Posted on Monday, January 19, 2009
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THE CONFESSION OF ST. PETER

19 January Anno + Domini 2009 (Observed)

"You Are the Christ”

Mark 8:27-9:1 (Acts 4:8-13; 2 Pet. 1:1-15)

"You are the Christ,” St. Peter confesses.  Others were saying that Jesus was John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets, but St. Peter, speaking on behalf of all the disciples, confesses the truth about Jesus.  He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  He is the Messiah long awaited, the Anointed One of God sent to save sinful mankind and rescue fallen creation. 

It is upon St. Peter's confession that Christ will build His Church, even though St. Peter is unclear as to what his confession means at this point.  He knows Jesus is the Christ, but he knows not what that really means.  He's been conditioned by the popular, but false, belief of his people regarding the Messiah.  Like them, he's looking for a powerful, earthly ruler who will lead Israel and defeat her enemies. 

So it is that when Jesus goes on to explain what His being the Christ means, namely that He will suffer many things, be rejected, killed, and rise again on the third day, St. Peter tries to correct Him.  "Um, wait a minute, Master.  That can't be right.  That's not the picture we have in mind of the Christ.  Surely you are mistaken.  You can't die!” 

"Get behind Me, Satan!” the Lord replies to St. Peter.  "For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.  You are right, Peter, that I am the Christ, but you are wrong in your view of what that means.  Your view of the Messiah is one made up by men, not revealed in Holy Scripture.  Satan has brought you to your false view of who I am and what I have come to do, for he wants nothing more than to prevent you from believing in My perfect life and sacrificial death for your salvation.  He is a liar, and has been from the beginning.  I have come not to conquer the world and establish an earthly kingdom, but to conquer sin, death, and the devil, and to establish My Holy Church, a spiritual, eternal kingdom.  I must suffer and I must die on your behalf, to take your sins away, that you may live forever in that kingdom.” 

None of this sunk in to St. Peter, or the rest of the disciples, right away.  That is evidenced by their behavior in the garden of Gethsemane on the night when our Lord was betrayed.  St. Peter tried to prevent Jesus' arrest and, later, denied that He even knew Jesus.  The rest ran away in fear, and they all, save St. John, cowered together in hiding as their Lord went to His Holy Cross and won their forgiveness. 

But, they would all get it, eventually.  The Lord appeared to them in the upper room after His resurrection and, then, they knew.  His teaching sunk in.  And, they would learn through experience what He meant when He told them that if they were to follow Him, they would have to deny themselves and pick up their own crosses.  All of them, save St. John, ended up making the good confession by means of their own blood in the end.  They never stopped confessing Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who died on the cross for the sins of the world, and rose again from the tomb to open the way to everlasting life to all who believed. 

And, dear friends in Christ, it is upon that confession that our Lord has indeed built His Church.  Wherever Jesus is confessed as the only Name under heaven by which men must be saved, there is His Church.  Wherever the Law is preached in its full sternness, exhorting sinners to repent, and wherever the Gospel is preached in its full sweetness, inviting repentant sinners to bask in the forgiveness won for them by Jesus Christ, there is His Church.  Wherever the Holy Sacraments are administered according to Christ's institution, there is His Church. 

We, dear friends, are His Church.  We, who realize the enormity of our sins and what we deserve because of them.  We, who are led by that conviction to be sorry for our sins, confess them, and desire and strive to do better.  We, who are empowered by the Holy Spirit to trust in Jesus alone for our salvation.  We, who gather in this Holy Place time and time again as sinners who realize their desperate need for a Savior.  We, who have been redeemed by the precious Blood of Christ, and realize we need to be cleansed in that sacred Blood time and time again.  We, who don't only confess Jesus as the Christ with our lips, but with our lives, serving our Lord willingly when called upon, offering our time, talents, and treasures in support of His mission and ministry, and loving our brothers and sisters as best we can.  We, dear friends, are His Church. 

But, there are others.  They come to church.  Their names appear on the membership rosters of congregation rosters all around the world.  But, they are not His Church.  They're like the disciples were before the Lord appeared to them after His resurrection.  They don't get it.  They confess Jesus as the Christ, but don't know what that means.  They come to church to make a show of themselves and to catch up on the latest gossip.  They go through the motions, but have no desire to truly repent of their sinfulness and no desire to love their brothers and sisters to the best of their ability.  They're not sorry for the hateful and venomous words that spew forth from their forked tongues.  They revel in their sinfulness.  They don't support the Lord's ministry, but treat His Church as some sort of social club, giving only when things are done according to their own selfish desires.  They are the weeds our Lord tells us must grow alongside of the wheat in His Church this side of heaven.  But, they cannot mock God.  He knows who they are.  He sees into their hearts.  And, unless they repent; unless they turn from their wicked ways, they will never see the glory of heaven.

It is not enough to confess Jesus is the Christ with your mouth.  If that were true, heaven would be full of demons.  No, the confession of Jesus as the Christ must be supplemented with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love, as St. Peter makes clear.  "Therefore, brothers [and sisters], be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.  For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:10-11). 

Come, then, dear friends, to the Holy Supper of your Lord in repentance and faith, recognizing your great need for the medicine of immortality offered here.  Come to the Table, where you confess simple bread and wine to be the true Body and Blood of the Christ, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.  Come and be partakers of the Divine Nature, that you may be strengthened and preserved in the true faith, and that your faith may show itself forth in Christian love toward God and neighbor.  Come now, and come often, that the confession, "Jesus is the Christ,” may always flow forth not only from your lips, but also from your lives.  Lord, grant this unto us all.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting.  Amen.