The Confession of St. Peter
January 18, 2004
The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel
Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Lessons: Acts 4:18-13; I Corinthians 10:1-5; St. Matthew 16:13-19
As you might know, I've been spending a lot of time at the hospital lately. In particular, at Penrose, on Cascade, where Ernie Rehfeld was, and where Marian Radke still is rehabilitating. And one of the things you can't help but notice, when you're going into and out of Penrose Hospital, is the huge building being built on the east side. It's strange, because just a few weeks ago when I was visiting in the hospital, there was just a big, excavated space. A number of weeks ago, I saw the excavation, then a couple of weeks ago, they were drilling deep holes, pouring huge concrete footers for the foundation. Then, the last two weeks, day by day, I could see this massive steel structure rising from the ground, rising from those foundations I had seen poured, probably, reaching down to bedrock. And it struck me, as I was leaving the hospital one day this week--thinking about our folks in the hospital, thinking about how families struggle when a loved one is in the hospital, thinking about how important it is to us, to have a firm foundation in life, so that when all else seems shaky, when all else seems to be shifting and uncertain--we can stand, solidly, and withstand, cardiac arrest, surgeries and illnesses; struggles with our kids, struggles in our marriages, struggles with life--and all that life throws at us, at times. I was walking out of the hospital early Tuesday morning, having just visited Marian, heading to the church for the funeral for Ernie, and I looked at that great steel structure being erected. And I got in the car, turned it on, and on the radio was an old blues standard that goes, "I'm standing on shaky ground--yes, I'm standing on shaky ground--since you done me wrong."
Those are pretty significant images, this week when we celebrate the Confession of St. Peter--this week when Peter confesses, affirms, that Jesus is indeed, the Messiah, the Christ, Son of the Living God--this week, when Jesus responds to Peter, by stating, "Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah! 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." When you've been at the hospitals as much as I have been lately, when you're experiencing trials and difficulties in life, when you've grieving the loss of a loved one, you really can begin to feel like you're standing on shaky ground. In fact, you can begin to feel like life has done you wrong--and it's in those times, when a festival day like today, and the words of Jesus can help you, or haunt you. What does it mean to be a "rock"? What does it mean to be part of the Church, which was built, on the rock, such that the gates of Hades, traditionally translated as the gates of Hell, Luther would say, "sin, death, and the devil", cannot prevail against it? As we are part of the Church, as we are Christians, ourselves, we want to have our lives built upon the solid rock--we strive to build upon the rock. But, what is this rock, and where is this rock, and how do we build upon it?
As we all know, in the western half of Christianity, this rock is known as Peter, who is considered by some to be the head of the apostles, the first bishop, and so, ultimately, the first Pope. In some minds, Peter, in Greek, Petrus--is "the rock", because in Greek, "rock" is actually "Petros". Without a doubt, Jesus makes a play on words here--a pun, on Peter's name, and the fact that here Jesus would build his church. But, is the rock, Peter? Peter may very well be first among the apostles--that seems clear in Scripture. Peter is the first to utter this confession of faith--"You are the Messiah--the Christ, the Son of the Living God". But Peter--the Rock? If you look at the rest of scripture, Peter is anything but, "rock-like". He wavers, he's uncertain, in the very passage, we see Jesus teaching the disciples that he must suffer and be killed--and Peter rebukes Jesus, and says, "This must never happen to you!" And Jesus says to Peter, to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan!" An odd turn of events, if Jesus thought of Peter, indeed, as "the Rock". But in fact, it is not Peter who is the rock. Many scholars think Jesus was not only making a play on words, by naming Simon, Peter--but that Jesus was poking a bit of fun at him! We might imagine the other disciples would've snickered, when Jesus called Simon, Petrus--a name that sounded much like Petros, the rock. Peter, the rock? Not so far as anyone could tell. But that wasn't surprising, because the rock, here, is not Peter, but Peter's confession--of Jesus, as the Messiah--the Christ! Confessing Jesus, as the Christ, God's anointed one, is the rock, upon which the Church would be built, and it is this, not Peter, the man, which would stand against death and the devil. St. Augustine, living in the fourth and fifth centuries, affirmed this, when he wrote, "In a certain place I said of the Apostle Peter, that upon him, as upon a rock, the Church was built. But I know that very frequently afterwards I explained that the words spoken by the Lord, 'Thou are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, may be understood as upon Him, Jesus, whom Peter had confessed, when he said, thou are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Augustine says, "Peter, named from this rock (petros), represented the Church, which is built upon this rock, which is Jesus. For Jesus did not say, 'tu es petra' (thou, Peter art a rock), but Jesus said, 'tu es Petrus' (thou art Peter). The rock", writes Augustine, "was Christ".
And this, of course, is why we celebrate today, the day of the Confession of St. Peter. Because we celebrate Peter's confession of Jesus, the Christ--the confession, the belief in Jesus, as Son of the Living God--and so, Savior and Redeemer of the world, which is the rock, upon which the Church is built, and upon which we, as Christians, are to build our lives. Not upon Peter, or Paul, not upon Luther--but upon Christ--who himself, became incarnate, to dwell among us full of grace and truth; who himself, died for the sins of the world, and was raised, to give us the hope and promise of new, transformed, life now, and life in heaven, forever. Peter himself acknowledges that he, Peter, is not the rock, when, in our first reading from Acts, filled with the Holy Spirit, he preaches to rulers of the people and elders saying, "let is be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health, by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This, Jesus, is the stone that was rejected by you , the builders, which has now become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved."
This, in no way, minimizes the role of Peter, among the apostles, in the early Church, or in the Church throughout time. But it makes clear the fact that this confession is not for Peter only, but for all who would build upon the solid rock, Jesus Christ. The early Church Father, Origen, preaching on this text in the third century, said, "So, if we also confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, the Father, who is in heaven revealing it to us, to us also will it be said: 'Thou are Peter--for each one of us stands on a rock, who is an imitator of Christ." The question Jesus asked, not just of Peter, but of all the disciples, is asked also, today, of us--"But, who do you say that I am?" Because the challenge is not for Peter, or James or John to answer for us, but for us to answer, ourselves, with all our heart and soul and mind. That Peter confessed Christ, gave him immeasurable strength, ultimately, strength enough to stand, repeatedly before his enemies and persecutors, as recorded in Acts, preaching boldly about Jesus the Christ of Nazareth, crucified and raised. That strength, that courage, that boldness, however, comes to you, through your own confession of Jesus. It comes, not from flesh and blood, but as a gift from heaven, given freely to those who answer, with Peter, "I believe, Jesus, that you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." And all who receive this gift, receive the firmness of a rock, which no violence, no terrorism, no upheaval, can ever shake or disturb. As Jesus said to Peter, He says, also, to those who believe, "As my Father in heaven has revealed me to you, so do I impart to you, strength and firmness, as of a rock." Jesus says, "As I am the inviolable, unshakeable rock, the foundation and cornerstone, so also are you Petrus--so also are you-- you--like a rock--so also can you, can we, be strong, unshakeable, in life, because we stand on the foundation, the stone, the rock that is, Christ Jesus! Flesh and blood, can not give us this strength and surety--but only, the Father in heaven, through Jesus Christ. May God grant us, both the ability to confess Jesus as Lord, and the strength and stability, that comes from building our lives on, the Son of the Living God.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.