Lenten Devotion – Day 23

Monday, March 16, 2015

Today’s Scripture:  Matthew 16:13-20

“He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." (Matt. 16:15-16)

Seeking to provide consolation to his dear friend and former student, Eberhard Bethge, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote from his prison cell, “All that we may rightly expect from God, and ask him for, is to be found in Jesus Christ. The God of Jesus Christ has nothing to do with what God, as we imagine him, could do and ought to do. If we are to learn what God promises, and what he fulfills, we must persevere in quiet meditation on the life, sayings, deeds, suffering and death of Jesus. It is certain that we may always live close to God and in the light of his presence, and that such living is an entirely new life for us; that nothing is impossible for us, because all things are possible with God.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, p. 391.

  For Bonhoeffer, it was a personal encounter with Jesus Christ that was necessary to discover a lived faith and not merely abstract belief in God. The more common notion of belief did not and could not compel persons to risk everything for the sake of the call of God. What resulted instead was a form of religion that had no connection to the transforming power of Jesus Christ. It is precisely the experience of casting oneself upon the living Christ that makes authentic discipleship possible.

  In today’s scripture, Jesus takes his disciples into the district of Caesarea Philippi and says to his followers, in the shadow of the Roman temple, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (v. 13). The disciples look around nervously, struggling to find the right words and not wanting to attract the attention of any well-armed Roman legionaries, they answer, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (v. 14). The disciples figure they cannot get arrested for simply pointing out what other people are saying.

  Famed radio and television newscaster Edward R. Murrow was rarely at a loss for words. After visiting a liberated German concentration camp in the aftermath of World War II, however, he could only say this to his listeners: “I pray you believe what I have said about [this camp]. I have reported what I saw and heard, but only part of it. For most of it I have no words ....” In bringing testimony about the horrors of the concentration camps to Americans who could scarcely believe such things were possible, Murrow could only appeal to his towering journalistic reputation. “Trust me,” he was saying, “when I tell you how bad it is.”

  Knowledge and intellectually understanding of a subject or who Jesus Christ is, can be helpful in bringing forth a foundation for faith and life, but knowledge by itself cannot provide it all, witness, experience and action are also needed. We can read about the concentration camps in history books, but real understanding comes only when we hear the stories of those who survived the camps or visit the sites of the camps. I have heard stories from others who have visited the camps so many years later and they state that witnessing the camps first hand made a powerful impression on them and leaves them with a loss for words.

  When Jesus asks his disciples to share good news, he also asks them to declare what they really believe about him and though they had learn much and witnessed a great deal, they are equally at a loss for words. Then Jesus gets personal asking them to step out in faith and take a risk, “But who do you say that I am?” (v. 15). Jesus is addressing not just one disciple with the word “you,” but is speaking to all of the disciples in the second person plural.

  Finally, Peter blurts out his famous confession, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." (16:16) There are no mere words that can convince others of this good news, only the testimony of those who have a personal experience of Jesus. Peter says something like, “Trust me, when I tell you how good a Savior we have, because I have seen for myself.” The same view is put forth in the First Letter of John, when it is written. “And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.” (1 John 4:14-15)

  Peter calls Jesus “Messiah,” and this is a bold statement, not based simply on knowledge but the declaration of one who has witnessed and experienced the life and teachings of Jesus. The Messiah is the “anointed one,” the long-awaited king who is expected to save his people from oppression. Jesus is the Son of the “living God,” not the son of a dead god like Baal or Pan or Caesar Augustus. The confession of Peter is not polite church talk, it’s a courageous personal confession and dangerous political statement about the kingdom of God. Talk like this can get you killed.

  As Jesus begins to prepare his disciples for his journey toward Jerusalem, Peter is the right person at the moment in time. He's not an extraordinary person, he has the same strengths and weaknesses as the other disciples. He will protest forcefully when Jesus speaks of his suffering and death (v. 22), and will stumble badly when he denies Jesus on the night before the crucifixion (26:69-75). But because Peter is so very human, so much like any one of us, he's the right person to make a declaration about Jesus.

  Jesus tells Peter and tells us today, that the ability to make this confession about the person of Jesus Christ, is key to the kingdom of God. It is key to our receiving and entering the kingdom. When we, like Peter, can make this confession, then Jesus tells us, “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven" (v. 17). Jesus sees that Peter's declaration, as well as our confession, is a pure gift of God, and he's thankful for it.

  Dietrich Bonhoeffer again wrote from prison, “Encounter with Jesus Christ [is what matters]. Faith is participation in this being of Jesus (incarnation, cross, resurrection). Our relation to God is not a ‘religious’ relationship to the highest, most powerful and best Being imaginable — that is not authentic transcendence — but our relation to God is a new life, existing for others, through participation in the being of Jesus.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers, p. 381.

  When Jesus asked Peter, who do you say that I am? (Matt. 16:15), both of them knew that everything was at stake in his answer. Centuries later, in civilized Germany, Bonhoeffer and today for us, we also know what is at stake in the answer.

Today’s Lectionary Readings
Morning: Psalms 119:73–80; 145
Evening: Psalms 121; 6
Jeremiah 16:10–21
Romans 7:1–12
John 6:1–15