The Rock of Confession – Matthew 16:13-20

A text – Matthew 16:13-20

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?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 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. 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. 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.” ²⁰ Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

A reflection:

In this passage, Jesus says in verse 17 that God the Father and no one else had revealed Jesus’s true identity to Simon, now given the name Peter. Peter is the first of the disciples to declare out loud that Jesus is God’s son.  Interestingly, the phrase Jesus uses next, “on this rock (petra) I will build my church” could refer to the newly-named Peter (Petros), or to the large rock cliff and cave at Caesarea Philippi (home to worshippers to Baal and Pan), but it might just as easily refer to the rock-strong foundation of knowing and declaring that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. A rock is truly a strong foundation. To be perceived as strong, a foundation must be apparent to others – it must be seen, like a fortress built into a mighty mountain, or in the case of a confession, it must be heard. Out loud. Spoken by a bold follower like Simon Peter.

Whenever we come face to face with the realization that Jesus is the Son of the Living God, we should try declaring it, just as Peter did. It would be like saying the Apostles Creed, a short version: “I believe in God Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and in Jesus Christ, God’s only son, our Lord. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. Blessed are You, Holy Trinity, forever.” That could be our simple confession.

Each day that we believe Jesus is God’s Son, who lived with us on Earth and taught us and healed us, we could say so, in prayer and praise to the Lord. Every day. Then God will know that the Body of Christ still exists just as Jesus commissioned it, built on that “rock” of Peter’s confession, still our confession today. If the Holy Spirit has stirred up enough faith in us to believe in Jesus, we could be declaring that to God daily out of reverence and also out of gratitude. We could make up our own little songs, maybe slogans or cheers, and say them often so that, in times of trouble we can easily remember them and uplift our heads and say them to God. Like a table grace, memorized and repeated often, we could declare each day that Jesus is Lord.

A prayer:

Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for the witness of the disciples like Simon Peter. Help us to make our own confession that you are the Lord God, Jesus is your Son, and the Holy Spirit brings us our faith and nurtures us. We are yours forever. Amen.