Who Do You Say I am?

St. Peter's Confession

Rev. Steven D. Spencer (1-20-06)

Grace, Peace and Mercy from God our Father and Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

Today we celebrate a special day in the Church Year. It is called The Confession of St. Peter. St. Matthew the 16th Chapter. 13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He began asking His disciples, saying, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. 19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." 20 Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ. Here ends the text, please be seated.

Caesarea Philippi – being some 120 miles north of Jerusalem – lies in the shadow of Mt. Hermon and was the northernmost point of Jesus' ministry. The setting was quite scenic, green meadows, marshlands, mountains and cold running streams. The city had quite a history. Over time it had various names. Under Canaanite rule it was named Baal-Gad and Baal-Hermon which was intended to give honor to Baal, the Canaanite, demonic god. Its literal meaning is: The sanctuary of Baal. Later it was re-named by the Greeks Panium, or Paneas, due to the deep cavern full of water near the town that reminded the Greeks of the grottos and caverns in Greece. These caverns and grottos always were linked to the worship of the pagan god, Pan. So, over the years, the town was named after several false Gods. And finally now in our text it is named Caesarea Philippi. For under the hand of Roman rule it was enlarged and embellished by Herod Philip, who recognized the rule of the Caesar by naming it Caesarea and recognized his own work by naming it Philippi. The town had the largest Phoenician castle in the land. It was a sight to behold and a history to go with it. But as incredible as the scenery was, as incredible as the history was, as incredible as architecture was, it all would be dwarfed by what would occur this day, in our text.

Jesus was asking his disciples; who do the people say I am? He didn’t ask them who have they said he was (past tense), but who do they confess Him to be, right now, not in the past, but at this moment. This brings up some interesting questions. Why did Jesus ask them about what other people thought? Why didn’t he just ask them what they believed? In other words why didn’t He use the direct route? We have all heard the text and know he will be asking that question next anyway. What is the purpose in the way he asked them about what they believe? We can only guess at what Jesus' reasoning was. But it does show the many false thoughts concerning Jesus’ identity that were circulating.

No matter how noble the title or personal description of Jesus is, if it is not the Jesus of Scripture then the belief is in a false Christ. Let me rephrase it for you. If your faith is in any Jesus other than the one true Jesus written about in Scripture then you have no salvation.

When Jesus asked; who do the people say I am? The disciples answered, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." These are noble answers. These people didn’t try to put Jesus down by calling Him a prophet. They didn’t besmirch His name intentionally. They probably thought they were giving Him high praise. But the end result was still the same, they were missing the point, and in the process, they were also missing out on salvation. Stephen Charnock, in his Book, the Existence and Attributes of God says; “No greater tool has the Devil than to convince religious people that Jesus is a wonderful man who gave his all for us and yet neglect his Godhead and incarnation. In doing so you have a Church built on a false Christ with no eternal hope.”

You, just like the disciples, need to know that not everyone who speaks the name of Jesus is talking about the same Person you are. It is only the Jesus of Scripture that brings help to the hopeless, salvation to sinners, and life to the dead. So Jesus ask the disciples directly, “Who do you say I am?” Peter gets it right; you are the Lord, the Christ, the Messiah.

Why did he have to say it? What was so important about him vocalizing what Jesus already knew he believed? After all, the disciples must have known Jesus was the Christ. There were occasions where they had worshipped Him. Why was it necessary for them to say it? Some years ago when my wife, Denise, and I began dating (Before I continue I want each of you that are married, any of you that are in love, and any of you that are hoping someday to be in love to understand what I am about to say) After Denise and I had gone out for some time I realized I was in love with her. I had a decision to make; should I tell her how I felt and suffer the possibility that she didn’t share my feelings, or let things continue the way they were? Telling someone you love him or her changes your relationship. Either way the relationship will never be the same. Telling someone you love them is risky business and irreversible. It can’t be taken back. It is a powerful emotion, which is nearly impossible to keep concealed. If you try to hide it you feel like you’re going to explode. Relief only comes when you finally admit your feelings to them. But if they don’t share your love, can you survive the rejection and heartache? As you might have guessed I did tell her, and well, the rest is still a work in progress. One other thing about telling someone you love them, once you’ve said it, you’ll be saying it the rest of you life. And it’s still just as wonderful.

