Faith in Community – Matthew 16

A text – Matthew 16:13-20

16:13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
16:14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
16:15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16:16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
16:17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.
16:18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
16:20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

A reflection:

Jesus and his disciples may have been walking along. They did that a lot, since that’s how they moved from town to town during his ministry. Or they may have been sitting around a campfire at night. They had just arrived in a new region with towns named for Romans and Greeks, a reminder that they lived in a land that had been given to them by God but which had been conquered by other lands time and time again. They were who they were, Israelites, but had to live under generals and foreign kings during long parts of their history.

Jesus asks the disciples who people were saying that the Son of Man was. Who is the Messiah? Who am I? They name several people: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, other prophets. Then he asks them, “And who do you say that I am?” Peter says, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”

Jesus praises Peter for this confession of faith. Jesus predicts that Peter will be called Peter rather than his given name of Simon (Peter means ROCK in Greek) and that Peter, this rock, will be the cornerstone of Jesus’s church, built to withstand even hell. And then, Jesus sternly orders the disciples not to tell anyone that he is the Messiah.

This secret, shared true thing is something the disciples hold in common until Jesus tells them the world can know it. It builds them up as a team of followers that surely must have had difficult times bonding together. But their commitment to Jesus as Lord gives them strength beyond their individual faith. They are the first Christian church, the first congregation to confess Jesus as Lord.

Human beings need a faith community, people around them who can witness to them when they have run out of steam, yes, people who can care for them like family, but more, people who are brave and bold enough to be with them during the hardest of times when everything is shaky ground, and say to them, “God is with us, beside us. God created the universe and also you. And God loves you, right now.” Being a part of such a community gives us the strength to put one foot in front of the other. Sharing a common confession – not just a cause like “Trees are beautiful” or “The Earth needs our help” but a belief in the Triune God: Creator, Redeemer, and Comforter/Sanctifier – the common confession lifts us and blesses us. Thank God Jesus named Peter the rock upon which his church would be built. Jesus knew we could not sustain belief without our community.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for knowing we would need a community and for establishing it. Help us to know that following you works better in a group.   Amen.