Who Do You Say That I Am? Matthew 16:13-20 Sunday, August 21, 2011 The Rev. Sharon Snapp-Kolas, preaching Scripture. Prayer. Opening. This story is told by David E. Leininger about Presbyterians, but I think it could equally apply to Methodists: A woman was talking to her Presbyterian minister, taking him to task for injecting something into a worship service which, she said, was "not Presbyterian." "Well," the minister replied, "you don't mean to say that you believe that the only way you can get to heaven is by being a Presbyterian, do you!" She thought a minute and said, "No, not really. But no genteel person would think of going any other way." In our gospel reading this morning, Jesus and the disciples are not Presbyterian. Or Methodist. They are Jewish. Their travels have brought them into the district of Caesarea Philippi, which is about 25 miles northeast of the Sea of Galilee. It is a center for the worship of Syrian gods, Greek gods, and Caesar himself, and home to the elaborate marble temple of Herod the Great, father of the then ruling Herod Antipas. It is here, in Caesarea Philippi, that Jesus chooses to ask the most crucial questions of his ministry. We begin with the question He asks His disciples: Who do people say that I am? 1
I. Who Do People Say Jesus Is? The disciples share what they have been hearing among the crowds: Some say that you are John the Baptist; others say Elijah; still others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets. In our modern times we might answer: a teacher, a moral figure, a prophet, a positive example to emulate. We might add that He is like Gandhi, or Mother Teresa, or Martin Luther King, Jr., or maybe even John Wesley. Writes Johnny Dean in his book, The Pop Quiz: People see things differently all the time. For example, three people a minister, an archaeologist, and a cowboy were getting their first look at the Grand Canyon one day. The minister exclaimed, Truly this is one of the glories of God! The archaeologist commented, What a wonder of nature this is! And the cowboy said, Can you imagine trying to find a lost steer in there? People see things differently. The Messianic hope of those in the Jewish community who held such a belief was that the Chosen One would reestablish the supremacy of Israel among the great nations of the world. The assumption was that this would be accomplished in a violent and vengeful manner, with the forceful overthrow and total destruction of the current ruling powers. But before this happened, the prophet Elijah would return to herald the coming of the Chosen One. As a result of these hopes, Jesus had to somehow communicate to his disciples and others who had such high hopes for him that what he was offering was something completely different from what they expected. This is one of the problems with listening too much to what the world thinks about Jesus. The world expects power and success and wealth and beauty. The world expects winners. Jesus ushers in a different kingdom, a different reality, a different set of priorities. Jesus brings a new 2
definition to the terms winner and loser. Jesus asks a different set of questions. He is not even interested in the world s categories. Brett Blair provides us with an interesting array of descriptions of Jesus. He writes: Throughout the ages various individuals have attempted to answer that question posed by Jesus. Ernest Renan, a French writer, answered it by saying that Jesus was a sentimental idealist. Bruce Barton, an American businessman, said that Jesus was the greatest salesman who ever lived. William Hirsch, a Jewish writer, responded that Jesus conformed to the clinical picture of paranoia. A musical drama was performed some years ago that answered this question by saying that Jesus was a Superstar. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian, referred to Jesus as the man for others. The Gospel writers also attempted in their own fashion to answer this most fundamental question. They bestowed upon him numerous titles and claims: Son of God, Son of man, Divine physician, king, prophet, bridegroom, light of the world, the door, the vine, high priest, the firstborn of creation, the bright and morning star, and Alpha and Omega. All of these were attempts to answer this question posed by Jesus. But these are attempts made by others. Jesus is more concerned what your answer is than what their answer is. Martin Luther, another German theologian, wrote: I care not whether he be Christ, but that he be Christ for you. Jesus asks, But who do you say that I am? 3
II. Who Do You Say Jesus Is? And Peter replies, You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis addresses our human tendency to say nice things about Jesus, but to stop short of calling him God. He writes: I am here trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any of that patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. Nor did he intend to. Jesus blesses Peter for his insight, and states that God has revealed these things to Peter. This is the central meaning of this passage. God, and only God, reveals the Messiah which is Hebrew for the Christ to us. And a sort of corollary to this point is that God is continually revealing the Christ to us, and we are continually getting part of the message, while at the same time missing the point. If we look at Peter s life it s easy to see how he symbolizes the fumbling faith of all Christians. When Peter is called by Jesus, he drops everything and follows immediately. What a man of faith! And again we read about him today, identifying Jesus as the Messiah. What insight! 4
