Matthew 16:13-20 (Pentecost 13)
St. John, Galveston (8/23/26)
Rev. Alan Taylor
+ In Nomine Jesu +
Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Caesarea Philippi is the setting for this morning’s Gospel reading. The city, which is now called Banias, is located just to the north of the Sea Galilee. If you were to have visited Caesarea Philippi in the 1st century, the first thing to capture your attention would likely have been Mt. Hermon, since it’s located right on the northern edge of the city, rising some 9,300 feet above sea level. The Transfiguration of Jesus, which takes place shortly after this incident in Caesarea Philippi, is believed to have taken place on that very mountain, Mt. Hermon.
Caesarea Philippi though is most famous for it’s association with the Greek god Pan, the half goat, half man figure of Greek lore. In fact, the city was once called Paneas, after the god Pan. Even the current name of the city, Banias, is an Arabic form of the cities original name Paneas.
People of the ancient world were, by and large, polytheists, which means they believed in and worshiped multiple gods. Caesarea Philippi was a city that demonstrated well the polytheistic beliefs of the people of that region and time. In fact, not only did the city have a temple to Pan, the Greek god of fertility, they also had a temple to the Roman Caesars, who were themselves considered to be divine.
All of this is to set the stage for Jesus’ encounter with His disciples in Caesarea. He asked them “who do people say the Son of Man is?” Clearly, when Jesus that question, He was asking for the disciples own confession of faith. Rather, He was asking His disciples what they had heard regarding other people’s opinions about Him. Of course, this wasn’t because of any sort of insecurity on Jesus’ part. It was to distinguish opinion from faith, or opinion from the confession of one’s faith.
And so, the disciples told Jesus some of the opinions people had about Him. Bear in mind, an opinion is a personal belief that isn’t proven by hard facts. It reflects what someone thinks or feels based on their own experiences. As to what people were saying about the Son of Man, the disciples said, “Some say (you are) John the Baptist.” By this point, John had already beheaded by King Herod. Some people apparently thought John had risen from the dead. Others thought Jesus was Elijah, since the book of Malachi promised that the prophet Elijah would return. Still others thought Jesus was Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. All of this shows us that there were in Caesarea Philippi, a lot of different opinions regarding the Son of Man.
In that respect, Caesarea Philippi was not unlike any of the cities in our country. You could ask the same question today about Jesus, and the opinions would be varied. “Who do people say Jesus is?” Some would say He was a good man and a great prophet, but He wasn’t God. Other’s would say, He was a good man and a great prophet, but He most certainly didn’t die for the sins of the world. Others would say, He was a good man who lived a moral life, and who taught the rest of us how to do the same. In other words, in the minds of many people, Jesus was the perfect model of a life well lived. Still other people would say that Jesus never even existed. He’s a character made up by people who sense the need for some sort of hope in life outside of themselves.
Perhaps the most devastating opinion though regarding who Jesus is, is the one that is developed in a person’s own mind, that is, apart from any evidence from the Scriptures. This Jesus is a god made in a person’s own image. He or she gets to control who Jesus is and what He taught, what He finds objectionable, and what He finds to be pleasing and acceptable. This is the Jesus who loves what we love and who hates what we hate. Of course, this Jesus doesn’t exist, well, except in a person’s own mind.
Who other people say Jesus is, is important, because it speaks of the culture in which we live. Still, it’s not the most important question to ask, or to answer. The most meaningful and the most critical question that anyone could be asked in life is this, “who do YOU say Jesus is?” Or, as Jesus asked the question of His disciples, “Who do YOU say that I am?” If the answer to that question is a true confession of the Christian it will be formed and informed by the Word of God and Holy Spirit.
“Who do YOU say Jesus is?” Peter answered the question on behalf of the disciples. He said of Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” His confession was a far cry from any opinions people had about Jesus. While others were willing except Jesus’ humanity, to acknowledge that He was, in fact, a man, Peter confessed both His humanity and His deity. In fact, Peter’s confession was more than he himself could understand, or, even conclude by his own powers of reason. For that very reason, Jesus lauded his confession, saying, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”
“I tell you (said Jesus), you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church.” As you and I go out into the world, as we live out our lives as the children of God, we don’t laud Peter as the foundation on which the church is built. We believe that Simon Peter is the Church’s One Foundation. After all, though he was restored by the grace and mercy of God, Peter himself soon denied the very Lord he confessed. In the words of Martin Luther, councils and men may err, but we are captive to the Word of God. The foundation of the church, the rock on which the Church is built, is none other than the Confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
Because the Church is founded on the Confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, rather than on the shoulders of men, “the gates of hell (as Jesus says) shall not prevail against it.” Of course, Jesus speaks here of the Church in a broad sense, not of any individual congregation. Still, as the Church, as Christians, it will always prevail, even against the gates of hell themselves.
Therefore, the wringing of hands and the self loathing regarding a decline in the Church’s numbers of late is appropriate only where the confession of Christ is ignored, or, abandoned. As the Church always has, we move forward in a world of varied opinions regarding the person of Jesus, with the intent of declaring the grace and mercy of the One True God, the God who, in time, visited us in the person of Jesus Christ. While the Church is built on the Confession of Jesus as the Christ, she finds her mission, her purpose, in preaching Law and Gospel, in forgiving and retaining sins.
Jesus said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” What no money can buy, the Church freely gives. Her relevance is not ultimately is social programs, or, in finding and filling an unmet need in a given community, but in freely and graciously giving what only what she can give, namely the forgiveness of sins in Christ, who bled and died, and rose again for the sins of the world.
And so now, unlike in the ancient city of Caesarea Philippi, we find sanctuaries, places of worship to the one true God. And even with all of the manifold changes of the world, we still find a sure and certain confession of Jesus. And we are blessed, because what flesh and blood could never have revealed to us, has been given freely to us by the Holy Spirit and the unchanging word of God. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
+ Soli Deo Gloria +