The Confession of Saint Peter

Where to start when it comes to this fallen world and its inability clearly to make use of words? To define things and keep the definitions straight? To call a thing simply what it is and leave it at that?

The first time a question mark was ever used as punctuation in Sacred Scripture, it was the devil speaking, “Did God say?” And because Eve entertained that doubt and acted upon it, you now live in a world where all kinds of confusion reigns as to what is what. What is true. What is false.

Do any of you remember when a sitting President of the United States, during legal testimony, said, “It depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is?” On the face of it that seems like a silly thing to say, but if you think about it just a little more deeply, you might find yourself asking, “What is there, really?” “What does it mean for something even to exist?” “What does ‘is’ really mean?”

The Sacred Scriptures say, “In six days God created the heavens and the earth,” and right away your reason and experience jumps in and says, “What do you mean by ‘day?’” Surely you must mean a set of ages and epochs much longer than a period of 24 hours!

The Sacred Scriptures say, “Be fruitful and multiply,” and right away reason jumps in to say, “I’m not so sure about that. It’s costly and scary to raise up children and family. Besides, I’ve got my own thing to do.”

Jesus says, “This is My Body” while distributing the unleavened bread He broke on the night when He was betrayed, and right away reason jumps in and says, “Surely what He means is that this bread represents His body. It can’t possibly be the actual thing.”

And so it is that teaching, catechesis, definitions, and certainty must be part and parcel of the life God gave you. He did not create you and save you to stew in the juices of confusion and false teaching, and no better example of certainty can be found than in the confession of St. Peter when, after a period of time teaching, accompanied by signs and wonders, Jesus puts the whole thing on pause and says, “Who do people say I am?”

Believe me, Jesus is not a politician putting His finger into the wind to decide how he wants to please the most people and thereby weasel His way into power. So why do you think He stopped to ask that question? Why do you think He cared at all what other people think? It is because the answer to that question determines the eternal destiny of anyone and everyone who will ever answer it. Because God, through His only begotten Son is reaching down to you in such a way that you must have no question as to how, and through Whom, He has acted on your behalf.

He took upon Himself your flesh. He was crucified in that flesh. He is risen in that flesh. He declares to you that His flesh and His alone is satisfactory before God to wash away all your sin and iniquity, and there is no other Name, no other substance, no idea, no cash or credit, no worldly power, no slick sales scheme, no economic plan, no precious jewels, no antique road show, no casino or lottery winning, that will save you before the face of God and His eternal judgment against sin.

It's really straightforward, and so Jesus stops to ask that question so that the straightforward answer can be given, and it is. It is given by St. Peter. After the litany of wrong answers given by the people “out there” as to who Jesus is - John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets – St. Peter, the insider disciple, absolutely nails it: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Now before I go further, isn’t a curious thing how other people thought Jesus was the embodiment of someone who is dead? John the Baptist was recently beheaded. Didn’t they know that? Elijah and Jeremiah? Good grief. Their graves were a part of ancient history at the time. I don’t know. I just find it remarkable that people would be so off the mark like that. But then, we live in an age when the question, “What is a woman?” results in in total confusion. Doesn’t it? I know you are living it. You are living in a world that completely defies not just God as He reveals Himself, but even common sense and nature.

But now let’s go a little bit further. Here is St. Peter, making the most accurate statement as to Who Jesus is. It is as true as true can be: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” But where from the Sacred Scriptures had St. Peter come to know this? Does it say precisely that the Christ will be the Son of the living God? That is a very high concept to grasp, is it not?

Do you mean he’s not just a great teacher? He’s not just a prophet? He’s not a creature from outer space? He’s not a giraffe or a dog? Just what does it mean to be the SON OF THE LIVING GOD? How can God have a Son? Does He have a mother? What kind of Son is He?

Well, all of these questions are, and have been answered for you, as they were for St. Peter, and they still are. That is because God Himself has revealed and taught it to you. Not flesh and blood.