But we also see Peter sinking in the water as he tries to walk to Jesus. And later on in Matthew 16 we hear Peter denying the cross, which is a necessary prelude to the kingdom. Jesus blesses Peter for recognizing that he is the Messiah. Jesus refers to Peter as Satan just a few verses later, in response to Peter s denial of the cross. And we see Peter again, after Jesus arrest, denying Jesus three times. What a failure! What a worthless hypocrite! He mouths words of faith, yet his actions betray him. If, however, we continue to follow the life of Peter, we see him on the day of Pentecost preaching boldly the first sermon of the Christian church. We see him being persecuted and imprisoned for his faith. And ultimately, we see him being crucified for the gospel, according to tradition. Peter is such a fascinating figure because he is so like us. We are all ready in our hearts to say, Yes, Lord, and to follow Jesus as he teaches us and leads us ever deeper in the spiritual life. We love to draw ever closer to Jesus because Jesus loves us and encourages us and gives us strength for our daily living. But then things get a little rough and we begin to sink in the sea. Jesus reminds us that the cross comes before the kingdom; death comes before the resurrection. And we immediately deny Him. We turn away. We doubt. We question. Just like Peter. Still later in Matthew chapter 16, we hear Jesus telling the disciples that they must deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow Him. Jesus is calling for conversion here. The disciples, like Peter, are tempting Jesus to deny the kingdom and to avoid the cross. Jesus is calling them to a new way of looking at the world. Jesus way is the way of the cross, the way of self-denial and sacrifice. 5
Do we, the Church, follow Jesus way of the cross? Who do people say that we are? III. Who Do People Say That We, the Church, Are? Jesus says he will build his church on Peter, the Rock. He will give to Peter the keys of heaven. The Church -- the Kingdom! -- that Jesus is building is centered on ministry with the poor, the hurting, the sick, the forgotten, and the rejected. And as Protestants we believe that Jesus has given each of us the keys to this kingdom. Writes Adrian Rogers, The keys of the kingdom are the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. So the question is, what are we going to do with these keys? King Duncan tells an unusual story about a former President in this regard: In 1989, former President George Bush was entering St. John's Episcopal Church to attend a worship service. A homeless man, William Wallace Brown Jr., stopped him and asked for prayer. The President's answer must have shocked onlookers. He replied, No. Come inside with us -- and pray for yourself. From that day forward, William Wallace Brown Jr. was a regular attendee of St. John's Episcopal Church. This man in ragged, smelly clothes sat in the pews alongside the rich and the powerful. At offering time, he put a dollar in the collection plate. One usher reports that many of the rich members also gave only a dollar to the offering. These people were humbled by Mr. Brown's example of generosity. But you know why William Wallace Brown was so generous while so many of these wealthy churchmen were so stingy. You do know, don't you? They thought they were on a cruise ship. They were tipping God, though not very well. William Wallace Brown understood that he was on a battle ship, and with his meager resources, he wanted to do his part. 6
Ministry with the poor. The hurting. The sick. The forgotten. The rejected. Ministry with those most in need. This is who we must strive to be as the Church. Closing. As Christians we must continue to wrestle with these questions of Jesus: Who do people say He is? Who do you say He is? Who do people say that we, the Church, are? In closing I share this traditional take on the central question, Who do you say that Jesus is? : If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator; If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist; If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist; If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer; But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior. May we grow each day as a community of faith that claims Jesus as our Lord and Savior. May we grow each day as a community of faith that lives out Jesus law of love and forgiveness. May we grow each day as a community of faith that does the work to which Jesus has called us: the work of loving and serving the least and the lost. Amen. 7