Matthew 16:13-20, David Orendorff

There is conflict in the early church (yes even they had trouble getting along) and today’s passage gives us some clues about some of it. Immediately after Jesus death the church divides into various sects. A few are mentioned in today’s passage.

1. There are the followers of John the Baptist who claimed that Jesus was John’s successor. This denomination claimed John as their founder; that his message was the forgiveness of sins; and that Jesus was the leader of the next generation. But Peter saw something more.
2. Some Jews saw Jesus as Elijah. Elijah was both a prophet and a miracle worker. He didn’t die but was snatched up by a chariot of fire and taken to heaven.1 2 Kings 2:1-12 It was believed that Elijah would someday return and prepare the way of the messiah. Those who saw Jesus as Elijah hoped to build a church around Jesus as the one who prepared the way for the coming messiah. But again, Peter saw something more.
3. Others had not so grandiose dreams, but saw Jesus as one in the tradition of the prophets. The prophets were the voice of God for social and political justice. But yet again, Peter saw something more.

Before we get to “the more” that Peter saw I want to talk a bit about how the competing sects over who Jesus was are still with us.

1. 1. There are some among us who still see Jesus’ primary message as the forgiveness of sins. The focus of these Christians tends to be around accepting Jesus as savior and avoiding hell with an assurance of heaven. This is indeed a portion of who Jesus is for us. We do need forgiven and Jesus as the one who provides that forgiveness is essential to our faith and belief in grace. But there is something more.
2. And there are some today who see Jesus as the announcer of the coming reign of God. These folks tend to focus on the end days and the second coming. The book of John’s Revelation is of particular interest and holds a special power. They are waiting for God to come again to punish the evil doers and rescue the faithful. It is true that Jesus does announce the coming kingdom and calls us to watch for it. But there is something more.
3. And there are some who see Jesus’ primary purpose and message to be prophetic concerning social justice. These folks focus upon serving the poor and the ill, the prisoner and the oppressed. They love the parables where the outcast is the hero or heroine. And as good as this is, Peter sees something more.

What Peter sees, and what makes him the rock, is that Jesus is the messiah, the son of the living God. Jesus knows that Peter knows this not because he is unusually perceptive, but because it has been revealed to him by God. And upon this revealing the church of Jesus is built.

Before I challenge you with what you believe about Jesus I want to be clear about what it means to call Jesus the messiah. There are several Biblical versions of who the coming messiah would be and what he would do. But there are a set of core beliefs regarding the messiah that will help us understand Peter’s confession.

The messiah brings the day of the Lord, which is a judgment of either forgiveness or condemnation. The messiah restores justice to all, especially the believers who are suffering. But the messiah is not the announcer of God’s kingdom still to come. The messiah is the kingdom of God come. To call Jesus the messiah is to say that God’s kingdom has come to full creation in Jesus.

If we say with Peter that Jesus is the messiah then we are making an extraordinary claim. It means Jesus is John the Baptist forgiving us and more; that Jesus Elijah who tells us how to get to heaven or that heaven will come to us and more; and that Jesus is a good teacher and an advocate for the oppressed and more. Jesus is God with us. Jesus is the kingdom of God, not sometime in the future, but in this present time, right here and right now.

And then a strange thing happens, the messiah says to Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

In other words the messiah has made Peter and likewise every follower of Jesus in Peter’s congregation the kingdom of heaven come for the salvation of the world. If we call Jesus messiah and we follow Jesus’ way, then we are little messiahs, the living body of Christ for the world.

Rather than get deeply theological about this I have a story which makes the point. It is a modern retelling of the Good Samaritan parable. I received it from a friend in 2004 and then again from Joan Pierce in 20072 Are You Jesus?, from Karlee Smith, January 18, 2004, & Joan Pierce, January 25, 2007 so it has been around the internet for awhile. You may have heard it. If so listen again and see if you spot the messiah.

A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night’s dinner.

In their rush, with tickets and brief-cases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of baskets of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding.

All but one. He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned.

He told his buddies to go on without him, waved goodbye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor. He was glad he did.

The 16 year old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one stopping, and no one to care for her plight.

The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them into the baskets, and helped set the display up once more. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.

When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, “Here, please take this $20 for the damage we did. Are you okay?”

She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, “I hope we didn’t spoil your day too badly.”
As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, “Mister….” He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes.

She continued, “Are you Jesus?”

He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: “Are you Jesus?”

The email goes on to say, “Do people mistake you for Jesus? That’s our destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference. If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It’s actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.”

We live the Word in regular worship, study and service. We who accept and follow the way of Jesus, confessing that Jesus is the messiah, are the continuation of Jesus in this life and so we are the messiah, the very real and present kingdom of God. We offer forgiveness to the salesmen and all the others who did not stop to help. We proclaim that God’s kingdom is both right here right now and that it is coming in our future. We advocate for all those who suffer, we seek their healing, we work to end to their hunger and to set them free of their captivity to systems and tyrants. Like Jesus we are John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets and more. We are the present kingdom of heaven.

It is a heavy responsibility to be a Christian for whatever we bind or loose on earth is bound and loosed in heaven. Sometimes we may be mistaken for Jesus. Other times we are obviously not Jesus or even a third cousin four times removed. Sometimes, sadly, we are the ones who forgot or refused to give forgiveness, who totally missed seeing the immediately present kingdom of heaven let alone told anyone, and sometimes we are the ones who hurriedly passed by someone in need, heeding only our own agenda. And when we miss the mark, fall off the road, however we say sin, then we, like Peter and so many before us, return to Jesus and are made ready to go again into the world with the love of God.

This responsibility is not a source of pride but a humbling of our souls before others. Jesus even tells Peter and the others (all of us) in the last verse that we are not to tell anyone that he is the messiah. Try quoting that to a self righteous Bible thumping annoyance.

Jesus is anointed the messiah by God and no other. Jesus is the messiah by deed and not confession. And so it is that when we have a messiah moment it is because God acted in us and we have nothing of which to boast. We are the kingdom of heaven but instead of this making us better than others; it makes us the most humble servant of all creation. We forgive, heal, teach, protest and serve because God is in us and for no other reason. When we get the big head or mouth, we are not the living body of Christ. When with grace we serve, sometimes not even knowing who is serving in us, then evil is bound and heaven set free among us, thanks be to God.

I pray we are of Peter’s church, forgiving, proclaiming, and healing. I say with Peter, “Jesus is the messiah.” May God use me for the kingdom.

Shalom and Amen.

[1] 2 Kings 2:1-12

[2] Are You Jesus?, from Karlee Smith, January 18, 2004, & Joan Pierce, January 25, 2007