Matthew 16:13-20
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Confessing Christ Bulletproofs Your Faith
Over the years, there have been several times when my security was in question. I was a block away from a car bomb that exploded in Bulgaria. I’ve had thieves try to pry the bars off the windows of my house. My apartment was broken into and my computer stolen. My identity has been stolen and thousands of dollars charged to my credit card.
We live in a dangerous world, with threats all around us. Some of them are bigger than others. They can take different shapes and come in various frequencies, but they’re there – an ever-present reality in life. So, the question is, How can you stay safe? How can you keep secure? Updating your passwords helps. Installing a security system with alarms and cameras will go a long way. Locking your door is a great place to start.
That works for your stuff, but what about your faith? How can you keep your faith safe? How can you be secure in what you believe? Jesus told us in our Gospel today. He told us the one thing that will ensure that gates of Hades themselves will not persevere – that we will overcome hell, death, and the devil. The question is, How? The answer is, Who.
Jesus asked his disciples: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”[1]
To which they replied: “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”[2]
Now, obviously, Jesus wasn’t any of those people, if only for the fact that according to the Bible there’s no such thing as reincarnation. A man is destined to die once and return to the Lord. But without getting lost in the weeds, what I will say is that there is a certain logic to all three.
Jesus and John the Baptist preached the exact same message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Malachi prophesied that another Elijah would come to announce the arrival of the Saviour; it’s just that that “Elijah” was John, not Jesus. And when you compare Jesus to the prophets it’s clear that they all spoke from God and that they all did things that only people touched by God could do.
All three options make a certain sense. They are all informed by both the Bible and observation. But they’re still all miles away from reality.
So, Jesus shifts his focus from what the people are saying to what his disciples believe: “But what about you? Who do you say I am?”[3] And Peter knocks it out of the park: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”[4]
This is our answer to how we can be secure and safe in our faith! Jesus explains: “I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”[5]
Jesus is making a play on words. In Greek, the name Peter is Πέτρος, which means “rock” or “stone.” But just like we have different words for rock and stone and pebble and boulder, so does Greek. Πέτρος is the word Jesus uses for Peter; πέτρᾳ is the word he uses for the foundation of his church, which helps us to understand that Jesus doesn’t build his church on Peter; he builds his church on what Peter just said, i.e. that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And it’s that confession that bulletproofs your faith.
Now, this sentence may not be as groundbreaking to you as it was 2,000 years ago. After all, you walked into a “Christian” church today and I would guess that you expected to hear about Jesus, because Jesus is the Christ. It’s a fact that has been known worldwide for centuries. You’ll even hear those two words coming out of the mouths of complete unbelievers when they stub their toe.
That Jesus is the Christ is not new or novel. But what that means is still not always clear. If we were to take a survey of our neighbourhood and ask that simple question, Who is Jesus Christ? you’d get all kinds of different answers. He’s a teacher; a moral role model. You might even hear that Jesus was a social justice pioneer, or that he is a figment of Christians’ collective imaginations.
But, like Jesus, I’m not so much concerned about what the world thinks about Jesus. I care about what you believe about him. Who do you say he is?
Now, I believe it when you confess that Jesus is much more than a teacher or a role model or a spiritual guru. I believe you when you confess that Jesus is your Saviour. But I also know me and I’m all too familiar with the human condition of actions not always matching up with confession.
If Jesus is your Saviour from sin, then why do you keep rushing headlong into it, even when you should know better? If we believe what we sang in our last hymn – that our salvation and hope is found in Christ alone – then why is it that before we confess our sin and throw ourselves at his mercy, we try to fix it first or justify our behaviour or ask for his help to overcome, as if all we need is just that little extra push instead of the completely new heart we need him to create inside of us?
You and I may sincerely confess that Jesus is the Christ, our Saviour, but our behaviour often betrays what we think that means. And whether we imagine Jesus as the guy who gets faith started and then walks away to let us take it from there, or that Jesus waits for our best effort to be exhausted before carrying us over the finish line – if we think of Jesus in any way less than our complete and sole Saviour from our own sin, than we may as well think that he was John the Baptist or Elijah or one of the prophets.
When it comes to the identity of the Christ, close isn’t close enough. Even the next nearest approximation is still miles away from salvation. Without Jesus being our Saviour from ourselves, then we are lost in our sin.
But that is who Jesus is, and that’s what it means that he is the Christ. If our problem is thinking too little of Jesus as our Saviour and too much of ourselves that we need to be helped more than saved, then Jesus is the exact opposite. He didn’t think too much of himself that he didn’t need to get involved in the mess that we made. Instead, he willingly endured ignorance and skepticism and doubt. He willingly exposed himself to rejection and hatred and death.
Jesus didn’t think too much of himself to refuse to be your Saviour, because in love Jesus couldn’t think of you enough. You are all that he had in mind when he confronted confusion about the Christ. You are all that he had in mind when he climbed his cross. He thought so much of you that the Son of the living God was willing to live and die as a man, so that all humans could live through the forgiveness he won for us on the cross.
Jesus lived up to the name of Christ. He is your Saviour from yourself and your sin, so that you could live with the Son of the living God forever in heaven.
It’s no wonder that Jesus would say to Peter: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”[6] In the same way you are blessed with this knowledge that Jesus is the Christ. And even though a man is saying those words to you today, it’s the Holy Spirit sent by the Father into your heart to enable you to believe it. That’s God’s ongoing gift of grace to you every day, that even though Jesus came as the Christ 2,000 years ago, he still continues to come to you every time you hear his name proclaimed.
Which is why it is so important that we confess that name. There are still so many people who don’t know who Jesus is or who are so close, but still so far away. It’s only through the confession of Christians that Jesus’ saving name is still proclaimed for the salvation of all who believe.
It’s important that we confess his name for others. It’s also important to confess that Jesus is the Christ to bulletproof your faith.
One of the devil’s favourite temptations is to convince you that Jesus is in any way short of your Saviour, whether that is by stoking your pride to the point that you don’t feel like you need a Saviour – that you’re not irretrievably lost or as bad off as others are – or by sowing the seed of doubt that you’re too far gone to be brought back. The devil loves to try to convince you that Jesus is in any way short of your Saviour.
But when you confess him to be the Christ, you bulletproof your faith by holding God to his promise – the promise he made to Adam and Eve and Abraham and David, the promise he made through Elijah and Jeremiah and John the Baptist – that Jesus is the Son of God, the Lamb of God, your long-promised Saviour. None of us is so great that we don’t need him. And no amount of sin is too great to be forgiven by him. Jesus is the Christ and that makes him your Saviour. And it’s that confession that makes your faith secure.
It’s no big secret. It’s not complex. There is no padlock or antivirus or alarm system you can install that would make you safer than your confession that Jesus is your Saviour. That’s why this truth is the most important truth, the chief article of our faith, and the foundation of God’s church. Jesus is the Christ, and therefore also your confidence and security in faith and life, now and forever. Amen.
[1] Matthew 16:13
[2] Matthew 16:14
[3] Matthew 16:15
[4] Matthew 16:16
[5] Matthew 16:18
[6] Matthew 16:17