“Nothing has changed”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, June 9, 2022
Matthew 16:13-20 (Forward, p. 42) CEV p. 1004
It was still the premier and crucial question of the ages, and still is, even today. It is the question of who Jesus is, and everything in life and in eternity hangs on its answer. In that ancient hotbed of religious practice, Caesarea Philippi, the disciples offer a veritable smorgasbord of options, John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or some other prophet. It was a highly complementary list to say the least, but, nevertheless, was clearly wrong and clearly inadequate. Jesus was, and is, more than any of them. He is, as Simon Peter, impulsively blurted out, “The Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Today, countless people are engaged in the same identity ‘game’ when it comes to Jesus. Nothing really has changed. Some see Him as a great and profound teacher, as a wonderfully inspired prophet, as some kind of revolutionary, or as martyr for an important cause, as a great moral example, as a healer and wonder worker, or even as a hippy and originator of a sacred mushroom cult. There are ‘ounces’ of truth to many of these suggestions, but certainly, clearly, all of them are insufficient to properly describe who Jesus was and is.
But then, even the title of the Christ or the Messiah can be fraught with error and misunderstandings. Definitely those first disciples had the ‘wrong take’ on it, one that had to be ‘undone’ by Jesus over time. They failed to see that the Messiah must needs suffer and die and be raised from death on the third day. And certainly, they did not grasp that to follow Him meant also to deny themselves and share in His suffering and shame.
And, even after all this had happened, after Jesus’ trial, death and resurrection, it is clear that they hadn’t ‘got it’ in terms of what His being the Messiah meant--for even at the Ascension they asked Him, “Lord, are you now going to give Israel its own king again?” (Acts 1:6). Or, as translated elsewhere, “Are you now going to rule Israel as its king?” Even after Jesus’ death and resurrection they got it wrong. They were still thinking of an earthly kingdom and an earthly rule.
However, let us go back a moment within the narrative to what has got to be the central question of all time. After asking the disciples whom other people thought He was, He asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?” That is the central question that each of us must answer, and must answer for ourselves, for everything hinges on it. And, then, in light of that answer, what are we going to do about it? Are we going to treat Him as Messiah, that is, as Lord of our lives, or not? It is still the most important question for each of us, and in that, nothing, nothing has really changed. Amen.
Forward notes: “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” (verse 18).
“Taken as a stand-alone statement, ‘on this rock I will build my church’ rings with confidence. But that confidence seems misplaced when you take into account all the mistakes Peter makes throughout the gospels. Just a few verses after this one, Jesus says to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ after Peter protests Jesus foretelling his death. That episode pales in comparison to Peter’s denial of Jesus before the crucifixion. But despite all of Peter’s errors, Jesus doesn’t renege on his promise.
“What causes Jesus to speak these words is Peter’s understanding that Jesus is ‘the messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Even though Peter is often confused, and in the critical moment of Jesus’s crucifixion, Peter shows himself to be a coward, Jesus never intends to build the church on the rock of Peter’s perfection. If perfection were possible for Peter, or for us, we would have no need of a saviour. Instead, Jesus builds the church on the rock of Peter’s faith, and that foundation endures.
MOVING FORWARD: “Do you spend more time decorating your ‘house of faith’ than shoring up the foundation? Is it time to refocus your priorities?”