Saying you are the Christ for Peter and the disciples meant nothing would ever be the same ever again. All the dreams of many generations of believers would be fulfilled in that very moment. For the Messiah was now present in their lives. But unlike falling in love Peter couldn’t fathom this by his own abilities. It took an act of intervention from God. For Jesus says: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” Did you know it still works that way today? You can’t know who Jesus is without His divine intervention. That's why God has given us the means of grace. Through Baptism and the Lord’s Supper we receive divine revelation of Christ. By grace and grace alone Christ is known. That is why it is so important to come to the Lord’s Table and receive His body and blood regularly and often, because this is one of the means whereby God is able to feed and sustain us.

The words of Peter are the very words upon which Christ built His Church. For Jesus says: “I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” It's upon Peter’s confession, the proper understanding of whom Jesus truly is that the Church is built. It's Simon Bar-Johah’s confession that causes the Lord to call him Peter or the Rock. Now some have thought erroneously that Peter himself was the Rock upon which the Church is built. For Peter’s name in Greek is literally means “rock”. But it’s the confession, which is the rock not Peter. It's the understanding of who Jesus truly is. It's that confession which gives us a sure footing. It's that confession that gives us a foundation on which we can stand. As the words of a well-known hymn states: “The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord; She is His new creation by water and the Word. From heaven He came and sought her to be His holy bride; with His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.” Our faith is in the Christ of Scripture, the one who lived, died; rose again and now sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty only He and He alone is our hope. Faith in anyone or anything else is condemnation.

We live in a day and age when our Confessions are under attack. There are those that claim the Christian – specifically, the Lutheran Confessions are archaic and old-fashioned – that the Confessions are only for the narrow minded and biased. They claim that the Confessions create exclusivity and set people apart from and against each other. They are right, thank God! The confessions of the Church are archaic and that is what gives them value. They are not the new fangled created things of man, but fashioned by the Scriptures themselves, embraced by God’s own Church. By being the Confessions of the Church they do set God’s people apart from the self-deification of our society. For in these Confessions we, like Peter, recognize who Jesus truly is. These Confessions give us a standard, a way of knowing with great certainty our Lord and our God. These Confessions give us a tool to teach our children and strengthen our bond in faith. When you hear the words; I believe in God the Father Almighty what words follow it? Maker of Heaven and Earth! These Confessions create unity in faith and clarity of the identity of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But the attacks on these Confessions are not only by non-Christian entities. Today in many Churches well meaning people try to modify and update these Confessions. Not only do they water down solid doctrine but often attempt to change the identity of God himself. They want to make these Confessions non-sexist – but in doing so they change the Father into a divine person, Christ into an only Child, and the Holy Spirit into a puff of smoke. Remember what was said earlier: No matter how noble the title or personal description of Jesus is, if it is not the Jesus of Scripture then the belief is in a false Christ. The Confession of the Church must remain unbroken, unchanged, solid and pure in content, word and proclamation.

In a world full of sin and woe, with the uncertainty of what will happen next, the Confession of the Church is a strong foundation of Christian virtue and hope. For in our Church’s Confessions, the clear proclamation, we share with Peter in what shines forth like the Sun as we confess with him; “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And as so we also agree with what is written for us in the Book of Acts: “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved." For only in the name of the true God, that is; Jesus Christ is salvation made known. So in our Confession we join with the joy of the disciples as we hear these words from the lips of our Savior: “upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Peter, called to repent, believe, confess, and following Jesus and he did. May we be so inspired to do same, in Jesus Name! Amen.

The Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, Amen.