Encouraged by the Faithful - Pt 8

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 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.” Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. (Matthew 16:13-20 ESV). Our reading today reveals an interesting event. Jesus had twelve disciples, but He renamed only one of them. It’s not like his name was difficult or unseemly. Remember that his original name was Simon. Jesus simply decided to rename him Peter. The event that precipitated this renaming was a confession that Simon made when Jesus asked the disciples who people thought he was, and, further, who they thought he was. Peter’s declaration was, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” It’s clear that Peter was the leader of the early Church. As with any organization, the Church cannot exist without leadership, and Jesus chose Peter to provide that leadership. In our study passage, Jesus gives Peter “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 16: 19). Jesus didn’t give them to any other disciple, so Jesus must have intended for Peter to lead once Jesus ascended back into heaven. That’s even clearer in the Gospel of John where Jesus directs Peter to feed His sheep (cf. John 21:15-17). However, Peter was not the “rock-solid” leader that some might have imagined. Peter denied Jesus three times. He repented and Jesus restored him.Peter would lead the Church with Christ as his model. He would be an imitator of Christ. Even Peter, with his name being what it is, acknowledges that Christ is the Rock: It’s interesting that Peter doesn’t remind people that his name is Rock and the Church is build on him. In fact, he says that all Christians are building blocks in the Body of Christ (the Church). Origen points out, “If you shall think that the whole church was built on Peter alone, what shall we say of John and each of the apostles? Shall we dare to say that the gates of hell shall not prevail against Peter alone?” All of the apostles had a role in the rock formation. To put it another way, Christ is the cornerstone and Peter is the rock upon which the cornerstone and the Church rests. Each church leader since then has been another layer building up the Body of Christ. The Church is the continuing presence of Jesus Christ in the world, and we are reminded that the Church is a people and not a building. We are, in fact, serving as the hands and feet of Christ, doing the work of the Church just as Peter did.