The question Jesus puts to Peter is one he asks each of us. At various times in our lives our response will differ, depending on the circumstances that confront us. During our broken times we might need Jesus to be our healer. When we must stand up for our faith against the actions or views of others we want Jesus to be the strong one for us. When our prayer feels dry and our perseverance in faith threatened, Jesus must be “living water” in our desert. When we must be constant for a troubled member of our family Jesus, “the living bread,” must be our nourishment. Thankfully Jesus isn’t just a plaster statue, unchanging in appearance and presence for us.
We note the answer Peter gives, which Jesus affirms, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter proclaims Jesus as the Son of the “living God.” This hearkens to a central belief of the Jewish community. God wasn’t fixed to some past, more “ideal period” in their history. Nor was God fixed to a place they had to go back to in order to experience God. No, God is a “living God,” who moves with us from place to place and time to time. This is the God of Matthew’s Gospel as well. Ours is not a mute or aloof God. Rather, God is present to us now at this time of our lives and in the place we currently find ourselves. Jesus is the concrete sign and reminder to us of our “living God.”
The disciples’ response to Jesus’ question, “But who do you say that I am?” reveals that some believed he was John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or “one of the prophets.” But they were all dead. Jesus, on the other hand, was very much alive and a sign to them of “the living God” with them at the foundation of the church. Our “living God” is with us throughout the church’s history.
Jesus asks an important question and Peter gets the answer right — he has a profound insight into Jesus’ identity. But Peter wasn’t merely a student in a religion class preparing for a written final exam. His response to Jesus reflected his faith in Jesus and would require him to live out that response for the rest of his life. In other words, he wasn’t a student who, once having given the answer, could sit down and even bask in the glow of his correct answer. No, Peter wasn’t a student in a classroom, but a disciple. In other words, he would have to remain standing, ready to pick up and follow Christ — even to his death.
The same Spirit that inspired Peter’s response would stay with him and influence how he would answer other questions that the world would put to him about Jesus. Peter is the rock upon which Jesus would build his church. This church, drawing upon Peter’s faith, would be guided by the Spirit to grow in its understanding and practice of the Word.
Mark narrates this episode differently. His version (8:27-30) is another story of Peter’s failure to understand who Jesus is and what his mission is about. Peter confesses Jesus is the Messiah, but refuses to accept that his mission will necessitate his suffering and death.
Today’s episode is a key turning point in Matthew. Jesus praises Peter’s response as one of a true disciple who understands Jesus’ uniqueness and importance. Was Matthew trying to show how insightful Peter was? No, because while Jesus affirms Peter’s response, he also names how Peter came to it. It was a gift of God.
Matthew only uses the word “church” twice in his gospel (18:17 is the other place). How does he perceive the church? It is not so much about church as an institution, but as a community initiated by Jesus to carry on the ministry he began in his lifetime. These first disciples were a small and a fragile group. Their record as disciples was hardly stellar. I wonder how many of those Jesus addressed in today’s story were also in the garden the night he was betrayed? It’s not Peter’s strengths that Jesus responds to but to what he says, his testimony. How strong is our church? As strong as the faith upon which it is built and we profess.
What brings us together this Sunday isn’t what binds other individuals into a community. It isn’t our common ancestry, race, language, nationality or economic sameness. The common thread drawing us is our shared faith. With Peter we profess Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” We may express that in different languages and varied cultural expressions but, in one way or another, we proclaim the same thing: Jesus is our Lord, the Son of the living God.
It is clear from Paul’s letter that he knows his end is near. At the end of a person’s life it is customary to list their accomplishments. Now Paul had much success from his preaching travels and could easily list the churches he founded. He was the “Apostle to the Gentiles.” Instead of boasting of his accomplishments Paul boasts that he has “finished the race” and “kept the faith.”
Throughout all the opposition and difficulties Paul encountered in his travels and preaching he credits the Lord for standing by him and giving him strength. He will need that strength as he, like Peter, faces his martyrdom. Jesus affirms that the reason Peter could make his proclamation of faith was not through any human ability, but because of a gift from God. Likewise, Paul didn’t boast of his own strength, but of the Lord’s presence with him who “gave me the strength.”
Today we celebrate Peter and Paul, our great heroes of faith. But remember that is not how they started out. Through these very limited humans God has done a great thing. Once they expressed their faith, God could begin building the church of those who witness in Jesus’ name. Like Peter and Paul all of us are required to witness to Christ and some may even have to give their lives in his name.
Jesus is at work in the church, building us up, healing our wounds, helping us resist the forces of sin and death. We may feel frail at times, ashamed of the all-too-public sins of some of our members and leaders. But Jesus assures us the church, built on the faith Peter expresses today, will prevail against all the evil the world can throw against it. We are not being triumphalistic when we say this. The Church shall prevail because of how Jesus names us today. He calls us “my Church” and assures us the “gates of the nether world shall not prevail against it.”