores you and makes you the human you were created to be. Jesus knows you will struggle with that life and that you won’t know what it means right away. So he helps you to understand. He gives you the chance to practice. That’s why we confess the Creed in the worship service. The Creeds hold the most essential elements of who God is and what he has done for us. We practice it here together, so we can take it with us when we leave. We all have this basic tool to share with others. By using the Creed, we can tell others about who Jesus is and what he has done for us. We can tell others what is given to us because of what he has done.
Christ has been revealed to us. He shows himself as the focal point of all of the Old Testament prophecies of salvation. God brings that salvation into the world and shows the world where to find that salvation, in the person of Christ. That you have heard the message and believe it is already a blessing from God. Part of that blessing is also the knowledge that you are forgiven and restored through him. He shares what he has earned with you. Just as he called the Twelve during his ministry, he calls us to follow him. He tells us that disciples, those who are called to follow him, are made by baptism and teaching. We need both of these things if we follow him, because in following him we will be doing the same kinds of things he does. We will be preaching forgiveness of sins to the nations and telling the world where salvation may be found. These things aren’t always easy to do, so he gives us a place to come and learn how to do that. We come here, to his house, where he teaches us and gives us the chance to practice what we have learned from him. We take what we learn here and put it to use out in the world. We confess our sins and receive forgiveness. We confess Christ and find salvation because he has brought both to us.