Matthew 16:13-20

            {Prayer}

            Imagine a place for a moment with me.

            In this place, you’re surrounded by competing voices. Different beliefs live side by side. People are searching for something to put their trust in. Religion is one of many options, and the old gods worshipped in the past haven’t nearly disappeared … they’ve just learned to compete for attention.

            This place is shaped by money and power. Political loyalties matter. Powerful leaders put their names on things. Symbols of the surrounding culture are difficult to escape.

            People are trying to figure out what makes life meaningful. What will make them secure. What deserves their loyalty. What they should fear. What they should hope for.

            Sound familiar?

            The place … the place is Caesarea Philippi.

            Into this place, this world … Jesus comes with His disciples. In that place, Jesus and His disciples are standing there, surrounded by all those competing claims upon the human heart. In the midst of the surrounding culture, Jesus stops and asks one question. … “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15).

            You see, Jesus brings His disciples into a world where there are plenty of answers to the question, “Who or what deserves your allegiance?” He brings them into the district of Caesarea Philippi, an area where the worship of Israel’s God stood among very different religious claims and loyalties.

            Now where our gods don’t usually have temples or statues, they are recognizable. They can easily look like success, security, money, politics, reputation, pleasure, self-sufficiency, as well as the conviction that I am the final authority over my life.

            It’s easy to look out around the world and think that things are really screwed up. But as Christians … we know better so we have it all together. As messed up as that belief is, that is not the point of this lesson. The point of our Gospel reading we’re going to focus on is that we too live surrounded by competing claims on our hearts. The idols, the gods of the world affect us. They tempt us. We are surrounded by them.

            Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

            People have all kinds of opinions about Jesus. That was true then, and it’s true today. Back then, the disciples said people call Him John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (Matthew 16:14). What do people say today? … They’ll say Jesus was a Jewish teacher, a good man, a moral leader. There is truth in those descriptions, but they don’t go far enough.

            “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” (16:15).

            Here’s something we need to understand … Jesus is not asking the disciples to analyze what the people of Caesarea Philippi are saying. He’s not asking the disciples to identify all the false gods surrounding them. Jesus turns the question toward them. In the midst of all the competing voices, all the competing claims … Jesus asks the disciples to identify Him. “Who do you say that I am?”

            Likewise, our calling is not to identify the gods of our age. That’s easy. Like the disciples of old, our calling is to confess Christ in the midst of them. The Christian faith can’t remain “People say Jesus is …”. Eventually Jesus’ question has to become personal to us. “Who do YOU say that I am?”

            Peter boldly answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (16:16).

            Let’s dissect this some. “You are the Christ”. In other words, Peter is like, “You are God’s promised and anointed King. You are the One who the prophets have been talking about. You’re the One who has come to establish Your kingdom and free Your people.”

            “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Remember, Jesus has brought the disciples to a non-Jewish area. They are surrounded by people who don’t worship just one God but many gods. In the midst of this kind of culture, Peter confesses the living God and His Son.

            Notice how uncomplicated Peter’s confession is. Peter doesn’t try to break down the cultural barriers around him. He doesn’t try to debunk other people’s worldviews. He isn’t answering every objection. Peter simply names Jesus.

            In a world of many gods, Peter speaks the name. Let me say that again. In a world of many gods, Peter speaks the name of Jesus.

            The Church today … she still speaks the name of Jesus. We still speak the name of Jesus.

            …

            Jesus says, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven” (16:17).

            Peter is able to confess Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, not because he is a genius, not because he’s been taking notes when Jesus speaks, and not because He has been highlighting his Old Testament scrolls. Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ because God has made Christ known to him.  

            Christian confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, begins with God’s action, not ours. We just confessed that when we spoke the meaning of the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed.

            “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but … but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.”

            Peter could not arrive at this confession by his own reason or strength. And neither can we.

            Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthian church, “Therefore I tell you … no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3).

            The Holy Spirit who called you through the Gospel, who was given to you in Holy Baptism, who continues to strengthen and preserve you through His Word and Sacraments … does not leave you alone to manufacture enough faith or enough courage to confess Christ. Through these means of grace, through God’s Word and Sacraments, the Holy Spirit points you again and again to Jesus. He opens your lips and enables you, together with the whole Church, to boldly confess, “Jesus is Lord!”

            It is upon this truth Peter confesses, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, that Christbuilds His Church. Jesus Himself is our foundation. Jesus tells Peter and the other disciples, “I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).  

            And by saying this, Jesus is not telling the disciples, “Go and destroy Caesarea Philippi!” He’s not telling you and me to go out and destroy the post-Christian culture around us. The Church doesn’t boldly confess Jesus as the Christ because we imagine ourselves stronger than the culture surrounding us. Remember, while we are not of the world, we are in the world.

            We confess, we boldly confess Jesus is the Christ because God has revealed Him to us. The Holy Spirit lives within us! Christ is building His Church because He wants all of God’s children to come home.

            We live in the modern-day Caesarea Philippi. The names of the gods have changed. The temples look different. The promises sound different. But the question has not changed.

            “Who do you say that I am?”

            We don’t have to be afraid of that question. We don’t have to be afraid because God has not left us alone to find the answer.

            By the power of the Holy Spirit, God has opened our eyes to see Jesus. By the Holy Spirit, God has given His Church a voice. And so here … in our Caesarea Philippi … surrounded by a thousand other names asking for our trust and allegiance … we speak the name that is above all names.  We speak the name at which every knee in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will bow down to.

            We speak the name of Jesus.

            Jesus is the Christ.

            Jesus is the Son of the living God.

            Jesus is Lord.

            And Christ says, “I will build my church.” Amen.

            The peace of Christ, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Amen.