Who do you say I am?

By

August 17, 2011

Matthew 16:13-20 may be one of the most well-known and hotly debated passages from the Bible. Hotly debated not for who Christ is…but who Christ says Peter is! If our Catholic brothers and sisters are right, then Peter is the ‘Rock’ upon which the Church is built. The person of Peter has become the central focus of commentary after commentary…yet that was not the original intent! Surely the more important question is who Christ is…for if that question is not answered correctly Peter is just a cult follower like so many others. Yet if Peter’s response is correct…the eternity of countless multitudes lay in the balance. For if Jesus is not the Christ but just a teacher or good man, even a prophet…He can’t save us!

The Readings for Proper time normally do not have much of a connection, but this week seems to be an exception. Isaiah speaks of the rock from whom the Israelites were cut, the quarry from which they were hewn. (Isaiah 51:1) Abraham who believed the Lord and His promises, that small expression of faith the Bible says, was credited to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6) Simon who declares Jesus to be The Messiah…was renamed Peter the rock upon which the Church is built. (Matthew 16:18) Both men declared faith in God and His Righteousness, yet both men also displayed many faults. Abraham lied about his wife Sarah, telling Pharaoh she was his sister. He takes concubines and has children with them…even though God told him it was through Sarah that he would be made a great nation. Peter right after this week’s reading tries to reprimand Jesus for saying He must go to Jerusalem and die…for which Jesus tells Peter, “Get behind me Satan!” (Matthew 16:23) Both men display great faith in God…and in themselves. One moment they are trusting in God and the next they are taking matters into their own hands.

So we see that even though God declares Abraham’s and Peter’s faith to be great…they do not always display it! When both men’s lives are looked at in totality, the value of their faith is magnified. For it seems just a little faith is rewarded greatly. In fact Jesus tells His Disciples that if they would just have faith as small as a mustard seed they could move mountains! (Matthew 17:20) Could the tiny expressions of faith these men displayed be the rock that Jesus is referring to? Could it be the rock of just a little faith that His church is built upon?

Paul pleads with the Church in Rome to offer themselves as a living sacrifice…living their lives in a manner that expresses their faith. Taking the gifts that God has given them and faithfully living them out. From this small band of believers the Church in Rome grew by leaps and bounds, just a few hundred years later Rome was considered by many to be the center of Christianity! Scripture doesn’t provide us with much detail, yet history outside the Bible tells us of men and women willing to be fed to the lions rather than deny their faith in Christ. Others being used as human torches to light Nero’s garden, rather than deny Christ! From that rock all of western civilization has been created and blessed!

Today as the western world seems to be crumbling all around us, I wonder what a little faith could do? What if the people who call themselves Christians would actually live as if they believe Christ and His promises? I’m not talking about attending church services or putting money in the offering plate…but giving of themselves as living sacrifices. Trusting in God and His promises greater than they trust in themselves, money or the government…would it make a difference?

I see evidence all around me that we are living in the end times…yet so did most of the Apostles. Maybe that is what motivated them to lean so hard on the little bit of faith that they had? Maybe that feeling that many of us have about the end being near will bring about a revival? Maybe…just maybe…it starts with who we say Jesus is? Is He a teacher, a prophet…or Son of the Living God?

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