All right. Now. St. Peter. He sure did change his tune when push came to shove, didn’t he? Can you imagine the utter shock, shame, and fear St. Peter experienced as he watched Jesus give Himself into the hands of sinners, just like He said He would? It wasn’t just shock, shame, and fear. It was an outright denial complete with cursing.

And this, beloved in the LORD, really gets to the heart of things. His love for you in laying down His life in His flesh, and taking it up again so that you now have the forgives of sins and everlasting life in your baptism into His body, and in your feasting upon the same at this altar.

Your life, for the most part, is a denial of who you are as God’s creature. It is a denial of so many things. Things you fear so badly that you don’t dare speak of them to yourself, your neighbor, or even God. You have a damnable inheritance from Adam that dogs you to the grave. The shortcomings and all that, yes. But also the times when willingly, knowingly, with malice and aforethought you did wrong. Whether by neglect, or whether by outright harm done to someone. Whether by lust, or by unfounded anger. It’s as bad or worse than anything St. Peter ever did.

But here is the last and final fact: This is precisely why God undertook to save you the only way He can. It’s by that Name, and with that Name comes the Substance. The body and blood. A living body and living blood. The blood that washes away sin and transgression.

St. Peter was so convinced of this, but it took a while, didn’t it. He didn’t write his beautiful first epistle until all the history of the passion was run before his eyes, and the meaning of it taught to him by the Holy Spirit, which Holy Spirit is teaching you now.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

The LORD God defines this world in which you live through the Cross of His only-begotten from eternity. That is how you must, and are given, to define it, too. The Cross is not a trick. It’s not something more. It is everything. But it is also hidden and does not boast about itself. That is exceedingly apparent from the verse that follows the Gospel text for this night. I don’t know why it was omitted, but it is extremely significant.

“Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.” Imagine that! After this magnificent, true confession of St. Peter as to Who Jesus is, namely the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus warns them not to tell anyone! I mean, that’s just crazy, isn’t it?

Well it would be if not for the fact that the Holy Spirit says of Him through the prophet Isaiah: “He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street.” What a parody, or comedy, or tragedy it would be if Jesus went about saying, “Hey everybody, look at me! I am the Christ, the Son of the living God!”

No. The love of the Father is displayed and defined not by men, but by God the Father through His only Son as preached to you this night. He is defined by humility. He is defined by obedience under the law. He is defined by the shedding of His blood in your place and as your sacrifice before God the Father Almighty so that you may call upon Him in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks. And thereby you are defined by Him as an heir of everlasting life and a child of God.

You see, as you live under the Cross you do so with a quiet confidence, and also in the joy of knowing that no matter what you see or experience, you live and abide in the crucified and risen Christ Jesus. It is not as if every action you take is accompanied by a bold proclamation of who you are. No. God has told you who you are, namely His child, and in that confidence you proceed daily under His loving care and mercy.

Now, here He is, just as He has promised to be, for when He says, “This is My Body,” He means it, and it is. So come and receive, and then be at peace, for the Almighty God and Father of creation has redeemed you by His Only Son in the flesh, and here joins Himself to you in the truest and most pure love and peace.

This evening I was given to preach and preside at Divine Service on the occasion of St. Peter's confession, which was not made because he had great understanding, but because it was revealed to him from Above.

St. Mathhew 16:13-19

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” ------- It has always been stressful for me when assigned to preach. It just wears me out. This evening, having come home from the Service, I am both relieved and tired. Theology makes me tired. There is so much there, and yet I am so weak and unworthy to be dealing with these things.

Please receive the text above as coming not from me, but from the Creator, Who blesses in every way without any merit or worthiness on our part.

A brief perusal of the links you provided gives every indication we are on the same page, by and large.

I am hesitant to post sermons on the internet like I just did here, because they are meant to be delivered in person to the souls under my care in the little parish where I am given to serve.

I have a blog consisting of many brief meditations over the years, but am again hesitant to toot that out. Besides, it’s largely inactive now.

