Living in the Spirit
August 24, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Matthew 16:13-20

He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.  — Matthew 16:15-18

It makes sense that a carpenter’s apprentice would envision the future through the eyes of a builder. One of the first tasks of a builder is to select the raw materials, gather the rocks from which to form the foundation. Jesus is doing that task in our scripture today as he shapes and molds the first disciples making them the foundation for the community of faith not made with hands. He has even assigned Simon a nickname, Peter, the rock, to emphasize this role.

Simon Peter’s natural leadership ability was key to the success of the formation of this community particularly after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Simon Peter’s faith and thus his success was totally dependent on this confession of faith: You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. The Jews had long been looking for this promised one who was to come and save them from destruction. But like us, those first century Jews had an image of what that anointed one would look like, be like. Perhaps they hoped for a mighty warrior, perhaps a wise and powerful monarch, probably not a carpenter’s apprentice whose primary function was loving everyone. The other disciples had most likely seen the same clues that Simon Peter had. He gave voice to what everyone else was afraid to say.

And so today we are still working on that community of faith using the foundation of these first disciples. Jesus, the Christ, is still the builder. It is being constructed based on His design and we are the ones now saying Christ Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. We are called as one community with many facets all striving for justice and mercy.

Prayer: Keep us focused on your design as we strive to extend your community of faith to all the peoples of the world. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.