“Who do you say that I am?” This is not just a question directed to the twelve, and a turning-point in their understanding of Jesus. It is also a question for the Church in every age, and for each of us today.
In its original context, Jesus began by asking what “people” in general had to say about him. (“Son of Man” is a name he often uses when talking about himself.) Their answers reflect the beliefs of the time.
King Herod, having murdered John the Baptist, heard the same message spreading over the land, and in his superstition wondered if John had come back from the dead. He had killed the messenger, but the message went on.
There are prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures – our Old Testament – about the return of Elijah or one of the prophets as a forerunner to the coming of the Messiah, a theme much on people’s minds two thousand years ago. In the account of the Transfiguration, which happened a week after today’s gospel, one of them asks Jesus, “Why does it say Elijah must come first?” and Jesus claims that Elijah has already come, which they understand as a reference to John the Baptist.
“But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Many of their contemporaries were looking and longing for the Messiah – literally, “the anointed one”. Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in the last century cast light on this, and there are also references not only in the gospels but in the Acts of the Apostles. There was even a double expectation of a kingly Messiah and a priestly Messiah. Jesus was both – but not as they expected. A king who would not lead the nation into battle and restore the kingdom to Israel, but arrive in Jerusalem as the “prince of peace” – however conveniently many Christian rulers through the ages have chosen to forget that. A priest not performing the sacrifices of the Temple to mediate between God and the people, but being himself both sacrifice and mediator.
Peter goes beyond those expectations, in adding to “the Messiah” the title “the Son of the living God.” A bold assertion, seeing that this episode took place in Caesarea Philippi, the headquarters of the Roman occupation, where the title “Son of God” was ascribed to the Emperor. Jesus did not use this title himself; others used it about him, from the demons in some of the healing stories, to the centurion at the foot of the cross, and Mark proclaims his gospel to be “the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
But who do you say that I am? What do we say about Jesus?
We say a lot about Jesus in the creed, which was an attempt to answer that question, in the fourth century, when Christianity was becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire and had to define itself more precisely. There were, and are today, those who regard Jesus as a good man and a great teacher, perhaps even someone with gifts of healing, but are uneasy about the other miracle stories. To them, any claim that Jesus was God seemed to be going against the central tenet of Judaism: “the Lord your God is one God.” Then there were those who had no difficulty with the divinity of Jesus, but could not believe that God really walked on earth, eating, drinking, and even on occasion being merry with his friends. Some even said that Jesus (like the angel Raphael in the book of Tobit) only appeared to eat and drink.
But, to be an effective mediator, Jesus must belong to both sides: truly God and truly man. The formula that the church leaders came up with says more about the divinity of Jesus Christ: “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God”. All it says about his humanity is that he “was incarnate” (“made flesh” as St John puts it in the introduction to his gospel) “by the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary, and was made man.” The creed moves on to the crucifixion, burial, resurrection and ascension.
The Nicene creed stands as a signpost in the life of the church – something to which we return, something with which we wrestle for understanding – but a signpost from the fourth century. We have learned, from Christian theologians and hymn writers, and from the bible itself, other ways of thinking about Jesus. One example, from hymn 467, How sweet the name of Jesus sounds:
Jesus, my Shepherd, Brother, Friend, / My Prophet, Priest and King,
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, / Accept the praise I bring.
And another, from For all the saints:
Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might, Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight,
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light. Alleluia!
The Hebrew Scriptures have more than twenty references to God as Rock. Jacob, Moses, Hannah, and David, all sang in praise of “God my Rock” which brings us to the second part of the gospel reading. Jesus answers Peter’s confession with the words ‘I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.’ Peter answered the question “Who do you say that I am?” and Jesus replied answering the unspoken question “And who do I say that you are?” Or, more simply, “Who are you?” He was not simply making a pun on the name Peter, which means rock; he was inviting Peter, and all of us, to share in God’s work of giving us a firm foundation for life together.
And here’s another question we do well to consider, as individuals, as members of this church, as members, in the words of our first hymn, of “one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth”. Who are you? Who am I? Who are we? That’s the homework, and it could keep you busy for the rest of your lives! The readings which accompany the gospel give us some hints. From Isaiah 51, we learn about the Jewish people in exile valuing their identity as children of Abraham (a phrase still helpful today as in working out the relationship between Jews, Christians and Muslims) and coming to understand God’s mission not just to one nation but to all the peoples. From Romans, Paul encouraged his readers to value the diversity of the individuals making up the community, the diversity of gifts God has given to each, and the diversity of contributions each makes to God’s work.
Let us pray:
Holy God, as we proclaim that Jesus is the Christ, help us to follow his way of service and love so that our lives may reveal your reign of justice and joy. Amen.