Have you ever heard someone say, “Well, you have to understand the context”? Maybe someone tells you a story, but before you can understand what’s going on, they have to explain who, where, what, or why. Context changes the way we understand things. And this is true when we read Scripture. Sometimes we become so familiar with the words of the Bible that we forget that these events happened in real places, among real people and within a particular time and culture. And sometimes understanding where something happened can help us better see why it happened.
Context and geography matter. Caesarea Philippi was a place filled with competing claims about power, identity, and worship. It was shaped by the Roman Empire, pagan religion, wealth, and political authority. And it was also a place where the Jewish people experienced oppression and exploitation.
And it’s there, surrounded by reminders of politics, human authority and competing ideas about who or what was worthy of worship, that Jesus asks his disciples: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”. Obviously, Jesus knows people are talking and gossiping about him. In the passages before this one, we hear about:
- Canaanite woman’s daughter was healed
- Four thousand were fed
- The warning about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees
The disciples give Jesus a variety of answers. People have different ideas about who Jesus is. And perhaps that’s not so different from the world we live in today. We often interpret Jesus through our own cultural, theological, political, or denominational lenses. Think of the familiar image of Jesus as a white-skinned, light-brown-haired, blue-eyed man. That image tells us something- not necessarily about what Jesus actually looked like, but about the culture that produced that image.
Jesus then presses further: “Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replies with “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God”. This could be compared with other moments in the Gospels of Jesus’ unique identity:
- The man with the unclean spirit says, “I know who you are, the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24)
- The demons coming out of many people “You are the Son of God” (Luke 4:41)
- John the Baptist proclaims “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)
Jesus is pleased with Simon Peter’s response and takes the opportunity to turn it into a teaching moment and explains that it is not simply the result of human reasoning that reveals this, but it has been revealed to Peter by the Father. As Lutherans, we could recognize that as the work of the Holy Spirit- the one who creates faith in us and enables us to confess Christ.
Jesus then makes a promise (one of many) that “on this rock I will build my church”. “Rock” or petra in Greek. Simon Peter may have earned this “nickname” due to his rock-hard headedness and often talking before he thinks. But it has significance. Peter becomes a rock upon which God will place others as Christ builds his church.
Christians have debated this for centuries: What exactly does Jesus mean here when he calls Peter “this rock”? Is the rock Peter himself? Or is it Peter’s confession of faith? Whatever some may think, Jesus’ words point us to something bigger: the continuity of God’s people and God’s work through the generations.
But the church is not merely a means to achieve something greater; it’s not just a voluntary association of like-minded people. And it’s not simply an institution that comes up after Christ’s resurrection. Rather, the church is the community Christ calls into being to continue the work he began.
Charles Hambrick-Stowe, a retired Congregational pastor and former director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, calls the church “an article of faith”. Jesus promises that he will build his church. He will protect it so that the forces of sin and death will not prevail. In the words of Luther’s famous hymn:
“Though hordes of devils fill the land, all threat’ning to devour us; We tremble not, unmoved we stand; they cannot overpow’r us. Let this world’s tyrant rage; in battle we’ll engage! His might is doomed to fail; God’s judgement must prevail! One little word subdues him” (A Might Fortress is Our God; Evangelical Lutheran Worship 503).
And there we have Resurrection Promise. The church will face opposition and uncertainty. The church will face moments when it seems like the powers of sin and death are winning. But Jesus promises that they will not have the final word.
Jesus doesn’t simply promise to build the church. He entrusts the church with responsibility. The church is given the authority to proclaim the Gospel, to teach, to forgive, to correct, and to discern how Christ’s teachings are lived out in the world. And that raises an uncomfortable question: How are we using that responsibility?
Again, the church is entrusted with the Gospel. Have we done a good job of proclaiming it? I mentioned earlier that Jesus was warning people about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The disciples thought he was meaning literal bread that we eat. But Jesus says that if their teaching is devoid of love or simply preserves a tradition- then it is yeast.
If our teaching has truth without grace, we need to be careful. If our traditions have certainty without compassion, we need to be careful. If our positions have power without humility, we need to be careful. Because the church is not called simply to preserve tradition. The church is called to proclaim Christ.
Jesus asks us all the same question: Who do you say that I am? Maybe that’s a question we spend our whole lives trying to answer. Not just with the words we say on Sunday, but with the way we live our daily lives. The way we treat our neighbors; the grace we extend to others; with the love, compassion, humility and understanding that we show in a world that seems so filled with negativity, judgement, division and fear.
Peter gives us the answer: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”. And that confession is still the foundation of our faith. Jesus is not simply who our culture, our politics, our traditions or preferences want him to be. He is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, and he is still present among his people, meeting us in the waters of Baptism. He comes to us through the Eucharist in bread and wine. He gathers us together as the church, his people, and he sends us out into the world to continue the work he began.
And perhaps that is the good news we need to hear: the church ultimately does not belong to us. It belongs to Christ. Jesus says: “I will build my church”. Not that Kevin will build it. Not that Carly will build it. Not that Pastora Veronica or Pastor Jonathan will build it. Not one particular generation, tradition, or denomination. Christ says “I will build my church”.
Since Christ is the one building it, we can trust his promise. Even when things seem uncertain; when the darkness of the world surrounds us. The gates of Hades will not prevail against it. Because the one who asks “Who do you say that I am” is the same one who goes to the cross for us. The one who gives his life up for the life of the world. The one whom death could not hold. And the one who still gathers us, forgives us, strengthens us, nourishes us, and sends us out in freedom.
May we, like Peter, confess that “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”. May our lives, our church, our witness proclaim that same good news to the world. Because Christ has died….Christ is risen….And Christ will come again, as he promised. Thanks be to God.
