“The turning point”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Saturday, January 18, 2025
Matthew 16:13-19 (Forward, p. 81) CEV p. 1004
I well remember my first real ‘encounter’ with this passage. I was a young Christian, newly converted you might say, and I was at a young gathering at another church. Our devotional time featured this passage and the Bible study leader particularly emphasized Jesus’ two questions to His disciples: ‘Who do others say I am? and ‘Who do you say I am?” She especially emphasized the latter question, saying, “It doesn’t really matter what your parents or godparents or other friends or relatives say or believe about Jesus. What matters is what you believe, and what you do with it. And that is something that you must decide each and every day.” Those words have stuck with me ever since.
Later on, in seminary, I discovered that there was even more to this passage. I learned that it was the turning point, the hinge you might say, to the way that Matthew told the story of Jesus’ ministry. Up until this point, people—including His disciples--had been asking, ‘Just who is this Jesus?’ Well, now this knew, the disciples at least: He is the Messiah! But then the question remained: just what kind of Messiah would He be? That, and the implications of that to you and I and all His disciples, is what Matthew covers in the rest of his gospel.
So, once again, there are implications to this: we are confronted with the age-old question. Seeing as we know who Jesus is, then what are we going to do with Him? It is a question that we must ask ourselves, and answer, every single day. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Forward notes: “[Jesus] said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’” (verse 15).
“It’s easy, especially for those of us who have grown up in the church, to answer questions about Jesus with words we’ve learned over the years and avoid anything personal. When Jesus asks the disciples what people are saying about him, they reply with what they have been hearing, but then he presses further and asks them specifically who they think he is.
“Peter responds quickly with a bold proclamation about Jesus’s identity. Jesus blesses him for it because he knows Peter didn’t learn this second-hand but rather learned by faith through God. It’s at this moment that Jesus reveals Peter’s true identity to him, naming him Rock.’
“We can say all the right words when talking about who Jesus is, but Jesus wants us to get personal. The ‘you’ in this question is directed to you and me. Jesus asks each of us who we think he is, based on our own personal experience with him. When we confess our faith boldly along with Peter, we will find ourselves blessed and seen and our gifts named so we can share them in the world for the glory of God.”
Moving Forward: “Who do you say that Jesus is?”