The confession of St. Peter January 18, 2004 - Preaching Helps

Currents in Theology and Mission, Dec, 2003

Acts 4:8-13

Psalm 18:1-7, 17-20

1 Corinthians 10:1-5

Matthew 16:13-19

First Reading

The commemoration of Peter's confession that Jesus is "the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16), which begins the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, is the context for preaching and the lens though which we read these texts. On this day we pray asking God to keep the church firm on the "rock" of Peter's confession and to empower the church to proclaim one truth and follow one Lord (cf. Prayer of the Day).

In the reading from Acts, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, boldly confesses to the authorities what he previously confessed to Jesus. After healing a man lame from birth by calling on the name of Jesus of Nazareth, Peter and John are arrested and stand trial before the council that recently judged Jesus. Peter and John are arrested because they called upon the name of Jesus of Nazareth as the power by which the man born lame was healed. Peter proclaims the saving and healing power of the name of Jesus, whom the leaders of God's people rejected but whom God raised up. As Peter proclaims it, the crucifixion is an act of people; the resurrection is an act of God. By the power of God, Jesus, the stone rejected by the builders, is the cornerstone of faith and life (cf. Ps 118:22). On this foundation God's power extends from healing a man unable to walk to giving salvation to the whole world. This bold confession comes from companions of Jesus who are ordinary and uneducated men, which leaves the council amazed.

Read on this day, 1 Cor 10:1-5 seems to make clear that the "rock" upon which Christ builds the church is not the person of Peter but Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ. Drawing upon the spiritual ancestors of the Exodus, Paul uses sacramental typology in which passing through the sea foreshadows baptism and eating and drinking spiritual food and drink foreshadows the Lord's Supper (see Satterlee and Ruth, Creative Preaching on the Sacraments) to show that the rock from which the water sprang is Christ himself.

Matthew provides an account of Peter's confession and of Jesus' response. In all three synoptic Gospels, this incident is a turning point in the story of Jesus. From this moment, Jesus' emphasis changes from the coming of the reign of God to Jesus' pending suffering and death. Matthew provides the fullest account of Peter's confession. Caesarea Philippi, named to honor Caesar and Herod's son Philip, was located in a Gentile region and the home of a pagan shrine. In asking how people are identifying him, Jesus refers to himself as "Son of Humanity," a term used in Daniel 7:13 to distinguish the reign of God, in which people are truly human, from the idolatrous reign of beastly world powers. That both Jesus and John the Baptist announce the coming of the end of the age, God's judgment, and the establishment of God's reign make the people's confusion of the two understandable. Calling Jesus either Elijah or Jeremiah is likewise understandable, since Jewish tradition expected Elijah to reappear in the last days and prepare for God's coming and Jesus sounded very much like Jeremiah's talk of a new covenant. But Peter names Jesus as God's anointed who will rule as God's agent over God's people. What Peter disclosed has not come via any human agency but directly from God. Peter's designation as "rock" does not name him the first bishop of Rome but the first witness of Christ's resurrection.

Pastoral Reflection

I am disturbed by some of the claims made in today's texts. Peter preaches, "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:21). Paul proclaims, "Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness" (1 Cor 10:5). I am disturbed because, in today's world, which increasingly resembles Caesarea Philippi, we are called to carefully consider the implications of the way we confess Christ as we say who the Son of Humanity is. Do we understand Peter's assertion that "there is no other name under heaven given by which we must be saved" to be assurance that nothing else is necessary or as a prescription that people need to follow in order to find their way to God?

That there is no name under heaven given by which we are saved is good news to the church during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. It assures us that, as we struggle to forge and implement ecumenical agreements, as we strive to manage and heal congregational conflict, and often act in ways that do not please God, Christian unity does not depend upon our efforts, strategies, successes and failures, though the Spirit of Christ certainly works in and through them. So often I hear sermons and prayers that seem to assume that, if only we do it right, if only we will be more inclusive, more contemporary, more liturgical, more hospitable, more Lutheran, or whatever, we can achieve and establish the reign of God. We cannot. Only Christ can. Unity, like all expressions of salvation, depends upon Christ. Christ, and not any individual, formula, program, or strategy, is the rock, the cornerstone, upon which the church is founded. Jesus not only unites with us on the cross; Jesus also unites us on the cross. Jesus brings healing. Jesus empowers us to stand up and leap in faith when on our own we cannot. Perhaps this is why we begin a week of prayer for Christian unity. It is not a week to commit to Christian unity, not a week to work for Christian unity. This is a week of prayer, of asking Christ to unite the church and every expression of it. So to confess Christ is to confess that we are completely dependent upon Christ.