So they said, “Some say John the
Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Matthew
16:14.
It’s kind of
easy to talk about what others think. You have nothing personally invested; you’re
more of a reporter, gathering the facts. History is full of people who claim to
know who Jesus is.
Mormons believe Jesus was a god. An
important one no doubt, but a god.
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe Jesus was the son of God,
but not God.
Islam believes Jesus was a prophet.
Some Buddhists believe Jesus was a Buddhist
teacher.
Baha’i teaching says that Jesus is one of a
series of Manifestations from God.
The list
goes on
Good Moral Teacher
Moral Man
Jesus then
brings it home, “But who do you say that
I am?” Matthew 16:15.
That’s the
real question isn’t it? Not what everyone else believes, but what you believe.
It doesn’t matter if my parents are believers in Christ if I’m not. What do you
believe? That’s the question. That’s the question Jesus asks over and over
again through the scriptures. What do I believe?
The
disciples of Jesus did not have the advantage of history on their side like we
do. The Old Testament was their Bible and they didn’t have a grasp of exactly
what it said about who Jesus was. They must have had their own thoughts like
everyone else, but they were not sure. Could He be a resurrected prophet? Maybe.
One thing they knew for sure was that Jesus was very special and very
different. Could He be the Messiah?
No one dared
say what they thought. What if they were wrong? Have you ever failed to answer
a question because you weren’t sure and didn’t want to be embarrassed?
I can
imagine Thomas saying after Peter gave the correct response; “That’s what I was
going to say!”
But Peter
said it, “You are the Christ, the Son of
the living God.” Matthew 16:16.
There was great boldness there. Peter
was the one to blurt it out. I don’t really know if they were all reluctant or if
everybody knew the answer like on Jeopardy and the first one to hit the button
got to speak. Either way Peter knew the answer.
Peter was the
winner. Jesus calls him blessed because he received this revelation from God
the Father not from his own meanderings or deductions. God told him.
Jesus then
makes a play on words when He says, “Blessed
are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but
My Father who is in heaven.” Matthew
16:17.
He calls Peter a rock (Petros in
Greek) and says upon “this rock” (Petra in Greek) I will build my church.
Petros means a rock or small rock, whereas Petra means a cliff or a ledge
according to Thayer’s Lexicon. The Rock that Jesus will build on is not Peter
and his successors, but upon the rock of a statement that Peter made.
Who is Jesus
to you? Just a name, or the Name above all Names?
Jesus
continues the conversation saying, “The
gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18.
When our
faith is planted firmly on the Rock – Jesus Christ – nothing can prevail. We
are the church that matters because our faith is not one that just serves us,
or changes when things get tough. It’s a faith that stands firm on the rock of
Christ, the Son of the living God.
