At St. James McLeansboro
I don’t know about you, but I think it would have been a pretty difficult thing to be one of Jesus’ 12 disciples, his inner circle. It would have been awesome, yes, to walk with Jesus and to witness all that he did, but it would have been difficult, because you never knew what he was thinking, what he would be doing next. Like Paul said in today’s epistle, “How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways. Who has known the mind of the Lord?” While the disciples were privy to a lot of teaching and fellowship with Jesus, they probably couldn’t begin to fathom his mind. I’m sure they knew he was a great teacher, a healer, and they hoped that he was the Promised One . . but they didn’t really know.
As an example, right before today’s gospel reading, Jesus had a confrontation with the Sadducees and Pharisees who came to test him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to prove who he was. And Jesus replied that they could read the skies and tell the weather, but they couldn’t read the signs of the times, they couldn’t see who Jesus was, or what was his mission. Jesus said that the only sign they would see was the sign of Jonah. What about Jonah? He spent three days in the belly of a whale, just as Jesus would spend three days in the belly of the earth. And then Jesus left the Sadducees and Pharisees and their tests and entrapments, and they and the disciples were probably scratching their heads. The disciples went with Jesus in the boat, and when they arrived at their destination, Matthew tells us that the disciples had forgotten to bring bread. And Jesus said, “beware of the yeast of the Sadducees and the Pharisees,” and they thought they were in trouble for forgetting the bread. See what I mean? It wasn’t easy being his disciple. Jesus responds, You of little faith. Don’t you know that it doesn’t matter that you didn’t bring bread? Don’t you remember how I fed the 5000 with 5 loaves, and then fed 4000 with 7 loaves? Can I not supply us with bread? But I wasn’t even talking about bread; I was talking about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. And then they understood—duh!!—that he wasn’t talking about bread, but about the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The disciples had to be intellectually challenged, most of the time. Jesus was always at least a step or two above and beyond their understanding, and he could come up with some pretty difficult ideas and hard questions.
Jesus and his disciples then traveled to the area of Caesarea Phillippi, named for Philip the Tetrarch, one of Herod’s sons, which was in a primarily Gentile area northeast of Galilee. In the 1st century, this was an important Greco-Roman district, but had also been a center for pagan worship to Baal, and then to the Greek god Pan, and then to Caesar.
And when they got there, Jesus asked them, “Who do they say the Son of Man is?” Now this is an easy question. All they have to do is regurgitate what they have heard. Some said he was John the Baptist brought back from the dead, not a new idea. Even Herod had said that. Others said he was the prophet Elijah who was to be the forerunner of the messiah and still others said he was the suffering prophet Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets. You can see the disciples at ease, tossing ideas around like a ball.
But then he asks another question. But YOU, Who do YOU say that I am? I imagine there was a great silence, that they were somehow afraid to state what they thought, what they hoped. There was probably a lot of looking at each other, looking at their feet, looking at the sky . . . looking anyplace but towards Jesus. And finally Peter—Peter who is the outspoken leader of the 12, Peter who rarely thinks before he speaks, Peter who isn’t afraid to get out of the boat, impetuous, brash, open, transparent Peter, Peter who takes risks, stumbles, falls, and gets up again, Peter who is far braver and far more willing to ask questions and risk failure than I am, Peter says “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Peter finally gets it right! Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one, but he is much, much more. This is the first time that any person voices their hopes, that Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one, in the tradition of the great kings of Israel, anointed for leadership.
“Peter further expresses Jesus’ identity as ‘the son of the living God,’ an expression that has special significance in the area of Caesarea Philippi with its plethora of ancient Baal, Pan, and Caesar worship. Jesus is the Son of the God who is living, not like those mythical, superstitious figures etched in stone. Even more significantly . . . Jesus is uniquely Gods Son.”[1] As announced at his conception, at his baptism, at his temptations, and as the evil spirits stated when they were confronted by Jesus, Jesus has a special relationship with God the Father, with HIS Father. He is different than any other Messiah figure. He is Messiah, and the Son of God.
Peter probably didn’t fully understand what he was saying, but he is growing. And Jesus commends him. “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for God has revealed this to you.” Peter was blessed by God when he chose him to know this, to say this. Jesus continues: “From now on you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Basically, Jesus is saying, You are rock, and on this rock I will build my church. Peter will be a key figure in the church, the new community of believers. He is a natural leader who did play a foundational role in the early church, as the book of Acts tells us.
This is also the first time that the word “church’ is used, from ecclesia which means a community or assembly. His disciples will be his church, a fellowship of those who believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and who risk their lives for their faith. This church, this fellowship will endure. “I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” “The powers of death and damnation are not as strong as the powers of God nor will those evil powers win the battle. The powers of death and evil are all around us, but these evil powers are not stronger than the church and its power of God within. Evil will lose out!!!”[2] And, through the power of God, the church, the body of Christ, will win!
Jesus then says that “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.” Jesus talked more about the kingdom of heaven than any other subject, and when he began his mission he said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is near (Matt 3:2), and in the past months we have heard many parables referring to the kingdom of heaven as a pearl, a treasure, a grain of mustard, yeast, and even a farmer’s field. The kingdom of heaven is where Christ rules eternally. The kingdom of heaven is already and not yet, the once and future realm where Christ is king. While the Scribes and Pharisees work to lock people out of the kingdom of heaven, Peter and the church have the keys to let people in. The Scribes and the Pharisees had the authority for binding and loosing, which is to say what is permitted or forbidden. The church with Peter as its first leader is to open the door to the kingdom. “Through Peter’s preaching of the gospel and the preaching of others who follow him, sins are forgiven and entrance gained to the kingdom.”[3] Peter has the keys to the kingdom, and will open the doors to Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles. “People who receive the gospel are loosed from their sins so that they can enter the open door to the kingdom. People who reject the gospel message are bound in their sins, which will prevent them from entering the kingdom.”[4]
And the gospel reading ends with Jesus telling the disciples to be quiet about his identity, probably so his mission isn’t compromised due to misunderstanding. The crowds can be rather unruly, you know.
But Peter, Peter got it right for a change. You are the Christ the Son of the living God. Right for a moment, right this time, but next week it’s a different story.
So what is important for us? Perhaps the real key, the key to the kingdom, is linked to Jesus’ identity. There are lots of opinions on who Jesus is these days. Is he a great teacher, a prophet, a moral example? Is he one path among many paths? One truth among many truths? Is he relevant? Who is Jesus? Who do you say that I am? First of all, human opinion is not adequate. To understand Jesus is to be guided by the revelation of the Father in the teachings of the New Testament. The gospels clearly proclaim the good news of Jesus’ identity and his mission. Jesus is not just a way, he is The Way. Jesus is not just true for me, but he is The Truth. We are called to accept that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God—which is in fact more than we can comprehend on our own. Our understanding must be guided by God’s revelation as we open our hearts and minds to God and study his Word. But you, who do you say that I am?
[1] Wilkins, Michael J. The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew. Zondervan, p. 559.
[2] http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_a_the_keys_of_the_kingdomGA.htm
[3] Wilkins, 567.
[4] Ibid, 568.
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