It bothers me some how a sense of self inportance easily attaches to theology. I must decrease. He must increase. Please, everyone, enter the Kingdom of Heaven ahead of me. I am not worthy, but if granted I will close the door behind us all.

God bless!

“Jesus says, ‘This is My Body’ while distributing the unleavened bread He broke on the night when He was betrayed, and right away reason jumps in and says, ‘Surely what He means is that this bread represents His body. It can’t possibly be the actual thing.’”

The Church (made up of believers) is the spiritual body of Christ:

I Corinthians 10:17 NKJV
For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.

Understanding this requires discernment:

I Corinthians 11:29 NKJV
For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

When referring to the bread being His body, Jesus is speaking spiritually. It is not the physical act of eating but the Spirit that enables believers to partake in Christ’s life.

John 6:63 NKJV
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

(This was His reply to those who asked: “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” in verse 52. He was speaking spiritually.)

I Corinthians 12:13 NKJV
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

And, as the passage you quoted states: “flesh and blood did not reveal this to you”. These things are spiritually discerned.

Excellent summary.

As you grow spiritually, your perception changes and the spirit or consciousness of others becomes physical to your perception.

When I lecture on this topic I use an old phrase attributed to Erma Bombeck, “Never Meditate Over the Septic Tank.”

Thoughts are not just real physical objects, they have various frequencies and densities. Some will lift you upward, while some will act as anchors or ballast upon your soul.

Some thoughts create illness, and some heal.

My favorite scripture to understand this is John 14. It is not logical to the mind that we exist in God and God exists in us. That if Jesus exists in us,(Communion) then Our Father that exists in Jesus also exists in us.

But it is experiential. And when you experience it, you understand why Jesus stated when He came out of the wilderness, “My Father and I are One.” We are all “One” and exist within Jesus and God. Spiritual growth allows us to perceive and experience it, but it already is so, even if we are unaware, asleep or deny it.

However, the increased awareness that comes with being One with Jesus is not all Love and Bliss. It means that you also become aware and experience all the sin and darkness of all the souls that are still asleep and are unaware that they exist within Jesus.

The only way to avoid experiencing the painful empathy of other’s sin and suffering is to grow closer to Jesus. His radiance transmutes and purifies those who take refuge in Him.

We all exist within Jesus, just as we all exist within Our Father. We are just baby souls existing within the womb of our parents. I use Russion Nesting Dolls as a metaphor to explain this, where we are the little doll in the middle, and God is the big outer doll. Using this metaphor, it is easy to understand John 14. It is also easy to understand how no one can find Our Father without going through Jesus.

If we think of each doll as a different level of consciousness that we progress through as we grow spiritually, we can understand why Our Father’s Mansion has many rooms and why Jesus went to prepare a new room or level for us.

In John 14, Jesus also tells us that the things that He does and even more, we too shall do when He is in us. This is the truth.

But these things cannot be shown to the public as they would worship those who are awakened in Christ and ask for miracles rather than growing to also experience Jesus. This is why Jesus told His disciples not to share the knowledge with the public.

Would the young bird learn to fly if it did not first experience falling?

Understanding the answer to that question helps a person understand why God created evil and why we must enter tribulation.

A baby grows to the point where they must exit the womb to continue growing. So it is with these seed pod physical bodies when we grow in Jesus.

🙏

There’s a lot there, for sure. The Lord’s Supper, as we call it, is a concrete means wherewith, and whereby, the Creator inhabits the bodies and souls of those for whom He donned their flesh and blood without sin.

There is no need to create a dichtomy between what is spriritual and what is physical. The elements of the Holy Communion are the means Jesus uses to impart most intimately the benefits of His innocent sufferings and death and His resurrected body as proof of our salvation.

I am not about to substitute the words “this signifies” for the words “this is” when spoken by the the One by whom, through Whom, and in Whom all things are created and sustained.

God bless and keep you according to His Word and grace in Christ. We may differ on this, but it will all be cleared up soon.

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