21 Jul July 19th Weekly Devotional
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Matthew 16:15
Jesus and the disciples are heading toward Caesarea Philippi. Jesus has just finished reminding them of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, how their hearts are full of sin and deceit. They are hypocrites. They look good on the outside, but on the inside, they are dead. Their motives are not genuine, or sincere.
They are walking along, and all the sudden, out of nowhere, Jesus stops and turns to the disciples, and asks them a question, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man am?”
They probably looked around at each other, wondering which one would speak up first, and for once, it wasn’t Peter this time. Maybe it was James or John, maybe it was Thomas. “Well Jesus, umm, well some I’ve heard say you were John the Baptist”. Maybe the same one, or maybe one of the others says, “Ya, well, I’ve heard some say that you are Elijah.” Maybe a third speaks up, maybe it’s Bartholomew, or Andrew, “Ya! And some even say you might be Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.”
Jesus probably listens to each one with intent, like He is really being told something as if it is the first time He has heard this. I imagine Him nodding, and then, He asks, “This is who men say that I the Son of Man am, “But who do you say that I am?”
Now Peter, my personal favorite. Now he speaks, verse 16, Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
Jesus was not saying that He was going to build His church on Peter, but on the confession that Peter made. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus would, however, use Peter as His servant, although He would first allow him to be humbled, but then Peter would come back to preach the greatest Gospel Sermon ever to be recorded. “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)
The rock is the confession. The rock is the fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That is what we are building on.
Peter knew that, the disciples would come to know that, and they would go out and preach that Good News to every nation baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching all to obey all the things Jesus had commanded them.
So for a busy week, let’s all go out and do the same. When someone asks you what you do for a living, you tell them you are a Preacher of the Gospel.
